3G network help required.

[Druk]

Perversely it's the opposite where I stay. I have T-Mobile and a fine signal and reception. My B-i-L has to stand with his back to the neighbours lamppost to get any signal at all. He's on Vodafone.

Maybe it's the bings....



.

 

[markjay]

I thought signal boosters were illegal unles installed by the operators? ....

This is technically still the case. I spoke to the RA about this some years ago, and they conceded that they have no interest in blocking the use of GSM signal boosters but no way of officially permitting any unlicensed device to transmit in these frequencies unless approved the the operator and covered by the operator global license. They said that they are aware of the issue and will not initiate any action against anyone operation a GSM signal booster unless a complaint is received regarding interference. So unless the rules have been changes since, this is a grey area that the RA are (apparently) happy to ignore. GSM boosters can now be freely purchased in the UK from reputable firms - we have recently ordered some of a client, though these are commercial installations so probably not financially viable for home use.

 

[markjay]

Sp!ke

My Nextivity box picks up a full 3G signal at the window unit and shows 7/8 at the transmitter unit. 2G on the handset gives me no signal at all.

1. The operator's mast is usually directional - in which case being within a certain range is not enough, you also need to be within the main transmission lobe. We had in the past T-Mobile change the angle of a mast for a client of ours - though not sure if they will do this for home users.


2. Assuming the booster itself is actually fit for purpose, the trick is to place the donor antenna in good location - you may want to consider a long coax cable going all the way up to the roof, or on top of the branch of a tree, with clear line of sight (as they said) to the mast.


3. Also, keep in mind that the GSM boosters themselves generally provide low signal - so test them when standing in the same room. Using the mobile phone from another room may prove difficult due to the internal walls - insulators like Kingspan are made of two layers of metal foil creating a Faraday Cage which is very effective in masking radio signals. See also:

Signal Repeater | AVForums.com - UK Online


4. And finally, there are GSM routers available which actually connect to the Internet and get their signal over ADSL, so in fact you can use the mobile phone around the house even in areas with no 2g or 3g signal at all. But these have to be installed by the mobile phone operator and the handsets registered for the service.


HTH

 

[John]

my home being "possibly" in a wooded area

You'll want to watch out for dogging then - it can blight rural locations...