Antenna suggestions (theory/engineering)?

[dannimal]

My office is being re-located, and the new location gets crummy signal. About 85% of the time I get 1 bar, 10% of the time I get 2 bars, and 5% of the time calls get dropped/missed.

I'm looking at something like this:

http://tinyurl.com/6hzwwh

But I had some questions:

- Do these kinds of things work indoors?

- How do I decide how big the antenna should be? (5 dBi, 9 dBi, 13 dbi...?)

Generally, I'd be leaving the Mogul in a cradle on my desk during the day so having the antenna connected to the back isn't a big dela.

Thanks.

[matty032]

I would go with the 13dbi, especially with that weak a signal. The higher the db's, the more signal it will pull in. That is an omnidirectional antenna, so best bet is stick next to a window if possible. They really are designed to work on a car roof. Hope this helps...

[Gulanowski]

If there's one downfall to our phone it's the reception. I get crummy service at home but when I had an E815 it always managed to pull in more bars than other phone and calls never got dropped, can't say the same about the Titan.

Matty is right, the higher the dBi the better it'll get, but it'd not going to go up any crazy amount, can you mount it outside the window? If you're willing to shell out a lot of cash you can also get an amplifier which will boost your signal as well, sometimes significantly.

[dannimal]

The new office has no windows (and is partially underground).

Sadly, I don't think I can convince work to shell out the money for the amp.

I'll have to look and see where I might put a 40" antenna.

[treeboy]

I think I'm going with a yagi and a repeater. I'm just not sure how far apart they need to be. There seems to be no end to the money I can spend on one cell phone!

[Jim_in_VA]

Keep in mind any mag mount omni antenna is designed for mobile use, that is, its meant to be placed on a vehicle which creates the ground plane for it. If you are going to use it inside a building it must be placed on a metal surface to provide the same ground plane. The higher the dBi of an antenna the further it will reach, yes, but it also reduces its verticle RF pattern. Kind of like a beach-ball when you step on it..it squishes outward but its height is reduced....same with antennas and dBi. So high dBi is not always the solution. Particularly if you are relatively close to the cell tower.

Hope this helps

[remydakid]

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