I moved in to Falcon Ridge by Kaplan and Gorman back in August. I didn't realize that my Verizon cell phone service would be so spotty there before I signed the lease. I can still send and receive calls, but it will randomly break up. So myself and my brother (my roommate, it's just the two of us) went for the Time Warner internet phone. I'm not happy with it. It's $40 a month, and the voice quality is not even very good. I can barely hear over it sometimes, but it could be my $15 portable phone from K-mart (made by GE though).

I just need to be able to have a consistent call to, say, my bank without being dropped or breaking up. So what do I do? I can't break my contract and get another cell service provider. And I don't think getting a different phone is going to help a whole lot, plus I don't have the money for it.

the options i see right now are:

1) cheaper phone alternative--one of those USB phone service things or something? I don't use the land line that much, but I like being able to use it as a fallback when service is bad.

2) some kind of cell phone signal booster. Do those even work?



[Edited on December 20, 2008 at 8:47 PM. Reason : I want to cancel my time warner phone service]

12/20/2008 8:39:23 PM

http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/Products.php?Type=B

or get Packet8 ($24.99 unlimited or $14.99 for unlimited incoming/500 min outgoing) or Lingo (unlimited is $21.99/month)

12/20/2008 8:49:11 PM

the wilson electronics amplifier systems work. i've got one i made in school, using similar designs and it works great. i'm gonna get cancer, but at least my cell has reception!

12/20/2008 10:12:02 PM

Verizon's cell reception at falcon ridge sucks? it's like in the middle of downtown raleigh, wtf?

12/21/2008 12:47:03 AM

It's in a low lying area or something ... Sprint has similar spotty service inside of buildings within that Kaplan/Gorman area.

Apart from getting a land line/IP phone ...

You could try to find a friend with different service that actually works in your residence and then try to cancel your contract with Verizon by claiming a lack of service in your place of residence, or you get a repeater which usually runs for at least $500, if you get a cheap one.

12/21/2008 1:05:35 AM

you can get a decent repeater (average size home) for less then 300. or less then 150 for very small coverage (a small room).

12/21/2008 6:48:56 AM

magic JACK !!!!!

12/21/2008 11:32:11 AM

Does your cell reception suck in the area of your apartment or just when you're indoors? In a lot of cases, the foam insulation behind the exterior siding on buildings is backed with metal foil which blocks RF signals inside the structure.

12/21/2008 12:48:08 PM

if you don't need to walk around, i had an external antenna that hooked into my phone. i placed the antenna outside on the deck railing and got better reception.

of course you could couple that with the cell phone base that integrates the cell phone with your house wiring and you could have the freedom to move around.

i do that when i go up to the other house. cell phone sits on charger connected to external antenna and neatly integrates into house phone. when i leave the house, i plug in a prepaid phone so the alarm works.

[Edited on December 21, 2008 at 12:59 PM. Reason : eh ]

12/21/2008 12:57:12 PM

^ which external antenna did you use?

The reception is bad all over the neighborhood, not just in the house. I can get calls in my bedroom upstairs but they will cut in and out. In my living room it will immediately drop calls.

I am really going to consider antennas. A wired one will get the job done for me. http://www.wpsantennas.com/arc-wireless-freedom-antenna-fr0803r30-fme.aspx this is one of the cheaper ones available but some online reviews indicate that it works decently, although not as good as the ones from Wilson Electronics.

12/21/2008 1:19:08 PM

i had a nokia that accepted an external antenna. does your phone have that? if not, it gets kinda pricey.

if your phone doesn't have one, wilson makes a system where instead of screwing it into your phone, it sticks on the back.

http://www.alternativewireless.com/cellular-antennas/wilson-antennas/wilson-trucker-antenna.html

12/21/2008 8:38:48 PM