External Antenna Adapter

[pandroid]

How on Earth are you supposed to connect a cord to the plug which is inside the phone and requires that the back is off?

you take the back off

 

[coolkidd]

If I live in a pretty remote area, I would definitely buy the external antenna; but for now *228 would do the job.

 

[Vulcan1600]

Not to be rude but I once was in phone sales and external antennas and such do almost nothing for signal. if your in your car and get 0 bars an antenna is the same as holding your phone out the window if you can get 1 bar with the antenna you can get it with the phone held outside.
Not that its feasible. HOWEVER an amplified antenna could get you slightly better reception but not much. I speak from personal experience and thought Id chime in our mileages may vary just a waste IMHO id rather save the money and buy another droid hehe

Not true. I worked for VZW for over 2 years. Although when asked these questions I had to say no there isn't anything (because VZW didn't sell it). My parents, however used a Wilson antenna booster, not sure how much they paid for it, but they had a couple dB difference in signal with it attached. YMMV.

 

[Vulcan1600]

have you tried dialing *228 and rerouting to find the nearest cell tower?

It's a free fix and it worked for me. I got better signal after I did this.

I'm going to comment about this, but have a feeling it might have been answered already. What you did was update your PRL roaming list. If new towers were either built, or roaming partner towers either added or removed, will be mapped to your phone. It is updated usually about every 30 or 60 days. The fact you might have seen a big difference is your phone may have had an older PRL and when you updated it, there was a tower that was not previously mapped that you found.

 

[Vulcan1600]

I would really like to find a way to use a external antenna.Tryed the 228 but I get us cellular your service is not allowed.Updates please.Thanks

You are roaming if you're getting US Cellular. You'll have to wait until you're in native VZW coverage area to do the PRL Update *228 option #2

 

[Vulcan1600]

How on Earth are you supposed to connect a cord to the plug which is inside the phone and requires that the back is off?

you take the back off

:icon_ devil:

 

[mth04]

How on Earth are you supposed to connect a cord to the plug which is inside the phone and requires that the back is off?

you take the back off

:icon_ devil:

That was a silly question wasn't it :icon_ banana:

 

[sm1nts2escape]

anything?I guess I should call wilson electronics?

 

[[email protected]]

RE: external antennas

They DO work! I used this antenna "wilsonelectronics Quad-Band Magnet Mount Antenna (304202)" I had a continuious connection from LA to Seattle. In an hotel room I had NO Bars, connected the antenna, magic 3 bars.

Proper antenna, cables, connection, and placement, will give you dramatic results, I work with RADIO's I have never been in sales.

Not to be rude but I once was in phone sales and external antennas and such do almost nothing for signal. if your in your car and get 0 bars an antenna is the same as holding your phone out the window if you can get 1 bar with the antenna you can get it with the phone held outside.
Not that its feasible. HOWEVER an amplified antenna could get you slightly better reception but not much. I speak from personal experience and thought Id chime in our mileages may vary just a waste IMHO id rather save the money and buy another droid hehe

 

[tiohero]

The connector on the back of the phone is an "FME" style connector.

Here's a link that explains all the various cell phone antenna connectors:

Connectors used in the cellular and PCS Industry

Here's a few links to places to get these antenna's.... I use one when I go hiking which allows me to send and receive texts when I get towards the tops of mountains:

Cell Phone Antennas and Cell Phone Boosters at Wilson Electronics

Buy.com - Wilson Magnet Mount Cellular Antenna

Wilson Mini Magnet Mount Cellular Antenna - FME Female (301113)

wpsantennas.com - The ARC Wireless Freedom Antenna (FR0803R30-FME) Boosts Your Cell Signal and Improves Your Wireless Performance

Wilson 301146 Cell Phone Cradle with Built-in Antenna (FME) (301146) - Wilson Electronics - 301146 -

I hope this helps!

 

[Xenonram]

Answer to the *228 question.

It "updates" your roming service, and you can also activate new or used phones from Verizon by dialing this number without having to talk to cust. svc., or go to a verizon store. it is good to update your roming service every month or two. it takes literally 40 seconds. it will help with your service and if you have problems with your phone going into roming when you are in an area where it shouldn't be roming.

And to answer the guy that said external antennas don't work, is wrong, some of the car ones are magnetic and some stick to your windshield to use your windshield as the actual antenna, they both work. In florida, we have an automatic toll system called the "Sun Pass", it allows you to get into a specific lane and just drive through. they just came up with a new sun pass unit that looks like a credit card with a R.F.I.D. (Radio Frequency I.D.) chip, and one side of it is sticky with an metallic substrate in it and it uses the windshield as an antenna. Both the one that sticks to the windshield and the one that is magnetic, that sticks to your roof, both work. Fro my experience, 1-3 bars extra, but definitly atleast 1 bar most of the time 2 bars.

have you tried dialing *228 and rerouting to find the nearest cell tower?

It's a free fix and it worked for me. I got better signal after I did this.

Can you explain exactly what this does, and why would one do it?

 

[dankarlinski]

Illinois has been using this for years. Ours is called ipass.

From my Liberated Droid 2 (Liberty v 1.0)

 

[Xenonram]

Manual????? No

Apparently, the Droid does have an external antenna jack (according to Viperboy). Now - where to get an adapter for the jack? If anyone has found one, please let me know.

O my dear member Please read the instruction's book clearly you got with the Droid, insight there all things are mentioned...

Just curious, do you have a droid, or any smart phone, for that matter? if you did, u would know that Droids don't come with manuals. They come with "quick reference guides", you need to go online to view the "whole" manual, it would be way too thick for the droid's tiny box. And that is the way most smartphones are.

 

[polack]

That connector on the back of the phone isn't an antenna port. Smoothtalker, probably the largest cell phone booster companies told me a year ago that they don't make a direct connect booster for the og droid because there is no place to connect it. the cradle they sell offers a passive connection that is barely anything. i'd do some more research before you go connecting anything to that port.

 

[Xenonram]

The droid actually doesn't have an external antenna adaptor. the battery case is actually made of metal and there is actually a gold plated connector that makes contact with the top left locking tab on the batt door, an also I think the large stainless steel piece on the bottom of the door also makes contact with something on the phone. So in essence, the battery door is the antenna. To get maximum reception, hhole the phone by the sides while talking on it, to avoid touching the door itself.

P.S. Even the top three locking tabs on the door look like they make contact with some sort of gold plated contacts.

P.S.S. That is the whole reason that the battery door is metal and the rest of the rear of the case is plastic.

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