Need antennae or something to aid mobile phone reception at home. Ideas?

[Ollie]

I'm in Ireland, in a semi-rural area, and my house is a converted barn with very thick concrete walls. We're on a hill, only 2.5 miles from a large mast, but have tremendous trouble with reception. Can't install anything permanent -- renting the house. Tried the cheap sticker/antenna underneath the battery. Searched the web many times with not much success.

We don't have Radio Shack here. Is there some reasonable antenna we can place in the home to help? Would appreciate ideas. Thanks!

[Andreu]

there really isnt anything you can do if the walls are really thick it wont go through plain and simple

how thick are the walls by the way

[Lance]

It's called a repeater.
Cellphones are two-way radios, and as such don’t work everywhere at all times. Your cellphone might not work because of coverage or capacity problems. Capacity problems kick in when a lot of people in a concentrated area try to use their cellphone at the same time. That's why you have trouble getting through when there's a traffic jam. Coverage can be limited because radio signals at cell and PCS frequencies are affected by many factors - the distance and objects between you and the nearest cell site, heavy foliage, ridges, construction materials in buildings, quality of the antenna in the phone, other radios operating at nearby frequencies, and a lot of other things.

Repeaters rebroadcast cell signals. One antenna (usually outdoors) is aimed at the nearest cell site. Another antenna mounts inside the building to distribute the cell signal in the area you want coverage. An amplifier boosts the received and transmitted signals from the cell site and the phone. You must have some signal for the repeaters to work. They can't create signals.


BUY THEM AT:
http://www.repeaterstore.com/