iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

phone service in remote areas

Started by yukon cornelius, June 23, 2014, 11:48:07 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

yukon cornelius

we live in a pretty remote area and have very poor cell phone service. when the phone rings (if it has service) we have to run up the driveway to talk. we have satellite internet due to dsl not being available here. I don't want the added expense of a landline and long distance since all our customers are long distance. from my research Skype and other internet phones don't work well with satellite internet. can anyone shed some light/experience/ ideas?

thanks,
larry
It seems I am a coarse thread bolt in a world of fine threaded nuts!

Making a living with a manual mill can be done!

mrector

I haven't personally tried one but In the near future I am. But some of the guys here use wilson electronics signal amplifiers.  They're available mobile or home units, both designed for boosting cellular signal!
Mikey
Woodmizer LT35HD25 brand new!
Stihl 044 and my favorite: ms260 pro
Homemade logging arch
Homemade hitch log picker-upper
DanG Deadheader log loading trailer.

yukon cornelius

thanks mickey! I have read several reviews about the signal boosters. a lot of what I read said you need a decent signal to start with to get them to work. I don't know about that specific model but I am deffinately going to check it out.

as an ironic turn of events, my wife and I have been talking about this topic all morning only to find out we had 8 messages for over a week that just made it to the phone. she has been out making deliveries all week to places that had service and they didn't load to the phone til today. how many messages have we missed and how much in sales have been lost due to this...

she is contacting the phone company as we speak to get a landlne put in ASAP! we do not want added expenses but cannot afford to miss sales. my guess is the service will pay for itself.

its no wonder gray hair is taking me over  :D
It seems I am a coarse thread bolt in a world of fine threaded nuts!

Making a living with a manual mill can be done!

Chuck White

Another service which might be available is satellite phone.

Not sure, but it might be cost prohibitive!  $$$$$
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

barbender

I would look into the Wilson before I put in a landline. You have to have some signal, but not much, for it to boost it. They turn 1 bar into 3 or 4. If you have zero signal, then they won't work. Another option, but I don't know if it would work with satellite internet, is one of the boosters the the cell providers have. Ours is a Samsung, and it connects to our high speed net connection and gives 100% signal in the house. It's so good, I would get rid of our landline, but our internet is packaged with it ::) BTW, I think this type of booster is called a "femocell". Hope this helps.
Too many irons in the fire

Southside

I have one of the Wilsons cell boosters and they work great.  I have had it set up in my vehicle and at home.  At home I used a directional antenna and the difference in reception was amazing. 
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

Bill Gaiche

I have this one. I don't have any service in the house without it. Outside I have 1 maybe 2 bars. After I added this one I have 4 to 5 bars in the house.
Wilson Electronics 801262 DB Pro 65 dB Adjustable Gain 800/1900MHz In-building Wireless Smart Technology IITM Signal Booster for Home or Office. bg

easymoney

if your wireline provider is at&t i would try anything before i would sign up for their wire line service. they will lie to you to get your business and then if you have problems good luck getting it fixed. verizon has what they call home phone. that is what i have it is basically a cell phone with a jack to plug your regular home phone into it. it is just a little black box that you can hook an external antenna into if you need more signal. it or the antenna can be mounted outside where you get a good signal. i pay $25.00 per month for unlimited local and long distance service. i have been using it for 2 years with no problems.

Dave Shepard

I just bought a Wilson booster from Radio Shack, I think it's called the Sleek. I had 1-2 bars near the farm, but it was unreliable. Now I can get 3-4 reliably. I can't get anything at my house, but I do get 1 bar with it about a 1/4 mile either way up the road, so I will probably be buying a home based unit with a directional antenna from Wilson at some point. Radio Shack did tell me to check with AT&T first, as they had some sort of antenna that they offered for free, but I never did. Wilson offers a 30 day money back deal. Keep all packaging pristine and Radio Shack said they take it back and give me a full refund.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

yukon cornelius

thanks for all the replies! I looked into the Wilson I think the price is going to put it on the back burner. the phone company is coming by tomorrow and see what it will take to get us a line here. they said rhere is usually no charge but they use contractors so they cant promise anything. if it will be expensive we will re evaluate the cell booster.
It seems I am a coarse thread bolt in a world of fine threaded nuts!

Making a living with a manual mill can be done!

Magicman

We have a Wilson dual channel e/w Omni antenna at the Cabin, and our Daughter has one at her home.  I also have one in my work truck.  They are the difference between service and no service.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

ozarkgem

Larry
I am trying to find a place that doesn't have cell service and you are trying to get it. LOL
Mighty Mite Band Mill, Case Backhoe, 763 Bobcat, Ford 3400 w/FEL , 1962 Ford 4000, Int dump truck, Clark forklift, lots of trailers. Stihl 046 Magnum, 029 Stihl. complete machine shop to keep everything going.

yukon cornelius

ozarkgem, 240 acres next to us for sale with no phone service. :D
It seems I am a coarse thread bolt in a world of fine threaded nuts!

Making a living with a manual mill can be done!

clearcut

Have you tried the other cell providers?

Where I live, Verizon has the best coverage by far. Sprint is next, then AT&T and then T-Mobile.

However nearby at a friend's house it's decent service on AT&T, then 1 or 2 bars on T-Mobile, maybe on Sprint, and no Verizon.

Largely depends on towers and terrain. Coverage maps on the provider's sites give a hint. If they say no service, believe it. If they say the lowest level of service, that means maybe - usually not. Most will give you a week or 2 to try out a phone and the service - read the agreement. T-Mobile has just started loaning an iPhone 5 for a week to try out their LTE service.
Carbon sequestered upon request.

Magicman

The reason that I went with the dual band Wilson booster and the onmi-directional antenna was so that whatever service a guest might have, the booster would boost their signal.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

thecfarm

Back in 2000 when we having the house built here we needed a cell phone. There was alot of people that needed question answered about the house. We went to a cell phone place and "borrowed" a phone. It worked good. Went back and signed a contact. The phone we got did not work worth a DanG. We went back to them. They gave us a diffeant colored phone. They claimed they had trouble with the color we had.  ::)  Same thing. We asked for the phone we borrowed,oh no,can't have that one. So they gave us another one, same thing. We asked it the phone was juiced up? Oh no,they said. We wanted out of the contract,was only a few weeks into it. On ho they said. Wife said let me speak to your boss,Same thing,oh no.Than we mentioned the juiced phone and how well it worked,but we had 3 and none worked. We got out of the contract and they gave us all our money back.  ::)
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

r.man

cfarm, did you notice your head getting warm when you used the borrowed phone?
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

johnjbc

I have the same problem at my camp. It is just above a stream that has cut down about a 100 feet. When I had my old clam shell phone I could talk by one window. But then I got a smart phone and now I have to go up hill to talk at all.
I bought a zBoost SOHO solution, put the antenna (not directional) up about 30 feet. This allowed voice to work most of the time and 3G data to work some times.
Last trip out I found the top of the antenna on the ground. I ordered a directional antenna but haven't got it installed yet.
I'm not sure if the Wilson would have worked better but the Zboost was on sale.
If your are looking for one I would get one that covers 4G. Mine doesn't cover the new band that 4G uses.
LT40HDG24, Case VAC, Kubota L48, Case 580B, Cat 977H, Bobcat 773

Magicman

Mine do not cover 4G.  Some day they will also be dinosaurs.   :-\
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

thecfarm

r.man,I think our heads was getting warm when they was throwing the you know what around at the cell phone place.  ;D
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Thank You Sponsors!