Advice Needed EE Poor Signal and what to do

[Channel Hopper]

I have a customer with bad/intermittent signal at his house, he has EE as his provider.

The nearest cell tower is not far away and I suggested getting an external 4/5G antenna and send it to a repeater inside, which a combination of the three devices - including cable adapter - is suggested on the Amazon website, but he has since mentioned he already has a hub in the house (that I think is fed from the BT socket on the wall, though I need to be on site to check) .

Without an external antenna port I doubt I could connect up, but I was thinking of a possibility to deliver the incoming signal using a USB antenna stick. Can anyone confirm if this is feasible, if the USB port is just for upgrades / charging of devices , or it it a complete non-starter ?

Thanks in advance

 

[ozumo]

That looks like an EE home broadband router rather than a signal booster. If the EE phone is on a contract he can enable WiFi-calling.

 

[Channel Hopper]

I think making non wifi calls is the ultimate goal, reception of the mobile in the house is very poor ( and I have checked for foil insulation in the walls/roof)

 

[ozumo]

Wifi-calling just means all traditional calls & SMS to and from the phone are routed through broadband rather than the nearest cell tower, calls and texts are deducted from the contract allowances in the same way as if connected to a cell tower.

My friend used to have a 'signal box' that acted like a mini cell tower, it too was connected to the home broadband but created a 3G connection for phones to connect to. These have now been phased out in favour of WiFi-calling.

 

[Terryl]

If he was stateside I would just install a cell phone booster, I use some from Wilson electronics, an antenna mounts outside, (omni or yagi) a booster package inside to a wall mounted flatpanel antenna, single to no bars converts to 2 to 3, I used several till AT&T put up a tower close by.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Based on some previous work a couple of years back I suggested the Poynting option, though I need to check what has been ordered.

Regardless, I doubt anything will bolt to the unit downstairs unless somebody knows better.

 

[Topper]

Based on some previous work a couple of years back I suggested the Poynting option, though I need to check what has been ordered.

Regardless, I doubt anything will bolt to the unit downstairs unless somebody knows better.

As mentioned Wifi calling is the answer, my wife's phone has it and we had no mobile signal at all for a couple of weeks during 'upgrades' and her phone worked normally for making and receiving calls

 

[Channel Hopper]

As mentioned Wifi calling is the answer, my wife's phone has it and we had no mobile signal at all for a couple of weeks during 'upgrades' and her phone worked normally for making and receiving calls

I suspect this is to be a permanent solution for any event (wifi to mobile/mobile to wifi/ bandwidth either side of the equation) , otherwise they would not have ordered the equipment.

Does anyone have reviews or actual figures for broadband/mobile connection over a stable connection / mobile contract with various UK ISP/mobile suppliers ?
Exact location not important, since I'm getting a number of similar enquiries as of late.

 

[ozumo]

If you mean using 4G/5G for home broadband from experience 4G was around 15-30Mbps download, 8-15Mbps upload. Faster than ADSL and a good option if fibre isn't available, especially the upload speed for video calls/streaming.

Some routers have a SIM slot that can be used for 4G backup should the main broadband connection go down, or use 4G as the main connection. The advantage being when used in 4G mode the router can be placed anywhere there's power (assuming there's a decent 4G signal).

 

[rolfw]

I have EE wifi call and works perfectly, does need of course to be a phone capable of hosting the EE app.

 

[mikeisyou]

"I have a customer with bad/intermittent signal at his house, he has EE as his provider."

The router in the picture will be connected to a BT phone-line socket. Is the problem the customers wifi from this router or making phone calls on their mobile?

 

[Channel Hopper]

Making calls from the mobile. Only one position works, the back garden.