Have we discussed cellphone boosters ?

[rfuerst911sc]

So here is my dilemma: my wife and I have Google Fi as our cellphone provider . Started with them in Orlando and kept them when we moved to Marrietta Georgia . Have had no issues or complaints . When not in wifi mode it used the T Mobile/Sprint network .

But three years ago we moved to Dahlonega Georgia to retire . Beautiful rural setting in the mountains but lousy cellphone service . From what neighbors tell me the only service that works where we are is Verizon .

As a general rule on a good day we get one bar of service and sometimes no signal . Does anyone think a cellphone booster would help the situation ? Or should we just switch to Verizon ? These are our only phones so in a emergency situation we want cell service as back up to wifi .

My neighbor has Verizon and I asked her to bring her cellphone into our house . As I walked around with her phone I had signal everywhere . So it appears the neighbors are right . Suggestions ?

[stevej37]

Tracfone....use your own smartphone with their service plan.

[GH85Carrera]

Change to what has best reception.

At my old office the building was a metal building with no windows at all. It was a giant Faraday cage, and cell signals were useless on all carries unless you went to the front door and stood in the foyer. We got the Wi-Fi cell phone booster, and that worked fine for all of us. It only truly sucked if you were on the phone, and walked out the door. The call would drop 100% of the time.

If you are outside or on the road in the area you want a signal that is reliable.

[vash]

i run a cell phone booster in my work truck. it is not the silver bullet i hoped it was. its more of a suction cup tipped dart.

the Verizon tax is the way to go.

[jyl]

Go to Verizon.

I have T-Mobile, signal generally okay in urban areas and poor in rural areas. The signal is bad at my house, so they sent me their T-Mobile cellphone signal booster. It helps only slightly. Conceivably one could gin something up with a directional antenna connected to this booster, but I don't think its worth trying in your situation, since you'll still have poor signal in your yard, etc.

I am hopeful that T-Mobile's coverage will improve in coming years, because they've bought so much frequency allocation plus added Sprint's frequencies. In theory they should have enough frequency at low and high band to have leading 4G coverage plus real 5G coverage. In practice, I suspect that will take years. In the meantime, I think you need usable cellphone coverage.

[OldSpool87]

Verizon sent me a cell booster for our house. They wanted to charge me but ultimately sent it free of charge. It has a gps antenna and amps up the signal well. We live in an urban area but the house is 1900s vintage Witt plaster and wire lathe which is cryptonite for signals.

[rfuerst911sc]

First off thanks to all for advice . I forgot to mention our home has a metal roof but standard stick built walls with vinyl siding . I really think the situation would be better if we switched to Verizon or any MVNO that uses their network . I did do some internet searches for signal boosters .............. yikes they are proud of those ! At the moment I am leaning towards purchasing two phones from Visible and using their service which is Verizon . They actually are owned by Verizon just like Cricket is owned by AT&T .

[stevej37]

"Tracfone functions as an MVNO or a mobile virtual network operator. They have agreements with several of the best-known American telecommunications companies to use their networks, including T-Mobile US, AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, and the Sprint Corporation. In 2015, they reported having more than 25 million subscribers."

[flipper35]

Mom had a Tracfone and dropped them.

[cstreit]

Do you have Wifi calling? If not, look into something called a micro-cell.

Acts as a mini cell tower conneted to your wifi network.

[rfuerst911sc]

Originally Posted by stevej37

"Tracfone functions as an MVNO or a mobile virtual network operator. They have agreements with several of the best-known American telecommunications companies to use their networks, including T-Mobile US, AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, and the Sprint Corporation. In 2015, they reported having more than 25 million subscribers."

I am not interested in Tracfone but I appreciate the suggestion .

[rfuerst911sc]

Originally Posted by cstreit

Do you have Wifi calling? If not, look into something called a micro-cell.

Acts as a mini cell tower conneted to your wifi network.

Yes we have wifi calling and that works fine with our router . But our internet goes down every time a fly farts that's why we need reliable cellphone backup .

[Erakad]

Live in rural area as well; suffer from the 1 bar or less cell reception....internet slow and unreliable (heavy sigh). Bit the bullet and pay for a land line to supplement the cell. Cell is too darn convenient not have (when in town), but must have that reliable backup. Most of the time, the internet will support messaging through the cell phone, but voice phone service never.

[Evans, Marv]

We also live in a rural area and don't have a cell tower close enough to get a signal. My neighbor accros the road has a booster and it seems to work OK. My wife uses our wifi to communicate with her cell phone, plus we also have a land line. The land line still operates when the power goes out.

[p911dad]

We have had Verizon for years, but had fair to poor reception at our house (it works great everywhere else). We got fed up with dropping calls and went to the Verizon store. The manager gave us (yes gave us) a Verizon cell booster that sits in a window facing the nearest tower and we have had perfect service ever since.

[ben parrish]

North Ga mountains = Verizon if you want a reliable signal. Walmart does carry Straight Talk phones that use Verizon towers. I know a few people that have straight talk and works well for them

[rfuerst911sc]

Update: So I decided two days ago to purchase a new phone from Visible . I bought a Motorola Moto G power . The phone arrived next day which was yesterday . This morning I fired up the new phone , did the activations needed and voila it works 😀 . I then transferred all data from old phone to new easy peazy .

Sitting in the same chair/location in my home where previously I had no bars of signal I now have three bars !! So the Verizon network via Visible has a strong signal as I had hoped . Now just learning the new phone . Merry Christmas everyone !

[A930Rocket]

We switched from AT&T to Verizon last spring to get better signal at home and work.

No difference.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

Sitting in the same chair/location in my home where previously I had no bars of signal I now have three bars !! So the Verizon network via Visible has a strong signal as I had hoped . Now just learning the new phone . Merry Christmas everyone !

What internet do you use? I just augmented my satellite set-up and I am beyond delighted.

[rfuerst911sc]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

What internet do you use? I just augmented my satellite set-up and I am beyond delighted.

Our internet is Windstream DSL it's all that is available here other than satellite . Windstream is one step above two Dixie cups and some string but it is what it is .