[Q] External Antennas?

usererror404

Senior Member
Sep 14, 2011
57
39
0
Wilmington, NC
I've seen a few sites selling external antennas for the Charge. I live out in the vast wilderness of East Bumblecrapfail, NC, and only have, at best, one bar of 3g signal at my house. I am beyond the reach of cable or DSL. I need something better than this HughesNet abomination that I mockingly call a net connection. Halp! Are these things safe? Will they do anything to boost my signal? Anyone have any experience with them? HELP A NERD OUT, I JUST WANT INTERTUBES AT HOME. Thanks in advance.
 

wampuscat

Senior Member
Dec 21, 2008
403
38
0
Mobile,AL
If u can swallow spending about $350.,I bought a cell-phone mate ®booster with directional outside antenna and dome inside antenna which they say covers 2500 sq ft. Cellphone mate was the only one that put out a full 3 Watts. Wilson and others just 1 and a half. Its also made of cast aluminum instead of plastic. At my fish camp I went from 1 bar outside to 4-5 bars inside. You definitely need the upgraded antennas tho. Their good for about 15 DB gain.get the dual band and it'll work on everything but IDEN networks. They are starting to make 4g boosters too. YMMV
 
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usererror404

Senior Member
Sep 14, 2011
57
39
0
Wilmington, NC
If u can swallow spending about $350.,I bought a cell-phone mate ®booster with directional outside antenna and dome inside antenna which they say covers 2500 sq ft. Cellphone mate was the only one that put out a full 3 Watts. Wilson and others just 1 and a half. Its also made of cast aluminum instead of plastic. At my fish camp I went from 1 bar outside to 4-5 bars inside. You definitely need the upgraded antennas tho. Their good for about 15 DB gain.get the dual band and it'll work on everything but IDEN networks. They are starting to make 4g boosters too. YMMV
Awesome! I heard someone saying something about boosters frying the modem on the charge, though. is this the case or is that the ramblings of a paranoid/incompetent/unlucky techie?
 

bomix

Senior Member
Dec 11, 2008
229
4
0
Don't stick anything on the charge as far as R1L1 ports on the back of the phone. I messed up my Charge doing that.

I have noticed that the Thunderbolt has an external antenna on the batter cover. I'd love to somehow copy this method. My bro's thunderbolt always gets great 4G
 

xdadevnube

Senior Member
Jun 28, 2011
1,038
178
0
Don't stick anything on the charge as far as R1L1 ports on the back of the phone. I messed up my Charge doing that.

I have noticed that the Thunderbolt has an external antenna on the batter cover. I'd love to somehow copy this method. My bro's thunderbolt always gets great 4G
Could you share what you did that caused issues with your Charge? I am quite interested in making use of those ports, but I am trying to gather as much info about them as possible before I cause problems.
 

bomix

Senior Member
Dec 11, 2008
229
4
0
Could you share what you did that caused issues with your Charge? I am quite interested in making use of those ports, but I am trying to gather as much info about them as possible before I cause problems.
Uhh.. stuck a copper wire in like some stupid youtube video.. Don't do this.. it will mess up your connections.. you'll lose all connections.
 

ambrar12

Senior Member
Jan 8, 2012
107
0
0
Wilson and some other company showed off a $150 external antenna for 4G Verizon LTE phones at CES. We'll probably get a much better look at their products during Mobile World Congress in the end of February. IIRC they plan on releasing it Q2 of this year.

As has been pointed out, the antenna doesn't connect directly to the Charge, as that would permanently disable the Charge's internal antennas. Rather, you set the Charge in a cup holder-type device, which is connected by wire to a separate antenna. I think the phone holder wirelessly transmits the amplified signal from the antenna, over the wire, and to the phone.
 

papa54

Member
Mar 6, 2011
32
2
0
Uhh.. stuck a copper wire in like some stupid youtube video.. Don't do this.. it will mess up your connections.. you'll lose all connections.
when i was stuck with a non worth mentioning Fascinate i had problems out the yeng yang trying to make and recieve calls here at home. (SE TN.) Once i griped enough they offered me a choice between droidx2 or this charge. i chose the charge because of the humming bird processor.

after reading many spec sheets from where ever on the net i discovered that the Charge spec stated it had an antenne, no where does the Fassy specs so state that fact.

but i'd like to jump in on this band wagon about the R1 L2 ports..

if and when someone finds info on it send me a pm.. sometimes i am smart enough to check for them...

best of luck on antenne ..

BTW Verizon told me i could get that booster thingy and i told them i bought a ph that was supposed to work and had no plans to buy optional 500 to make ph wrk. charge does well with one of those stick in antenne under the battery..
might get ya by.. and cheap also...
 

xdadevnube

Senior Member
Jun 28, 2011
1,038
178
0
Yeah, these ports intrigue me. I haven't seen any other phones that actually have these ports. I want to boost some signal!
There is a side on Google Plus that hooked up a home made antenna to one of the ports. I will post the link when I get to a computer later.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App
 

barry99705

Senior Member
Aug 16, 2008
906
159
0
Yeah, these ports intrigue me. I haven't seen any other phones that actually have these ports. I want to boost some signal!
There is a side on Google Plus that hooked up a home made antenna to one of the ports. I will post the link when I get to a computer later.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App
Usually the ports are hidden inside the phone. My old HTC Tilt Windows mobile phone has the port showing. That's where I learned about what they are for. Some dumbass stuck a paperclip in it and fried his cell radio.