I've noticed since rooting and using custom roms that my phone does a better job at staying on 3g in the house
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I've noticed since rooting and using custom roms that my phone does a better job at staying on 3g in the house
Quote:
Originally Posted by FoxKat
Agreed, and as both I and you said, the OP was looking for a free solution. I also agree that there are both less and more expensive solutions. I believe we are both saying essentially the same thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by wcjeep
Back to what the OP inquired about.
Here (My homemade projects: DIY cell phone GSM 3G signal booster antenna), is a home-brew booster which uses common household items (even the coax cable can be either the standard RG-8 or you can use common cable TV cable, RG-58), to manufacture. I found this with a Google search for "DIY Cellular booster". It doesn't take a whole lot of talent. Just some basic know-how for measuring the length of the wire, some basic geometry to understand and reproduce a 90 degree bend, and some low-level mechanical skill with pliers, tape, scissors, a wire cutter, a hacksaw or Dremel with a cutting wheel, and a screw driver. The terminal blocks are very inexpensive and can be bought at your local Radio Shack or other electrical supply store.
Attachment 59395
The pics of his phone with 2 bars before and 5 bars after at the bottom of his blog are pretty impressive.
Truth is, a simple piece of coax that is stripped back to expose the center conductor, made at a length that is close to half the length of the wave can be an effective antenna. In Cellular, there are several bands that are used, but the most common for CDMA phones (think Verizon), are 800Mhz and 1,900Mhz, and the 1/4 wavelength for these two bands is 3.51" for 800Mhz and 1.48" for 1,900Mhz. So, if you took the end of a coaxial cable and stripped it back, exposing the center conductor that is 3.51" long, and then twisted the shield into an opposite 3.51" conductor (3.51"-3.54" is a reasonably acceptable length variance since at 3.54" it would cover a range of frequencies near 800Mhz and below), and placed them at diametrically opposing orientation (180 degrees), you've effectively created a standard 1/2 wave dipole antenna (see below), which measures 7.02" tip to tip and that alone is sufficient for the external antenna to capture the incoming signal and transmit the outgoing signal. For the 1,900Mhz band, the antenna's two ends would be 1.48" instead.
Attachment 59392
For the internal end, you could actually simply do the same thing again. The amount of "Gain" you would accomplish is minimal, but it may be enough to get you over the hump. Furthermore if you hold the inside end's center conductor right against the phone's back as shown here:
Attachment 59393Attachment 59394
...the minimal gain will be enhanced due to the phone's close proximity to the primary element conductor of the cable carrying the signal out and in. In the DIY antenna above, he's managed to make an external antenna that had considerable gain, probably in the range of 7-11dbm, and that helps to effectively amplify the signal at the antenna on the phone, since the "collector" antenna is a larger element and is balanced, tuned, and likely low in SWR. It also helps tremendously that the external antenna is attached high up on an antenna pole.
All that said, inexpensive or free solutions are rarely the best.
Another suggestion worthy of consideration.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bremen
Lol yes like I said this will fix the signal issue 75% of the time and it's a 10 second fix.Quote:
Originally Posted by FoxKat
Dave
