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Crowd Sourced Coverage Maps

I've created an Android (for now - maybe other platforms in the future) application called Coverage Mapper (http://www.coveragemapper.com), available in the Market. It logs signal strength data while you're moving around, uploads it to my server, and generates maps.
It started in the WIND Mobile on hofo, because WIND is a new cell carrier, so their coverage isn't as broad or consistent as carriers that have been around for decades.
Take a look at the website and the maps, and if you want to try it out, download the app and turn it on the next time you go driving around.
Also, it only works for GSM-based phones for now.
Keep in mind, it's still what I would consider a beta application, but I think most of the serious issues have been eliminated.

There are several similar apps out there, none of them particularly fit into the same niche... This is pretty cool sounding though, I will run it.
As with most apps I assume that one needs to be on 2G for it to reliably work? I still don't understand this limitation, as I used several cell tracking programs in Windows Mobile on 3G, but 2-3 similar things in Android read weird data if on 3G.
I haven't used it yet, but is there any tracking of cell tower locations and estimations of those tower locations based on signal and GPS location? Ideally as it gets more data, the estimation is updated. I ask because there's a tower near my wifes old workplace that has eluded me and it drives me nuts not knowing where the thing is. Otherwise I know where all of the towers are in town from previous mapping, but back to your app would be interesting to see the actual coverage.
EDIT: So far in the maps I only see "road coverage", no interpolation of area coverage. And the terms? Tsk..

khaytsus said:
There are several similar apps out there, none of them particularly fit into the same niche... This is pretty cool sounding though, I will run it.
As with most apps I assume that one needs to be on 2G for it to reliably work? I still don't understand this limitation, as I used several cell tracking programs in Windows Mobile on 3G, but 2-3 similar things in Android read weird data if on 3G.
I haven't used it yet, but is there any tracking of cell tower locations and estimations of those tower locations based on signal and GPS location? Ideally as it gets more data, the estimation is updated. I ask because there's a tower near my wifes old workplace that has eluded me and it drives me nuts not knowing where the thing is. Otherwise I know where all of the towers are in town from previous mapping, but back to your app would be interesting to see the actual coverage.
EDIT: So far in the maps I only see "road coverage", no interpolation of area coverage. And the terms? Tsk..
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It works fine for me on 2G and 3G. I don't know why something wouldn't work on 3G.
I am logging the cell's LAC and Cell ID, but I'm not doing anything with the data yet.
For now, all you'll see are the paths people have travelled. The data is all accurate (i.e. no interpolation). I could probably add another layer to guess actual coverage, but one of the purposes of this app was to show carriers where dead spots are. There are definitely areas with a bad signal where a few hundred metres in all directions, you have a great signal. I don't want to interpolate a good signal in spots like that
Related to your tower issue, however, can you not get a list from the FCC? I know in Canada, all that data is public, and updated monthly, allowing things like http://www.candiancow.com/wind

Wow what an awesome Idea! Great way for us to get really accurate coverage maps! Thanks!

If you would consider making it store the data offline and sync it when in wifi range I'd probably install it.
I do not have a dataplan, so 2G/3G would be a bit too costly

minus30 said:
If you would consider making it store the data offline and sync it when in wifi range I'd probably install it.
I do not have a dataplan, so 2G/3G would be a bit too costly
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It does do that...

Does anyone use this now? Its been a year now.
I just found this app now (Late to the party) but have already started running it.
Only question i have is I am on Virgin mobile and not sure if my data will appear properly on the map (runs off Sprint Network)

ja5219 said:
Does anyone use this now? Its been a year now.
I just found this app now (Late to the party) but have already started running it.
Only question i have is I am on Virgin mobile and not sure if my data will appear properly on the map (runs off Sprint Network)
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I also replied to your email, but for the benefit of everyone else:
CDMA devices are notoriously bad at reporting their network ID. About half do it, and half don't. There are a bunch of hard-coded conversions to get it working for some devices/networks, but I'll try to get it working for yours later this week.

4g LTE outage Cause!

So get this folks... I had read here that a credit was being issued for the outage, so I decided to see what dollar amount I would be given. When I spoke to the rep, he offered me 1.99$ (2 days of data loss). So I said, ok, fair enough. I then asked what in the world happened, how was the entire US affected? The rep then proceeds to tell me that due to the massive tornado activity in the south, the 4g was effectively shut down. He says, nature can be that way sometimes... But, I was not to worry because the issue caused by the storm has been fixed. Now, basically I feel that just like anything, things will break, but to blame network screw-ups of this scale on god, Come On! I hope this will not be their official line, because I may not be the most tech savy tbolt user, but I know darn well this issue was NOT caused by friggin tornadoes! I guess they suppose the masses are that stupid. I guess mother nature also auto rebooted my phone right before the outage as well???? WOW!

mslove333 said:
So get this folks... I had read here that a credit was being issued for the outage, so I decided to see what dollar amount I would be given. When I spoke to the rep, he offered me 1.99$ (2 days of data loss). So I said, ok, fair enough. I then asked what in the world happened, how was the entire US affected? The rep then proceeds to tell me that due to the massive tornado activity in the south, the 4g was effectively shut down. He says, nature can be that way sometimes... But, I was not to worry because the issue caused by the storm has been fixed. Now, basically I feel that just like anything, things will break, but to blame network screw-ups of this scale on god, Come On! I hope this will not be their official line, because I may not be the most tech savy tbolt user, but I know darn well this issue was NOT caused by friggin tornadoes! I guess they suppose the masses are that stupid. I guess mother nature also auto rebooted my phone right before the outage as well???? WOW!
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Because the tornados couldn't have taken out cell towers?

Honestly, who gives a **** what caused the outage? Does it really make that big a difference to you? They acknowledged the problem, fixed it within 24 hrs and are crediting people's accounts (which they really don't even have to do). Kudos to Verizon, I say.

g00s3y said:
Because the tornados couldn't have taken out cell towers?
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They couldn't have taken out cell towers in CO, where I live. It's possible that a large network outage in the south might have caused a cascading failure for the rest of the country but that suggests a surprising fragility to the LTE network.
I'm not particularly upset about it but it is a bit curious that severe weather in the South would take down a network nation wide.

Um if tornadoes took out the towers, but only 4g was lost, and in some cases 3g, then these sound like some very finnicky tornadoes. If I was a tornado I wouldn't go for the 3g and 4g but leave the tower and its power source and 2g parts unharmed. Or were there actual places where all cell reception was lost? I only ever heard verizon say 4g was down, and that thunderbolt people might have issues thanks to how their phone hands off between 3g and 4g which was why people had to do t a fix to get from 1x back to 3g while 4g was down.

I'm not sure if this is true or if it is related to the tornadoes, but I read somewhere that their central/primary "router" went down.

I happened to be talking to a Verizon network tech on the day of the outage about a seperate issue and he said that they were having a problem with the eHRPD/LTE authentication system. So basically the phones were being denied access to the new networks but could still get on the old network. Who knows whether or not that's true but it sounds more plausable than bad weather.

mpw3000 said:
I happened to be talking to a Verizon network tech on the day of the outage about a seperate issue and he said that they were having a problem with the eHRPD/LTE authentication system. So basically the phones were being denied access to the new networks but could still get on the old network. Who knows whether or not that's true but it sounds more plausable than bad weather.
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Maybe the tornadoes took out the devices that were responsible for the eHRPD authentication.

cigar3tte said:
Maybe the tornadoes took out the devices that were responsible for the eHRPD authentication.
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True. Usually there's redundancies for that kind of thing though. Especially for a large company providing a service nationally.

I was in Alabama (Huntsville) during the tornadoes, and I can say that I was having the 3G issue the day before the storms came through. The only issue that the tornadoes caused was the inability to make and phone calls or send any texts (busy network error). I was able to receive calls and texts though.
Sidenote: My thoughts are sent out to anyone affected down there, there was a lot of damage done.

The flaw in the OP's information is most likely the source. He got the info from an account rep. While a tornado might be able to mess with things locally, no way one, or even a bunch of them could cause a nationwide problem. Just give up trying to figure out what the problem was, that's Verizon's job. Just enjoy the phone.

cigar3tte said:
Maybe the tornadoes took out the devices that were responsible for the eHRPD authentication.
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eHRPD has been disabled since the outage. Perhaps the devices are still down.

Perhaps you fail to see that our network is not just towers. It is tied to land based systems and a location of major traffic can shut a system down. All it takes is one hit in the right place and the whole thing fails. Main hub for fedex had a failure and it shut down their whole network worldwide.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App

Is anyone seeing any outages today? I have been on 1x since around 6:00am mst

I'm down in phoenix 1x

3g in po dunk mississippi!
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App

LTE running fine here in Detroit.

Any update from Seattle? LTE working fine there today?

burntorangefan said:
Any update from Seattle? LTE working fine there today?
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Been working fine here in Seattle since Thursday morning. Rock Solid 4G - no jumps or anything.

1. Buy phone, data changes from 4G to 3G to nothing constantly.
2. Leaked radio comes out, data changes a little better.
3. Immediately prior to outage, constant 4G all day.
4. Outage occurs, 1x for days.
5. Outage fixed, solid 4G in Philadelphia.
6. Leave Philadelphia, back in Jersey, no 4G, Goes from 3G to nothing. Under settings/wireless & networks/mobile network says connection failed. Uncheck, then check, 3G back, then connection fails again later. WTF.

No signal reception at all at some point?

I'm in highschool, and I have absolutely no service in the school building. That's because the buildings made that way
However, when I take the bus home, I get no signal whatsoever. Even when I'm outside. But when I restart my phone, I starting getting like 3 or 4 bars of service. Does anyone know what the problem might be? Or perhaps KNOW the problem? I am running AirFluip's KJ6.1 AOSP ROM, and this problem has been annoying the hell outta me.

jcjackjay said:
I'm in highschool, and I have absolutely no service in the school building. That's because the buildings made that way
However, when I take the bus home, I get no signal whatsoever. Even when I'm outside. But when I restart my phone, I starting getting like 3 or 4 bars of service. Does anyone know what the problem might be? Or perhaps KNOW the problem? I am running AirFluip's KJ6.1 AOSP ROM, and this problem has been annoying the hell outta me.
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I have had this problem with almost every phone I have ever owned. after searching and not finding a signal alot of phones will switch over and only scan for a new signal on a far less frequent schedule. the easiest thing is to put your phone into airplane mode and then back and it will re scan for a signal(alot quicker than a reboot)

candler33w said:
I have had this problem with almost every phone I have ever owned. after searching and not finding a signal alot of phones will switch over and only scan for a new signal on a far less frequent schedule. the easiest thing is to put your phone into airplane mode and then back and it will re scan for a signal(alot quicker than a reboot)
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thanks for the suggestion. will give it a try tmrw

It could be that your phone just doesnt have signal....
My school buildings are build to cut off signal for all carriers. Dont even know why...... But yea sometimes i get 1bar maybe 2 if im lucky... But, as soon as i step outside, i start getting bars.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA Premium App

The reason why you don't have signal in your school is to prevent y'all from Using your phones during school. At least that would be my best guess. The fact that y'all are allowed to have them in a school opens up the ability to cheat during testing, excessive texting, etc.. So schools have implemented measures to prevent that.

jpsheridan said:
The reason why you don't have signal in your school is to prevent y'all from Using your phones during school. At least that would be my best guess. The fact that y'all are allowed to have them in a school opens up the ability to cheat during testing, excessive texting, etc.. So schools have implemented measures to prevent that.
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To be honest its about time. There is no place in school for cell phones. Should go back to the days of getting caught with one and it is gone for good.

It could just be the ****ty AWS bands tmo uses...
1700/2100Mhz bands... the higher the frequency the crappier the penetration.
Meaning all the brick and concrete they used to construct your school manages to destroy your reception.
Whereas Verizon uses much lower frequencies (Something like 750 or 850 if I remember correctly)

tehgyb said:
It could just be the ****ty AWS bands tmo uses...
1700/2100Mhz bands... the higher the frequency the crappier the penetration.
Meaning all the brick and concrete they used to construct your school manages to destroy your reception.
Whereas Verizon uses much lower frequencies (Something like 750 or 850 if I remember correctly)
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Click to collapse
So that's why my friend always gets 4G in skool and i get 2 bars of edge.
-Sent From My Amazing Galaxy S 4G-

How do I disable H+ for 3G only?

Really annoying when it switches from H+ to 3G and vice versa since it loses connection whenever it does.

Printerscape said:
Really annoying when it switches from H+ to 3G and vice versa since it loses connection whenever it does.
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So what do you want to happen instead? I'm not sure why its annoying, it's something that the phone should do since its an indication of what network you're on. Whether your stock or rooted that would happen. I guess you can just open up the ROM you're using and just turn the 3G symbol into the H symbol or turn the H symbol into the 3G symbol. I'm not sure if that's gonna work though but worth a shot.

MMM-BACONSTRIPS said:
So what do you want to happen instead? I'm not sure why its annoying, it's something that the phone should do since its an indication of what network you're on. Whether your stock or rooted that would happen. I guess you can just open up the ROM you're using and just turn the 3G symbol into the H symbol or turn the H symbol into the 3G symbol. I'm not sure if that's gonna work though but worth a shot.
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It is annoying to some people because they are in an area where they are picking up two different towers and it is switching between towers, which means dropped calls. This is usually a problem if you are in a marginal area. This is what would be happening to me at home if I didn't have my microcell. The ideal fix for this, without the microcell, would be to be able to lock on to the the tower that is providing the 3G signal.
Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using Tapatalk

fernandezhjr said:
It is annoying to some people because they are in an area where they are picking up two different towers and it is switching between towers, which means dropped calls. This is usually a problem if you are in a marginal area. This is what would be happening to me at home if I didn't have my microcell. The ideal fix for this, without the microcell, would be to be able to lock on to the the tower that is providing the 3G signal.
Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using Tapatalk
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What (s)he said. Also disconnects and stops videos I'm streaming, forcing me to begin at the beginning. Would prefer to just stick with the more widely available 3G.

fernandezhjr said:
It is annoying to some people because they are in an area where they are picking up two different towers and it is switching between towers, which means dropped calls. This is usually a problem if you are in a marginal area. This is what would be happening to me at home if I didn't have my microcell. The ideal fix for this, without the microcell, would be to be able to lock on to the the tower that is providing the 3G signal.
Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
You just really like to poke holes or come at me don't you? Annoying, okay fine. I see how that can be annoying for those in marginals areas, to each their own. I'm more of a function over form type of guy and when it comes down to it, I'd rather just deal with the switching to know what network I'm on rather then changing icons or disabling it from showing the change in networks. Again to each their own which is why I offered my help. You're right, locking on to only the cell tower with 3G would be ideal but without said microcell, I think the OP is SOL for now.
Again, to the OP and to answer his questions, I don't know of anyway to prevent the change. I don't know of anyway to keep just 3G on or turn off 4G so it doesn't change so much. Like I said, I think the work around here would be to just change icons so that even if it does switch you'll only see one icon and thus eliminating the change in the status bar. If that works, you can always check the network in the about phone section.

by default it will latch onto 4g even if its a weaker (but usable signal) im trying to find the build.prop setting that will make it pick the stronger signal over speed. i remember seeing that before.
i believe
ro.ril.hsxpa=2 should put it to 3g. i have no signal where i work so i cant test. backup, change it, reboot and see.

Darunion said:
by default it will latch onto 4g even if its a weaker (but usable signal) im trying to find the build.prop setting that will make it pick the stronger signal over speed. i remember seeing that before.
i believe
ro.ril.hsxpa=2 should put it to 3g. i have no signal where i work so i cant test. backup, change it, reboot and see.
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Click to collapse
I'll give this a whirl, completely forgot about the build.prop..since being on Abso I haven't had to mess with it in a while, I'll give this a whirl and let the OP know. Thanks Dar!
edit: just tried it, still sticking on H for me, but I believe it may be because of where I am located. I get 4G speeds/signal so it rarely needs to bounce to 3G, hope the OP can test this out.

as a super noob i was playing around in there not knowing what i was doing, and completely made it lock me to 3g/2g mode and i was rather upset lol.
thanks bacon!
---------- Post added at 10:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:49 AM ----------
heres a good read
http://forum.smartphonegeeks.in/index.php?topic=2414.0
edit: OP is using an older radio too i see, might be worth going to 26.10.04.03_M, IMO has worked perfect for any rom ive used even ics roms.

MMM-BACONSTRIPS said:
You just really like to poke holes or come at me don't you? Annoying, okay fine. I see how that can be annoying for those in marginals areas, to each their own. I'm more of a function over form type of guy and when it comes down to it, I'd rather just deal with the switching to know what network I'm on rather then changing icons or disabling it from showing the change in networks. Again to each their own which is why I offered my help. You're right, locking on to only the cell tower with 3G would be ideal but without said microcell, I think the OP is SOL for now.
Again, to the OP and to answer his questions, I don't know of anyway to prevent the change. I don't know of anyway to keep just 3G on or turn off 4G so it doesn't change so much. Like I said, I think the work around here would be to just change icons so that even if it does switch you'll only see one icon and thus eliminating the change in the status bar. If that works, you can always check the network in the about phone section.
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Click to collapse
Just giving info bro, especially since I have first hand experience with this. It was a problem for me even when it was switching between 3G and Edge, which is what prompted me to get the microcell. Not everyone's situation will be the same as yours. If you feel like that is poking holes, then so be it, but the holes already exist because of this. No poking needed. The icons displayed are really meaningless in comparison to the actual signal. If you were experiencing the constant drop calls, I feel you would think differently. The phone is switching due to the cellular signal, the data just switches along with. It would be more useful if the op could lock to a specific tower. This is why the microcell works. It is the strongest cell signal near the phone, so the phone stays locked to it as long as you are in the proper range.
Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using Tapatalk

fernandezhjr said:
Just giving info bro, especially since I have first hand experience with this. It was a problem for me even when it was switching between 3G and Edge, which is what prompted me to get the microcell. Not everyone's situation will be the same as yours. If you feel like that is poking holes, then so be it, but the holes already exist because of this. No poking needed. The icons displayed are really meaningless in comparison to the actual signal. If you were experiencing the constant drop calls, I feel you would think differently. The phone is switching due to the cellular signal, the data just switches along with. It would be more useful if the op could lock to a specific tower. This is why the microcell works. It is the strongest cell signal near the phone, so the phone stays locked to it as long as you are in the proper range.
Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using Tapatalk
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im goin a lil offtopic, but i need more feedback to continue helping. anyways, how do you like the microcell? i been contemplating getting one where as if i sit down in my apartment i lose my calls and some rooms i get nothing. its annoying.

@ Darunion....I have had my microcell for a year and a half now and, while it has not worked flawless, it has worked good enough to be able to get rid of my home phone. I still get an occasional dropped call, but at least the cell phones in my home have been usable since getting it. I do recommend it in those really tough situations where there is lack of even a decent signal in one's area.
Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using Tapatalk

fernandezhjr said:
@ Darunion....I have had my microcell for a year and a half now and, while it has not worked flawless, it has worked good enough to be able to get rid of my home phone. I still get an occasional dropped call, but at least the cell phones in my home have been usable since getting it. I do recommend it in those really tough situations where there is lack of even a decent signal in one's area.
Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using Tapatalk
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i think that may be my next buy. tired of having to sit next to a window to even send a text. lol

Oh having it swap between signals will be a huge battery drain as it is always bouncing back and forth. There is an Something somewhere that should be able to stop it from trying to connect to the 3.5g network. ATT has no 4g. A seach will tell you what you want to know.

3G singal repeater

I was considering buying one of these ebay signal boosters, and was wondering if anyone has had any experience with them and the TP2 on Sprint. I am getting 2 bars, and on a good day I can download at ~80k/s at home. I want to be able to squeeze any more data speed from my phone that I can as it is my only internet source (D*mn you Comcast for putting your pole 1000' from my house).

That repeater appears to be for GSM only.
The only repeater I've heard of for Sprint/CDMA is kind of a hack. It basically uses your existing broadband connection to 'boost' your signal - see Airave.
Edit - the more I read that ebay ad, the more confused I am. CDMA 2000 is CDMA, but it says it boosts at the 2100mhz range, while Sprint's service is 1900mhz...
Edit 2 - moar info

The ebay link I posted shows Frequency range: Uplink 1930~ 1990MHz Downlink 2110 ~ 2180MHz boosted. That should cover the correct range.
It looks like sprint 3g is running from 1932.4 to 1987.6 from what I am seeing on the web.

wizardknight said:
The ebay link I posted shows Frequency range: Uplink 1930~ 1990MHz Downlink 2110 ~ 2180MHz boosted. That should cover the correct range.
It looks like sprint 3g is running from 1932.4 to 1987.6 from what I am seeing on the web.
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So does that mean the repeater will only work in one direction...
I'm not trying to discourage you from finding a solution, I just don't want you to waste $90 on something that might be useless for you.
Edit - what about wi-ex? Those seem to be the most "dependable" products... although much pricier. I just can't find much outside of the Airave for Sprint... and in theory it should work - but it would only improve your signal to what you get outdoors it seems. I'm not convinced any of it will boost your signal as if you had a new Sprint tower outside your window...
http://www.wi-ex.com/homeOffice.aspx

arrrghhh said:
So does that mean the repeater will only work in one direction...
I'm not trying to discourage you from finding a solution, I just don't want you to waste $90 on something that might be useless for you.
Edit - what about wi-ex? Those seem to be the most "dependable" products... although much pricier. I just can't find much outside of the Airave for Sprint... and in theory it should work - but it would only improve your signal to what you get outdoors it seems. I'm not convinced any of it will boost your signal as if you had a new Sprint tower outside your window...
http://www.wi-ex.com/homeOffice.aspx
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Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't the airave work by using a broad band internet connection? As noted in the first post I am using my cell as my internet connection so that doesn't seem like a viable option.

wizardknight said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't the airave work by using a broad band internet connection? As noted in the first post I am using my cell as my internet connection so that doesn't seem like a viable option.
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Huh? Wi-EX is not an Airave. Sorry I mentioned it my post, I was just stating the only cell booster technology I've seen for Sprint or even CDMA specifically is the Airave - which as you noted works on an existing broadband connection.
However, that Wi-EX site seems to support both GSM and CDMA technologies - perhaps as does that one you found on ebay. If you don't have good service outside I don't see those devices improving anything for you...
Good luck, let us know if you do end up with something - I've always wondered about doing this for my parents house - they live in the boonies and no service... but over a ridge not 1/2 mile by the way the crow files, full bars. Very frustrating for them, and it was maddening when I lived up there... I just am skeptical these types of devices will make that big of a difference. They seem to really be for large buildings where you have difficulty getting service inside the building - but service is fine outside of the building. Not quite the case for my parents, not sure if it's the case for you or not...

Do those things transmit with higher power than your phone? If so then they could improve your signal strength quite a bit since the limiting factor in your phones ability to communicate with the network is its puny transmitter, not the towers.