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Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Pick A Cell, Any Cell

Upon moving into my new house, I discovered that there are two problems with my cell phone. First, the number is long distance from my home’s land line. I would dump the land line, but that brings me to my second problem. My house is at the edge of a valley that gets little to no cell coverage.

The phone number problem is easy. I’m told I can change to a number local to any area I choose. Since I was already planning on switching my plan to pick up national coverage, I figured I would stop my service completely then have my wife sign up under her name so we can get all the promotional discounts, etc. At that point, we’d have new numbers anyway.

The coverage problem is harder to solve. I’ve called Verizon (who has the best coverage in our area, hands down), and all they can tell me is that any expansion plans are proprietary information, so they can’t tell when or if they will build a new cell tower near me any time soon. Every vendor I’ve talked to tells me I have one of the best cell phones ever made, even better than most currently offered phones, but they all suggested that upgrading might help my coverage problem.

What I’m attempting to do now is figure out which brand of phones Verizon can work with and find out what the minimal voltage power level is for the reception for each one, then chose from the best. I’ve witnessed some service people who manage to get minimal reception at my house—something my phone cannot do. So, I know there has to be something I can do. If anyone has any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

» Posted by Queue at 12:26 PM (ET)
Category: Journal Queue

Comments

Try an external antenna like this company: http://www.cellphonesolutions.com/homelink.html

I researched a while ago on antennas for businesses and buildings where reception was a problem. They have systems that relay the signal from your cell through an inside antenna (one on each floor of the building) to a larger external antenna on the roof of the building. I’m not suggesting you get into such an expensive setup, but the above example looks like a cheap home solution.

» Posted by Jeff Krause
June 24, 2004 11:45 AM

Thanks for the idea. I’d seen the whole building models for $400+ range, but this looks like a much more affordable solution for home use.

» Posted by Queue
June 25, 2004 09:55 AM

Sorry, due to comment spam abuse, new comments on this entry are closed until I find time to upgrade Movable Type and enable registration and moderation.