Mobile Phone Range

[whiskeryron]

We are moving house shortly to a village in Hereford shire where there is very poor mobile reception. We cannot get a signal in the house itself & just an on & off signal depending on where we stand outside. We are using both Orange & Tesco O2 mobiles. Is there any sort of device we can buy that will boost and give us a stronger signal ? Probably no help whatsoever but I seem to remember
Years ago a device with a built in Capacitor that plugged into a 13amp socket & used the house wiring as a giant antenna for radio reception.

WR.

[ll_billym]

Without going into the detail, mobile communications are transmit as well as receive and it's not possible to use another antenna system apart from the one inside the device.

Only UK operators Three and Vodafone are currently marketing solutions - a box in your house that communicates with your phone and it then uses your broadband connection to communicate with the rest of the world.

I know that other operators have these systems but they are not being marketed to the public at present for whatever reason.

You may be able to purchase/get given one if you speak directly to your operator - although you and your wife would need to be on the same network (Tesco use the O2 network and Orange have their own). I suggest speaking to Orange. Tell them you will switch networks if they don't send you one.

The official name for the device is a Femtocell.

http://www.business.vodafone.com/site/bus/public/enuk/support/50_business_solutions/50_office_solutions/vodafone_access_gateway/p_access_gateway.jsp

http://support.three.co.uk/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBISAPI.DLL/,/?New,Kb=Mobile,Ts=Mobile,T=CaseDoc,Case=obj%285440%29

[Old_Geezer]

Radio is different. I believe I am right in thinking that it is illegal for you to transmit on the mobile wavelengths, so you can not yourself boost any signal.

The femtocell, as suggested by ll_billym, is "run" by the service provider who has a licence, so that can be an option.

But I suspect the least hassle option is to check all 4 licence holders to see if any have better coverage in your area (there must be info on the Net) and/or write to the ones you are presently on encouraging them to consider putting a mast up somewhere nearby.

Apart from that, I guess there are pros and cons to the seclusion of village life.

[flicrat]

My ex lives in Herefordshire on the Welsh border and has no reception. The children are uncontactable by mobiles when visiting him.You may have to try high places near your new home?