I live in the shadow of a ridge in a relatively-rural area of the northeastern USA, and have virtually no cellphone signal, even though I'm probably only a few miles from the nearest tower. On a good day, in just the right place, I can get 1-2 bars. I'd like to be able to use all of my airtime, and also to use my cellphone for backup net access. And so I've been considering a cellphone amplifier. Based on some googling, I gather that I'd get the best results using a roof-mounted antenna and a direct connection to my cellphone's antenna port. It appears that repeater systems don't work well when there's little signal to start with (perhaps because one can't separate the two antennas enough to eliminate feedback).
Anyway, I'm currently considering Wilson Cellular's 811201 <
http://tinyurl.com/6ywwn>
plus antenna, lightening surge protector, power supply, and necessary cables. Although the system would cost ca. $600 including installation, my wife and I could recover that in about six months if we could eliminate our long distance charges, and even faster if we dropped one or both of our landlines (and kept just aDSL).
So, my question is: would that likely work? If so, do I need a direct-connect system, or would a repeater system likely work with ca. 1 bar ambient signal? And would a direct-connect system likely permit higher-bandwidth cellular broadband than a repeater system?
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