TheCool Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 Well, I actually already have an iphone 3g, but I've never been one to refrain from buying new toys just because I have one that's similar . supposedly AT&T will be adding 3G in my area in August, so that would be the earliest I could consider the switch. But with a cell the only phone I use, it may not be such a good idea.. My cell is the only phone I use as well and I just moved to a new apartment where I can barely get a signal at all. It's something I probably should have paid attention to before I moved in .
n_maher Posted June 19, 2009 Author Report Posted June 19, 2009 My cell is the only phone I use as well and I just moved to a new apartment where I can barely get a signal at all. It's something I probably should have paid attention to before I moved in . Speaking of this, does anyone here have any experience with cellphone repeaters? If I thought I could reliably get reception inside my house I'd cancel my land line in a heartbeat.
tyrion Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 Speaking of this, does anyone here have any experience with cellphone repeaters? If I thought I could reliably get reception inside my house I'd cancel my land line in a heartbeat. I get a decent signal in the house. My concern with canceling my land line is for 911 calls. With the land line, you call 911, they know where you are and if you hang up, they will follow up. I don't believe it works the same way with a cell phone. I'd be interested in hearing about a repeater. While my connection in the house is tolerable, it would be great if I could increase the signal.
n_maher Posted June 19, 2009 Author Report Posted June 19, 2009 I get a decent signal in the house. My concern with canceling my land line is for 911 calls. With the land line, you call 911, they know where you are and if you hang up, they will follow up. I don't believe it works the same way with a cell phone.911 always works Mike, even if you don't have phone service. It's the law, at least in NH. I'd be interested in hearing about a repeater. While my connection in the house is tolerable, it would be great if I could increase the signal. I've found a couple options already, I'll let you know if I pull the trigger on any of them. I'm trying to find one that'll do both Verizon and AT&T which so far is a no-go.
grawk Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 Repeaters were common in alaska, because of the crappy density. They cost about $450, and with a good antenna can make a big difference.
tyrion Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 911 always works Mike, even if you don't have phone service. It's the law, at least in NH. I need to check into this but now that you mention it, I think you are correct. I believe with a cell phone even if you don't pay for service, you can still call 911.
n_maher Posted June 19, 2009 Author Report Posted June 19, 2009 I need to check into this but now that you mention it, I think you are correct. I believe with a cell phone even if you don't pay for service, you can still call 911. It's what I've always been told and that the whole "you won't be able to call 911" thing is a semi-scare tactic. What is true is that if you use a VOIP service your 911 service will be less direct than if you have a true land line. Basically, for me, if I have to dial 911 out in the country I'm pretty f'ed as it is.
Dusty Chalk Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 But for calling in an air strike for zombies, it'd probably be adequate.
Hopstretch Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 Getting mine now. Not too busy at the Apple store. AT&T had no line at all, but I'd rather have my ass kissed by the shiny Mac people.
grawk Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 Air strikes against zombies are a bad idea. They always end up targetting the person that called them in, too. Bastards in air support know they fucked you when they put you down there.
n_maher Posted June 19, 2009 Author Report Posted June 19, 2009 Getting mine now. Not too busy at the Apple store. AT&T had no line at all, but I'd rather have my ass kissed by the shiny Mac people.
The Monkey Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 Getting mine now. Not too busy at the Apple store. AT&T had no line at all, but I'd rather have my ass kissed by the shiny Mac people. Start asking really loud questions about how you can't find a damn IIc anywhere and why don't they keep those things in stock?
tyrion Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 Nate, here is an '07 Amazon review from someone in NH using the YX510-PCS-CEL Dual-Band Cell Phone-Signal Booster: Recently we decided to do away with our telephone landline and go completely wireless. We had some trouble getting a cellular signal at certain places in the house and this product seemed like it would be a good way to bring better signal to those areas. Unfortunately we quickly found, that though this product does in fact do a fine job of repeating a stronger signal to a weak area, the range of the "Hot Spot" is not even close to what it advertises. We found that even with the antenna pulling in 4 solid bars from outside, unless you were practically sitting on top of the wireless extender you just wouldn't get any improvement. What's more is it seems that there are certain "Blind spots" around the device that don't get any improvement. To give it a fair shot, we experimented with several different transmitter locations and found that the best we could achieve is about a 10x10 sq foot zone with the transmitter in the middle. And of course this location was about the most intrusive (smack in the middle of the kitchen counter). If you put it near a wall or a corner you lose about half of the possible output. We found no reasonably acceptable solution with this product. I have a fairly small split level ranch home (1200 sq feet), and had hoped that I could reliably cover at least the upper level, but in reality, I was only able to get an extended signal in about half of my small 10x18 kitchen. This is not even close to the 10,000 square feet of coverage advertised in the product description If this product were MUCH cheaper I could accept the performance for what it is, but at $300 plus it is not worth the minor improvement it offers to a limited area. We basically felt as if the limitation in range was tying us to an old corded phone, which is hardly a step forward in wireless technology. Personally I wouldn't pay more than $79 for this product. I returned mine for a refund.
Hopstretch Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 Sooo much snappier. I use mine a lot for Web browsing and pages render probably three to four times faster now over Wi-Fi. That alone is worth the upgrade to me.
n_maher Posted June 19, 2009 Author Report Posted June 19, 2009 A bit older, but better info in my book. My quest for perfect cell phone reception. - By Sam Schechner - Slate Magazine I'm trying to dig into the JDTECK site to see what they might offer that would work in my area. The amount of info is a bit staggering.
n_maher Posted June 19, 2009 Author Report Posted June 19, 2009 Sooo much snappier. I use mine a lot for Web browsing and pages render probably three to four times faster now over Wi-Fi. That alone is worth the upgrade to me. Get thee to a post office!
Hopstretch Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 Get thee to a post office! Doing a wipe first. Takes about an hour. Then, to make absolutely sure all my personal perversities are safely overwritten, I shall probably fill it to capacity with random data. Like, say, lossless music files.
n_maher Posted June 19, 2009 Author Report Posted June 19, 2009 Doing a wipe first. Takes about an hour. Then, to make absolutely sure all my personal perversities are safely overwritten, I shall probably fill it to capacity with random data. Like, say, lossless music files. Feelings = not hurt either way. YGPM
The Monkey Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 Sooo much snappier. I use mine a lot for Web browsing and pages render probably three to four times faster now over Wi-Fi. That alone is worth the upgrade to me. Wow, that would make it worthwhile for me, too. What size did you get, 16GB or 32GB? Also, are you upgrading from First or Second Gen?
grawk Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 Nate, check out the wilson repeaters, they're the ones that work.
tyrion Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 I found one for $750. It's a lot of money but you make it up in the first year after canceling the land line.
Hopstretch Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 Wow, that would make it worthwhile for me, too. What size did you get, 16GB or 32GB? Also, are you upgrading from First or Second Gen? 32GB, upgrading from second gen 3G. It's basically the same phone, but everything just works faster and better. Plus video, which is nice to have for catching random cute kid moments.
ingwe Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 (edited) My 1st gen. iPhone case isn't quite right for my new 3Gs; so I went to the Apple store here and observed a Huge Line just for the folk who pre-ordered; over 150 people would be a conservative guess. The Applists wouldn't let me in the store to purchase a case without first waiting standing in the 'did not pre-order' line. Transferring my settings to new phone worked almost 100%. I like that wifi passwords and such must be re-entered on the new phone. The only problem I'm having is eReader won't launch: Splash screen displays, then it bounces back to home. Shit. Tried re-installing it with no joy. Shit. Later today I'll delete it and then try re-installing it. I really like having a quasi-real GPS. Camera works much better. Jury still out on battery life compared to 1st. gen. Edited June 19, 2009 by ingwe OCD
thrice Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 Apparently there's an AT&T kiosk in the student store here on campus! Restoring my iPod Touch backup to new iPhone right now.
Voltron Posted June 19, 2009 Report Posted June 19, 2009 All this talk of course is now making me sad I didn't set it up for pickup today instead of shipping.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now