question about booster antennas and signal boosters

mel- · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 25

I just got a samsung a920 with unlimited pam. I have 1xrtt speed at my house with 5 bars (I think the connection manager said -56 but I'll look when I get back on).

I can get an evdo signal about 3/10 of a mile from my house. If I walk back to my barn about a ten of a mile or so north of me I get a weak evdo signal.

the tower that has evdo is about 7.2 miles from me but it's almost completely flat between here and there. I sit on a hill and can see the water tower of the town inbetween us that is about 3.5 miles away. oops, edited to add that town has good strong evdo coverage from that tower.

since the signal is just a few hundred feet from me, will the antenna pick it up? what kind of antenna should I get? do I need a signal booster also? I don't have a card, just the phone as modem so need something that works with this phone.

Thank you.

Semi75 · EVDO Junkie Joined: 25 Feb 2006 Posts: 230

I would definetly give it a try. Search through these forums and you will see what worked for some and not for others, the best thing is you may not be facing terrain issues like many of us. You have a couple of options, the first is the booster antenna sold through here but it may not do the trick alone. If you are wiling to try an exterior I would reccomend that over a booster and using a booster for travel or moving around the house. If an exterior antenna alone doesn't help you enough then try an amp too.

If it were me trying it again in a situation like yours and I really wanted to invest in trying it right the first time I would look for a good place to mount a pole and just order a yagi antenna and some low loss cable, plus connectors and phone adapter. Get the Yagi up nice and high and see if you can get a decent signal. If you then have a little signal and want more help I would add in an amp. I'm sure Max Signal or someone else will post some help here for you but I wouldn't expect too much help from just a booster antenna at your home if you cannot connect as it.

mel- · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 25

tonight, in the back room of my house, I was able to get and sustain an evdo signal.

It's not testing very fast at the speed tests at dslreports, though. at best 100 down 100 up. so I am off to read what might be wrong.

since I can get a signal at least after dark at the back of my house, is the yagi antenna still the best choice?

mel- · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 25

oh and I don't have a card. I am using the phone as modem. (a samsung a920). looking at it, it looks like maybe the antenna port is on the bottom right next to the usb cable port so I don't think I could use the usb cable and an antenna at the same time.

MaximumSignal · Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:19 pm Post subject:

MaximumSignal · Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:20 pm Post subject:

mel- · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 25

its almost flat north of me towards indy where all the evdo towers are. I am on a hill. there is a hill south of me that has tv towers on it. if you go drive down the road on that hill you can see downtown indy and it is 45 miles away at that point. thats how flat and downhill it is from here north Wink

that tower that is 7 miles north of me is the closest evdo tower.

radio shack told me there are 6 sprint towers in our town but none yet have evdo. the closest 1xrtt tower to me is only about 1.5 miles or so.

I did have to put the cell phone in my north facing window to keep a signal. otherwise it would lose it. i was getting horrible upload speeds but my download speeds on tests were running 118-250. not near what evdo is capable of but a real thrill compared to dialup.

I will take a pic of the bottom of the phone tomorrow and post it but I could find no rubber stoppers of any kind. on the sides there is the transflash port and earplugs and volume. on the bottom is the usb cable and charger port. right beside it is a tiny port that looks like a teeny rca jack. I think that is where the home charger you can buy for it plugs into but the book doesn't refernce that port at all in the diagram.

mel- · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 25

you said to look below the antenna. Im not really sure what is the antenna on this. it shows it in the diagram to be on the back and at the top but all there is there is a tiny indentation.

in looking on the web I found a cell accessory site that stated it had no antenna port.

MaximumSignal · Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 5:32 am Post subject:

mel- · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 25

here are some pics. I had to brighten them to see any detail.

MaximumSignal · Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:02 am Post subject:

there is no RF port on the phone you would have to use and induction adapter or a wireless amplifer/repeater unit

Semi75 · EVDO Junkie Joined: 25 Feb 2006 Posts: 230

Just curious but is there any reason why you would not want to go with a data card too? It will cost more but from the threads I have read, no personal experience mind you is that the tethered options usually do not preform as well as the cards as far as speed goes. The repeater option won't be nearly as easy as connecting an exterior antenna to a card and by looking at your phone I don't see an antenna to unscrew to use the easiest induction method.

The fact that you can get a usable evdo signal w/o any exterior device is a definite plus for you though in regards to finding a workable solution should you decide to get a card. Oddly enough though I can get the same speeds that you are seeing on 1xrtt. 100-120 down and 100k up.

mel- · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 25

I'll had to do some reading then on PAM compared to the cards. I hadn't read that the cards would be faster.

the pam plus phone is only $70 a month for unlimited. to get a card plus unlimited would be $100 a month (I have the 29.99 voice plan but was told to get unlimited card I'd have to have a 39.99 voice plan or better). I thought I'd try this and if somewhere down the road I want to upgrade I can do that, I can keep this phone and drop the pam plan and buy a card. the pam plan isn't a contract just month to month. I didn't want to commit to a card until I got a real good feel for what the service would be like. I'm out of evdo range and I'm not paying $100 a month for dialup speeds.

sprint says the sanyo 7500 has an exterior port. I am still within my 14 day trial so I could exchange them so I'm going to look into that.

if anyone else has any experience with tethering speeds compared to card speeds, I'd be interested in hearing them.

oh, and this he is a she Wink

mel- · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 25

I found a post on sprintusers.com that said the a900 had an external antenna port under the battery (I called my local sprint store and they said neither had an antenna port).

so anyway, I took the battery off and there was one of those rubber stoppers and I pulled it off. this is a pic of what was underneath:

is this an antenna port? Thank you.

MaximumSignal · Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 4:23 pm Post subject: