roof antenna?

Tim wrote:

> Is there anything kind of roof antenna that will improve signal
> strength for a GSM phone in a specific building location?
>
> I want to get rid of the land-line in my office in my house
> (family will keep another land-line for emergencies). So it's
> important that reception on the cell phone be very good when I'm
> sitting at my desk, where most of the calls will be placed.
>
> I've tried 3 phones so far; here they are ranked in terms of their
> signal quality/sound clarity *when sitting at my desk*:
>
> Motorola T331 on Cingular TDMA (VERY GOOD)
> Motorola Timeport 270c on Verizon CDMA (OKAY)
> Motorola V300 on TMobile GSM (POOR)
>
> Thanks.
> Tim
>

Tim, you may want to think about keeping a land line at the office too,
since no cellular provider (in the U.S.) is under any statutory
obligation to provide emergency dial service to any particular location.
It may prove handy when your secretary has trouble barfing up their
most recent donut acquistion.

Food for thought?

--
jer email reply - I am not a 'ten' ICQ = 35253273
"All that we do is touched with ocean, yet we remain on the shore of
what we know." -- Richard Wilbur

"Tim" wrote:

> Is there anything kind of roof antenna that will improve signal
> strength for a GSM phone in a specific building location?
>
> I want to get rid of the land-line in my office in my house
> (family will keep another land-line for emergencies). So it's
> important that reception on the cell phone be very good when
> I'm sitting at my desk, where most of the calls will be placed.
>
> I've tried 3 phones so far; here they are ranked in terms of
> their signal quality/sound clarity *when sitting at my desk*:
>
> Motorola T331 on Cingular TDMA (VERY GOOD)
> Motorola Timeport 270c on Verizon CDMA (OKAY)
> Motorola V300 on TMobile GSM (POOR)

Consider fitting a "car kit" to your house. This will have an
external antenna hard-wired to a cradle which holds the phone
(simultaneously disconnecting the phone's own antenna). A whip
antenna with 5 dBm (or more) gain should be more than adequate.
Ensure it's an antenna which doesn't require a ground plane, and
you can mount it anywhere there's the best signal (to brickwork,
for example).

Any inductive coupling will result in attenuation of signal, so
avoid "through-the-glass" antennae - make sure the wire is
continuous from antenna to phone cradle. If you can't pass a
wire through the building perimeter, a high-gain glue-on phased
array compact antenna stuck to the inside of a window is an
alternative. Again, this will be hard-wired to the phone.

I use a phased array antenna with the car kit in my vehicle, and
a whip antenna with the car kit in my house.

As an aside, using a Bluetooth phone and headset gives me
considerable freedom of movement when the phone's in the antenna
cradle (more than the nominal 10 metres in my case, with a
Siemens S55).

As I live in Australia, any references to the antennae I use
would probably be useless to you.

John

>Followup to my question. In order to get the benefit from antennas
>like the Yagis, does a wire have to be connected from the antenna
>to the phone?

Uh, yes it has to be ocnnected.

--
John S.
e-mail responses to - john at kiana dot net

You have four basic options.Two of the options will spark some heated
discussion.
First option, Get a High-gain antenna and a coupler for your cell:
http://www.cellantenna.com/Antennas/yagi.htm

If signal is really poor, then put a Signal booster in line:
http://www.cellantenna.com/Boosters/...l_boosters.htm

The problem with those two options is you are married to your desk with the
coax (unless you get a Bluetooth Headset).

If you have good signal outside, and very poor signal inside, then try a
passive repeater. Basically a high-gain Yagi antenna outside, and a
high-gain antenna inside and connect the two with some low loss coax. This
will provide a "conduit" of sorts for the signal into the building.

the last and most debated option is a Bi-Directional Amplifier. aka, a Small
repeater. This is set up just like the passive repeater, but includes a
special signal booster for better coverage in the building.

http://www.cellantenna.com/Boosters/...l_boosters.htm

with the second two options, you are not married to your desk or coax
connection, you will have improved signal in portion of the building.
However, many will argue the legality of the BDA, even though they are FCC
approved Amplifiers.
We have a Nextel BDA installed in our building for our phones since the
signal was very poor. Now there is good signal everywhere, including the
basement.




"Tim" <anon@anonymous.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1a929b0fec3d69fb989685@news.comcast.gigan ews.com...
> Is there anything kind of roof antenna that will improve signal
> strength for a GSM phone in a specific building location?
>
> I want to get rid of the land-line in my office in my house
> (family will keep another land-line for emergencies). So it's
> important that reception on the cell phone be very good when I'm
> sitting at my desk, where most of the calls will be placed.
>
> I've tried 3 phones so far; here they are ranked in terms of their
> signal quality/sound clarity *when sitting at my desk*:
>
> Motorola T331 on Cingular TDMA (VERY GOOD)
> Motorola Timeport 270c on Verizon CDMA (OKAY)
> Motorola V300 on TMobile GSM (POOR)
>
> Thanks.
> Tim
>

DON'T buy anything from Cellantenna!!! They sent me a wrong item and I can't
get buy their voice mail to discuss the problem. No one returns your call
and their email doesn't work for RMAs. Seriously I have left messages with
their attendant that answers their telephones and with others just for a
return call and I HAVE NEVER BEEN CALLED BACK.

"Trey" <treydog90spam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:cnrWb.2533$jf.2089@twister.socal.rr.com...
> You have four basic options.Two of the options will spark some heated
> discussion.
> First option, Get a High-gain antenna and a coupler for your cell:
> http://www.cellantenna.com/Antennas/yagi.htm
>
> If signal is really poor, then put a Signal booster in line:
> http://www.cellantenna.com/Boosters/...l_boosters.htm
>
> The problem with those two options is you are married to your desk with
the
> coax (unless you get a Bluetooth Headset).
>
> If you have good signal outside, and very poor signal inside, then try a
> passive repeater. Basically a high-gain Yagi antenna outside, and a
> high-gain antenna inside and connect the two with some low loss coax. This
> will provide a "conduit" of sorts for the signal into the building.
>
> the last and most debated option is a Bi-Directional Amplifier. aka, a
Small
> repeater. This is set up just like the passive repeater, but includes a
> special signal booster for better coverage in the building.
>
> http://www.cellantenna.com/Boosters/...l_boosters.htm
>
> with the second two options, you are not married to your desk or coax
> connection, you will have improved signal in portion of the building.
> However, many will argue the legality of the BDA, even though they are FCC
> approved Amplifiers.
> We have a Nextel BDA installed in our building for our phones since the
> signal was very poor. Now there is good signal everywhere, including the
> basement.
>
>
>
>
> "Tim" <anon@anonymous.com> wrote in message
> news:MPG.1a929b0fec3d69fb989685@news.comcast.gigan ews.com...
> > Is there anything kind of roof antenna that will improve signal
> > strength for a GSM phone in a specific building location?
> >
> > I want to get rid of the land-line in my office in my house
> > (family will keep another land-line for emergencies). So it's
> > important that reception on the cell phone be very good when I'm
> > sitting at my desk, where most of the calls will be placed.
> >
> > I've tried 3 phones so far; here they are ranked in terms of their
> > signal quality/sound clarity *when sitting at my desk*:
> >
> > Motorola T331 on Cingular TDMA (VERY GOOD)
> > Motorola Timeport 270c on Verizon CDMA (OKAY)
> > Motorola V300 on TMobile GSM (POOR)
> >
> > Thanks.
> > Tim
> >
>
>

Then who do we order from? I have looked for a while online, and very few
offer the same products. Its not like you can find a BDA at Radio Shack.

BTW, you are not the first person to tell me this. That is why I am afraid
to buy anything from them.



"dmpd" <dmpd@dmpd.net> wrote in message
news:E9%Wb.56555$qK3.32731@bignews3.bellsouth.net. ..
> DON'T buy anything from Cellantenna!!! They sent me a wrong item and I
can't
> get buy their voice mail to discuss the problem. No one returns your call
> and their email doesn't work for RMAs. Seriously I have left messages with
> their attendant that answers their telephones and with others just for a
> return call and I HAVE NEVER BEEN CALLED BACK.
>
> "Trey" <treydog90spam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:cnrWb.2533$jf.2089@twister.socal.rr.com...
> > You have four basic options.Two of the options will spark some heated
> > discussion.
> > First option, Get a High-gain antenna and a coupler for your cell:
> > http://www.cellantenna.com/Antennas/yagi.htm
> >
> > If signal is really poor, then put a Signal booster in line:
> > http://www.cellantenna.com/Boosters/...l_boosters.htm
> >
> > The problem with those two options is you are married to your desk with
> the
> > coax (unless you get a Bluetooth Headset).
> >
> > If you have good signal outside, and very poor signal inside, then try a
> > passive repeater. Basically a high-gain Yagi antenna outside, and a
> > high-gain antenna inside and connect the two with some low loss coax.
This
> > will provide a "conduit" of sorts for the signal into the building.
> >
> > the last and most debated option is a Bi-Directional Amplifier. aka, a
> Small
> > repeater. This is set up just like the passive repeater, but includes a
> > special signal booster for better coverage in the building.
> >
> > http://www.cellantenna.com/Boosters/...l_boosters.htm
> >
> > with the second two options, you are not married to your desk or coax
> > connection, you will have improved signal in portion of the building.
> > However, many will argue the legality of the BDA, even though they are
FCC
> > approved Amplifiers.
> > We have a Nextel BDA installed in our building for our phones since the
> > signal was very poor. Now there is good signal everywhere, including the
> > basement.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Tim" <anon@anonymous.com> wrote in message
> > news:MPG.1a929b0fec3d69fb989685@news.comcast.gigan ews.com...
> > > Is there anything kind of roof antenna that will improve signal
> > > strength for a GSM phone in a specific building location?
> > >
> > > I want to get rid of the land-line in my office in my house
> > > (family will keep another land-line for emergencies). So it's
> > > important that reception on the cell phone be very good when I'm
> > > sitting at my desk, where most of the calls will be placed.
> > >
> > > I've tried 3 phones so far; here they are ranked in terms of their
> > > signal quality/sound clarity *when sitting at my desk*:
> > >
> > > Motorola T331 on Cingular TDMA (VERY GOOD)
> > > Motorola Timeport 270c on Verizon CDMA (OKAY)
> > > Motorola V300 on TMobile GSM (POOR)
> > >
> > > Thanks.
> > > Tim
> > >
> >
> >
>
>