# Mobile Phone Signal Booster



## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

The new flat must be lined with lead, I barely get a signal and the internet is very weak as well, sometimes non existant, its fine if I go outside. I had a mooch around some options google threw up but do they work

On top of that I found this comment

"The unlicensed use of *mobile* repeaters or *boosters* is illegal. People using them can face a fine of up to Â£5000 and up to a year in prison"



â€‹Any solutions you might know of that actually work and won't get me banged up


----------



## Docta13 (Nov 18, 2012)

Can't be illegal bond Vodafone sell a booster and sometimes give them away if your signal in the house is no good


----------



## AVO (Nov 18, 2012)

So your coverage is [email protected] because they haven't invested in the infrastructure in your area, but you can get into trouble for trying to improve it? Go figure.

The small town where I live is a case in point. I can get a reasonable signal by going upstairs, and I live on a hill on the edge of town. We have an obvious dead spot called...the town centre! :lol:


----------



## greasemonk (Oct 4, 2012)

not wishing to jump in ,but i would also wish to know if these devices work.like bond the signal in my area is crap on all phones,would invest in a signal booster if i knew they worked,cheers..greasemonk


----------



## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

You should note that the signal is fine outside in the garden for some reason its just indoors that is the problem.

The quote I posted was from the Ofcom site so I can only asume there must be something in it.


----------



## tall_tim (Jul 29, 2009)

This may be of some use...

http://www.cel-fi.co.uk/blog/what-is-a-mobile-signal-repeater-and-is-it-legal-to-use-one/


----------



## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

tall_tim said:


> This may be of some use...
> 
> http://www.cel-fi.co...gal-to-use-one/


I'll move to Scotland you only get 6 months lock up if you get caught

:lol: :lol:

Under normal circumstances I wouldn't be bothered but my phone is the only source of internet, I tether to it to use my desk top.


----------



## scottswatches (Sep 22, 2009)

ask your neighbours what network they are on.

EE have had issues, as they rushed to move over some line frequency to 4G. It meant while very few got great internet, a lot of people couldn't even make calls anymore. It was on watchdog a year or so back. I also caught a bit of watchdog this week and the legal position of the companies is quite clear. If you can't get a signal, you still have to pay them and they will do sweet FA to compensate you


----------



## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

Perhaps you should check with your service/phone provider or manufacturer. Sometimes mobile devices are not pre-set with the most forgiving negotiation settings, and need to be manually adjusted.

Later,

William


----------



## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

Most of the networks have their own branded versions, but the things you need are called femtocells or picocells. They're effectively an internet-connected router that broadcasts a mobile signal for your phone over a very short distance (within your home). Your mobile call then gets routed through your broadband connection.

We use mobile comms at work for most of our services, but have problems with some locations, so we looked at them, but our devices use 2G technology, while most of the pico/femtocells are now 3 or 4G.

I think the EE problem that Scottswatches mentioned related to their mast consolidation program when they merged Orange and T-mobile. They took a bunch of Orange masts offline where they thought signal overlapped.


----------



## artistmike (May 13, 2006)

I'm with Orange/EE and when they went through the fiasco of joining with T-Mobile I totally lost the mobile signal that I had been able to get in my house when they pulled a local mast due to "overlap". I complained vociferously to them that I was paying for nothing and they sent me a Signal Box totally free.

It plugs into my router and enables me to get a 3G signal throughout the house via the Internet. It works well and as I say, didn't cost me a penny.. I don't know if they still do it though, in fact I very much doubt it as scottswatches says, the Watchdog programme that I also saw, didn't mention the Signal Box free or otherwise...


----------



## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

Who. Me? said:


> an internet-connected router





artistmike said:


> It plugs into my router ..


You're not paying attention

:lol: :lol:

I don't have a hard wired connection, no cable or BT landline wires hence no router hence the problem, to be honest I don't really care about not being able to make or receive calls just getting a decent internet connection will be enough

Or hacking into the numerous wi-fi signals I can pick up would do.


----------



## artistmike (May 13, 2006)

BondandBigM said:


> I don't have a hard wired connection, no cable or BT landline wires hence no router hence the problem,


Ah, obviously that's a different matter then... Have you considered a pair of cocoa tins and a long bit of string ?


----------



## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

artistmike said:


> BondandBigM said:
> 
> 
> > I don't have a hard wired connection, no cable or BT landline wires hence no router hence the problem,
> ...


That would probably work better

:lol: :lol:

I've tried a couple of old phones to see if there is any difference but still the same and Big M's IPhone hardly gets a signal either. Although I'm loathed to give Branson any of my hard earned it looks like I'll have to bite the bullet and get the cable connected. The boxes are all in from the previous occupants.


----------



## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

Ah, no didn't read the question properly. Move house?


----------



## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

Who. Me? said:


> Move house?


I just moved here a couple of weeks ago, the seventh place in as many years I'm not moving again

:lol: :lol:


----------



## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

Who. Me? said:


> Move house?


I just moved here a couple of weeks ago, the seventh place in as many years I'm not moving again

:lol: :lol:


----------



## Lucy Seen (Mar 13, 2017)

Hello

I use a booster

they aren't illegal.

https://www.myamplifiers.com/boosters/repeater-ns-gsm-a/

boosts perfectly the signal


----------



## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

Lucy Seen said:


> Hello
> 
> I use a booster
> 
> ...


 Sorry, not quite correct. The above "could be" a spammy link [first post from Belarus] - - but rest assured, there are two main probs with phone boosters *in the UK **Only* those approved by OFGEM can be used and then only with the permission of the service provider concerned. If it doesn't or can't meet these requirements, you can (as with fakeoh watches) buy them, but you can't use them.

In the same way it is still technically illegal (legality wise)to use a SKY box outwith the UK (in the EU in a caravan for example) but again, they do work, and thousands of people do it, and also fit a dish to French and Spanish property etc., to receive SKY and Brit TV abroad.

All of which doesn't help the Commander - - anyone in the area who has a booster they could lend him to see if it works at all first? And preferably on the same service provider? Otherwise apart from the risk of Vodka deprivation due to residing at Her Majesty's Pleasure, he could spend a fair bit on something that just don't work?

And finally Commander, you might try to go after your service provider BIG TIME and ask for a signal booster if they have an officially approved booster?


----------



## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

mel said:


> Sorry, not quite correct. The above "could be" a spammy link [first post from Belarus] - - but rest assured, there are two main probs with phone boosters *in the UK **Only* those approved by OFGEM can be used and then only with the permission of the service provider concerned. If it doesn't or can't meet these requirements, you can (as with fakeoh watches) buy them, but you can't use them.
> 
> In the same way it is still technically illegal (legality wise)to use a SKY box outwith the UK (in the EU in a caravan for example) but again, they do work, and thousands of people do it, and also fit a dish to French and Spanish property etc., to receive SKY and Brit TV abroad.
> 
> ...


 Good reply just about three years to late

:laugh: :laugh:

I'm still in the same flat but didn't renew the phone when the contract ran out. I did eventually get broad band from talk talk at less than half the price of the phone contract and just stuck a pay as you sim in the phone for emergencies.


----------



## richy176 (Aug 7, 2013)

BondandBigM said:


> Good reply just about three years to late
> 
> :laugh: :laugh:
> 
> I'm still in the same flat but didn't renew the phone when the contract ran out. I did eventually get broad band from talk talk at less than half the price of the phone contract and just stuck a pay as you sim in the phone for emergencies.


 Always throws me out when someone resurrects an old thread as i tend just to read the posts without checking dates :biggrin:

Strange though for someone to do it as their first post to the forum - think he is an affiliate and probably googled mobile phone boosters and then sent replies wherever he could.


----------



## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

And I Rich, but stress not, I replied in case anyone else was in the same boat as the Commander. Less known is the fact that if you have a cordless house phone (fixed line into the house, but two or three or more walkabout phones running wireless from base units) you are *STILL* required to have a corded phone to make 999 calls on if the leccy goes down - - all your bases will go down as well and you then can't call out or in. Old PO (pre BT) reg that grandfathered in to BT and has been there ever since.

Lots of things like that have been largely overtaken by technology, but still have a good basis in commonsense. Wired phones run off their own power coming down the line and are independent of the elecricity supply providers.


----------

