Cell phone sgnal booster- What type needed?

[FrankFawson]

I am about 3.65km from a Bell cell tower that Telus/Public Mobile use. It is in a rural setting. I am lucky if I have one bar on my phone inside the house with a metal roof. Step outside and I can usually get 2 bars and not drop calls. What type of signal booster amplifier for which band width do I need for a 3G Public Mobile service.

The Canadian Cellular Towers Map gives me the following information:

Link: https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html?lat=44.379930&lng=-64.493780&zoom=15&type=Road... 

Freq  BW

MHz  Hz

700   4M

700   5M

700   6M

850   4.15M

850   5M

1900 4.15M

1900 5M

2100 5M

2100 10M

2600 200k

2600 9.8M

2600 10M

[gpixel]

@FrankFawson 

disable LTE and your reception/bars should improve. since you mainly use it for calls, having the phone set to 3g might help. 

as for the booster find one that you like and give it a go.

[FrankFawson]

My iphone 6 will not download ios 14 which is required for Textnow. the phone has software ios 12.5.6.

Trying Text Plus but a lot of ads

[hTideGnow]

Hi @FrankFawson why don't you just try the free solution first?  Get VoIP app Texnow.  Then set Forward when unavailable to your TextNow number.   In such case, when you are home with weak signal, the call will direct to TextNow and you can answer call there

[FrankFawson]

Thanks for the info Mayor . This is quite a learning curve.

I can only choose Public Mobile or one of the other carriers in Network Selection on my iPhone 6s.

In Cellular Data I enabled LTE and turned Roaming on. However, I do not use data or wifi much on my phone. It is primarily for phone and text.

The information on The Canadian Cellular Towers Map does not list Band 2(1900mhz). It does list Band 5(850mhz). And many others.

I think I found the 'goboost cellphone booster' @ $155.99 but it comes with a LPDA outside antenna. I think a Yagi outdoor antenna would work best for me. I read it would have a narrower catchment beam for picking up the signal from the tower which is less than 3 mi away. The Yagi work up to 5mi but best up to 3mi.

I would rather to not have to return it.

Any suggestions?

[gpixel]

@FrankFawson 

for an accurate reading on your devices signal you need to change your preferred network to 3g/wcdma as this is the technology PM users for voice. most devices will show the LTE signal which is always 1-2 bars especially when indoors.

you will need a booster that supports bands 2(1900mhz) & bands 5(850mhz). there's a bunch on amazon. search for 'goboost cellphone booster' it's price is $155 and supports bands 2 & 5. if it's not working out you can always return it for a refund

[porcupine]

i also have a metal roof on my house and I'm in the city and i have one bar with no dropped calls even in my basement