[MLB-WIRELESS] Mobile phones in remote places.

[Jon Teh]

On Mon, Sep 09, 2002 at 09:34:57AM +1000, Paul van den Bergen wrote:
> Hi all.
> this is a question that might be particularly suited to the Telstra 
> people on the list....
> 
> My father has a country property (hereafter known as "The Block").  it 
> is in west central victoria near a town called Moonambel, near Avoca, 
> vineyard country.  He is in a mobile phone hole, both analogue and CDMA. 
> You can clearly see it on the Telstra maps...  I have recently been 
> considering the best (simplest? cheapest? most robust?) way to improve 
> their communication with the outside world.  At the moment they have to 
> drive about 1km or climb the hill... (they own a hill, or at least one 
> side of a hill... including the local top bit).
> 
> my first thought was to set up a solar AP with a cantenna to the house, 
> have a phone at both ends and use VoIP or similar...  but that is a lot 
> of messing around, lots of protocols. CDMA, Ethernet, modem, IP, 
> 802.11b...  is there a better way?  All I really need is a mobile phone 
> repeater...  are they available?  

MobileOne sell GSM and CDMA antennae which offer around 6.5dBi gain, IIRC.
I'm not sure if these would be of help in getting coverage from the house.

It would be useful if you could find out what sort of signal strength 
figures exist when assessing the situation, some phones have the ability
to report such figures.
> Is telstra interested in plugging 
> networks holes?  who would I talk to about this? what costs are involved?

Unless there is more than a couple of customers, I doubt it.
Costs? The mobile telephony network remains the property of the carrier,
so they would have to pay for a new base station, if it was to be installed.
You can try your luck at complaining about the lack of service, but I don't
like your chances. Take a look if they have any service obligations for
mobile telephony in the USO, but again, I don't think this is too 
hopeful.

I hope you have some luck with improving your reception, but it looks like
one of those situations where things are going to suck for a little while
to come.


-- Jon Teh 

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