Hello . . . now you CAN get a signal without leaning out of the window!
Boosters can help beat poor phone and broadband coverage – but they are pricey
It’s a maddening phenomenon, familiar to many – poor mobile phone or broadband coverage. We’ve all had the experience of leaning out an upstairs window or scuttling to the bottom of the garden trying to get a decent signal during an important call. Unfortunately, the problems of poor mobile and broadband coverage go hand-in-hand. In remote areas without broadband, people can’t fall back on their phones for internet connectivity if the mobile service is also bad, as it often is.
And you don’t have to be in the middle of nowhere for this to happen.
Dissatisfaction with broadband and mobile phone reception is widespread across Ireland. Almost six out of 10 broadband users nationally (58%) are not satisfied with current broadband services, a recent study showed.
Although I live just 3km from Dublin city centre, like many of those frustrated people, I am in a mobile and broadband blackspot.
I normally get just one bar on my phone, which often fades to no signal at all, cutting off calls mid-conversation. And there is no cable-based broadband.
Like many people, I fall back on an unsatisfactory solution – a broadband hub from Eir using the 4G mobile network that somehow makes the most of the limited signal I have.
This comes with a 50GB data allowance for €30 a month that often runs out before the end of the month, forcing me to pay onerous fees for emergency extra data. Grrrrr.
I could save up to €60 a month by using my phone hotspot instead if only I could boost the signal.
Until recently all mobile boosters/repeaters were banned – with good reason. Certain types can wreck mobile reception for everyone in the area.
However, last summer, in a littleknown move, telecoms regulator ComReg legalised a few home signal boosters, also known as repeaters. Details of four approved providers are listed in the panel (right).
The only Irish-based repeater is StellaDoradus, which claims its repeaters can ‘solve the broadband problem in Ireland as every customer can now use their phone for data, or use it as a hotspot’. Edwina Browne, a co-founder of the Waterford-based firm, said: ‘You do have to have a signal outside in order for the repeater to be able to amplify it. But it is very unusual to find a location where there is no signal at all.
‘We designed a repeater that cannot cause an interference under any circumstance and finally, we got approval in Ireland to sell our repeaters in June 2018,’ she said. Previously the company exported its products, mainly to France, and business is booming, although quite competitive.
Unfortunately, business is also booming for vendors of illegal boosters.
Ms Browne said: ‘Many of the other repeaters available that amplify all operators are of Chinese origin and are illegal to use.’ These oriental repeaters – sold through a variety of websites, some with Irish names – could interfere with mobile phone coverage for up to 16km around.
‘In this case, ComReg has to drive around and find the source of interference [i.e. you]. When found, the equipment will be confiscated and they can impose a fine,’ according to Ms Browne. The fine would pale into insignificance beside the local infamy!
Imagine the angry neighbours’ accusing glares boring into the back of your neck after the ComReg officials do the ‘walk of shame’ down your driveway with the offending device that knocked out the mobile coverage for half the county!
Legal mobile phone boosters that
cover all providers don’t come cheap.
The Stella Doradus repeaters range upwards in price from €427 including VAT for voice only models.
I asked Stella Doradus to send me one to test and the next day I received a voice and data model costing €663.
This worked fine, boosting my mobile signal from one bar to three or four at least.
To be honest, I just ran a cable out a window and shoved the outdoor antennae about 8ft up a tree in the garden.
Properly installed higher up and aimed in exactly the right direction, it should work even better.
Initially I baulked at the price, thinking this is perhaps a product mainly suited for the business market.
However, competitors in very far-off places charge similar prices.
And as this is a once-off fee, it could be worth paying if your mobile and data reception is driving you nuts.
It would pay for itself within a year for me, by replacing pricey 4G broadband – not to mention sparing endless frustration with dropped signals.
Some people cough up more than €1,000 for the latest smartphones without a qualm but never seem to ask themselves if that is really a price worth paying if they live in a region with poor broadband coverage.