FAQ: How can I get better cell service inside?

<http://www.antennas.com/products.php?id=116>

A friend has been complaining of almost no cell service in her house -- she
had to go outside to make and receive calls on her Motorola V551 -- so I
recommended she try the ARC Freedom external antenna. She did (purchased from
DiscountCell.com), and she's been thrilled -- reception inside her house is
now clear and solid -- the improvement is about 2 bars of signal on her phone.
Highly recommended.

Note: I have no connection to these companies or this product -- this is
public service info, not spam.

--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

---

› See More: FAQ: How can I get better cell service inside?

"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> <http://www.antennas.com/products.php?id=116>
>
> A friend has been complaining of almost no cell service in her house --
> she
> had to go outside to make and receive calls on her Motorola V551 -- so I
> recommended she try the ARC Freedom external antenna. She did (purchased
> from
> DiscountCell.com), and she's been thrilled -- reception inside her house
> is
> now clear and solid -- the improvement is about 2 bars of signal on her
> phone.
> Highly recommended.
>
> Note: I have no connection to these companies or this product -- this is
> public service info, not spam.
>
> --

So- a 'friend' who probably does NOT read this group has a question and it
has now become an FAQ that points to a specific product? I googled the
group- this falls somewhere below the top 200 in frequency of posting-
hardly a frequently asked question.

Hmmmmmm- interesting. Navas is now nothing more than a cheap salesperson.
It seems to fit better than his former role as uneducated 'expert'.

Scott wrote:
> "John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>><http://www.antennas.com/products.php?id=116>
>>
>>A friend has been complaining of almost no cell service in her house --
>>she
>>had to go outside to make and receive calls on her Motorola V551 -- so I
>>recommended she try the ARC Freedom external antenna. She did (purchased
>>from
>>DiscountCell.com), and she's been thrilled -- reception inside her house
>>is
>>now clear and solid -- the improvement is about 2 bars of signal on her
>>phone.
>>Highly recommended.
>>
>>Note: I have no connection to these companies or this product -- this is
>>public service info, not spam.
>>
>>--
>
>
> So- a 'friend' who probably does NOT read this group has a question and it
> has now become an FAQ that points to a specific product? I googled the
> group- this falls somewhere below the top 200 in frequency of posting-
> hardly a frequently asked question.
>
> Hmmmmmm- interesting. Navas is now nothing more than a cheap salesperson.
> It seems to fit better than his former role as uneducated 'expert'.
>
>
Scott you really need to get a life.

"Billy Greer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>>
>>
> Scott you really need to get a life.

Got one, thanks- actually a very good one.

Don't try to associate play time with real life- its not the same thing.

In alt.cellular.cingular John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:

> A friend has been complaining of almost no cell service in her house -- she
> had to go outside to make and receive calls on her Motorola V551 -- so I

I bought a pair of $1.50 extendable antennas from cellphoneshop.net. That
has made a substantial difference, both on a v551 and a v220.

I also bought their $10 "external" antennas, one plug in for the v551, one
velcro-to-the-back for the v220. I haven't tried those yet. I don't like
the exposure of internals on the v551 when the little tiny antenna plug is
removed.


--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5

Scott wrote:

> So- a 'friend' who probably does NOT read this group has a
> question and it has now become an FAQ that points to a
> specific product? I googled the group- this falls somewhere
> below the top 200 in frequency of posting- hardly a frequently
> asked question.
>
> Hmmmmmm- interesting. Navas is now nothing more than a cheap
> salesperson. It seems to fit better than his former role as
> uneducated 'expert'.

Why does Mr Navas attract such criticism? Strict definitions of
"frequently" aside, he's addressing a problem that many people
have.

I use car kit with an external whip antenna at home. It can
make a huge difference to signal strength.

The problem is that the phone is no longer "mobile". That gets
solved very nicely with a bluetooth headset.

John

John Henderson wrote:
> Why does Mr Navas attract such criticism?

So...new to newsgroups? <snicker>

"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> <http://www.antennas.com/products.php?id=116>
>
> A friend has been complaining of almost no cell service in her house --
> she
> had to go outside to make and receive calls on her Motorola V551 -- so I
> recommended she try the ARC Freedom external antenna. She did (purchased
> from
> DiscountCell.com), and she's been thrilled -- reception inside her house
> is
> now clear and solid -- the improvement is about 2 bars of signal on her
> phone.
> Highly recommended.
>
> Note: I have no connection to these companies or this product -- this is
> public service info, not spam.
Thanks, John. Your tip was much appreciated!

DustyB

>
> --
> Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS
> John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

[email protected] wrote:

> I bought a pair of $1.50 extendable antennas from cellphoneshop.net. That
> has made a substantial difference, both on a v551 and a v220.

Glad I read this thread. Thanks for the heads up, Clarence. Just ordered
one for my 551. Maybe it'll help with home reception, here. I'm in a
"greyhole" area where slightly turning can lose audio -- no matter which
carrier or technology.

> I also bought their $10 "external" antennas, one plug in for the v551, one
> velcro-to-the-back for the v220. I haven't tried those yet. I don't like
> the exposure of internals on the v551 when the little tiny antenna plug is
> removed.

The only worthwhile external I saw was the one with a 7' cord. Not much
use, here, going from room to room or between floors. ;-)

Bill K

Bill Kraski wrote:
> The only worthwhile external I saw was the one with a 7' cord. Not much
> use, here, going from room to room or between floors. ;-)

Check out the "Personal Cell Tower" thread that was started a few days
ago about phone boosters/repeaters/bi-direction amplifiers - whatever
you want to call them.

www.digitalantenna.com

DecTxCowboy wrote:

> Bill Kraski wrote:
>> The only worthwhile external I saw was the one with a 7' cord. Not much
>> use, here, going from room to room or between floors. ;-)
>
> Check out the "Personal Cell Tower" thread that was started a few days
> ago about phone boosters/repeaters/bi-direction amplifiers - whatever
> you want to call them.
>
> www.digitalantenna.com

The difference is not worth spending multiple hundreds for
repeater/amplifier & antennae. Especially if a $1.50 extendable antenna
will do the trick. :-)

Bill K

Bill Kraski wrote:

> The difference is not worth spending multiple hundreds for
> repeater/amplifier & antennae. Especially if a $1.50 extendable antenna
> will do the trick. :-)
>
> Bill K

Totally agree...just wasn't sure how adverse you were to tethering an
antenna to it.

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <VOJhf.2069$%Q.805@trnddc09> on Fri, 25 Nov 2005 19:42:45 GMT, Bill Kraski
<[email protected]> wrote:

>[email protected] wrote:
>
>> I bought a pair of $1.50 extendable antennas from cellphoneshop.net. That
>> has made a substantial difference, both on a v551 and a v220.
>
>Glad I read this thread. Thanks for the heads up, Clarence. Just ordered
>one for my 551. Maybe it'll help with home reception, here. I'm in a
>"greyhole" area where slightly turning can lose audio -- no matter which
>carrier or technology.

Generally speaking, an extendable antenna is worth at most one bar of signal,
whereas the ARC Freedom is worth about two bars of signal.

>> I also bought their $10 "external" antennas, one plug in for the v551, one
>> velcro-to-the-back for the v220. I haven't tried those yet. I don't like
>> the exposure of internals on the v551 when the little tiny antenna plug is
>> removed.
>
>The only worthwhile external I saw was the one with a 7' cord. Not much
>use, here, going from room to room or between floors. ;-)

The ARC Freedom is small and light, easily carried from room to room.

--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

>
> Generally speaking, an extendable antenna is worth at most one bar of
> signal,
> whereas the ARC Freedom is worth about two bars of signal.
>

Bars mean nothing- there is no standard that allows them to be used as any
sort of measurement tool.

John Navas wrote:
> Generally speaking, an extendable antenna is worth at most one bar of signal,
> whereas the ARC Freedom is worth about two bars of signal.

Bars are pretty much meaningless when comparing different phone models
without know the threshold for each bar. And even then it depends WHICH
bars.

To the best of my recollection, the Noika 51xx/61xx series had a 20 dB
delta on the lowest two bars, but only a 6 dB delta from first to second
bars. Therefore if the second from the last bar came on, it meant your
signal was 100 times stronger, and if the top bar came on, your signal
was only 6 times stronger.

> The ARC Freedom is small and light, easily carried from room to room.

Sheesh! That's the bulkiest antenna I've ever seen, but then I deal
with professional antennas...not what the consumer runs across.


And it sure doesn't look long enough to be a quad-bay co-linear antenna,
necessary for a 6 dB gain. Opps...just looked at the specs. Its
LESS..LESS a 1/2 dB gain over a dipole! TOTALLY WORTHLESS!!!

Lets do some math here.....

Two RF connectors: -.5 dB loss
Six ft. (estimated) of RG-58 coax: -1.6 dB loss
Gain of antenna: +.45

Net gain: -1.65.