Cell Phone Amplifier

[tvman44]

Has anyone tried this http://www.walmart.com/ip/Wilson-Electronics-815226-Sleek-Cellular-Phone-Cradle-Booster/16904412
Wilsom Sleek Cradle Booster?  Thinking about trying one from Wallyworld because I could return it if it does not do the job.

 

[denmarc]

Wilson Electronics has been a good name for many years in my experience.  And I am talking approx. 30 years using Wilson antennas and other products of their name. 

Looking at the link, It looks to me that it will depend on your usage.  The cradled phone wouldn't work for me.  Might work fine for you.  The manufacturer is a good name.  If not the best as far as antennas go.  Might be worth a try.

 

[Bobtop46]

This thread should help you out, without everyone having to repost.  Enjoy.

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php?topic=57296.msg541837#msg541837

 

[John From Detroit]

Looks like somethign I might use.. I have a "Whole House' Wilson but it favors my wife (Due to indoor antenna placement)  I may have to look into it.. Thanks for the lead.
It also addresses a secondary need the whole house model does not.

I'll put it on my "Wish List".

 

[donn]

The two biggest problems with the Wilson sleek are, the phone MUST be in the cradle for it to work, and the minimal power boost.  Better is a true 3 watt amplifier.  At least with that you can hold the phone to your ear to talk without a bluetooth headset

 

[tvman44]

Well this morning I ordered the Sleek Cradle from Wallyworld, will post my results.

 

[glockholiday]

Subscribed.

 

[Tom]

[quote author=glockholiday]
Subscribed.
[/quote]

To what?

 

[glockholiday]

To this post to here the results.

I tried to subscribe without posting a response but couldn't so I just typed it in the reply box and checked the "notify me when replies are posted" box.

 

[Olys45]

I purchased one for my extensive travels across Eastern Montana as a Veteran Services Officer. While I still do not have 100% coverage, it is a lot better than before.

To put it into perspective, this is the size of the area that I get to cover all by myself. I'm not posting this as a "woe to me", but to illustrate how much better/safer my travels are with this booster versus not having one.

My "main" area is 27,225 square miles and this is 462 sq. miles smaller than the combined area of Vermont, New Hampshire and New Jersey, which is 27,687 sq. miles.

Since I am closer to Forsyth Montana, my Boss "bequeathed" that chunk of Northeast Rosebud County, so I conservatively estimated my coverage area at 2,275 sq. miles, and even if I was off by 500 sq. miles or so, it is still bigger or about the size of Rhode Island which is 1,545 sq. miles.

I can honestly say, and I do not feel that I am stretching the truth in saying, that I cover an area that is the size of 4 Eastern seaboard states. In my area, there are 12 Counties, and one partial one, that are bigger than the whole State of Rhode Island and I have 4 Counties that are larger than the State of Delaware. The 2 "small" Counties out here in the East is Wibaux and Daniels, and they are only 889 and 1426 (respectively) sq. miles in area.

The one thing that correlates between cell coverage and no coverage is the population base. According to the population estimates in 2011 Rhode Island had 1,051,302 people and the whole State of Montana only had 998,199, but there was a lot of news stories this year that Montana went over the 1,000,000 mark. Thankfully, most of the population is out West, or centered in the Bakken Oil Patch.

Needless to say, there is a lot of open area out here on the Prairie and the population base of animals far exceeds the human population. With that being said, the coverage gets sparse and it is easy to find areas where cell phones do not work. I still find area's that I drop calls or miss calls, but thankfully they are few and far between.

Cheers,
Oly

 

[donn]

I purchased one for my extensive travels across Eastern Montana as a Veteran Services Officer. While I still do not have 100% coverage, it is a lot better than before.

To put it into perspective, this is the size of the area that I get to cover all by myself. I'm not posting this as a "woe to me", but to illustrate how much better/safer my travels are with this booster versus not having one.

My "main" area is 27,225 square miles and this is 462 sq. miles smaller than the combined area of Vermont, New Hampshire and New Jersey, which is 27,687 sq. miles.

Since I am closer to Forsyth Montana, my Boss "bequeathed" that chunk of Northeast Rosebud County, so I conservatively estimated my coverage area at 2,275 sq. miles, and even if I was off by 500 sq. miles or so, it is still bigger or about the size of Rhode Island which is 1,545 sq. miles.

I can honestly say, and I do not feel that I am stretching the truth in saying, that I cover an area that is the size of 4 Eastern seaboard states. In my area, there are 12 Counties, and one partial one, that are bigger than the whole State of Rhode Island and I have 4 Counties that are larger than the State of Delaware. The 2 "small" Counties out here in the East is Wibaux and Daniels, and they are only 889 and 1426 (respectively) sq. miles in area.

The one thing that correlates between cell coverage and no coverage is the population base. According to the population estimates in 2011 Rhode Island had 1,051,302 people and the whole State of Montana only had 998,199, but there was a lot of news stories this year that Montana went over the 1,000,000 mark. Thankfully, most of the population is out West, or centered in the Bakken Oil Patch.

Needless to say, there is a lot of open area out here on the Prairie and the population base of animals far exceeds the human population. With that being said, the coverage gets sparse and it is easy to find areas where cell phones do not work. I still find area's that I drop calls or miss calls, but thankfully they are few and far between.

Cheers,
Oly

What the heck does the territory you cover have to do with cell phone boosters?  I don't understand.

 

[Jim Godward]

Knowing the area he covers, I think he is trying to say an amplifier improves your lot but don't expect it to solve all the problems.  There are a lot of areas in the west especially, where you will not under any circumstances get cell phone coverage.  The same is true with VHF and UHF radio, be it Law Enforcement or Amateur radio.

The interstates are fairly well covered but once off of them, coverage becomes questionable and all services, i.e., Verizon, AT&T, Sprint may not work and in other areas one or the other may not work but seldom will all services work in a location if removed from the cities and there are only about 5 "cities" in MT.  None if you count 500,000 as a small city.

 

[bucks2]

Jim, if you use 500,000 as your measurement of what makes a city there are only 33 cities in the entire US, per the 2010 census. Out of 50 states that means that many states don't have any cities. And further, when you take into account that 6 of the cities with populations over half a million are in Texas and 4 are in California, 48 states are wrestling over 23 cities.

You're a tough taskmaster making a city have 500,000 before they get City status.

Ken

 

[Jim Godward]

You're a tough taskmaster making a city have 500,000 before they get City status.

I normally include the shopping area in my criteria so that would make more than 33 however it is tough to get shopping area of 100,000 in MT and that would include probably a 50 mile radius.  This is picked off the top of my head so there may be a couple that large but the shopping will not compare to any large city, you choose the size.

I have recently spent time in Billings, arguably the largest city and the shopping there doesn't compare with even Portland OR area.  One shopping center in PDX is better than any I know of in MT.  Of course if you need Tack etc., there are some great shops in MT!!

UPS and FEDEX are my friends and they get a lot of our money because of buying things from the internet and catalogs!  :-(

 

[SeilerBird]

UPS and FEDEX are my friends and they get a lot of our money because of buying things from the internet and catalogs!  :-(

I rarely buy items over $25 in retail brick and mortar stores. Amazon has better prices than they do, no sales tax and ships it right to my door, many times for free. Amazon has a much larger selection than any retail store and they have a great 30 return policy. Retail stores are too pricey and inconvenient for me.

 

[Jim Godward]

Tom,

No argument with me on Internet buying.  It is just that there are few options to buy something if you need it now!  Overnite is an option but very pricey!!

 

[Tom]

I've bought my share of stuff online over the years, and recently signed up for amazon's Prime, which gives 2-day free shipping. But there are some things I wouldn't consider buying without a touch-and-feel. Many stick-and-brick stores will match amazon's prices.

 

[Olys45]

What the heck does the territory you cover have to do with cell phone boosters?  I don't understand.

The fact that I travel a lot of very (what some city people consider) very barren and remote area and without it I'd have more time traveled with little (as in on the top of hills) cellhone coverage without the booster.

Most people East of the Mississippi River states co not comprehend the size of the West and how sparsely populated it is.

Oly

 

[denmarc]

Most people East of the Mississippi River states co not comprehend the size of the West and how sparsely populated it is.

I can relate.  But being East of the Mississippi doesn't have to be part of the equation!  I drive rural areas 5 nights a week where cellphone use isn't' worth a crap.  We are talking within 50 mile radius of Grand Rapids, MI and you might as well "hang up" the cell phone because it won't work due to no signal.  The country area I drive is also sparsely populated.  Mostly farmland. 

 

[Olys45]

I can relate.  But being East of the Mississippi doesn't have to be part of the equation!  I drive rural areas 5 nights a week where cellphone use isn't' worth a crap.  We are talking within 50 mile radius of Grand Rapids, MI and you might as well "hang up" the cell phone because it won't work due to no signal.  The country area I drive is also sparsely populated.  Mostly farmland.

Heck that is down in the "mitt" portion of Michigan also! When I Recruited, part of the area that my Squadron covered was the U.P. and there are stretches of Northern Wisconsin and the U.P. that you might as well turn off your phone for an hour or so.

The whole "East of Mississippi River thing was a better analogy than "East of the Missouri".

Oly