Mobile phone weak signal area

[Black-Pete]

For the last couple of weeks I have in in an area that has poor mobile reception. I could only get reception if I stood out on the verandah in the cold. I have just been researching ways to improve the signal and I'm more confused than ever. Some systems seem to be illegal and others are very $$$$.
All I want is to use my smart phone as a tethering devise to my computer and to get mobile reception while out in the yard.

What have people found to work at a reasonable price? The provider I have uses the Telstra network but my wife's phone is Optus and both have minimum coverage.

Black-Pete

 

[aussiefarmer]

Yagi ? Antennas are great , to do it properly and fully legal your up for about $1000 , they work great and you can do them alot cheaper but if it affects any other signal it can be deemed illegal.

 

[Mr Magoo]

The provider I have uses the Telstra network but my wife's phone is Optus and both have minimum coverage.

You don't mention the provider or whether they are using 3G or 4G.
Where I am Optus is almost unusable, Telstra (4G) pretty good but I use Aldie that uses the Telstra 3G network and is far from perfect but works most of the time and half the price.

 

[Black-Pete]

The provider I have uses the Telstra network but my wife's phone is Optus and both have minimum coverage.

You don't mention the provider or whether they are using 3G or 4G.
Where I am Optus is almost unusable, Telstra (4G) pretty good but I use Aldie that uses the Telstra 3G network and is far from perfect but works most of the time and half the price.

The provider I use is Belong which is owned by Telstra and it's 4G and reverts back to 3G if 4G signal is not in the area so I assume it would be 3G in this area. The wife's provider is Optus so I would think it would be similar.
Black-Pete

 

[PeterInSa]

I think Belong would be similar to Aldi, a cut down version of Telstra. 12 Km out of Broken Hill my smart phone ( used for tethering)had 4 bars but the internet was so slow that it timed out. Telstra sim OK.

Suggest you try a Telstra sim in your phone/Mates phone in your location.

Peter

 

[Gpx5000]

I was recently in Tom Price in WA, Telstra signal was 4G 2 bars, which is normally ok, it wasn't, the internet wouldn't load. I then had a brainwave, I went into my phone's settings, connections, mobile networks, and turned off 4G....it worked a treat, internet loaded straight away, I could Skype friends/family, no worries and it cost me nothing.
Worth a try I think.

 

[Black-Pete]

Gpx5000 seems to have hit the nail on the head, I just went into Mobile Network settings. then network mode and changed setting from LTE/WCDMA/GSM to just WCDMA/GSM and phone went from barely one bar reception up to 4 bars. We will see what the difference is next time I'm back at the location I was having poor reception in.
Thanks for the replies
Black-Pete

 

[Gpx5000]

Glad I could help, hopefully it works where you want it to.
Cheers. :Y: