Boosting Orange cell phone signal

beeza

Silver
Nov 2, 2006
3,480
732
113
The Orange coverage where I live seems very sporadic at times, although my phone shows between two and three bars of signal strength, many people say they can't hear me and it's broken and garbled, even though usually I can hear them clearly.

I thought it was my phone, but my wife experiences the same problem on her phone and any other visitors that come with Orange phones.

Rather than changing providers, I was thinking about purchasing one of these signal booster/repeater gadgets. I've checked the frequency that Orange uses and it's 900Mhz 1800Mhz and 1900Mhz, so this should be the right one.

Just wondering if anyone has had any experiences with them?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Full-Kit-LC...381449?hash=item25bae55449:g:t-oAAOSwJkJWlfkH
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
4,329
113
Anything I've heard beeza is not good.

A friend spent $1,000US on one - not happy with the purchase

Get an Orange tech to look at it.
I have the same problem with CLARO.....Claro no es claro.
 
Feb 7, 2007
8,005
625
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I purchased a booster like this but directly from China two years ago for around 200 USD and I am somewhat happy.
The reach is not great but I can have full bars within 12 to 15 ft around the amplifier antenna with very clear communication.
If you need it for my home office which had 0 or 1 bars max with signal going in and out, as was my case, it could be a good option. Do not expect this will give you a wide coverage for the whole house, apartment or a building ... But right around the amplifier the signal is really good. I selected the 900 MHz option as that is what Orange uses for 3G. If you do not have a 3G phone with Orange frequency than you should buy a 1900 MHz GSM version. 1800 MHz is for 4G LTE frequency which is very spotty and mainly in Santa Domingo and Santiago and city centers of some other large cities.
 

Kipling333

Bronze
Jan 12, 2010
2,528
829
113
I had the same problem with Orange but changed to Claro and when I was in New York I bought a new model Motorola which is a bit heavy and all my problems were fixed at once .
 

Bred

Bronze
Aug 13, 2006
851
49
48
Sosua
Installed a few of those around Sosua. They work good. But I choose famous reliable brands - Motorola/Cyfre, Wi-Ex zBoost. You have to consider a few very important things -

1. Orange on the North Coast works on 2 bands - 850 and 1900MHz. Not all towers have both bands

2. Good outdoor antenna, preferably - very narrow directional. Point it to the tower.

3. Very good quality low loss cable. Do not use cheap TV cable - you will loose all your weak signal there and the booster will not have anything to boost. Buy quality cable, LMR400 is your choice. Make the cable as short as possible.

4. VERY important also - separate antenna on the roof from internal antenna as far as possible. The more concrete walls between them - the better results you get. You do not want to get the external antenna to hear the signal from the internal one.

If you get 2 bars outside of your house, with correct equipment and installation you can boost the signal to full bars inside.

PM me if you need Motorolla/Cyfre boosters. I have a few left. As well as some narrow directional antennas.
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
4,329
113
Bred.... Abreu, she lives..... forget who she bought it from

CLARO gave me a new modem to catch my Internet signal better... seems to work... phone is still a problem
 

Bred

Bronze
Aug 13, 2006
851
49
48
Sosua
Bred.... Abreu, she lives..... forget who she bought it from

CLARO gave me a new modem to catch my Internet signal better... seems to work... phone is still a problem


3G from Claro is on 900MHz band. Due to it's longer wave length it penetrates the trees better than 1900MHz. That explains why your 3G works better than your cell phone.

Much cheaper solution than using a booster - get a trucker dual band antenna, good cable, and either direct connect "pig-tail" to connect to your phone external antenna connector (some older models have them) or for newer phones - use a very tiny patch antenna attached with Velcro on the back of your phone. But that is only solution for 1 phone in the house.
 
Feb 7, 2007
8,005
625
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3G from Claro is on 900MHz band.

Incorrect.
3G from Claro is 850 MHz.
3G from Orange is 900 MHz.

Also you listed above that Orange uses 850/1900 MHz on the north coast, that would be incorrect, the frequency would be 900/1900 Mhz or 1800/1900 Mhz, not 850/1900 MHz, given the fact that Orange owns frequencies in 900/1800/1900 spectrum, but none in 850 MHz spectrum.

Orange has exclusive 900/1800 MHz spectrum in the DR while Claro has exclusive 850 MHz spectrum.

These spectrums must be differentiated because they are different bands and 900 MHz (Band 8) enabled phone will not work in 850 MHz band (Band 5) and vice versa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS_frequency_bands*
* band numbers remain the same regardless of GSM/UMTS/LTE usage, e.g. GSM and LTE Band 8 is the same 900 MHz, same band number whether it's used for GSM, LTE or UMTS/HSDPA services. In other words, Band number is tied to frequency regardless of the service being offered on that band/frequency.

This table is very accurate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_network_operators_of_the_Americas#Dominican_Republic

Everybody needs to know his carrier and phone capabilities (in regards to bands) before ordering a booster. E.g. It is a waste to order 1800 MHz booster unless your carrier is Orange, you live within Orange's LTE coverage, (or alternatively in Bavaro to also get GSM on 1800 MHz), and your phone is LTE capable.

The best bet is to get 850/1900 MHz booster (if you can get combo, better) for Claro, and 900/1800 MHz booster (or combo) for Orange.

If you are not getting a dual band combo booster, you should check which frequency (GSM or UMTS) gets you better signal, because that signal will also be amplified better. So for example if you are on Claro and you get 1 bar on 850 MHz Claro 3G and 2 bars on 1900 MHz Claro GSM, you should get 1900 MHz booster. The problem with Claro si though, that it also uses 850 MHz frequency for GSM calls.

The best way is to get (with Android phone) MTK Engineering from the Play Store, and play with frequencies by enabling/disabling them to see on which frequency you get the best signal, and then buy the booster accordingly. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.themonsterit.EngineerStarter&hl=en
 
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Bred

Bronze
Aug 13, 2006
851
49
48
Sosua
Incorrect.
3G from Claro is 850 MHz.
3G from Orange is 900 MHz.

You are right. I just did not want to make such complicated explanation.

However, same antenna works fine for both frequencies (Claro and Orange 3G) - 850 and 900MHz. We have been using same setup for two 3G Internet connections at Rancho Lobo Gris and surroundings for a few years now. Working great.
 

Virgo

Bronze
Oct 26, 2013
824
0
0
Rather than changing providers, I was thinking about purchasing one of these signal booster/repeater gadgets. I've checked the frequency that Orange uses and it's 900Mhz 1800Mhz and 1900Mhz, so this should be the right one.
If the other provider has strong signal and decent price/service, it would seem that changing providers would be the preferred approach, especially considering that you could transfer your current phone number to your new provider.

A possible reason not to do it would be having a long term contract, or a lot of associates using Orange, which presumably enables you to save money. Even then, the cost and hassles associated with the booster would have to be compared to the direct/indirect cost of changing providers.