# cell phone use with poor signal?



## rtriplett (Nov 25, 2009)

I am moving to a great new place near Coquille, OR. BIG shop and nice house. BUT, virtually no cell phone service. Just outside the coverage of US Celullar. Does anyone have any experience in how to boost the signal that is almost there? My wife got a faint, brief signal on a Motorla phone.


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## Boxguy (Mar 11, 2012)

We were in a similar fringe area. Ask around. Neighbors may get reception from other networks or brands of phones. When someone visits or delivers stuff ask them if their cell phone works at your new place. I found this worked better than on-line searches which were often wishful thinking rather than factual coverage.

My guess is that on the right phone and right network you will get service.


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## ColonelTravis (Mar 19, 2013)

Boxguy is right about not relying on the maps. We live outside Dallas and have Sprint, which is supposed to cover all of DFW in 4G. It doesn't. Really ticks me off. Maybe in 10 years Sprint will have a network comparable to AT&T or Verizon. Until then, stay away from that carrier. Unlimited data - big deal if you can't even use it. I can't recommend Sprint to anyone.


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## rtriplett (Nov 25, 2009)

Thanks Al,but I want to know NOW!! I need to get a new phone so that may be an issue of which one. there are few neighbors and we are 9 miles away from a small town. The young realtors said our carrier was the best in the area. Not much delivery of stuff. I am hoping some one has experience with signal boosters. By the way,i am retiring in June and then moving myself and my tools, but my wife is retiring next week and moving to the new house before winter hits. NO SNOW at the new place!! She is so tired of it after 20 years. She moved with me when I got a job teaching here.


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## wmodavis (Aug 28, 2007)

You might check out some of these ideas.
http://www.wikihow.com/Improve-Cell-Phone-Reception


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Try Verizon. they seem do be about the best in the NW. Seem to work where others don't.


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

I was on a roof a couple of weeks ago. There was a gray box attached to the peak with a small antenna on it. The home owner said it was a booster for his cell phone. He said it worked very well. He got it off the internet… Amazon I think he said. Cost him about $400 4 or 5 years ago. I talked to a friend close to home that said he installed some kind of booster and it didn't help. Depends on where you are and the surrounding terrain.


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## rtriplett (Nov 25, 2009)

Thanks for the benefit of your ideas and experience. I really like being able to use my cell phone for communication and data. I may try to switch carriers or try a booster. Our US Cellular rep said he is not supposed to discuss boosters. 
Robert


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## 7Footer (Jan 24, 2013)

Agree with Topamax. The company I work for does quite a bit of work in the Coquille area, aerial forestry work so we are out in the hills a lot, Verizon has always had the best coverage, and we had switched back and forth between several different providers.


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

Ill vouch for the Verizon signal booster. Got one in my house. If you call them directly you can get them for about $200 clams.


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## 7Footer (Jan 24, 2013)

And I don't know anymore, but several years ago when I had a flip phone I use to buy those little $10 antennae boosters, I really thought they helped out with my signal, but again it was 6 or 7 years ago, before 4G and all all of that so it might have helped more when your phone is on analog, but at are cheap and maybe worth a try.

They look like this:


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## scotsman9 (Mar 25, 2013)

Might not be your answer, but some helpful info at minimum.
http://www.criterioncellular.com/tutorials/homeofficeantennas.html


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## JesseTutt (Aug 15, 2012)

I recall seeing a device you could put in your house and connect to your high speed Internet connection. Your cell phone connected to the device and the call went to your carrier's location via Internet. Of course, if you don't have cell service you might not have high speed Internet either.

Good luck.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

I just remembered back when cell phones first came out, we had little curly que antennas we put on cars some times. there was not connections to anything. They just concentrated the signal in the area for the phone to grab. I worked on other radio communications that were marginal because of lack of line of sight.


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## sixstring (Apr 4, 2012)

I use my wi-fi home internet connection when making calls/texts at home. Doesnt use your minutes and to heck with the local reception. My neighborhood can be a bit spotty so using wi-fi makes it a non issue.

Of course, it means having a phone capeable of wi fi calling which I think all smartphones do by now. And it means having wi fi service at the house which may or may not be an additional expense. I have it and it replaced my land line phone bill and tv/cable bill. All i have and need at home is wi fi.

Hope that helps.


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## rtriplett (Nov 25, 2009)

Thanks again for some good information. I will check out verizon. We had them about 10 years ago and switched due to poor coverage, but times have apparently changed.


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## DanLyke (Feb 8, 2007)

We use T-Mobile with WiFi calling. Phones connect to the WiFi router in the house, talk to the world. We're doing a little juggling of our network to figure out how to seamlessly roam from the house to the shop, but…


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## mikema (Apr 27, 2011)

I use T-Mobile's wifi calling as well. It is already setup on the phone, just connect to your wifi network. Works fairly well.


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

Go to Radio Shack and explain your problem.
They hooked me up with a booster with a directional antenna on the roof and hot spots in the office.
Not cheap, however. Cost around $800

There are less expensive solutions but they all require at least one bar of signal to work.


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## lumberjoe (Mar 30, 2012)

Another T-mobile user. Wifi calling can't be beat.


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## brtech (May 26, 2010)

You have 3 basic choices, all have been mentioned:
1. Get a signal booster. These are amplifiers for the cell signal. Several sources were mentioned. Another is http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/

2. Get a femtocell. This is a small cell site that goes in your house. This requires an Internet connection. All the carriers have them. For Verizon, for example: http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/splash/networkextender.jsp

3. WiFi calling. Also requires internet service. I think only T-Mobile supports this right now, and not on every phone. You CAN, however, use a VoIP app on any phone through something like Google Voice. This may not be attractive to you, but it really does work.


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

In reference to all the suggestions about WiFi calling.
I don't see how that will help the OP.

In a rural area you have no way to get hi speed internet.
Without hi speed internet you can't have WiFi to for WiFi calling.
The OP was not asking about cheap or free phone service.
The OP was looking for a way to get a cellular signal in the first place.

I live in a rural area of Tennessee. At my home I have one bar sometimes.
My choices for internet were Cellular internet, satellite internet, or dial-up.
I went with the cellular internet but the speed is lousy due to the weak signal.
Takes about 10 minutes to download a 1 meg picture.
Cellular phone calls are impossible except for one spot in the house and that is likely to drop the call if you blink too fast.

The booster I use at work would likely help, but I can't afford it at home.
I asked Verizon, my carrier, about what kind of booster they had and they referred me to Radio Shack. 
The one suggested by Radio Shack was made by Wilson Electronics, by the way. See link at* Brtech* post #20 above.


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## BentheViking (May 19, 2011)

I too will suggest the verizon signal booster. works like a charm


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## Makarov (Jun 16, 2013)

I lived in Coquille for about a year, nice town. If you can't get a signal a booster won't help. Climb on the roof with your phone and see if you can get a signal if so then a booster will help. Like TV and ham radio the higher the antenna the better.


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## UpstateNYdude (Dec 20, 2012)

If you have a decent internet connection you can buy a signal boosting microcell like this one I deploy them into the Dunkin Donuts shops around my area so they essentially turn the store into a AT&T hotspot.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

AT&T brings back memories. WE have a cell tower about 75 yards south of us. another about 150 yards NW. One about 3/4 mile NE. Do you think our AT&T cell phones would work? Not a chance. after about a year, we dumped them. That was before the 2 year contracts.


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## Rich42198 (Nov 3, 2013)

+1 on the network extender. My service is with Verizon. Little known fact: Verizon can boost the signal that goes to your network extender. Worked for me. Good luck. -Rich


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

Good luck with that. Some far-away places have little to none reception.


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## BentheViking (May 19, 2011)

To hell with ATT our neighbor and them are trying to put a tower on his property. Really not what I'd like in my rural wooded backyard.


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