Keir Thomas looks at the options available if you’re one of the growing minority who has to deal with a poor or non-existent cellular signal
Arecent home move brought with it a most serious and modern of crippling afflictions: poor to non-existent mobile reception. At the front of the house family members are lucky to get three bars of antediluvian GPRS/Edge reception, while at the back of the house no bars is commonplace. Batteries drain quickly. Nobody is happy.
Not that it’s any use complaining. Most mobile networks ferret away ridiculous requirements in the small print regarding compensation for poor signals. Most require you have no signal for days on end before you can get any money back – and that’ll only be for those few days. You might be able to argue yourself out of your contact if your phone is simply unusable due to lack of signal, but then you’ll probably have to return your handset too.
You can attempt to badger the company into adding better coverage in your area, but most have invested ridiculous amounts of money in 4G and are investing in upgrading existing infrastructure where it’s needed most: urban areas, with their shopping centres, offices and high density of customers. God help you if you’re in the suburbs – and if you’re rural, then frankly you might try switching to semaphore and signal fires.
However, there’s still a surprising amount that can be done if you take matters into your own hands. That’s what this feature is all about, and why we’re about to examine three competing technologies – that range from expensive all the way to free (you’ll still have to pay for your calls, texts and data, of course).
Small Cells
Several mobile networks in the UK sell plug-and-play devices that introduce a 3G phone signal where it’s either weak or doesn’t exist at all. Technically called a fermtocell, and colloquially referred to as a small cell, the clue to how they work is in the name: these are bona fide cellular base stations designed for use in a single building. However, they’re massively weaker than their brethren that sit on top of buildings. For example, the Vodafone Sure Signal model we examined had a maximum range of 30m, while Three’s attempt at a similar device – the Home Signal – manages half that.
Small cells take one of two shapes. They’re either similar to powerline Ethernet adapters in that they plug directly into a wall socket, or similar to wi-fi routers in shape and design. In either case you have to attach the small cell to your broadband router via an Ethernet cable because, put simply, small cells use your broadband connection to connect to the main cellular backbone.
To setup a small cell you typically need to register the device against your account on the website of your mobile provider, including inputting the device’s unique serial number, and then plug in and wait while the small cell configures itself. This is done via a Universal Plug’n’Play (UPnP) request to your router to forward ports, so you’ll have to enable UPnP if you’ve turned it off for security reasons. In our test it was two hours until the small cell was ready for use, which was a tad longer than the 20 minutes mentioned on the setup instructions.
Initially the small cell complained it was too close to the wi-fi router, which was around a metre away, and a little shuffling of devices sorted this out. However, the two devices ultimately can’t be too far apart because they’re tied together via an Ethernet cable. Incidentally, this also explains why these devices demand a wired network connection and can’t utilise wi-fi. The signal frequency ranges are just too close.
However, once setup completed we ended up with what, to all intents and purposes, is a strong 3G signal for incoming and outgoing voice calls, texts and data – although there’s obviously little need to use a data connection if you’re within range of your own wi-fi. This explains why these devices don’t output a
4G signal – it would be overkill for the basic voice calls and texts that are likely to be the sole reason a small cell is deployed.
Each small cell is locked to the mobile vendor that offers it, and locked to the phone numbers you configure during setup. On our Vodafone unit used during testing we could add up to 32 of these including our own although only eight devices can make use of the small cell at any one time (the equivalent Three Home Signal model allows only four). All this relies on your broadband being fast enough, of course, and bear in mind that upload speeds over ADSL broadband common in the UK are pitifully slow compared to download speeds (although fibre broadband improves this significantly). Vodafone advises at least 1Mbit download and 300Kbit upload speeds although we suspect that eight simultaneous voice calls wouldn’t push this beyond its limit.
Who Pays The Piped Data?
Although your electricity powers the small cell, and your broadband provides its up/downlink, you still have to pay for everything that goes through the small cell – calls you make, texts you send and data you consume while connected to it. All come from your existing allowance, or are charged in the usual way to your bill.
In practice, the small cell works so well that you simply forget that you’re not using a signal from a standard cellular tower, and this is the intention. You can plug in the small cell and forget about it.
To give an idea of range, the Vodafone Sure Signal examined in our test was slightly better than that of our BT HomeHub wi-fi router. With the small cell located in the lounge we varied between one and three bars of 3G reception in the back bedroom office that was hitherto a signal blackspot. An obvious solution would be to use a powerline adapter to extend the Ethernet signal to the back bedroom, and attach the small cell there for the maximum strength where it’s needed most.
Multiple small cells can be setup in a household/office but interference issues makes such a setup problematic, and calls can’t be handed off from one small cell to another. In other words you couldn’t walk around a large house or office complex while making a call, for example. Additionally, while a call can be handed off from a small cell to the main cellular network (so you can start a call in the home and walk into town, for example), this doesn’t work the other way around – calls from the main cellular network can’t be handed off to the small cell.
There is another caveat worth bearing in mind. With the small cell located in the lounge, the slightly superior range of the small cell versus our wi-fi router was problematic in that often the wi-fi signal dropped from our test phone, leaving the 3G signal to step in. And don’t forget that any 3G data you use is chargeable and/or taken from your allowance, and that smartphones nowadays have a habit of uploading and downloading masses of data even when you’re not doing anything.
Safety And Cost
We don’t entirely buy into the fuss about cellular signal dangers, but the leaflet that came with Vodafone small cell could be described as cagey on the issue, at best. It explained that, while the small cell meets safety and legal standards, we should keep body parts a minimum of 2cm away from it. Make of that what you will!
If you browse Ofcom’s website you’ll see that small cells are technically illegal (goo.gl/zLvhlI), which is why you can’t buy one direct from Alcatel Lucent who manufactured the Vodafone model we looked at (model number 9361 p3.0). However, for mobile phone vendors this isn’t an issue because, of course, they bought those terribly expensive 3G licenses several years ago and can subsequently do what the hell they like in that particular signal band.
The Vodafone Sure Signal we looked at costs £100 (goo.gl/ZBV2KW) and is available to any customer who’s able to create an account at vodafone.co.uk. Three doesn’t offer its Home Signal device (goo.gl/Yxl74v) at retail but instead will loan customers one free of charge if they can make a strong enough case that their local signal is too poor, and also that the Three InTouch Wi-Fi calling app (see below) isn’t working for them. However, Three warn that they might charge £75 if you no longer use the device but fail to return it (and it’s essentially phoning home all the time so they will be aware immediately).
EE (which incorporates Orange and T-Mobile) no longer sells its small cell – dubbed ‘Signal Box’ – despite a new version being slated to appear in November of last year (goo.gl/UWdOqq). Instead, EE appears to be pointing users towards its wi-fi calling system (see below).
O2, for it’s part, offers a piece of kit equivalent to the Sure Signal called Boost Box (goo.gl/okLyX6). It is only available to its business customers, though – and, like EE and Three, the network advises home users to use its Tu Go app for wi-fi calling (again, see below).
Those mobile phone vendors that piggyback on existing networks, such as Virgin or Tesco, don’t offer small cell devices. What’s more, even if the third-party network offers its customers a small cell device – for example, GiffGaff uses O2’s network – they will not work because the device and also every phone number you wish to use must be registered with the original small cell vendor.
Repeaters
Small cell devices, as outlined in the previous section, create a 3G phone signal where one either doesn’t exist or is too weak to be reliable. In contrast, signal repeaters – also known as boosters or enhancers – aim to take an existing signal from a cellular tower and increase its range and/or strength when installed in a home or office.
The obvious requirement for this equipment to have any positive effect, is for you to have some kind of usable signal in the first place. Perhaps the front of your house has a reasonable signal, for example, but the back of your house doesn’t. If so, a signal booster or repeater might provide a solution.
Alas, there’s a significant issue with repeaters: using one in the UK is a criminal offence and could get you up to a year in prison and/or a £5,000 fine. This area is policed by Ofcom, which provided the following statement to Micro Mart: “Ofcom has not granted any licences for the installation or use of repeaters nor made any exemption regulations that would authorise their use… Only the mobile network operators are licensed to authorise or use equipment that transmits in the cellular downlink frequency bands.”
That’s pretty unambiguous. The reason is technical: repeater devices can create interference that degrades the quality of legitimate signals. This can be especially true if the repeater is a poorly manufactured device imported from the Far East – as many tend to be. In a way that seems typical of British legislation; you can buy a repeater and you can sell one, you just can’t use one.
Ofcom’s currently discussing the matter of repeater devices with manufacturers, with the result that some may end up certified in the future. However until that point they’re strictly forbidden. Consider yourself warned.
Hands On (Or Not)
One of the biggest vendors of repeaters in the UK, Cel-Fi (cel-fi.co.uk), declined our invitation to take part in this feature although claims it’s not breaking any laws. Its devices are smart repeaters, it says, and “ultimately under the control of the network” (goo.gl/mJY6bb). This is important because Ofcom make an exception for such devices, classing them in the same catagory as femtocells (goo.gl/x0RC2s).
Considering the £499 price of the entry-level Nextivity Cel-FI RS2 unit, which claims to extend existing coverage by up to 20m, you might be looking for all the reassurances you can get. You’ll again need a specific device for your particular network although, unlike a small cell, the Nextivity will boost both 3G and 4G signals.
As with many booster devices, the Nextivity comes supplied in several pieces – a Window Unit that you place near a window in a room with the strongest signal, and a Cover Unit that you place where the signal is required most, or simply in the middle of the home. The big difference with Nextivity is that the two components communicate wirelessly (and we guess that the aforementioned smart signalling technology also avoids wi-fi/cellular crosstalk). Most repeaters use a coaxial connection between a receiver panel, a booster box, and transmission antenna. Some let you attach the receiver eternally to the side of a house, and some boost ALL 3/5G signals regardless of the network that provides them.
Hitting eBay
Outside of Cel-Fi there’s a huge choice of repeaters available and you only need to hit Google or eBay to find hundreds of such devices offered for sale from £25 upwards – although you’ll typically pay £200 upwards for a half-decent model that isn’t shipped to you direct from China. Often the vendors selling them again claim immunity from Ofcom rules, typically explaining in well crafted paragraphs that, because their devices don’t cause interference, they’re exempt from Ofcom’s licensing requirements. Ultimately, however, it isn’t the company that could end up facing the music for using one. It’s you.
Another eBay-empowered option for some is to buy an external antenna. These are entirely legal and claim to enhance reception by simply being bigger than a phone’s built-in antenna, and also directional, so you have much more control by pointing the device towards the nearest cellular tower. Some external antennas are designed to affix to a car too.
The antennas attach to phones via a mini-coax cable and connector, provided your phone has a socket. Apple phones don’t (and that should be obvious), but some Samsung models do. Usually you can find out by removing the battery cover and taking a look at what’s exposed. If you’ve ever used a wi-fi device with a bolt-on antennas then you’ll know the kind of socket connector to look for. However, the matter is complicated by the fact there are varying sizes of mini-coax connectors, and also the fact that they can be very fragile. As with most things, YouTube provides several videos of people who tested existing solutions, as well as creating their own.
Do they work? Well, we couldn’t get hold of one for testing. You may, however, have noticed that external antennas are hardly a regular sight around and about. If they worked convincingly, even a visit to the City of London would expose several at every coffee shop and bar.
An App For That
Poor cellular signals might be a pain but there is, of course, an app for that. Many mobile carriers provide apps that essentially use Voice-Over-IP, via a phone’s wi-fi connection, to make and receive calls or text messages. As is the case with small cells, these calls or texts are then taken as part of your calls package, or are charged in the usual way. For the purposes of this article, we took a look at Three’s InTouch app running on an iPhone 5, available via the App Store and also available for Android via Google Play.
Setting up the app involved turning off wi-fi so the app can communicate directly with the cellular network to register itself. Of course, if you’re using the app in an area with poor reception then this is an instant Catch 22. Like us, you may have to go for a walk to a signal (and we found the app couldn’t register unless we could get three consistent bars of 3G).
Once setup you can make and receive calls but, on the iPhone at least, everything takes place inside the app. That’s where you have to make calls if your cellular signal disappears, and if somebody calls you and your cellular signal isn’t strong enough then you initially see a notification from the app. Tapping the notification opens the app itself, where you can elect to accept or reject the call.
In other words, the app doesn’t work in collaboration with the built-in phone app. The same is true of texting – the app has its own messages component, where you can send and receive texts independently of the main iOS Messages app.
In use it worked very well, though, with calls proving loud and clear. It’s hardly an intuitive solution, though. Reviews of the app from users also aren’t very complimentary, pointing out that call dropouts are frequent.
Wi-fi Calling
The solution that might make everything discussed so far irrelevant is wi-fi calling. This is a specific industry standard rather than an app and while several networks are currently trialling it, only EE here in the UK has it up and running right now. You’ll need a reasonably new phone, however (iPhone 5C/5S or later, Samsung Galaxy S5 or later, Microsoft Lumia 640, or EE’s own range of Harrier/Osprey phones) along with the iOS 8 on your iPhone or the mobile carrier’s own version of Android, which has the necessary bits bolted on.
Wi-fi calling is pretty simple. Your phone will decide itself the best way to route calls and texts – through cellular if it’s available, or through wi-fi if not. You’ll use the same phone/messaging apps, and won’t even be aware you’re using it (although EE report that, right now, there are a few quirks such as American-style dialling tones when you make a call).
Because all UK mobile carriers have committed to embracing wi-fi calling, and the fact that it’ll come to most users over the next few years via handset upgrades, there’s little doubt that in the long run – five or ten years, perhaps – wi-fi calling offers perhaps the most resilient (and cheapest) solution for poor cellular signals.