Private cell phone service

[Larry Caldwell]

I just found out I will have FIOS available at my house starting in May. There is no cell phone service at my house, so I would like to do a low power cell tower using my internet. Has anyone ever done anything like that? There's plenty of internet over a cell signal, but I can't find anything about a cell signal powered by internet.

 

[LouNY]

I don't know if it helps but my phone keeps wanting me to enable wifi calling for when cell service is poor.
So a high powered router and a phone that uses wifi may help in your situation.

 

[RNeumann]

I had a unit provided by Verizon that did just what you want. I don’t recall the brand- it’s been years. Now a days, as stated above, it’s wifi enabled calling. Wifi calling seems to work much better for me.

 

[MossRoad]

I just found out I will have FIOS available at my house starting in May. There is no cell phone service at my house, so I would like to do a low power cell tower using my internet. Has anyone ever done anything like that? There's plenty of internet over a cell signal, but I can't find anything about a cell signal powered by internet.

What kind of range are you attempting to get from this?

 

[TnAndy]

We've used a Verizon Home Phone wireless deal for years. It uses same cell service as handheld units, but seems to have more power than handheld. We went to it because it was $25 & change versus the nearly 50 bucks we were paying with Embarq before.

How To Set Up Wireless Home Phone

 

[Roadworthy]

I'm not sure what you're after. If you have internet and just want a phone at home you can use a voice over IP service at a pretty low cost.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I too would like some better explanation. There is all kinds of telemetry for lack of a better word to make a cell phone voice call work and connect to a network, jump between cell sites, billing and so forth. You can't as far as I know, turn it into a portable home phone.

 

[Travelover]

I have a Google Voice number and use Hangouts app on my cell phone and iPad to make free calls using my WiFi. Works great for outgoing calls.

 

[Industrial Toys]

So, it's a voip ap of sorts that uses the audio capabilities of your "device" but not the internal cell related transceiver? Can you call anyone, anywhere? Is there billing?

 

[Larry Caldwell]

What kind of range are you attempting to get from this?

The shop is about 200 ft. from the house, and has metal siding. I'm planning to direct bury ethernet and set up a separate router out there. I don't know if I need one with decent range, or two very low range units. I know nothing about it. Total noob.

I only bought a cell phone because my wife wanted to call me when I was not home. I can't see how we could interfere with anyone. You can't get any kind of cell signal where I live. With a $300 Wilson signal amp, we get enough signal to text, but not enough to carry a voice signal.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I too would like some better explanation. There is all kinds of telemetry for lack of a better word to make a cell phone voice call work and connect to a network, jump between cell sites, billing and so forth. You can't as far as I know, turn it into a portable home phone.

Oh well. I'll just install Skype and tell people to try that number.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

So, it's a voip ap of sorts that uses the audio capabilities of your "device" but not the internal cell related transceiver? Can you call anyone, anywhere? Is there billing?

There are dozens of apps that will initiate voice or video chats. Have you ever heard of Skype? Last time I checked, which was years ago, Skype was free to make US calls and for a small fee of $13/month you could make calls anywhere in the world. If you are logged on to Skype, people can call you. It's a microsoft app, and is available on android and windows cell phones. If you have an Apple, take a look at Facetime.

I use the Facebook voice chat a lot. You can only call your friends, which is fine with me.

Edit: Just googling around I found out about Nimbuzz. It seems there are alternatives. Isn't competition great?

 

[Agvg]

I just found out I will have FIOS available at my house starting in May. There is no cell phone service at my house, so I would like to do a low power cell tower using my internet. Has anyone ever done anything like that? There's plenty of internet over a cell signal, but I can't find anything about a cell signal powered by internet.

Must be much cheaper to use wi-fi calls, then your phone will use your WiFi instead of the cell network when you don't have any coverage, same number and it fixes it automatically.

What is WiFi Calling & How to Get it on Your Phone - Techlicious

 

[Diggin It]

I just found out I will have FIOS available ...

If that's Verizon, I'd suggest talking to them first, before trying anything else. They may have something available.

 

[coldsteelva]

What you are asking for is a microcell. It provides radio signal to your cell phone, but links you to the phone network via your always-on internet connection

Samsung 4G LTE Network Extender 2 | Verizon Wireless

 

[TheMan419]

Most modern phones have the capacity to direct their calls over wifi. If you have that your problem is solved. You just need to be within your wifi cloud and you are good to go. If you do not have that capacity you need to check with your provider. My folks have AT&T. Before phones could do wifi AT&T sold them a device that did it. They set it up and connected it to their router. They had to white list their numbers. Their phones saw that device as a cell tower and used it. The device then routed the calls over their internet connection. Very slick. But now built into most modern phones.

It will also redirect texting over the wifi connection.

This is also useful in big box stores that have guest wifi, but have terrible cell reception.

 

[Ford850]

ThaMan419 has your answer. That's what I use.
I have limited cell coverage on my property, and nearly none inside the house. Zero cell coverage in my basement where my office is. So now my Verizon internet router is in my basement office, and provides excellent WIFI coverage through my whole house. I turned on the 'Use WIFI for Phone Calls' on my family's cell phones, and we all have 100% cell call use anywhere in the house including the basement. When we use our phones outside we lose WIFI signal and pick up cell tower coverage. I wasn't sure how this would work at first, but after struggling with cell usage for years I gave it a try. I was completely satisfied, even using my cell phone for business, so I dropped my land line. When you turn on WIFI for calls, you can enter the address you want to use as a locator in case you need to dial 911 while using your home's WIFI.

 

[3Ts]

Most modern phones have the capacity to direct their calls over wifi. If you have that your problem is solved. You just need to be within your wifi cloud and you are good to go. If you do not have that capacity you need to check with your provider. My folks have AT&T. Before phones could do wifi AT&T sold them a device that did it. They set it up and connected it to their router. They had to white list their numbers. Their phones saw that device as a cell tower and used it. The device then routed the calls over their internet connection. Very slick. But now built into most modern phones.

It will also redirect texting over the wifi connection.

This is also useful in big box stores that have guest wifi, but have terrible cell reception.

^ This.

I was travelling overseas and had my iphone set to airplane mode the entire trip since I didn't want to pay for overseas calls at $3/min. but I had WiFi calling enabled. I received a call from my neighbor. I have no idea how it works or how it found me overseas, but as long as I had internet, it worked. I don't know what they dialed but I think they dialed the number they would normally as if I was in the US, I don't think they dialed the "+" to get the overseas connection.

 

[JK22]

Yes. WiFi calling is all you need.

 

[kf4uda]

When my sister comes in and stays with my elderly Mother she does not have any cellular service with her Verizon phone. We have wireless internet there so I setup her phone with wifi calling and it works with calls and texts just as well as if it had cell service.