Anyone with a cellular booster in their home?

[StaceyinLA]

Do you have to have internet service to connect it to, or are there some that just intercept and boost the cellular signal coming into the home?

 

We live in the boonies and our service has been extra crummy - don't think a provider change will really work for us, as none are really that great in our area.

 

It seems pretty ridiculous that a cell phone booster would require internet service. If I had good internet service, I wouldn't need to boost my data to begin with.  :confused1:

[Wishes]

Yes, my cell booster has to be hooked up directly to the internet. Even with that, my signal can still be troublesome, and that is with a strong internet signal. It's quite annoying.

[AK_Mom4]

We tested out a few (DH was working as a cell engineer at the time). They helped in terms of maintaining long duration voice calls but didn't do much for the data. Eventually the company added a tower in our area and fixed the problem.

[Lanny]

If you are a long way from the nearest tower(s), you need to have cell phones (and a cellular provider) that are using the CDMA technology.    CDMA service is still available in the USA and there are major cellular providers in the USA (sorry I don't know which ones are CDMA and which are GSM).   GSM phones require a very strong signal.  With CDMA it is easier to maintain communications.  That applies to Voice calls, I don't know how Data would work, with a weak CDMA signal, but if I were in your location, I would never consider GSM service, if CDMA was available.    I wonder if you could install a tower (not a cell tower) and install some kind of "Yagi" antenna on it and connect that, via Coaxial (?) cable,to something in your house and then boost the signal?       The "Yagi"antenna would be "Directional" (pointed at your nearest tower) and it will have "Gain"  which boosts the signal coming from the provider and going to the provider. GSM phones have a SIM card. CDMA phones do not have a SIM card.   GL

[Lanny]

If you are looking for better Internet service, is there a provider of Terrestrial (sp?) Internet in your area? A childhood friend lives in the sticks in UT and he has that service for Internet.  I believe the antenna you would need for the Cell service would be very tiny (a pound or two) and have very little Surface Area, so you might be able to use one of those inexpensive push up masts, to get the antenna high up in the air. Preferably 50 feet or more above the ground or house.  You might also look into the availability of Internet via Satellite.  

[Melinda in VT]

Yes, we have a cell micro-tower, and yes, it requires our internet service to run. We don't use the micro-tower for data; we use it to get and send phone calls and text messages.