My hunting camp is on the perimeter of my cell service. My hotspot gets one bar "sometimes". I bought an external antenna for it for $20 on Amazon, now it gets one bar pretty much constantly, but I see about 20% of each day where service drops off.
Does anyone know if I use an old mini satellite dish if I could create a somewhat directional antenna? I could put the external antenna where the LNB used to mount.
It's not really much of a big deal, just something I find fun. If it was critical I could get a $90 directional antenna, but I have this old dish that is free.
Lately I have been thinking about increasing my antenna theory knowledge, prompted by some discussions on here.
[sarcasm]Stupid idea.
Why the heck would you want your phone to work at hunting camp?!
[/sarcasm]
I have heard great things about the cell phone signal boosters.
Problem with your idea is that it would be very directional.
I have an area where I have full signal strength and cannot make a call other than 611 to Verizon. I have spent an hour on the phone with tech support (while parked in this spot) and they tell me my signal is not strong enough to call out. I tell them I am staring at 3 cell towers and talking with them crystal clear.
I think it is unique to how the provider decides to program their network.
They prioritize the bandwidth to the cells with the most phones. Cells on the fringes get what's left over. A phone located in a cell a very long ways from a tower may not be able to call out at all, even if they have signal. I have been in the wilderness on a mountain peak with 2 bars and cannot call out. I'm not sure if 911 would work.
Back in the days of analog (before the gov. legislated that everyone have a GPS chip implanted on top of the skin under the palm), this was not a problem.
Wouldn't directional be fine if I know the direction of the tower? Then I could tune the azimuth and inclination for best reception...?
Truthfully, I don't know.
I do know that during a phone call, you are getting handed off to different towers depending on the signal strength (and your location in the cells) at any given moment.
With a weak signal, you may be getting switched quite often. I think that explains why you will have signal, then no signal, then signal.
UPDATE:
Went from one bar most of the time to two bars all of the time. Worth the 30 minutes and cost $0.
