*my* results are marginal. I blame my location as well as my
is my primary/best tower. I determined this by a combination of
T-mobile. My wife fares better with her 4s and ATT... (I think the
I've not been able to make Google Voice work well for me. The main
feature I use is it's voicemail transcription... for those who are
V-mail, I get a weird-ass transcription of whatever they say. Since I'm
phone, but sometimes can check my e-mail, I find it very convenient. I
(maybe the quality of the original audio as much as their algorithms...
accurate (black text)... the hints are helpful... the "entertaining"
parts are always in the "greyed out" parts. The fact that they attach
a copy of the original audio is good too. 90% of my V-mails I can ingest
handoff failures... (crest of SF hill going north, La Bajada at the
I am likely to return to ATT on a family plan with my wife. T-mobile is
no better and maybe worse in some situations. I tried a pay-as-you go
wife or a month-by-month t-mobile plan... so the cost is roughly a
wash. If I actually went more than a few days out of the month without
could save... but in fact I probably don't go more than 2-3 days w/o
Skype, etc. I still use Skype but not to replace my normal cell
phone usage... primarily I use it for Video, Screen sharing and overseas
option. I think I was reaching too far by trying to turn an "almost
never there" signal into an "always there" signal... but I'm also very
adaptable... I think most folks would find the variable unreliability
> Adding to this frustration Santa Fe isn't to hot on allowing cell
> providers to install new towers. (fwack) I'd have to check a reliable
> source-it might be possible root a iphone to improve it's signal
> strength- but glad to here the repeater scenario is somewhat of a
> improvement. I here good things about google voice- haven't used it
> myself.
>
> On Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 7:34 PM, Steve Smith <
[hidden email]> wrote:
>> Just to follow up on this thread for those who care:
>>
>> I finally got around to ordering (and then got around to installing) a
>> Wilson Electronics DB Pro with a directional (Yagi) outdoor receiving
>> antenna and an omnidirectional indoor antenna. It is a dual band
>> "transciever", essentially taking in whatever signal it finds in those bands
>> from the Yagi and retransmitting them (after amplification) on the omni (to
>> be placed at least 20 feet away and not in "front" of the Yagi).
>>
>> I'm testing against T-Mobile on an iPhone4 (not 4s). My wife is still on
>> ATT with her iPhone 2g (soon to be replaced with a 4s), I'll do some testing
>> there as well. For those of you who followed the earlier thread, my
>> location near Otowi bridge on NM 502 at the Rio Grande has almost zero
>> effective cell coverage. We are down low and all the known towers
>> (espanola, pojoaque, white rock, pajarito mountain) nearby are either
>> marginally line of site or completely blocked by intermediate topography.
>> My goal is to get good enough coverage to delete my wired landline service
>> (which we hardly use even with cell phones not working)... I expect to use
>> my wireless (900Mhz from Tewacom) with Skype to provide a backup alternative
>> to the Cell coverage. I'm testing Google Voice to integrate it all (hah!).
>>
>> Using the aforementioned "field test mode" on my iPhone4 I was able to
>> verify that I was getting a modestly better signal... using the RSSI
>> (received signal strength indicator) measure in the field test mode, I was
>> able to roughly map the net strength of signal to my phone with and without
>> the repeater turned on.
>>
>> The Yagi is about 15 feet above the ground (a permanent installation will b
>> ecloser to 20) facing roughly due East which is both my best guess as to
>> where the tower I'm most likely to use is, and corroborated by some ad-hoc
>> direction testing with the RSSI. The Omni is roughly in the center of my
>> 30'x30'x20'(tall) stucco-mesh-frame faraday cage of a house.
>>
>> At the location of the Yagi, my signal strength is roughly the same whether
>> the system is on or not (not surprising as one step in the installation is
>> to reduce the retransmit strength until there is no detected interference).
>> At the opposite end of the house, the signal is similar with the system on
>> and virtually zero without it (far end of my faraday cage of a house)...
>> at ground level, I normally see from 0 to 1.5 bars which means I get the
>> occasional incoming call that i can't answer and can rarely call out (to the
>> point of never trying). With the system on I get a very usable signal
>> equal to 3 bars... As I wander away from the house outside, the
>> rebroadcast signal drops off fairly quickly but it appears I might get
>> useable signal on most of my 1.5 acre property where previously I had a few
>> hot spots where I might get enough to catch an incoming call for a few
>> seconds.
>>
>> I am testing with data as we speak and so far, so bad... in fact, the whole
>> signal dropped out in the middle of my attempt to get to my favorite
>> speed-test site (speakeasy.net) and of course, when I got there, I am told
>> that my favorite method requires Flash 7, apparently not on my
>> Safari/iPhone4 (not surprising). So I'll have to find a better solution for
>> testing... meanwhile anecdotally, Google Maps loads at least as slow as I'm
>> used to *anywhere* without wifi. Well, fortunately I don't care so much
>> about Data, or at all at home where I have WiFi.
>>
>> Overall I'd say the Wilson system works well, mostly as expected and seems
>> to meet my needs/desires. Internet research suggests that Wilson is the
>> best system with only a few spurious compliants while all the other options
>> have many complaints (though many of those sound spurious as well?!).
>>
>> FWIW, it is also worth noticing that Wilson Electronics is a small-town
>> company out of St. George Utah... the quality of their engineering,
>> packaging, documentation, online support rivals that of any large scale
>> consumer product supplier I know of. That said, there may be little going
>> on in St George beyond shipping... the parts and primary packaging may come
>> directly from China and there may be nothing more than a small warehouse in
>> St. George, but indications are that the engineering and support may
>> becoming from there as well. A business article linked from their website
>> suggests that they sell 200,000 units per year and hired 50 new employees in
>> the last quarter... clearly a big deal for a small town like St. George.
>>
>> Let me know if you are interested in more specifics.
>>
>> - STeve
>>
>>> Gil -
>>>
>>> Thanks! Very Interesting!
>>>
>>> My iPhone does have a "field test mode" (*3001#12345#*) which does expose
>>> the alternate towers that it sees (and might use). I see no indication
>>> anywhere that I could influence it's choice, nor have I been able to find a
>>> concise description of the algorithm/heuristics likely used to decide. The
>>> most obvious of course, would seem to be signal strength, but that ignores
>>> issues such as congestion.
>>>
>>> Since GSM is a Frequency Division Multiplex hybridized with Time Division
>>> Multiplex, it seems like there would be almost immediate feedback to the
>>> mobile device as it tries to connect as to whether there even *was* an
>>> available time/frequency slot to use... the heuristic could be as simple as
>>> "try the strongest signal you see, if it is full, try the next, repeat".
>>>
>>> Along with a dB indication of (useable?) signal there is something called
>>> RSSI (received signal strength indicator) which seems useful for recognizing
>>> how much interference in the band there might be. It tops out at about 50
>>> underneath a tower but is as low as 5 when still useable. Multiple towers
>>> competing and/or possibly other sources of interference run this number up
>>> without running up the "useable" signal.
>>>
>>> There are two very cryptic numbers, C1 and C2 which from the mumbo jumbo
>>> I've found, might relate to the heuristic which I was seeking above... but I
>>> don't know yet... this is subtle and complicated stuff and it appears that
>>> short of finding a professional training course, there isn't much
>>> information laying around for the motivated layman.
>>>
>>> See what we have become in this Internet/Google/Wikipedia age? We DO
>>> expect a LOT!
>>>> Depending on the phone there might be a # code to get it to search for
>>>> more frequencies. Might take a bit of diging though. My oold Cinguluar
>>>> phone for instance used #689# that let it borrow other towers in
>>>> range. I'll check for the potenial andriod # codes to see if there's
>>>> something simillar.
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 12:45 PM, Steve Smith<
[hidden email]> wrote:
>>>>> I'm hoping *someone* out there knows more about this than I do, though
>>>>> none
>>>>> of the earlier discussion seemed to bring any of that out.
>>>>>
>>>>> I took up Gary Nelson's question about Cell Towers/Coverage, my own
>>>>> frustrations, and the other resulting conversations to do a little
>>>>> research
>>>>> and see if I could learn more and maybe even fix up some of my own
>>>>> problems/challenges.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm testing iPhone 2, 3G, 4 against ATT and T-Mobile SIMS right now.
>>>>> Mostly
>>>>> at my house (very marginal signal if any) but will be doing other
>>>>> places.
>>>>> I'm looking at Cell Repeaters (primarily for my home, but maybe also
>>>>> mobile). I'm therefore *mostly* sorting out GSM related issues, but
>>>>> there
>>>>> is a lot of overlap in general RF issues, repeaters, tower locations,
>>>>> etc.
>>>>>
>>>>> I started trying to write up what I know (so far) and discovered that
>>>>> (as
>>>>> often is the case) the more I know, the more I know I don't know. My
>>>>> 3rd
>>>>> Class Radiotelephony license from 1974 and a BS in Physics provides
>>>>> just
>>>>> enough background to get me in trouble. I wrote a long, rambly overview
>>>>> of
>>>>> what I know (dominated by what that made me realize I *didn't* know) and
>>>>> decided most of you don't care.
>>>>>
>>>>> So, if there are others trying to make actionable sense (or merely slake
>>>>> your curiosity) about the issues of Cell Reception and the potential use
>>>>> of
>>>>> Repeaters, ping me and we can discuss offline. Maybe once we learn
>>>>> enough,
>>>>> one or more of us can write up a (more) concise "lessons learned".
>>>>>
>>>>> My long-winded ramble was useful (to me) already, as trying to explain
>>>>> it to
>>>>> the larger crowd caused me to dig just a little deeper than I was for
>>>>> more
>>>>> "practical" reasons. Now to get my nose back on the practical
>>>>> grindstone.
>>>>>
>>>>> - Steve
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>>
>>>>> ============================================================
>>>>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>>>>> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
>>>>> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at
http://www.friam.org>>>>>
>>>> ============================================================
>>>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>>>> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
>>>> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at
http://www.friam.org>>>
>>>
>>> ============================================================
>>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>>> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
>>> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at
http://www.friam.org>>>
>>
>> ============================================================
>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
>> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at
http://www.friam.org> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at
http://www.friam.org>
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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