I have a client with a 4000sq/ft house. 3 floors.(finished basement). There is zero service in the basement. first floor 1-2 bars. Outside is fine. This place is built better then any other home I have ever been in. 2x6, Sound proof insulation in every wall. etc etc etc. Crazy tight.Wifi was a treat here. I do have coax in the attic from the rack. What has has the best success.

Wilson Electronics

phones dont have wifi assist for cell calling?

The best success is a proper installation - no matter what brand you go with.

1st - You have to have a strong signal outside. Just saying "Outside is fine" doesn't cut it. How much signal is outside! dBm! If you don't have a meter, there are apps you can get for your phone that will give you details. Details you will HAVE to give the engineers at (Wilson, SureCall, etc.) for them to design a proper system for you.
I like this app, when not using a meter: [Link: play.google.com]
Using an omni antenna (like in your phone) you really need better than 90dBm signal at the antenna location. You should be using at least a 10dB gain antenna with the system (order the meter to align it when you order the system) which will net you at least 80dBm starting out on the coax coming in. I believe this is 'about' the minimum most of the manufacture recommend in training. More is better.
Note: You may need to identify the carrier specific towers if there are a few in the area. Especially if there is a strong signal from a carrier that is NOT the service the customer uses. This is where tuning the direction of the antenna and the frequency gains on the amp (which is auto on most now) come into play.

2nd - the outside antenna has to go outside! You can NOT put the thing in the attic! I have seen so many installs done like that and I just shake my head when the customer says "I don't understand why it doesn't work well". Well gee idiot! We are not dealing with VHF/low-UHF here, the frequencies are a bit higher (high-band UHF & Gigahertz) and ANY obstacles in the way greatly reduce signal. A roof would be a big one.

3rd - Distance from interior antennas. Depending on the layout of that 4000 sqft., you will probably need to use multi indoor antennas. This has to be thought out to get good coverage inside and to be mindful to not back feed signal into the exterior antenna. Putting an omni-directional antenna on the top floor, right in-line with the direction the exterior antenna is facing, would cause feedback and the gains on the amp would go to minimum or even shutoff at certain frequencies. Making the system useless or near useless.

4th - more I'm not thinking about. I just woke up.

Apparently not always. Some phones have this ability while others do not.

And i once had a phone that did support Wi-Fi calling but my provider's plan did not allow for this so the feature didn't work.

All of this^^^^^

Also...with multiple surecall installations we replaced these style antennas ...
[Link: surecall.com]

With these...
[Link: surecall.com]


I thought the cylinders looked cleaner but they just didnt work as well.

I've had great success with Wilson products. They offer a variety of amplifier options, dependent on size of building. Brad is spot on about signal strength, placement of receiving antennas and more.

If you have an iPhone, you can easily put it into Field Test mode, without an app to download.

This gives you a whole bunch of information about cell service in your area.

[Link: repeaterstore.com]

KOT

You should be using the Yagi outside. The Ultra Thin domes are good inside. The Panels are directional and tough to place well.

How did you manage to get that setup to work? Those two antennas serve different purposes and aren't interchangeable - the outdoor OMNI picks up cell signal and sends to booster, indoor panel antenna broadcasts the boosted signal indoors.

It depends on the setup.
Mac is in a city where the old buildings have thick brick (blocks a lot of signal), metal buildings (similar blockage), and plaster with wire in the walls (also a lot of blockage). Outside there is usually plenty of signal, you just need to get into the building. And you want everyone's carrier to work, which could be in multiple directions. In such a situation, the omni outdoor antenna IS the proper one to use.

Using directional antennas inside is necessary sometimes, especially when you can not get the recommend vertical separation. You want to avoid any feedback loop at all costs - this is the biggest issue I see with amateur installs, right after problems with outdoor antenna placement.

We are using the Yagi outside. The ultra thin domes are only good inside if you can mount them out in the room where the client will have a heart attack if he sees them.

All three projects were retrofit using RG6 that was located in closets and cabinets. RG11 from the Yagi to the amp. The outdoor antennas pictured also work inside just not very well. Maybe they aren't supposed to be inside? I was told that they are all antennas.

The first system was pieced together by a reseller. A mix of domes and cylinders were included. We ended up replacing them with the flat panels. The flat panels are sitting on shelves in cabinets with doors not positioned in any way and they work perfectly. The domes seemed to work a little better than the cylinders but the panels beat them both.

We originally had issues at the first three projects. We had a surecall rep come out and the fix was to replace all the indoor antennas and just like that...no support calls in several years.

Entering *3001#12345#* Send results in the signal strength indicator changing to numeric signal strength meter- it worked with ATT but not with my new carrier.



Also, the vertical distance from the receiving and transmit antennae needs to be sufficient to minimize feedback, too. IIRC, 15' is about right.

Not according to this parts sheet.

One thing about the test mode for iPhone- if it's an iPhone 6, it's necessary to press Serving Cell Measurements to see signal strength.