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Weak signal from tower 7 miles away

MOUNTAINHIKER1956

Our only tower is 7 miles away. We have no access to cable anything we are so far out of any urban area so a signal booster from wired/ cable internet wont work. We have been having good results for house wide data for computers, roku etc from a Verizon MIFI home device located in an upstairs bedroom window on the tower side of the house. This device has three ethernet ports to supply internet to the home network and two phone jacks to run the wired phones in the house. In the past few months signal has been very cruddy. Sometimes dropping off completely, other times it seems fine.
I have been researching roof mounted signal boosters that boost and relay the signal into the home. Does Verizon have anything they sell or recommend? There is a wide range of prices of boosters on the market and if anyone has any recommendations for reasonalbly priced units that would work in a home that is 1600 sq ft

Comments

Verizon_Support

We appreciate those details regarding your circumstances. There is a Verizon Antenna for LTE to boost the signal for the Verizon Jetpack or compatible modem. See link for details: https://www.verizonwireless.com/products/antenna-for-lte. BrittanyC_VZW

bagelh

I have a similar issue. I am in a rural area without access to hardwired broadband (unless I spend vast sums of money for Comcast to extend to my area) or even DSL so we use an ellipsis jet pack and mobile hotspots on a Samsung S10e and Apple 11 to access the internet with laptops. Depending on where we are in the house we will get anywhere from 1 to 3 bars. Usually 1 or 2 bars where the jetpack or phones are usually placed. Is there any way to boost this signal? I've done alot of on-line research but I am not sure what signal booster product (or type of signal booster product) would work best for my particular situation. Any help that anyone can offer is greatly appreicated. Thanks

Verizon_Support

Hello bagelh,

We know how important it is to stay connected to the internet when your local options are limited. We are unable to guarantee any level of service when you are inside of a building. The house itself will block our signal from entering. Depending on your relation to the local tower, different areas of your house will have different signal strengths. We don't offer any equipment to increase the signal of your Jet Pack or Mobile Hotspot in your home. What difficulties are you experiencing when you use your service? Does it improve when you step outside?

ChristopherM_VZW

bagelh

It would improve outside but the larger consideration seems to be height. The signal is better on the second floor next to a window in the general direction of the closest cell tower as opposed to the first floor where where most of the laptop/cell phone usage happpens. The cell tower is probably 3 miles as the bird flies but I live in a hilly area so I doubt I get anything close to a direct shot.

MOUNTAINHIKER1956

Brittany C, We don't have a Jetpack. I have a 'Verizon LTE Internet and Home Phone' device, also heard of it being referred to as a Home Phone Connect. It has 3 Ethernet ports, WiFi and 2 phone jacks to supply the house phones with dial tone / connection. It also has two antenna ports. If I could attach a photo of the device I would so you could understand what I have. Will this antenna work with my device? We do get signal but it can drop out completely for hours or even days at a time. We never get more than 3 bars. Sometimes when we have no signal at home our cell phones are also dead. This is why I was asking about an antenna to mount on the roof pointed towards the tower connected to an indoor antenna to increase the signal to all devices in the house.

Verizon_Support

Thanks for the details, MOUNTAINHIKER1956. This device would not be compatible with an antenna. While it can be used with a network extender, you have advised earlier that you don't have wired internet service which is required for a network extender. We're happy to help troubleshoot with you. What's the nearest cross streets and zip code of your location? Are the issues both inside and outside?

RyanM_VZW

MOUNTAINHIKER1956

Ryan

We are about a mile NW of the intersection of Peavine Rd and Powerhouse Hill Rd on Peavine, Zip code 97128. We are about 9 - 10 miles from McMinnville by road and about 7 air miles from the tower which is located near the towns of Sheridan and Willamina. On the signal strength app map the tower is located near the jct of Hwys 18 and 22. We have a mountain between us and the Willamette Valley where McMinnville is which blocks signal from the metro area towers. We get our signal that comes from the afore mentioned tower up Gopher Valley which our home looks over. We are at the 1100 foot elevation, the area of the tower is about 2-300 foot elevation. I have heard of signal boosters that have a directional send/ receive antenna mounted on the roof and a corresponding antenna inside the home to bring a stronger signal into the home. I was hoping Verizon might have these antenna devices to increase signal at our home. Our home is constructed of large logs with a steel roof. We do have a lot of windows facing the direction of the tower. We have the MiFi Home device in an upstairs window facing the direction of the tower and networked to the connected devices - primarily 2 PC's, and a Roku connected to the TV. As Mentioned previously we do get adequate signal most of the time but there are times when it drops to nothing like a switch is shut off then suddenly it will be back on again. This could be for an hour (often exactly an hour) or on occasion it can be days at a time. This signal issue is inside and outside. To make calls when this happens we have to drive around the mountain between us and the metro areas to get signal to make calls. As our only communication with the outside world is via Verizon wireless signal it is a bit disconcerning if we ever had an emergency during these times.

Thank you for looking into this for us.

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