Mobile Phone Signal Booster- Advise Please :)

alastairgott

Well-known member
A club I'm involved in is considering improving communication links inside their building.

one possible idea is the use of a mobile phone signal booster much like on these Websites:
http://www.mobilesignal.co.uk/collections/gsm-1800-boosters
http://www.boostmobilesignal.co.uk/multiple-network-c-11.html?page=1&sort=20a
http://www.signalboostersuk.co.uk/categories/Multiple-Networks/

Does anyone have any expertise on these?

I know that [some cavers use one] it's quite effective for normal phone signal, but I can't remember if it did 3g/4g. although I think that the wall between the small and long common rooms is solid brick, so the signal cannot penetrate (as you don't get any signal in the long common room)

It would be ideal if the one for the club could do 3g/4g.

How would you know if it would work before spending money and installing it?
 

Bob Smith

Member
I believe that to use a Femtocell an appropriate Ofcom licence is required,

The company I have recently left produced one (a licenced repeater), but the paperwork is quite involved, and you really do need a very good reason if your are even going to be considered for one.

Please bear in mind that as far as I know to operate one without a licence is still illegal in the UK.
 

ttxela

New member
Great Scott.

Mrs T had some sort of gadget installed which claims to boost mobile phone signal in our conservatory which she uses as an office.

Are the rozzers about to break our door down in the middle of the night and haul us off?  :eek:

What harm do these devices do to warrant a year in prison! Is it going out robbing post offices whilst we aren't looking?
 

pwhole

Well-known member
I love the last line on the Ofcom site:
If in doubt contact your mobile network operator, they should help you find a legal solution.

Like erect a mobile mast on top of Mam Tor?! They could easily hide one of the plastic tree towers in the plantation at the top of Cavedale. There's one at Whirlow in Sheffield, and most people don't even know it exists. Seriously though, I can't see what the operator can do if it's their poor coverage that's the issue other than install more transmitters. I assume, though I don't know for certain, that this has been offered and refused by the denizens of Hope Valley - or the Peak Park?
 

al

Member
alastairgott said:
Clearly thinking of yourself there Phil and not the unknown club...  :halo:

Phil's on Vodaphone, and he has a point. The final solution wil need to be able to cater for all major providers.
 

Alex

Well-known member
Great Scott.

Mrs T had some sort of gadget installed which claims to boost mobile phone signal in our conservatory which she uses as an office.

Are the rozzers about to break our door down in the middle of the night and haul us off?  :eek:

What harm do these devices do to warrant a year in prison! Is it going out robbing post offices whilst we aren't looking?

From the website above:

The use of these devices - many of which originate from suppliers in the Far East - can cause serious interference problems. So it sounds like the use of one could crash lowflying aircraft (or Amazon Drones?)
 

alastairgott

Well-known member
Well we've almost written the whole idea off, so whether I keep the identity of the TSG (unknown club) secret or not is academical. I was pointing out his nearby location spotting.

Yes, well aware that it will need to suit all providers. That goes without saying.
 

nickwilliams

Well-known member
There seems to be some confusion of terminology here.

A femtocell is in effect a very small version of a mobile phone mast and they are intended for indoor use in a home or office. They require a reasonable internet connection because this is how they 'talk' to the mobile phone network. They do not require a user license to operate (licensing is done by the network operator, in the same way as for a mobile phone) but they are tied to your specific network provider. O2's brandname is 'Boostbox' and Vodaphone's is 'Sure Signal'. We have an O2 Boostbox in our office.

Anything bigger and more powerful than this is termed a 'small cell' and does require a licence, which would only be granted to someone who has some official connection with a network operator. Again, they require a 'backhaul' connection into the phone network, which can be by copper, fibre or microwave link.

The products linked in the OP are not femtocells, they are repeaters, which take in a weak radio signal and boost it. They don't have a backhaul connection as such since all they are doing is taking the ambient signal and amplifying it (which of course means that they won't work if the signal isn't strong enough in the first place). They probably can be made legal but few, if any, of the ones on offer from the kind of vendor linked above will have jumped through the right hoops, which would include permission from the network operator(s).

The bit about bringing down aircraft is bullshit. Yes, they may well affect small drones (most of which don't meet the applicable legal requirements either) flying close by but there is no risk of them affecting a commercial airliner.
 

AR

Well-known member
pwhole said:
Like erect a mobile mast on top of Mam Tor?! They could easily hide one of the plastic tree towers in the plantation at the top of Cavedale. There's one at Whirlow in Sheffield, and most people don't even know it exists.

PDNPA are selling off the wood to the north of Losehill Hall (forget its name offhand) you could easily stick a fake fir like the Whirlow/Ringinglow one in there without anyone noticing!
 

ttxela

New member
Interesting stuff.

I just had another look at ours, it is clearly marked RF in and RF out so I guess it is a repeater of sorts. It's been there years and we are overflown regularly by a very active military base and a microlight club and I haven't noticed either dropping into the garden.

That said it doesn't actually do much to improve the signal either so we'll probably get rid of it having learnt this.
 

2xw

Active member
An easier way might be a phone that is just a voip, but obviously this would incur a monthly cost of about twenty quid for an internet connection
 

Gollum

Member
Do people actually still use mobile Phones to talk to each other in this day and age?
I thought it was all wifi and email now
 

Mark

Well-known member
We bought one off these people,

http://www.mobilerepeater.co.uk

Had to drill a hole in outer wall and place ariel (white box about the size of an FX2 battery on the wall outside and there is a little box in the house near a plug socket.

We had no signal in the house, (3ft thick walls) We now have full 5 bars pretty much everywhere

We are both on EE
 

Laurie

Active member
I've never had a mobile phone. I've never had this desperate need to remain permanently in touch with the outside world. It'll always wait 'til I get home and can use the landline.
 

alastairgott

Well-known member
Laurie said:
I've never had a mobile phone. I've never had this desperate need to remain permanently in touch with the outside world. It'll always wait 'til I get home and can use the landline.

but you may have a desperate need to press 9 thrice on your landline at home.

At the moment we don't have a line going into the building so to use a landline we would need to have one installed. this then opens the club up to a monthly liability indefinitely to ensure the line is paid for.
It may be that this is our only option, but if it is, then the decision for the club is simpler.

However if there's a possibility we could improve mobile signal then that would provide most people with a way of dialling 3 nines should they require (as you would assume that most cavers are in groups and at least one of them would have a mobile or that most cavers would indeed carry a mobile to call cave rescue in the event of an incident).

If we could give people to option to remain permanently in touch with others then that would only be a bonus (and certainly better than being in a mobile blackspot), maybe they are on a local cave rescue team or have a job which requires them to be in touch.
 
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