T&L Publications

( a real post, will explain later if you want.)

I googled "cell phone booster". $20 seems way too low. Check Amazon or Best Buy, etcetera

Cheers,

If you are referring to the "sticker" antennas, no. They actually tend to do a bit of shielding and reduce the factory antenna range. You would need an active booster / repeater. Not sure what would work with the current 5G (5th Generation) protocol, but I'm sure you could find out. I would think that one of the Far East tech selling sites would have something suitable. Once installed and working inside, it should even keep up with mobile game play.

CeaSaR wrote: ↑Sun Jun 18, 2023 7:27 am If you are referring to the "sticker" antennas, no. They actually tend to do a bit of shielding and reduce the factory antenna range. You would need an active booster / repeater. Not sure what would work with the current 5G (5th Generation) protocol, but I'm sure you could find out. I eould think that one of the Far Eadt tech selling sites would have something suitable. Once installed and working inside, it should even keep up with mobile game play.

Agreed...
Those "sticker" antennas that are hawked on late night TV, or other questionable websites are a SCAM!

Here is a video of a person installing a Cell Phone Signal Booster in his home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQsi5UFpsUo

You can find other videos on a lot of different brands of Signal Boosters, or Signal Extenders.
Most units range around $160 to $400 for your home.
Better units, with wider coverage area can be as much as $1200.


Signed: Janitor Tzap

Additional:

@ dyarker: Nope, we've been fooled again!
Take a look at his info on the right of his post.
In the location part, he put a link for some website.


Signed: Janitor Tzap

well dang!
Make whole thread go away?
Or can user info be edited to clear location, disable user, and lock thread? It useful info other than spam sneak.

I sent a message to CeaSar, about it.
Will see what he can do about it.


Signed: Janitor Tzap

See the end of my post above. Hint hint

I see that link but for the record, those cell phone boosters were for now obsolete Analog phones. Those phones often reduced TX power to save battery, the sticker tricked it into transmitting at full power. besides that, the OP can search cell phone booster and see the same results we did.

Do you mean the $20 junk referred to in post 1, or a booster for 5G system? (The paste on was never a booster.)

Typical no reply. Was worth a shot.

Due to sneaky spam, original good /feasible question reposted below.

OP:

Does anyone know of a reasonable method of improving cell phone coverage? Coverage is weak near my house and the phone will not work at all inside.

Do the internal antennas that are sold on TV for $20 work or are they all hype?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

If you have internet in these areas, Wi-Fi calling is intended to make the connection when the 4G/5G is not useable. Most new phones and carriers support it. WiFi repeaters are cheaper and simpler to install/setup than anything 5G related.

If you are in a 4G/5G dead zone, call your cell provider and complain. There is probably something they can do by tuning their equipment or even adding a new tower or upgrading hardware if enough customers complain. Some Rural places may be out of luck. I was in a dead zone at work for a while, after several complaints to 611 they denied anything was wrong but then it corrected itself (I suspect they fixed something without admitting it)

$20 antennas work a heck of a lot better than no antenna when looking at OTA programs. Some inexpensive antennas do have good gain and signal reception. CAD modeling of signal elements has allowed engineers to design smaller antennas with equal performance to rooftop aerial antennas. Better semiconductors have also improved Signal to noise ratios for preamplifiers. Digital signals are useful at much lower strength than Analog NTSC signals had to be. All of these factors allow a cheap antenna to perform well on a new digital TVs.

Speaking of OTA Television Antenna's.....

I came across this Youtube channel: Mr Hop To It : https://www.youtube.com/@mrhoptoit7835/videos

In this video, he shows several DIY OTA Television Antennas that he has made.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42ZAEhKsBVs
And tests how well they perform in a real world environment.

I've looked at manufactured television antenna's, and there aren't any really good Omni directional ones out there.
{At least not ones that are designed for indoor use.}
Well....
These DIY TV Antenna's seem to perform much better than store bought one's.
Plus, most of the builds are fairly simple.
Just wish he had posted some diagrams, with all the measurements for each of the antenna's,
instead of just having construction videos of each antenna.
I can't be constantly going back to look at the video, while I'm working on building the antenna.


Signed: Janitor Tzap

Investing in a high-quality antenna for your cell phone can significantly improve signal strength and reception. Stay connected seamlessly, even in remote areas, ensuring a reliable communication experience.

There used to be an on-line.antenna calculator, but it disappeared some time back. The ARRL probably has something or can point you in the right direction.