Anyone know of a cheap and fast way to increase indoor signal strength on a cell phone?

[Arkitech]

Yet another tale of office horrors

So here's the dilemma, I just started having a weekly conference call with my boss every Monday. He always calls me at my desk, but because of the distance I usually work at home. My job is almost 70 miles from my home and when I add the time and distance in after I drop off my son at the babysitter I've driven more than 100 miles and spent almost 3 hours in traffic. So naturally I try to avoid driving into the office at all costs. Unfortunately my company has a very outdated policy on telecommuting so I when I work from home I'm taking a risk.

Anyway getting back to the story, I drove in yesterday for the meeting only to find out at the last minute it was cancelled. My boss wants to reschedule for today, so since I did'nt want to drive back out to the office again (I've had a really bad cold the last couple of days) I forwarded my office phone to my cell phone. And to my horror I realized that for whatever reason today, I can't get a decent signal inside the house.

So does anyone know of a cheap and quick way to boost cell phone strength?




Working for other people sucks, can't wait til I'm self-employed. I'll telecommute right from the bathroom.

 

[acemcmac]

Try to stand still and don't make the call from your car.

I know that with cingular/nokia, there is a call forwarding option so that you can foreward your calls transparently to a landline if you dont answer the cell...

 

[OVerLoRDI]

If it is quiet in your backyard try standing outside.

 

[acemcmac]

Originally posted by: OVerLoRDI
If it is quiet in your backyard try standing outside.

"quiet"?

 

[Joemonkey]

forward your cell phone to your land line phone?

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: OVerLoRDI
If it is quiet in your backyard try standing outside.

lol, I thought of that but I need to be near my computer during the call


I might be screwed today

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: Joemonkey
forward your cell phone to your land line phone?

I tried that and realized I have the stupid call blocking feature enabled. Calls from my company (and other big corps) are screened. My boss would pick up on what's going on in an instant.


I think I'm really screwed today


stupid telecommuting policies :|

 

[WhiteKnight]

Do you have a friendly coworker that could set your work phone to forward to your landline?

 

[chambersc]

Originally posted by: Joemonkey
forward your cell phone to your land line phone?

Yeah, cingular has this option. I'd suggest you do that.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

you deserve what you get.....jeez....how lame.

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: chambersc

Originally posted by: Joemonkey
forward your cell phone to your land line phone?

Yeah, cingular has this option. I'd suggest you do that.

I have privacy manager on my landline. It filters out those calls from corporate numbers and telemarketers.

 

[chambersc]

Originally posted by: Arkitech

Originally posted by: chambersc

Originally posted by: Joemonkey
forward your cell phone to your land line phone?

Yeah, cingular has this option. I'd suggest you do that.

I have privacy manager on my landline. It filters out those calls from corporate numbers and telemarketers.

Can you disable it temporarily? Which is more important -- taking this call from your boss or having the privacy director on?

Also, knowing that the meeting was post-poned 'till today, why not just go to the office today? It wouldn't have KILLED you?

 

[TheKub]

Get one of thoes repeater units. If you have a decent signal outside it will have the same inside.

Though there seems to be some mixed opinions on whether these work or not. Ive been to a few offices that had Nextel repeaters and they did not work. But I just installed one in my parents house for a verizon phone and it worked great.

 

[altonb1]

How about do the right thing and drive in to the office?

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Originally posted by: altonb1
How about do the right thing and drive in to the office?

exactly. people make me sick.....taking advatage of the system or their employers then asking for everyone to help them stay out of trouble.

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats

Originally posted by: altonb1
How about do the right thing and drive in to the office?

exactly. people make me sick.....taking advatage of the system or their employers then asking for everyone to help them stay out of trouble.

I'm not taking advantage of anyone, most weeks I work 7 days straight. On an average I put in 60 hours per week (only get paid for 40). I hardly see how I'm taking advantage. I can't take care of my family work 60 hours a week and still spend 5-6 hours in commute. Maybe you should learn more about a situation or a person before you pass down judgement.

 

[TheGizmo]

you can go to radio shack and buy one of those cell phone antennas.. usually there is a rubber piece hiding the external antenna port on your cell phone, but most phones have this port... just plug in the large antenna and that oughta do the trick... if you can, place that antenna by the window for better reception

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: chambersc

Originally posted by: Arkitech

Originally posted by: chambersc

Originally posted by: Joemonkey
forward your cell phone to your land line phone?

Yeah, cingular has this option. I'd suggest you do that.

I have privacy manager on my landline. It filters out those calls from corporate numbers and telemarketers.

Can you disable it temporarily? Which is more important -- taking this call from your boss or having the privacy director on?

Also, knowing that the meeting was post-poned 'till today, why not just go to the office today? It wouldn't have KILLED you?

Normally I would but I've been working so many hours these past few months and getting very little sleep. Combine that with being sick I just could'nt find the energy to make that long drive. I'm stuck for the time being til I find something else or my business takes off.

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: TheGizmo
you can go to radio shack and buy one of those cell phone antennas.. usually there is a rubber piece hiding the external antenna port on your cell phone, but most phones have this port... just plug in the large antenna and that oughta do the trick... if you can, place that antenna by the window for better reception

sounds like it's worth a shot

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Originally posted by: Arkitech

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats

Originally posted by: altonb1
How about do the right thing and drive in to the office?

exactly. people make me sick.....taking advatage of the system or their employers then asking for everyone to help them stay out of trouble.

I'm not taking advantage of anyone, most weeks I work 7 days straight. On an average I put in 60 hours per week (only get paid for 40). I hardly see how I'm taking advantage. I can't take care of my family work 60 hours a week and still spend 5-6 hours in commute. Maybe you should learn more about a situation or a person before you pass down judgement.

does your employer allow telecommuting? obviously NO
does your employer know you are telecommuting? NO

you are violating your employers rules so you are taking advantage of them. If your work requirements are at odds with the home requirements FIND A NEW JOB.

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats

Originally posted by: Arkitech

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats

Originally posted by: altonb1
How about do the right thing and drive in to the office?

exactly. people make me sick.....taking advatage of the system or their employers then asking for everyone to help them stay out of trouble.

I'm not taking advantage of anyone, most weeks I work 7 days straight. On an average I put in 60 hours per week (only get paid for 40). I hardly see how I'm taking advantage. I can't take care of my family work 60 hours a week and still spend 5-6 hours in commute. Maybe you should learn more about a situation or a person before you pass down judgement.

does your employer allow telecommuting? obviously NO
does your employer know you are telecommuting? NO

you are violating your employers rules so you are taking advantage of them. If your work requirements are at odds with the home requirements FIND A NEW JOB.

Find a new thread to crap in.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Originally posted by: Arkitech

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats

Originally posted by: Arkitech

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats

Originally posted by: altonb1
How about do the right thing and drive in to the office?

exactly. people make me sick.....taking advatage of the system or their employers then asking for everyone to help them stay out of trouble.

I'm not taking advantage of anyone, most weeks I work 7 days straight. On an average I put in 60 hours per week (only get paid for 40). I hardly see how I'm taking advantage. I can't take care of my family work 60 hours a week and still spend 5-6 hours in commute. Maybe you should learn more about a situation or a person before you pass down judgement.

does your employer allow telecommuting? obviously NO
does your employer know you are telecommuting? NO

you are violating your employers rules so you are taking advantage of them. If your work requirements are at odds with the home requirements FIND A NEW JOB.

Find a new thread to crap in.

it's not crapping juist because you disagree with reality. you can attempt to justify it all you want, but it's just empty reasoning.

 

[FoBoT]

go outside with a laptop

 

[EvilYoda]

PopSci magazine has a little piece on how to make your own "cantenna" that's designed for cell-phone use...I doubt you have the time to drive around and buy all the parts, but perhaps for future reference.

 

[Suture]

Wow, there are some heartless people here. Then again, I shouldn't be surprised, this is ATOT, after all.

Sorry, I don't know of any way to boost the signal. I often have to stand near a window in the 2nd floor of my house to get a better cell phone signal. Is there any way you can dial into the conference call?