Bad Cell phone coverage. Get your own mini cell phone tower

[CyberGuy]

I have had bad cell phone coverage at my house ever since I moved in. No Cell phone towers for half a mile. I get 1 to two bars max and I am always dropping calls within the house. I have Verizon and I read about a network extender.

http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/Verizon-Network-Extender-Review-review-r_2110.html

It bascially attaches to your broadband internet and becomes a mini cell phone tower so you get five bars within 40 feet in every direction. I can go to the verizon website and set up which verizon phone numbers get priority. Yes neighbors can use your Network extender if they are within 40 feet of the box but only four cellphones at one time can use it and the cell phone numbers you put into the website have priority. It costs around $248 and there are no monthly fees.

Verizon only has voice only. No data entry but I do not care about that. I have broadband wireless for my other options.

AT&T just came out with their own Femtocell as these devices are called. It is for 3G phones only like the Iphone etc. There will be a $10 monthly fee for the At&t femtocell.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ATT-To-Launch-Femtocells-Next-Week-104531

[CyberGuy]

I get five bars now at the end of the house where the network extender is and four bars at the other side of the house. Neighbors may get two bars at best but we get two bars in our area anyway.

[phkrause]

Sounds interesting cyberguy. You ever try those things that you paste into the inside of you cell phone, there suppose to help with that. There useless.

pk

[CyberGuy]

No I never tried those. Sounds like some sort of antenna. In my case I am just to far from a cell phone tower. I am at the edge of Riverside surrounded on three sides by open country. Companies do not think it profitable to put a cell phone tower nearby. Anyway with this network extender I use the internet to provide a local mini cell phone tower in my house.

Once I installed it and set it up on my verizon internet site it took 10 minutes for the network extender to cycle through the initialization and start working. I get five bars close to the network extender and four bars on the other side of the house. I was getting one to two bars and dropped calls all the time before.

[GreatLakesGramma]

I can't use my cell phone in the house, but I only use it when I am away from home anyway.

[phkrause]

Yeah cyberguy that is exactly what it is, a little antenna. But like I mentioned in the other thread, I believe its more the phone than the towers. I had an older nokia cell and it never dropped any calls, but my newer ones dropped calls all the time, or I should say certain places I would get no reception. Whereas my old nokia had no problems at all. I wish I still had it, but I dropped it and it no longer worked.

pk