Improving T610 Signal Strength: Can It Be Done?

I have a T610 on T-Mobile in the U.S., and I love the phone to death except
for one thing: The reception in my apartment is just terrible. I live in
New York City, one of T-Mo's biggest markets, so it's not a lack of
coverage problem. 80% of the time when I get calls while I'm at home, they
go straight to my voicemail. I generally have to make sure to leave the
phone on the windowsill at one end of the apartment where I can get
reception to make sure it'll ring when anyone calls me. Reception
everywhere else--on the street, in my office--is fantastic. I've been told
the signal-strength boosters you can buy to stick under your battery are a
rip-off and don't work. Is there any reliable method of boosting T610
signal strength? I own a Terminator dongle and have unlocked the phone and
flashed the firmware in the past, so if there's a firmware revision proven
to boost strength, I have everything I need to go to town with it. Any help
or advice you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated.

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On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 21:08:45 GMT, Andrew Johnston
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I have a T610 on T-Mobile in the U.S., and I love the phone to death
>except for one thing: The reception in my apartment is just
>terrible. I live in New York City, one of T-Mo's biggest markets,
>so it's not a lack of coverage problem. 80% of the time when I get
>calls while I'm at home, they go straight to my voicemail. I
>generally have to make sure to leave the phone on the windowsill at
>one end of the apartment where I can get reception to make sure
>it'll ring when anyone calls me. Reception
>everywhere else--on the street, in my office--is fantastic. I've
>been told the signal-strength boosters you can buy to stick under
>your battery are a rip-off and don't work. Is there any reliable
>method of boosting T610 signal strength? I own a Terminator dongle
>and have unlocked the phone and flashed the firmware in the past,
>so if there's a firmware revision proven to boost strength, I have
>everything I need to go to town with it. Any help or advice you
>guys can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Have you considered using an external antenna? I know that they make
external antennas for the T610 that are intended for auto use, and
others that are intended for desktop use (one such includes a
conventional-phone-style handset), so there are probably antenna
models intended for hand-held use. The antenna jack is next to the
camera lense, and is originally covered by a rubber gasket; the phone
comes with a little mirror that can be placed in this hole if you
want to take your own picture.

I have similiar problems using my T610 at work. My office is in a
semi-underground basement, and the building has foil-sheathed
insulation and lots of network and phone cabling, so the reception
inside the building is almost zilch. If I want to get a reliable
connection, I have to step outside the building.

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--
John F. Eldredge -- [email protected]
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

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

In <[email protected]> on Sat, 25 Sep 2004
21:08:45 GMT, Andrew Johnston <[email protected]> wrote:

>I have a T610 on T-Mobile in the U.S., and I love the phone to death except
>for one thing: The reception in my apartment is just terrible. I live in
>New York City, one of T-Mo's biggest markets, so it's not a lack of
>coverage problem. 80% of the time when I get calls while I'm at home, they
>go straight to my voicemail. I generally have to make sure to leave the
>phone on the windowsill at one end of the apartment where I can get
>reception to make sure it'll ring when anyone calls me. Reception
>everywhere else--on the street, in my office--is fantastic. I've been told
>the signal-strength boosters you can buy to stick under your battery are a
>rip-off and don't work.

Correct.

>Is there any reliable method of boosting T610
>signal strength? I own a Terminator dongle and have unlocked the phone and
>flashed the firmware in the past, so if there's a firmware revision proven
>to boost strength, I have everything I need to go to town with it.

Firmware won't help.

>Any help
>or advice you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Your real options include:

1. External antenna cabled to your phone. Lower cost.

2. Active repeater for your residence. Higher cost.

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

"John F. Eldredge" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

> others that are intended for desktop use (one such includes a
> conventional-phone-style handset), so there are probably antenna
> models intended for hand-held use.

Does anyone know where I can get one of these desktop units?

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

In <[email protected]> on Thu, 30 Sep 2004 22:13:10 -0400,
"papa smurf" <[email protected]> wrote:

>"John F. Eldredge" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>
>> others that are intended for desktop use (one such includes a
>> conventional-phone-style handset), so there are probably antenna
>> models intended for hand-held use.
>
>Does anyone know where I can get one of these desktop units?

http://www.antenna.com/
http://www.jdteck.com/
http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>