Low Signal Strength Solutions

Several months ago I signed up for SprintPCS service for me and my wife.
We're pretty happy with it -- in fact I cancelled our land line and am now
just using cell phone as our primary phones.

We get occassional drop-outs and missed calls at our house. I've been
looking at several solutions and before I spend the money I would like to
see someone else's experience with these.

1) I could get another phone. We currently have N400's. While I've read
in some places the N400 is prone to bad signal strength, I'm told by more
knowledgable sources that this is nonsense and that all phones *basically*
have around the same strength.

2) I could get an external antenna. I figure this would cost a total of
about $ 120 or so for one antenna on one phone. I really, really hate
the idea of being tied to a wire even if it's just when I'm in the house.

3) I could get a repeater. Total price seems to be from $ 500 to $ 700
for one that would suite. On the plus side, I wouldn't be tied to a
wire. I'd like to hear from someone not trying to sell me one on how well
these work, though.

---

› See More: Low Signal Strength Solutions

In article <[email protected]>,
C Roth <[email protected]> wrote:

> Several months ago I signed up for SprintPCS service for me and my wife.
> We're pretty happy with it -- in fact I cancelled our land line and am now
> just using cell phone as our primary phones.
>
> We get occassional drop-outs and missed calls at our house. I've been
> looking at several solutions and before I spend the money I would like to
> see someone else's experience with these.
>
> 1) I could get another phone. We currently have N400's. While I've read
> in some places the N400 is prone to bad signal strength, I'm told by more
> knowledgable sources that this is nonsense and that all phones *basically*
> have around the same strength.
>
> 2) I could get an external antenna. I figure this would cost a total of
> about $ 120 or so for one antenna on one phone. I really, really hate
> the idea of being tied to a wire even if it's just when I'm in the house.
>
> 3) I could get a repeater. Total price seems to be from $ 500 to $ 700
> for one that would suite. On the plus side, I wouldn't be tied to a
> wire. I'd like to hear from someone not trying to sell me one on how well
> these work, though.



SprintPCs somewhere in its fine print says:

Coverage. Most services are only available within the operating range of
the Sprint Nationwide PCS Network(also see Roaming). Coverage is not
available everywhere. Coverage and quality of Services may be affected
by conditions within or beyond
our control, including network problems, signal strength, your
equipment, and atmospheric, geographic, or topographic conditions. We do
not guarantee service availability or that there will be no
interruptions or delays in Services (e.g., dropped calls, blocked calls,
etc.).

====

That means all bets are off indoors, and likely another phone would not
help much. That's the usual result reported of folks switching phones,
but then they're stuck with extra activation fees. That leaves your #2
and #3 solutions, which I have no experience with.

Another possibility is if you can do Roaming indoors (other carriers
operating on other frequencies might have a signal that would work for
you indoors), get a new FCA plan with unlimited roaming (upto 50% of
your minues).

Have you checked your house? Sometimes problems only occur at one end of
the house, or vice versa, i.e. if you stand by a given window no
problems occur. I never have a problem if I'm within 4 paces of a
windows, but if I'm in an inside hallway, I can occasioanlly lose a
signal, so I don't stand in the hallway to make calls. Never did that
with my landline so its not a problem for me. I've heard of cases where
folks can only make calls on a porch or halfway to curb; and those folks
are often anxiously awaiting expiration of their contract and in the
meantime keep their landline or seriously consider paying the $150 Early
Termination fee.

Certain phone's do seem to make a difference if you are in a marginal
signal area. I know my friend's SamSung N200 will NOT work inside my
house at all and sometimes even goes into no signal while in my
driveway. I however have seen a Sanyo 4900 pull in a couple of bars
inside my house and able to make and receive calls while inside.
Sanyo's seem to work best for the Sprint PCS network. You might want to
try a Sanyo 8100 since you seem to like flip phones.

--
Posted at SprintUsers.com - Your place for everything Sprint PCS
Free wireless access @ www.SprintUsers.com/wap

C Roth wrote:
> We currently have N400's.

N400s *must* have the latest software to work reliably.
This is very important.

I bought one last week and it had software from Last year!
(Vxxx). The current version is WDxx.

With the old software it's a POC.
With the new software it's really very good,
and a bargain too. ($120 at Costco.)

I also have eliminated my landline. I have 3 Samsung phones and one Sanyo
phone. The Sanyo does seem to get better indoor reception. I also have
installed a repeater in my lower level of my home. I am now able to get a
good signal (no dropped calls)from my Samsung A500s.


"C Roth" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> Several months ago I signed up for SprintPCS service for me and my wife.
> We're pretty happy with it -- in fact I cancelled our land line and am now
> just using cell phone as our primary phones.
>
> We get occassional drop-outs and missed calls at our house. I've been
> looking at several solutions and before I spend the money I would like to
> see someone else's experience with these.
>
> 1) I could get another phone. We currently have N400's. While I've read
> in some places the N400 is prone to bad signal strength, I'm told by more
> knowledgable sources that this is nonsense and that all phones *basically*
> have around the same strength.
>
> 2) I could get an external antenna. I figure this would cost a total of
> about $ 120 or so for one antenna on one phone. I really, really hate
> the idea of being tied to a wire even if it's just when I'm in the house.
>
> 3) I could get a repeater. Total price seems to be from $ 500 to $ 700
> for one that would suite. On the plus side, I wouldn't be tied to a
> wire. I'd like to hear from someone not trying to sell me one on how well
> these work, though.
>
>
>
>

What sort of repeater did you buy and from where?


"David" <david@comm> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I also have eliminated my landline. I have 3 Samsung phones and one Sanyo
> phone. The Sanyo does seem to get better indoor reception. I also have
> installed a repeater in my lower level of my home. I am now able to get a
> good signal (no dropped calls)from my Samsung A500s.
>
>
> "C Roth" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news[email protected]...
> > Several months ago I signed up for SprintPCS service for me and my wife.
> > We're pretty happy with it -- in fact I cancelled our land line and am
now
> > just using cell phone as our primary phones.
> >
> > We get occassional drop-outs and missed calls at our house. I've been
> > looking at several solutions and before I spend the money I would like
to
> > see someone else's experience with these.
> >
> > 1) I could get another phone. We currently have N400's. While I've
read
> > in some places the N400 is prone to bad signal strength, I'm told by
more
> > knowledgable sources that this is nonsense and that all phones
*basically*
> > have around the same strength.
> >
> > 2) I could get an external antenna. I figure this would cost a total
of
> > about $ 120 or so for one antenna on one phone. I really, really hate
> > the idea of being tied to a wire even if it's just when I'm in the
house.
> >
> > 3) I could get a repeater. Total price seems to be from $ 500 to $ 700
> > for one that would suite. On the plus side, I wouldn't be tied to a
> > wire. I'd like to hear from someone not trying to sell me one on how
well
> > these work, though.
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>

David wrote:
> *I also have eliminated my landline. I have 3 Samsung phones and one
> Sanyo
> phone. The Sanyo does seem to get better indoor reception. I also
> have
> installed a repeater in my lower level of my home. I am now able to
> get a
> good signal (no dropped calls)from my Samsung A500s.
> *

This is a good question, what is the model and make of this cdma1900
"repeater"

--
Posted at SprintUsers.com - Your place for everything Sprint PCS
Free wireless access @ www.SprintUsers.com/wap

if it's just the occasional probelm, a cheaper solution might be a
passive radiator setup with a yagi antenna outside pointed at the
tower.
you could build a simple dipole with coax running to your roof and a
shotgun antenna up there.
for this to work properly, though, you'd have to know which frequency
range your phone work on in your neighborhood.
sprint is mostly 1.9Ghz but not always.
you'd have to cut the dipole elements (could be as simple as bell
wire) to the exact right lengths, use the right kind of coax (any old
coax will not do - i'm thinking off the top of my head rg6- the wrong
kind would kill any resonance before it got to the shotgun antenna).
try looking here:
http://www.netscum.com/~clapp/wireless.html#history
if you phones work most of the time i would not use repeaters. for
them to work you would have to have no signal to your phone at all.


On Wed, 03 Sep 2003 07:32:38 -0400, C Roth <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Several months ago I signed up for SprintPCS service for me and my wife.
>We're pretty happy with it -- in fact I cancelled our land line and am now
>just using cell phone as our primary phones.
>
>We get occassional drop-outs and missed calls at our house. I've been
>looking at several solutions and before I spend the money I would like to
>see someone else's experience with these.
>
>1) I could get another phone. We currently have N400's. While I've read
>in some places the N400 is prone to bad signal strength, I'm told by more
>knowledgable sources that this is nonsense and that all phones *basically*
>have around the same strength.
>
>2) I could get an external antenna. I figure this would cost a total of
>about $ 120 or so for one antenna on one phone. I really, really hate
>the idea of being tied to a wire even if it's just when I'm in the house.
>
>3) I could get a repeater. Total price seems to be from $ 500 to $ 700
>for one that would suite. On the plus side, I wouldn't be tied to a
>wire. I'd like to hear from someone not trying to sell me one on how well
>these work, though.
>
>
>
>

I bought the CAE50 SOHO (Small Office Home Office) Repeater Package from
http://www.cellantenna.com/repeater/CAE50new.htm. Cost was $499.

Works Good. I mounted the outside Antenna to a pole that also carries my tv
antenna. Then I routed the wire down to the inside repeater. The repeater
requires a power outlet.



David





"Alphad" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:L3t5b.261812$Oz4.69177@rwcrnsc54...
> What sort of repeater did you buy and from where?
>
>
> "David" <david@comm> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I also have eliminated my landline. I have 3 Samsung phones and one
Sanyo
> > phone. The Sanyo does seem to get better indoor reception. I also have
> > installed a repeater in my lower level of my home. I am now able to get
a
> > good signal (no dropped calls)from my Samsung A500s.
> >
> >
> > "C Roth" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news[email protected]...
> > > Several months ago I signed up for SprintPCS service for me and my
wife.
> > > We're pretty happy with it -- in fact I cancelled our land line and am
> now
> > > just using cell phone as our primary phones.
> > >
> > > We get occassional drop-outs and missed calls at our house. I've been
> > > looking at several solutions and before I spend the money I would like
> to
> > > see someone else's experience with these.
> > >
> > > 1) I could get another phone. We currently have N400's. While I've
> read
> > > in some places the N400 is prone to bad signal strength, I'm told by
> more
> > > knowledgable sources that this is nonsense and that all phones
> *basically*
> > > have around the same strength.
> > >
> > > 2) I could get an external antenna. I figure this would cost a total
> of
> > > about $ 120 or so for one antenna on one phone. I really, really
hate
> > > the idea of being tied to a wire even if it's just when I'm in the
> house.
> > >
> > > 3) I could get a repeater. Total price seems to be from $ 500 to $
700
> > > for one that would suite. On the plus side, I wouldn't be tied to a
> > > wire. I'd like to hear from someone not trying to sell me one on how
> well
> > > these work, though.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

Bad_Monkey! <[email protected]> wrote:
> range your phone work on in your neighborhood.
> sprint is mostly 1.9Ghz but not always.

Wrong. Sprint is always 1.9 GHz.


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JustThe.net Internet & Multimedia Services
22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950
Steve Sobol, Proprietor
888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * [email protected]

On Wed, 03 Sep 2003 16:19:50 -0400, David wrote:

> I also have
> installed a repeater in my lower level of my home. I am now able to get a
> good signal (no dropped calls)from my Samsung A500s.

I'd like to hear more about your repeater. What kind and where did you
get it? How strong was your signal outside the house to begin with?

On Wed, 03 Sep 2003 17:27:19 +0000, ll wrote:

> N400s *must* have the latest software to work reliably. This is very
> important.

I'm pretty sure I do. When I got the phones 2 or so months ago they
upgraded the software at that time.

> I bought one last week and it had software from Last year! (Vxxx). The
> current version is WDxx.

Yes, we're good then.

On Wed, 03 Sep 2003 08:39:42 -0400, TNDan22 wrote:

> You might want to try a Sanyo 8100 since you
> seem to like flip phones.

Well, it wasn't so much the flip phone. I was looking for a phone that
had the speaker phone option built in to it, and the N400 was one of the
two they had that could do it.

On Wed, 03 Sep 2003 11:46:15 +0000, Phillipe wrote:

> Have you checked your house?

Yes, it's not one area of low performance, it's just an overall low signal
all over -- and some days it's worse than others. If I get by a window or
step outside it may be better.

We live at most two miles from the interstate, where the signal strength
is maxed out!

> I've heard of cases where folks can only make calls
> on a porch or halfway to curb; and those folks are often anxiously
> awaiting expiration of their contract and in the meantime keep their
> landline or seriously consider paying the $150 Early Termination fee.

My case really isn't that bad, but if I could do something to improve my
situation, I'd certainly consider doing it.

*SERIOUSLY* looking in to repeaters.

In article <[email protected]>,
C Roth <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Wed, 03 Sep 2003 08:39:42 -0400, TNDan22 wrote:
>
> > You might want to try a Sanyo 8100 since you
> > seem to like flip phones.
>
> Well, it wasn't so much the flip phone. I was looking for a phone that
> had the speaker phone option built in to it, and the N400 was one of the
> two they had that could do it.

It's too bad the Sanyo 4900 just got discontinued, it has an excellent
speaker phone. Some Radio Shacks still may have them.