do cell phone repeaters actually work?

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Mike Russell - 26 Feb 2007 10:51 GMT

I've been looking at America products that amplify and then re-broadcast a
GSM signal in your home. I've seem positive reviews of Wilson cellular
products, which are about 400 dollars plus antenna costs - so a total of
somewhat over 500 dollars.

I've also looked at other all-in-one kits, such as the one at:
http://www.1800mobiles.com/signal-repeater-1900-mhz.html
that are in the 300 dollar range, complete with antenna.

I'm intrigued, but concerned that no one I know actually owns one of these
devices. There appear to be no reviews or comparisons of these products,
and I wonder if the less expensive ones even work at all. Does anyone have
experience and/or opinions with any GSM cell phone repeater products?

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Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/

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Evan Platt - 26 Feb 2007 19:13 GMT

>I've been looking at America products that amplify and then re-broadcast a
>GSM signal in your home. I've seem positive reviews of Wilson cellular
>products, which are about 400 dollars plus antenna costs - so a total of
>somewhat over 500 dollars.

I can't speak for GSM repeaters, but I worked at a company that had a
Nextel repeater. With the repeater unplugged, we had no signal ("No
Service"). With the repeater plugged in, full signal.

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randy - 27 Feb 2007 06:29 GMT

On Feb 26, 5:51 am, "Mike Russell" <RE-MOVEm...@Curvemeister.comRE-
MOVE> wrote:

> I've been looking at America products that amplify and then re-broadcast a
> GSM signal in your home. I've seem positive reviews of Wilson cellular
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> --
> Mike Russellwww.curvemeister.com/forum/

They must work when I go the the cingular store I get 5 bars,

100 yards from the front door 4 bars. 1 mi. away 2 bars.

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Me - 27 Feb 2007 11:32 GMT

> On Feb 26, 5:51 am, "Mike Russell" <RE-MOVEm...@Curvemeister.comRE-
> MOVE> wrote:
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> 100 yards from the front door 4 bars. 1 mi. away 2 bars.

Operators building cheap networks are extensively using repeaters (instead
of installing new BTS sites), there is no question about the existence of
well working repeaters. The main question I guess is if the referred low
cost repeater is actually useful (and how useful).

The specs only mentioned it improves mobile reception. I assume it has an
amplifier for the other link too, to boost the mobile to base link operation
(even if this was not mentioned).

The cable need to be very good, otherwise the signal loss at the cable uses
all the gain from the repeater. The cable on the other hand needs to be
sufficiently long to reach a good installation place for the other antenna
and to reach sufficient isolation between the antennas. The more gain can be
applied on the repeater the better the isolation between the antennas.

Lightning protection may also be needed, depends on the installation but did
not look like this was included on the referred low cost model (no
experience about that, no intention to claim it does not work, just that any
device would not automatically be useful).

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Mike Russell - 10 Mar 2007 09:11 GMT

Just a followup - I got my cell phone repeater today, a Wireless Extender
Z-Boost, Model 510, which does dual 1800 and 900. It was just over $300
plus shipping and tax at www.buy.com .

I did a quick test by putting the receive antenna one a side porch where I
had about 2 bars of signal, and the unit itself in my computer room, which
has no signal. With the unit turned on, I had 2 bars of signal in the
computer room, and was able to ring my land line phone from that room for
the first time. So early indications are good, though wioth this quick test
the rest of the house was not well covered, if at all.

This weekend I'll install the antenna properly on the roof, and post another
follow-up.

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Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/

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Mike Russell - 12 Mar 2007 07:55 GMT

After experimenting with roof antenna and interior placement, I have a
satisfactory configuration for you new Wireless Extender Z-Boost, Model 510.
I paid extra for a dual unit, though I'm using only 1900 MHz.

The roof antenna is a dipole, mounted on a 10 foot mast, and my cell phone
shows four bars of signal on the roof. The unit is mounted on an interior
wall, relatively near the middle of the house. Insted of zero to one bars,
I now have two bars in the center of all the rooms of the house, with spotty
coverage in some areas of 1 bar or less, mainly in the far corners of the
house.

Overall I'm happy to finally be able to use a cell phone in the house, so I
would count this device as genuinely useful, at least in my situation with
the nearest tower about a mile away. Our house is about 1200 square feet.
YMMV.

I'd like to get even more signal than I have, and I see a possible yagi in
my future. I'd be interested in any educated guesses on the odds that
interior performance would be improved with a directional antenna. Am I
limited by the power of the unit itself, or the incoming signal? Are there
common hacks - such as an inline linear amp - to increase the power of the
unit?

Thanks to those of you who responded to my earlier questions - this has been
a happy ending.

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Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/

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