Cell phones: Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work?
Re:Re:Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work?
by ketchfish - 4/5/04 3:42 PM In reply to: Re:Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work? by legesdiamondsThey absolutely do not work. If a thin little piece of plastic with a solder design printed on, (total cost to produce probably a nickel), would boost the performance of a cell phone, the cell phone manufacturers would add it to either the phone or battery and charge you extra for the additional performance. These things are a complete scam and rip-off.
Re:Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work?
by vicric - 4/5/04 4:54 PM In reply to: Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work? by carlylegeeNo they do not. Not only are they a waste of money, but if you have to take your phone in for servicing, your cell phone provider will tell you why they aren't a good idea!
Sorry - been there, done that - durn it!
Re:Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work?
by Normanreyes - 4/6/04 11:52 AM In reply to: Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work? by carlylegeeI owned one and i never saw an inprovement at all.
Re:Re:Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work?
by SourceCode - 4/7/04 7:40 AM In reply to: Re:Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work? by NormanreyesTo everyone that says you get nothing for nothing. That's not entirely true. When you put aluminum foil on a tv antenna it get better reception and the foil is not using any current or anything...
The ones for phones DO WORK, but you won't notice any difference in areas that have medium to strong signal strength.
Re:Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work?
by email35 - 4/9/04 9:20 AM In reply to: Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work? by carlylegeeAn antenna booster is pretty much a device that simply turns up the volume while filtering out "some" of the background noise. If you can already see or hear the signal, it may help. If you are trying to bring in signals other than those you already have then you'll have to move closer to the transmission tower. Personally to me, they aren't worth the money. If you do decide to get one make sure you can get it on a trial period with a money back guarantee. That way you can't lose.
Re:Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work?
by inorga - 4/13/04 11:21 PM In reply to: Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work? by carlylegeeI have worked in cellular retail and have tried a few of these. I found that the more professionally packaged ones do work - I went from cutting in and out of calls in a friend's basement to a full two bars of signal.
One of the problems with this is that if you get one that will actually work, it slightly amplifies the harmful electromagnetic frequency (EMF) that the cell phone already produces.
Most people aren't aware that using a cell phone, in general, without a funtioning EMF harmonizer can cause extreme and debilatating health problems. There was a recent lawsuit in the US where a man sued a cellular company and won, because in his wife's autopsy they discovered that the large tumor in her head was in the shape of the phone/antenna.
I would recommend against anything that is going to boost the reception of your cell before purchasing a working EMF harmonizer. Your phone even produces these harmful EMFs when it is in standby.
This is the link for the product I've purchased:
http://www.femone.com/Product_Biotron.aspx
There is plenty of info about the dangers of EMFs if you run a search online.
Re:Re:Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work?
by ncstuart - 5/23/04 11:07 AM In reply to: Re:Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work? by inorgaHaving just real all posts, I have been impressed with those who have actually had experience with the product, but not with those who think they know that it cannot work.
I just oredered a 2nd generation EBay one and will definatly post my results although subjective. There are areas where I always lose the T-Mobile signal, and will use these for the test.
What a rip off
by richto - 3/31/05 1:43 PM In reply to: Re:Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work? by inorgaHopefully no one is dumb enough to believe that a sticker will either improve reception, or as above somehow protect your brain from being fried. 'EMF harmonizer' lol. That site must be aimed at particularly dumb women.
Parhaps I can sell you some snake oil to solve all your mobile phone problems.
If you are particularly dumb perhaps you need to waste your money on one of these too http://www.envirohealthtech.com/emf_harmonizer.htm
Congratulations to whoever is selling a piece of wire for $195
(Im an electronic engineering graduate and specialised in radio frequency amplifiers)
Re
by PhoneDepot - 4/1/05 9:24 AM In reply to: What a rip off by richtoI have been dealing with these stickers for about 2 years now. The only real thing I have seen them do is stabalize the signal. What I eman by that is the indicator that tends to jump from 2 to 4 bars from time to time will stabalize around 3. I dont think it actually does anything and if so its not really all that significant. I keep one in my phone I really have no idea why. I wouldnt unstick it or pay for it. As a Dealer I buy the stickers for 5 cents. It says on the package to sell it for $20 but I never actually could sell it for that, dont think I would be able to sleep at night. If someone is offering it to you for free which is what I do for my customers, it cant hurt, but honestly probably get better signal amplification from some tin foil =P
First, there's no evidence of danger from EMF.
by Dave Konkel [Moderator]
- 3/31/05 8:10 PM
In reply to: Re:Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work? by inorga
The one scientific paper that purported to show it turned out to be fraudulent. And as others have said, the antenna boosters are overpriced ripoffs.
-- Dave K.
Re:Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work?
by shr760 - 4/21/04 11:37 PM In reply to: Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work? by carlylegeeI will testify from the mountaintops how much it has helped me. I was getting just fair reception boght a "generation 2 antenna booster" and attached it to the battery and now my reception is excellent.So much so i now have cancelled my land line and use only cell.It was only 1.39 and works great for me though i don't know it would in all cases., but for so cheap why not try.
yea sure and about that oceanfront property in montana!
by redwood39 - 6/5/04 5:47 PM In reply to: Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work? by carlylegeestand on 1 foot and spin like a figure skater saying can you hear me now. Send money to me instead if you want I'll put it to better use than the crook selling that junk.
Re: Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work?
by billsphone - 6/22/04 3:34 AM In reply to: Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work? by carlylegeeyes on nokia 82xx 25% more on nokia 62xx 30% and the short answer is yes
Not really unless you are in an analog only market.
by BBKahuna - 1/13/05 5:41 PM In reply to: Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work? by carlylegeeIn some analog only markets, cell phone antenna boosters were marginally helpful.
Antenna boosters do just about nothing in digital service (about 98% of the US' cell service is now digital) and are the precise reasons carriers have never carried or supported them. Well, that, and the problem with some boosters permanently damaging the antenna, the RF board, the battery and other components of the phone to an even more unusable condition.
In short, maybe you should look at a different provider rather than a booster. Take a look at different carrier's coverage in your area.
Let's look at these technically...
by Marv99 - 6/1/05 11:35 PM In reply to: Does anyone know if the Antenna Boosters work? by carlylegeeconsider...
I’m not going to use the booster things. I use text messages they go through when the reception gets better. <G> And I’m half deaf. But.....
Some antennas do use reflectors. These don't boost anything they focus. So it's a misnomer at best if you meant the painted circuit thing.
In radios in general most radio is line of sight. At least these are. Higher in the air antenna or higher gain ant (see Amateur Radio Handbook this is a function of form BTW this publication also has good data on antennas, gain, signal boosting, RF the last I looked) makes better use of whatever signal is there. Even a better ground or reference can make a base station broadcast and receive better. Those you who remember outside TV antennas may have noticed reception being better after rain. That was because the ground was improved. If you had a great ground the water didn’t help.
If phone emissions are perfectly safe (I'm not worried about it) why do companies spend so much research on it. And why do they include a warning about devices that could make it worse? Sure they are only protecting themselves from lawsuits. Yep that's probably it. Being an old radio guy I’m tend to be afraid of radio antennas. Ask the local amateur club about that.
I haven't done much work with waveguides or reflectors which is what the painted on thing might be considered however I have done some low freq work with shielding. And I'll tell you now it's not a easy thing to pull off. Using mu metal ( that's a special alloy that blocks RF) trying to keep hum out of audio stuff. What I found was it didn't work the way you expected. Sometimes directly between source and what you were shielding made it worse. Sometimes better. And it seemed very slight differences in the product itself made major changes in this. Admittedly I'm not a design guy, just a technician. But if they work at all I'd be surprised if they worked on everything. And I'd expect position to be really important.
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