Do any of you have experience with cellular phone signal boosters/extenders?
About this blog…
“This blog is like a fusion of the Baroque ‘salon’ with its well-tuned harpsichord around which polite society gathered for entertainment and edification and, on the other hand, a Wild West “saloon” with its out-of-tune piano and swinging doors, where everyone has a gun and something to say. Nevertheless, we try to point our discussions back to what it is to be Catholic in this increasingly difficult age, to love God, and how to get to heaven.” – Fr. Z
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
NEW OPPORTUNITY – 10% off with code: FATHERZ10
Music from the FSSP Seminarians in Bavaria
GREAT BEER from Traditional Benedictine Monks in Italy
Polls
Loading ...Donate using VENMO
CLICK and say your daily offerings!
A Daily Prayer for Priests
Do you have a faithful Catholic website that needs competent and reliable tech support?
Fr. Z’s VOICEMAIL
Nota bene: I do not answer these numbers or this Skype address. You won't get me "live". I check for messages regularly.
WDTPRS
020 8133 4535
651-447-6265YOUR RECENT COMMENTS
on Your Sunday Sermon Notes: 3rd Sunday after Epiphany (Novus Ordo: 3rd Ordinary): “I heard an online sermon that was Outstanding. What a blessing. Our daily prayer sets our souls on our path…”
on Unpleasant but useful reading ALERT!: “@kurtmasur I was thinking the same thing God send us more young holy and traditional priests… who will become our…”
on 22 January – St. Vincent Pallotti. Wherein Fr. Z reflects on God’s plan.: “Oh to be able to go to Rome again! How I would love to have a good block of time…”
on Unpleasant but useful reading ALERT!: “Bergoglio (quoted through James C above): “In the Church there is always a temptation to rigidity and that to find…”
on Hyper-papal maximalists! Pay attention.: “The original: You are right to bring up the wisdom of the Church as clarified by Pius VI. The problem,…”
on Unpleasant but useful reading ALERT!: “Pope Francis at mass this morning, during which he ‘ordained’ various women and men to new “lay ministries” of lector,…”
on Hyper-papal maximalists! Pay attention.: “I am no expert on theology or even cheesesteaks :) but it seems to me that papal maximalism is self…”
on Unpleasant but useful reading ALERT!: “A question for Ivereigh: assuming Emeritus Pope Benedict still holds to his views on the legitimacy of Catholics adhering to…”
on 22 January – St. Vincent Pallotti. Wherein Fr. Z reflects on God’s plan.: “Father, regarding Cum Sanctissima, you mention the possibility of using the Latin orations of the subsequent missal: would this always…”
on Unpleasant but useful reading ALERT!: “I was at the Walk for Life West Coast today in San Francisco. As usual, it was a blessed pro-life…”
on Unpleasant but useful reading ALERT!: “Both articles are excellent reads. Stay informed people. We cannot go back to the 70′ and 80’s or the catacombs!”
on Your Good News: “There may be good news in the case of Fr. Gordon J. MacRae…please God!! https://beyondthesestonewalls.com/posts/predator-police-the-new-hampshire-laurie-list-bombshell”
on ASK FATHER: Can a dying Catholic receive the Apostolic Pardon if there is no priest present?: “One of the promises of the Nine First Fridays is not dying without the Sacraments. My grandma was very faithful…”
This REALLY helps! And it’s great coffee (and tea)
I use this when I travel both in these USA and abroad. Very useful. Fast enough for Zoom. I connect my DMR (ham radio) through it. If you use my link, they give me more data. A GREAT back up.
This blog has to earn its keep!
PLEASE subscribe via PayPal if it is useful.
That way I have steady income I can plan on, and you wind up regularly on my list of benefactors for whom I pray and for whom I periodically say Holy Mass.
In view of the rapidly changing challenges I now face, I would like to add more $10/month subscribers. Will you please help?
For a one time donation...
Yes, Fr. Z is taking ads…
Use the coupon code...
fatherz10
Be a “Zed-Head”!
CHALLENGE COINS!
My "challenge coin" for my 25th anniversary of ordination in 2016.
Want one? I do exchanges with military and LEOs, etc.
PLEASE RESPOND. Pretty pleeeease?
Loading ...This is really useful when travelling… and also when you aren’t and you need backup internet NOW! I use this for my DMR “Zednet” hotspot when I’m mobile. It’s a ham radio thing.
If you travel internationally, this is a super useful gizmo for your mobile internet data. I use one. If you get one through my link, I get data rewards.
WDTPRS POLL
Loading ...Fr. Z’s stuff is everywhere
Help support Fr. Z’s Gospel of Life work at no cost to you. Do you need a Real Estate Agent? Calling these people is the FIRST thing you should do!
They find you a pro-life agent in your area who commits to giving a portion of the fee to a pro-life group!
GREAT causes to support
Help Monks in Wyoming (coffee – UPDATED LINK) and Norcia (beer) and the wonderful "Soap Sisters" of Summit, NJ!
Please follow me on Twitter!
Just installed an AT&T mincell aka femtocell in my house this week. boosted signal from <1 bar to 5 bars. if you have a weak cell phone signal well worth getting. each cellphone provide has their own.
I put my mincell in my basement office (requires access to my cable) get 4 to 5 bars in my second floor office
also installed a wifi range extender to increase wifi signal strength to 2nd floor office. after installation signal strength went from ave. 75% to 100%
AT&T was giving out microcells for free a while back, so I have one at home (it’s out in the country and there’s usually no signal at all). It works really well. I get 5 bars and 3G from the microcell. It covers all of our house and the driveway.
There are a few different options on “signal boosters”.
First off, there are those little stickers you put on behind your battery advertised on Television – they’re a scam and do nothing. I haven’t seen them for a while.
Next is what’s now a fairly old technology – called a “bridge” – where you have an high performance antenna on top of your house (or high up) and it repeats the signals so you get a good signal for your cell phone. We use one of these in my place of employment. We also have a consumer-grade one at our cabin in the mountains – where we barely get a signal otherwise, but 5 bars with this. It works with multiple service providers and has no ongoing costs. It’s pretty good, but might cost a few hundred for one. Bandwidth is a bit less than if you had a good signal directly (for technical reasons).
The third is a newer technology called a “femtocell” technology. Essentially you pay to put a small cell unit at your location and connect back to the phone company with a broadband Internet connection. There’s usually an ongoing charge for this, it’s fairly new in being available. It works well too and is available from multiple providers.
There’s a separate service some are offering now, which connects to the cell data network but comes out on your side as a WIFI service (for up to maybe 5 computers). It doesn’t sound like that’s what you’re talking about. There’s usually a small monthly fee for this too and it usually only works well in metropolitan areas.
I’ve been researching this for myself. Friends have the microcels which they say only work within about 15 feet of the device. I don’t want to give up my iPhone so it’s either good coverage with Verizon but no ability to do voice and data at the same time, or stay with terrible AT&T coverage here in this area. I’ve not heard much good about the microcel so probably won’t do it. I have also turned off the 3G to see if 2G works better and sometimes it does so that’s an option. I personally use data more than voice.
rather than speculate about microcells here are links to look at
http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/why/3gmicrocell/
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/accessory?action=gotoFemtocell
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/08/sprint_does_fem.html;jsessionid=EHOMRYQMQ1A13QE1GHRSKHWATMY32JVN
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femtocell
http://www.femtohub.com/
One thing to keep in mind with femtocells, Father, is that they all have GPS chips in them. This was done so the unit know where it is located. The cellular providers license spectrum in different countries/part of the country. This same frequency spectrum may be licensed to other providers/users in different parts of the country/world.
In order to get the FCC to allow the cellular providers to sell devices to the public that transmit on these licensed frequencies they required that the cellular companies use a technological means block the device from being used outside the providers licensed coverage area.
Just want you to be aware of this in case you were thinking of being able to use a US based femtocell in foreign countries.
It’s odd how “technological progress” means having to go buy extra equipment just to get basic functionality that you used to get out of the box. I’m stuck with a cell phone company I don’t like because they’re the B-band company in town, and B-band has solid coverage everywhere. All the people I know with A-band phones have to go outside to make a call. But they’ve got unlimited minutes to stand out there in the snow and chat!
The same thing happened with TV: used to be you could get a decent picture with a simple rabbit ears antenna — or in a pinch, a wire coat hanger. Now that they’ve gone digital, I’m told I need to get some box that amplifies the signal. Gee, thanks for the upgrade.