Anyone here ever used a wireless phone signal booster?

[SacredCow]

A friend of mine wants to drop his Vonage, as they keep bumping the price up just about every month. Problem is, his wireless signal strength is not the greatest around his house, and he also has a metal roof- which makes a wireless call inside the house virtually impossible.

I've seen the signal boosters- anybody know if they work? Or have any other recommendations?

Thanks!
:hi:

To clarify, I'm not talking about the things that you stick on the back of your phone or somesuch. I've seen some actual antennas that you place on the roof of your house that supposedly pick up the signal and give you a better signal to lock on to.

[pintobean]

1. I use them

They help in some areas and do nothing in other areas. It's worth a try. They are dirt cheap on Ebay.

[lizziegrace]

5. I'm in a similar situation as the OP's friend

no land line and I live out in the country in a 160 year old house. Dropped calls are too common and annoying to my clients.

Any particular type or brand to look for? I've seen them anywhere from $49 to several hundred $$.

Thanks!

[pintobean]

7. I misunderstood the op

I was talking about those antenna stickers that you put behind the battery of your cell phone. For a couple of bucks, they're worth a try. The clarification in the op was added after my reply.

[SacredCow]

8. Yeah- sorry about that....

I totally forgot about those things, and the OP (before editing) was vague. I don't know if he's tried one of those sticker things, or not.

[HopeHoops]

2. How about a land line? Wireless landline phones are great!

:shrug:

[SacredCow]

3. Nah.

The whole point is dumping a landline period. I did it in 2004, but I don't have signal issues in my home.

[HopeHoops]

4. Yeah, but a landline with DSL is the cheapest option. I've even got unlimited long distance.

They keep trying to hit me up with "better offers", but nothing they come up with touches what I've got.

As for cell, you really can't do much about the signal strength. The only thing the "booster" does is help within the house if you already get fine reception upstairs but drop the signal in the basement or remote part of the house. There's nothing that will make your signal seem closer to the tower.

[SacredCow]

6. Well, a wireless phone works OK outside of the house...

(out from under the metal roof, that is). It's not "all bars" strength, but it works. So maybe the booster would help get the signal past the roof?

The situation is, he has cable TV, and cable internet (and uses the Vonage). Currently his Vonage plan is about $34 per month, and rising. He got an offer to bundle phone service from the cable company- $6 per month for a year, then up to the going rate (which is currently $44 per month if you have cable and internet through them, too). I really think he just wants to ditch the landline altogether.

[HopeHoops]

9. We've got a family plan on the cell phones - shared minutes, no cost between our own phones.

I don't get any of the bullshit like text messaging or Internet access. Why the fuck would I want to use a cell phone to browse the net when I can use a huge monitor at home or my 10" netbook from pretty much anywhere? There are free hot spots all over the place.

Most of our calls are within our own phones so we don't even eat into minutes doing that. If we want to call anyone else, we use the land line - no charge for those minutes either since it is unlimited anywhere in the US.

Vonage started out as a decent idea, but it royally sucks now. My buddy down the street was an early adopter but he dumped it over a year ago because they kept jacking up the rates and the service sucked. Besides, Skype is free and you get video feed if you want it!

[elocs]

10. I need to know about this because I am using an old Tracfone

and I cannot get a dependable signal with the new ones since my home has a metal roof as well as steel siding. With the new phones I have to walk outside to get or make a call.

My regular phone in the house is a wireless Voip phone for which I usually average less than $15 a month and I am happy with that, but the numbers are getting worn off my old Tracfone which I have used for years for "just in case" and not with regularity.