i want to boost my mobile phone signal while away

zzr1400tim

zzr1400tim

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Hi folks. I have a contract with EE that provides unlimited data in UK & Europe etc
I am using a new I Phone 14
I use my phone set up as a hotspot while we are away (UK & Europe) to tether all my other devices (Laptop, I Pad and the Amazon fire stick) to it
the only problem is that if I cant get a good signal on the phone (2 bars or below) then I cant connect the other devices..
I have seen some stuff on USA sites for something called Hi-Boost but not sure if I can purchase here in UK..
I don't need a MIFI or anything that uses another SIM card and associated costs etc..

I simply want some sort of receiver that can amplify any nearby cell phone masts so that I can get a better signal on my phone without me having to perch the thing on the skylight etc..

any ideas?
 
I've got a roof mounted one that I have wired into a mifi router. I installed it 7/8 yrs ago. It's used for data here and in EU and has been excellent. It needs a dedicated sim card. I use local data only ones bought in supermarkets abroad. The whole set up (4g) cost me £120ish. I use my UK contract phone for calls when abroad.

We are, especially in Europe, on the cusp of 5g becoming standard. I would wait until a similar setup for 5g gets a bit cheaper if I were doing it know. Netgear do a very good setup for £700plus. They can only get cheaper.

Do a lot of research before you buy cheap.
 
Glandwr said:
I've got a roof mounted one that I have wired into a mifi router. I installed it 7/8 yrs ago. It's used for data here and in EU and has been excellent. It needs a dedicated sim card. I use local data only ones bought in supermarkets abroad. The whole set up (4g) cost me £120ish. I use my UK contract phone for calls when abroad.

We are, especially in Europe, on the cusp of 5g becoming standard. I would wait until a similar setup for 5g gets a bit cheaper if I were doing it know. Netgear do a very good setup for £700plus. They can only get cheaper.

Do a lot of research before you buy cheap.
Click to expand...
We`ve just done 4 weeks abroad, mainly in France and there was only a couple of days were the signal dropped to 4G. The majority of the time is was super fast 5G using Orange F and Free who are the roaming partners to Tesco mobile who run on the O2 network.
 
Wooie1958 said:
Be careful, are you sure you`ve got unlimited data in Europe as well ?
Click to expand...
As this, the EE usage policy below
"If your domestic data allowance is greater than 50GB, a fair usage policy of 50GB whilst roaming in our Europe Zone will apply (i.e. you can use up to 50GB"
 
colinm said:
As this, the EE usage policy below
"If your domestic data allowance is greater than 50GB, a fair usage policy of 50GB whilst roaming in our Europe Zone will apply (i.e. you can use up to 50GB"
Click to expand...
Same as Tesco / O2 then only theirs is 25GB roaming.

Just had a look at their website and i see the cut off date for included roaming was the 7 July 2021.

Roaming Costs | Help | EE

Everything you need to know about roaming and international charges with EE, including add-ons to reduce costs
ee.co.uk ee.co.uk
 
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your best bet for the longer term is a 5g mobile router which may or may not require an external antenna.

Your best options right now are Teltonika RUTX50 or Netgear Nighthawk M6 (only buy the pro if you travel to the states a lot) both can be used with or without an external antenna, my van already had one but it didn’t suit the Teltonika so I bought the Nighthawk, The nighthawk also has a battery so you can use it anywhere (it fits in a pocket, but not too comfortably)

Nighthawk have a deal on at the moment which makes the 2.5g model cheaper than the 2.0g, before you buy sign up for mobile alerts and you’ll get another 10% off.

www.netgear.com

Nighthawk M6 MR6150 Unlocked 5G Mobile Hotspot Router - NETGEAR

Get strong, reliable, secure, WiFi with Nighthawk Mobile 5G Router with speeds up to 2.5Gbps. Stream, game, work all at the same time with 3.6Gbps WiFi 6 or 1Gig Ethernet port. Boost in home WiFi Coverage up to 40% with In-home Performance Mode.
www.netgear.com www.netgear.com

If you don’t already have a sim deal that covers the E.U. With a lot of inclusive data then as some else said go to a French supermarket and buy a local pre loaded sim,

Put your phone on the routers network and then while in range of the router (remember the nighthawk is mobile) all your web browsing etc is on the data sim in the router, depending on the phone you have you can even make calls vis the routers sim.

On 5g which is getting very common now, the router will be extremely fast, the external antenna in my case makes no difference to the routers speed, but that may will Not be the same for everyone.
 
Also remember 4g still works and if your not bothered about highest speeds a 4g mobile router will cost very little, I just gave mine away as it wasn’t worth the effort to flog it on flea bay.
 
I don't think "Boosters" of the type that are popular in the US are actually legal in the UK and in the EU. The legal options are a quality antenna to get the best possible native signal but that means a physical connection to a router of some type.
 
wildebus said:
I don't think "Boosters" of the type that are popular in the US are actually legal in the UK and in the EU. The legal options are a quality antenna to get the best possible native signal but that means a physical connection to a router of some type.
Click to expand...
Did you mean illegal? I think I looked at this a while back and I seem to remember signal amplifiers had to be licenced and as such there weren't many options for amplifying or boosting a 4g signal without using a connected separate Device with it's own SIM which is what Tim doesn't want.

I maybe started a thread about it. Will have a look.

All I do now is carry two Sims in my phone. Vodafone and EE. Generally in the UK at least one of them should work just about everywhere.
 
wildebus said:
I don't think "Boosters" of the type that are popular in the US are actually legal in the UK and in the EU. The legal options are a quality antenna to get the best possible native signal but that means a physical connection to a router of some type.
Click to expand...
Yes I agree, if you want a better reception then that involves a router and better still with an antenna. I use a Netgear M2 MR2100, but at £399 new it’s not a cheap option. I don't use an antenna, and without one it works great. Also being dual band it improves reception in busy locations when others near-bye are online. You can by cheaper routers, and most of them will improve reception, but you really only get what you pay for.
 
Not up on this at all Like Tim, but I think he wants what I would like and that is to increase the aerial in the phone somehow by plugging something into the phones usb port, I may be wrong of course.
 
Thought so. Been here before. There is a link in my first below post Tim to a device that might do what you want but I suspect it might just be a world of pain 🤣

The conclusion I came to as I said was just to have a second SIM Installed in my phone which I use as a hotspot. My main contract is Vodafone on which I have 230gb (pretty much unlimited) and if I'm somewhere it don't work I just top up my EE SIM with 70gb or whatever. It's worked so far although on this trip since June Vodafone has worked faultlessly.

What I do though (and some will laugh at this) is I research using coverage checkers what the signal is like where I am heading. We tend to use rural CLs in the UK and if there is no signal I'll go elsewhere. Internet coverage is just too important to me.

Mobile 3/4g signal booster

On our epic UK tour last year which was mainly rural and island locations despite having loads of data on my phone half the time we really struggled with getting a decent voice and data signal. Generally there was some kind of signal, just very very weak and unusable half the time. I know there...
wildcamping.co.uk wildcamping.co.uk
 
Pudsey Bear said:
Something like this but how the headphone socket would work is above my pay scale

www.ebay.co.uk

3.5mm External Antenna Signal Strengthen Booster 5DBI For Mobile Cell Phone u | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 3.5mm External Antenna Signal Strengthen Booster 5DBI For Mobile Cell Phone u at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.
www.ebay.co.uk
Click to expand...
I think you can get that in a £5 bundle that includes a gizmo to strap to the fuel filter to double your fuel economy ;)
 
barryd said:
Thought so. Been here before. There is a link in my first below post Tim to a device that might do what you want but I suspect it might just be a world of pain 🤣

The conclusion I came to as I said was just to have a second SIM Installed in my phone which I use as a hotspot. My main contract is Vodafone on which I have 230gb (pretty much unlimited) and if I'm somewhere it don't work I just top up my EE SIM with 70gb or whatever. It's worked so far although on this trip since June Vodafone has worked faultlessly.
Click to expand...
I think the 2nd SIM is the only sensible option :)
Yes, there is an additional cost in the 2nd SIM, but doesn't have to be extortionate.
Approach I took is get another SIM that costs me £2 a month (does come with unlimited calls and texts but don't use that of course). Limited data for that £2, but as I can share the same data across all the SIMs on the contract, I just send it more data each month and anything unused goes back in the pot.

barryd said:
What I do though (and some will laugh at this) is I research using coverage checkers what the signal is like where I am heading. We tend to use rural CLs in the UK and if there is no signal I'll go elsewhere. Internet coverage is just too important to me.

Mobile 3/4g signal booster

On our epic UK tour last year which was mainly rural and island locations despite having loads of data on my phone half the time we really struggled with getting a decent voice and data signal. Generally there was some kind of signal, just very very weak and unusable half the time. I know there...
wildcamping.co.uk wildcamping.co.uk
Click to expand...
I need to decide if I need backup SIM in the 2nd slot. coverage generally seems pretty good for all networks, with the main exception being THREE that seems to get overloaded so terrible contention sometimes. EE looks like the best option to partner with my regular O2 network SIM?
 
I used to do CB in the 80s a little bit and with a bit of wire of different lengths you could set up a "twig" in the loft I had a 1/8 wave antenna and it worked well enough for local stuff but crap long distance, my neighbour made a full wave antenna could listen to stuff all over as he had a device to turn it to tune in.

Full wave was 39 feet I think, but you had to be really keen to get it exact, I wasn't just a bit of fun now and then.
 
wildebus said:
I think the 2nd SIM is the only sensible option :)
Yes, there is an additional cost in the 2nd SIM, but doesn't have to be extortionate.
Approach I took is get another SIM that costs me £2 a month (does come with unlimited calls and texts but don't use that of course). Limited data for that £2, but as I can share the same data across all the SIMs on the contract, I just send it more data each month and anything unused goes back in the pot.


I need to decide if I need backup SIM in the 2nd slot. coverage generally seems pretty good for all networks, with the main exception being THREE that seems to get overloaded so terrible contention sometimes. EE looks like the best option to partner with my regular O2 network SIM?
Click to expand...
EE seems the best to me for rural which is where we find ourselves most of the time but having said that, Vodafone throughout Wales and Devon has been spot on but then again as said, I use the coverage checkers first. EE I found is vital for the Isle of Arran and the Lake District which are two others of our regular haunts. Both are the two main hitters so your not going to go far wrong with having both in your phone unless your way off grid down a deep valley and even down there you might struggle with a booster and a booster can only amplify what's there in the first place.

Vodafone I always found was superb in Europe as it partnered with all the main providers.
 
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