Any ideas how I can get a mobile signal?

vet8

I have an Orange mobile phone and no land line as I am living in a building site at the moment. The mobile signal has never been good here, it used to work with a bit of wandering around, but now it is totally non existent. It does not work where I work either now, so I receive vital phone calls from the plumbers etc. and they go straight to voice mail which I might receive several days later.

Has anyone got any idea how to improve things. I have looked at a signal booster, but it says you need a bit of a signal in the first place for these to work and here there are usually no bars at all.

We are in North Hampshire, so hardly the middle of nowhere, about 30 miles from London and a very heavily populated part of the country. I think it is a joke that no one can get a good reception around here.

Alter_ego

Can you get the phone high up to check for signal up there? If there is you could get an extension antenna and mount it high.

If not consider changing network.

I have family in N Hants, they have better signal upstairs.

robbies_gal

you can still use a signal box with no bars that doesnt mean theres no signal jsut thats its very low

try phoning orange and see if they'll give you one and also to see if a mast in the area is having problems

grumbler

robbies_gal wrote: »

you can still use a signal box with no bars that doesnt mean theres no signal jsut thats its very low

Do you mean some illegal booster?

GlynD

I think one option would be to find out if ANY mobiles get a signal in your area. Pick the one which does best and port your number to that company, or get a £10 pay as you go mobile from Tesco and divert your main mobile to that for the duration of the problem.

buglawton

If call diversion is expensive or not offered, just pick up your voicemails using a pay as you go phone on another network. I sometimes do this if I swapped my SIM out while abroad.

vet8

There is a major problem here with most networks it appears when I talk to others.


We live in a bungalow, so no upstairs. In fact I think part of the problem is that the whole area is very high, it is the highest area in the county.


As for orange, we lost the signal over a year ago when they merged with T-Mobile and it has got worse since then, not better.

robbies_gal

no sorry i meant an official box from orange

grumbler

The official box works via broadband landline and doesn't need any signal at all.

john1

A possible solution

You could for a few pounds make a passive aerial repeater or a few (x10s) more pounds (and 12months in clink if discovered) use an active repeater

A short article here also read the comments towards the bottom of the article
here http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2008/12/23/cellular_repeaters/

Google "Passive / active mobile repeater"s should produce more results interestingly quite a few from Australia surprise surprise.

vet8

grumbler wrote: »

The official box works via broadband landline and doesn't need any signal at all.

AH! The problem is we have no landline either as BT have quoted over 2 grand to install it, so I am looking to improve the mobile signal so we can use that.

At the monent we have no telephone contact at all. We are some distance from the road and BT will charge us a fortune to install a land line. If I had that I would not bother with a mobile.