Signal boosters for 3G/LTE?

[xanis]

Wasn't sure if this should go in Mobile Devices or Networking. Figured I'd probably get a better response here, so if it's wrong, please move.

I recently moved into a basement-level apartment, which has completely killed me and the SO's data and voice reception. I'm on AT&T, she's on Virgin (Sprint).

Would a signal repeater help us? There's plenty of voice/data coverage in the area, just not in the apartment. If so, what should I be looking for? I know absolutely nothing about this, so all help is appreciated. Thanks!

FWIW we both have LTE-capable devices, so anything that would let us boost that signal would be great.

 

[JoeMcJoe]

You can call up AT&T tell them where you live, they'll offer you a free network femtocell.

Nothing like exists for Virgin mobile.

 

[brandonb]

The signal booster worked great for me for a data line only. It improved our dBM by 10-20 points depending on conditions. Which is the noise level of the line. (higher is better, but the graph is in the negatives, -100 is like no bars of service, -50 would be 5 bars of service). We went from -95 to -85 on average.

The one we bought was from Wilson Electronics. Kinda spendy though with all the parts. You are looking at $200-$400.

http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/store/index/category/39/building-solutions

(find a product there, maybe call them, they are quite helpful over the phone, and then search for products on amazon)

My guess is you would want one of these, but you'd probably need the apartment to install it.

http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/store/display/40/46/db-pro-3g-directional-kit

 

[JackMDS]

Maybe something here can Help.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...1&name=Booster

 

[Ichinisan]

You can call up AT&T tell them where you live, they'll offer you a free network femtocell.

Nothing like exists for Virgin mobile.

I waited at least a year after hearing about the AT&T Microcell before I got one. I read that it was hit-or-miss whether you could get AT&T to give it to you for free.

I'm still angry that I had to pay $170-$180 for mine. My coverage in my area was fine when I first got Cingular service (before AT&T acquired it). Over the years, it got worse and worse. Their web site still showed "good" coverage, but the guy in the store loaded a map on their site that showed only poor/marginal coverage. It reminded me of Best Buy using a proxy that caused their in-store computers to show a higher price so customers wouldn't be able to say "it's cheaper on your web site."

Anyway, the guy refused to give me any discount at first. I think it was normally $2XX.XX, but he eventually got "authorized" to sell it to me for $17X.XX. I really shouldn't have had to pay anything

It barely works. I've gone through periods where it was unusable for months at a time. Call audio glitches and goes silent or you experience one-way audio. If you reboot, it takes aaaages to get a GPS lock (E911 requires it and it will not operate without GPS lock). It can only be managed through AT&T's online web portal. Frequently, AT&T likes to change the address in their system and it stops working. Gives a message that the registered address doesn't match the GPS coordinates. Then it's another month or 2 before I can go to my mother's to find out what's going on and get it corrected.

Supposedly, you can roam away from it onto a cell tower while you're on a call (but can't roam back onto the M-cell). Well, that only works about 10% of the time...even though the signal outside is usually fine.

 

[JoeMcJoe]

The AT&T one sounds almost as good as the Sprint one then.

Sometimes it worked, other times it didn't and required a reboot. Not worth paying for one.

If you are allowed to drill a hole though a wall, then this would work for most cell phones.
http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/store/display/244/46/db-pro-3g-omni-kit

 

[CZroe]

I waited at least a year after hearing about the AT&T Microcell before I got one. I read that it was hit-or-miss whether you could get AT&T to give it to you for free.

I'm still angry that I had to pay $170-$180 for mine. My coverage in my area was fine when I first got Cingular service (before AT&T acquired it). Over the years, it got worse and worse. Their web site still showed "good" coverage, but the guy in the store loaded a map on their site that showed only poor/marginal coverage. It reminded me of Best Buy using a proxy that caused their in-store computers to show a higher price so customers wouldn't be able to say "it's cheaper on your web site."

Anyway, the guy refused to give me any discount at first. I think it was normally $2XX.XX, but he eventually got "authorized" to sell it to me for $17X.XX. I really shouldn't have had to pay anything

It barely works. I've gone through periods where it was unusable for months at a time. Call audio glitches and goes silent or you experience one-way audio. If you reboot, it takes aaaages to get a GPS lock (E911 requires it and it will not operate without GPS lock). It can only be managed through AT&T's online web portal. Frequently, AT&T likes to change the address in their system and it stops working. Gives a message that the registered address doesn't match the GPS coordinates. Then it's another month or 2 before I can go to my mother's to find out what's going on and get it corrected.

Supposedly, you can roam away from it onto a cell tower while you're on a call (but can't roam back onto the M-cell). Well, that only works about 10% of the time...even though the signal outside is usually fine.

And it runs the Xperia Play 4G (R800at) from full power to totally dead overnight about two or three times a week (can't use your phone as an alarm) because they don't give a crap about compatability with anything that isn't an iPhone and they never fixed it (had to live with that issue for two years).