Best Nextel phone for poor coverage location

I have a good signal ( ATT / T-Mobile/ Cingular) outside my house but
unusable signal inside the house ( wood frame-vinyl siding and Nokia 6610)
and I don't want to spend $500 for a cellular repeater (the 6610 didn't have
external antenna capability). Nextel says they also have good coverage
however I've been unable to reach anyone that can tell me which of Nextel's
phones has the best RF reception characteristics. Also will the use of an
external antenna, inside the house, improve the signal enough to be usable ?
Thanks,
[email protected]

---

› See More: Best Nextel phone for poor coverage location

My i90c seems to get excellent RF reception (although Nextel doesn't sell
them anymore). I know that I've had calls before where the indicator showed
0 bars but still had service, and it held on to what little signal it had
and didn't drop. YMMV of course, but in my opinion the i90c has very good
RF reception.


"Jon Harris" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have a good signal ( ATT / T-Mobile/ Cingular) outside my house but
> unusable signal inside the house ( wood frame-vinyl siding and Nokia 6610)
> and I don't want to spend $500 for a cellular repeater (the 6610 didn't
have
> external antenna capability). Nextel says they also have good coverage
> however I've been unable to reach anyone that can tell me which of
Nextel's
> phones has the best RF reception characteristics. Also will the use of an
> external antenna, inside the house, improve the signal enough to be usable
?
> Thanks,
> [email protected]
>
>

In article <[email protected]>,
"Jon Harris" <[email protected]> wrote:

> I have a good signal ( ATT / T-Mobile/ Cingular) outside my house but
> unusable signal inside the house ( wood frame-vinyl siding and Nokia 6610)
> and I don't want to spend $500 for a cellular repeater (the 6610 didn't have
> external antenna capability). Nextel says they also have good coverage
> however I've been unable to reach anyone that can tell me which of Nextel's
> phones has the best RF reception characteristics. Also will the use of an
> external antenna, inside the house, improve the signal enough to be usable ?
> Thanks,

Unless nextel can document they have a tower much closer to where you
live than their competitors, they're just blowing smoke.

"Donald, the cowardly Village Idiot" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...

> Unless nextel can document they have a tower much closer to where you
> live than their competitors, they're just blowing smoke.

If anyone would know about blowing smoke, it would be you.

An external antenna properly designed for your phone will certainly help.
Then again, why keep it inside. Wire the antenna outside your house, say up
on the roof, and run it down. If you are going to do that, take a look for a
phone where there is a device like a cell socket and wire the phone into it.
Then buy a $19 cordless phone from Walmart and plug that phone into the
Cellsocket.

Stu

"Donald" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> "Jon Harris" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > I have a good signal ( ATT / T-Mobile/ Cingular) outside my house but
> > unusable signal inside the house ( wood frame-vinyl siding and Nokia
6610)
> > and I don't want to spend $500 for a cellular repeater (the 6610 didn't
have
> > external antenna capability). Nextel says they also have good coverage
> > however I've been unable to reach anyone that can tell me which of
Nextel's
> > phones has the best RF reception characteristics. Also will the use of
an
> > external antenna, inside the house, improve the signal enough to be
usable ?
> > Thanks,
>
> Unless nextel can document they have a tower much closer to where you
> live than their competitors, they're just blowing smoke.

i don't think one phone has better RF then the other. I did hear a rummor
though with the latest updates off idenupdate you'd get a better signal. i95
is a good phone if you willing to spend $200 on a phone. I have had mine for
over a year now and i think its just as good as any of the other new phones
out there; I can't think of any other phone that been sold like the i95 for
as long as its been selling. It was like $400+ brand new and after being
around for a year it only dropped to $350. It was $250 when i730 came out
and now it's $200.



"Scott Stephenson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
newsmrDb.1180$%[email protected]...
>
> "Donald, the cowardly Village Idiot" <[email protected]> wrote in
> message news:[email protected]...
>
> > Unless nextel can document they have a tower much closer to where you
> > live than their competitors, they're just blowing smoke.
>
> If anyone would know about blowing smoke, it would be you.
>
>

"Scott Stephenson" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<DmrDb.1180$%[email protected]>...
> "Donald, the cowardly Village Idiot" <[email protected]> wrote in
> message news:[email protected]...
>
> > Unless nextel can document they have a tower much closer to where you
> > live than their competitors, they're just blowing smoke.
>
> If anyone would know about blowing smoke, it would be you.


Fortunately it is very easy to find out how close a NEXTEL site is to
you. Being they have to individually license each transmit location
you can plug in your lat/long into this FCC webpage:

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/reports/lat_long_freq.cfm

Then you put in the requested search radius (I usually use .5 miles)
and the frequencies between 851.0 and 821.0 MHz. and hit submit query.
It will display the licensed transmitter locations close to you.

Mark

On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 12:42:26 GMT, "Stuart Friedman" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>An external antenna properly designed for your phone will certainly help.
>Then again, why keep it inside. Wire the antenna outside your house, say up
>on the roof, and run it down. If you are going to do that, take a look for a
>phone where there is a device like a cell socket and wire the phone into it.
>Then buy a $19 cordless phone from Walmart and plug that phone into the
>Cellsocket.

Cellsocket does not make any compabible models for Nextel. Several
Motorola models and several Nokia models.
>
>Stu
>
>"Donald" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> In article <[email protected]>,
>> "Jon Harris" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> > I have a good signal ( ATT / T-Mobile/ Cingular) outside my house but
>> > unusable signal inside the house ( wood frame-vinyl siding and Nokia
>6610)
>> > and I don't want to spend $500 for a cellular repeater (the 6610 didn't
>have
>> > external antenna capability). Nextel says they also have good coverage
>> > however I've been unable to reach anyone that can tell me which of
>Nextel's
>> > phones has the best RF reception characteristics. Also will the use of
>an
>> > external antenna, inside the house, improve the signal enough to be
>usable ?
>> > Thanks,
>>
>> Unless nextel can document they have a tower much closer to where you
>> live than their competitors, they're just blowing smoke.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
To send an email reply send to
GSMthemobilestandard ( yahoo.com

[email protected] (MarkF) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> "Scott Stephenson" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<DmrDb.1180$%[email protected]>...
> > "Donald, the cowardly Village Idiot" <[email protected]> wrote in
> > message news:[email protected]...
> >
> > > Unless nextel can document they have a tower much closer to where you
> > > live than their competitors, they're just blowing smoke.
> >
> > If anyone would know about blowing smoke, it would be you.
>
>
> Fortunately it is very easy to find out how close a NEXTEL site is to
> you. Being they have to individually license each transmit location
> you can plug in your lat/long into this FCC webpage:
>
> http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/reports/lat_long_freq.cfm
>
> Then you put in the requested search radius (I usually use .5 miles)
> and the frequencies between 851.0 and 821.0 MHz. and hit submit query.
> It will display the licensed transmitter locations close to you.
>
> Mark


I mean 851 and 866 MHz....my mistype. Sorry bout that.

Mark

Check
http://www.alternativewireless.com/c...ion/index.html for
cell phone docking stations for Nextel phones.


"Group Special Mobile" <look@signature_to.reply> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 12:42:26 GMT, "Stuart Friedman" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >An external antenna properly designed for your phone will certainly help.
> >Then again, why keep it inside. Wire the antenna outside your house, say
up
> >on the roof, and run it down. If you are going to do that, take a look
for a
> >phone where there is a device like a cell socket and wire the phone into
it.
> >Then buy a $19 cordless phone from Walmart and plug that phone into the
> >Cellsocket.
>
> Cellsocket does not make any compabible models for Nextel. Several
> Motorola models and several Nokia models.

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 15:52:44 GMT, "Jon Harris" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>I have a good signal ( ATT / T-Mobile/ Cingular) outside my house but
>unusable signal inside the house ( wood frame-vinyl siding and Nokia 6610)
>and I don't want to spend $500 for a cellular repeater (the 6610 didn't have
>external antenna capability). Nextel says they also have good coverage
>however I've been unable to reach anyone that can tell me which of Nextel's
>phones has the best RF reception characteristics.

We live on the fringe reception area of one Nextel Tower. No other Nextel
towers are near our house. When I decided to switch from AT&T Wireless to
Nextel service and buy a Nextel phone in Sept. 2002, I was told by a smart
young cellular salesman that the Nextel Motorola i80s phone got the best
reception and worked the best in a Nextel fringe area. That's the phone
which I purchased and I have been very happy with it.

This morning I went into a brand new Nextel store in our area. While
talking with the owner (who has been involved in cellular phones for over 10
years and who owns 3 Nextel stores), I mentioned what I had been told about
the i80s. He confirmed that the i80s is THE phone to have in a Nextel
fringe reception area and remarked that he was surprised when Nextel
discontinued it.

We live in the seacoast area of N.H. and the Nextel dealers here will loan
out phones to prospective customers for a few hours so that they can check
to see what kind of reception they will get at their homes and where they
expect to use their cellphones.

Go to the Nextel dealer(s) in your area and find one that will loan you a
Nextel phone from the current offerings, preferably the phone that gets the
best reception, for a few hours so that you can take it to your house to try
it and also drive your regular daily drive, commuting route, whatever, to
see if the Nextel works in the areas where you spend your time/want
reception. If the phone works well, you're all set. Post your results.

Sandy

Thanks to all for the comments & suggestions. I've opted for the Motorola
i90c and will post the results after testing.

[email protected]

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 15:52:44 GMT, "Jon Harris" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >I have a good signal ( ATT / T-Mobile/ Cingular) outside my house but
> >unusable signal inside the house ( wood frame-vinyl siding and Nokia
6610)
> >and I don't want to spend $500 for a cellular repeater (the 6610 didn't
have
> >external antenna capability). Nextel says they also have good coverage
> >however I've been unable to reach anyone that can tell me which of
Nextel's
> >phones has the best RF reception characteristics.
>
> We live on the fringe reception area of one Nextel Tower. No other Nextel
> towers are near our house. When I decided to switch from AT&T Wireless to
> Nextel service and buy a Nextel phone in Sept. 2002, I was told by a smart
> young cellular salesman that the Nextel Motorola i80s phone got the best
> reception and worked the best in a Nextel fringe area. That's the phone
> which I purchased and I have been very happy with it.
>
> This morning I went into a brand new Nextel store in our area. While
> talking with the owner (who has been involved in cellular phones for over
10
> years and who owns 3 Nextel stores), I mentioned what I had been told
about
> the i80s. He confirmed that the i80s is THE phone to have in a Nextel
> fringe reception area and remarked that he was surprised when Nextel
> discontinued it.
>
> We live in the seacoast area of N.H. and the Nextel dealers here will loan
> out phones to prospective customers for a few hours so that they can check
> to see what kind of reception they will get at their homes and where they
> expect to use their cellphones.
>
> Go to the Nextel dealer(s) in your area and find one that will loan you a
> Nextel phone from the current offerings, preferably the phone that gets
the
> best reception, for a few hours so that you can take it to your house to
try
> it and also drive your regular daily drive, commuting route, whatever, to
> see if the Nextel works in the areas where you spend your time/want
> reception. If the phone works well, you're all set. Post your results.
>
> Sandy

In message <<[email protected]>> "Greg"
<gblizardATcharterDOTnet> did ramble:

>Check
>http://www.alternativewireless.com/c...ion/index.html for
>cell phone docking stations for Nextel phones.

Anyone tried one of these? Any good?

--
Ah, the miracle mile, where value wears a neon sombrero and there's not a single church or library to offend the eye.

I have the Nextel i90c and it does the same thing when I walk into my
house. Very poor reception! I think in my case it is the shingles on
the roof which have metal particles in them.



On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 15:52:44 GMT, "Jon Harris" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>I have a good signal ( ATT / T-Mobile/ Cingular) outside my house but
>unusable signal inside the house ( wood frame-vinyl siding and Nokia 6610)
>and I don't want to spend $500 for a cellular repeater (the 6610 didn't have
>external antenna capability). Nextel says they also have good coverage
>however I've been unable to reach anyone that can tell me which of Nextel's
>phones has the best RF reception characteristics. Also will the use of an
>external antenna, inside the house, improve the signal enough to be usable ?
>Thanks,
>[email protected]
>