I Hate This... New House Cel-Fi Cell Signal Booster Install

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My new house has a fatal flaw - the cell reception. Once you're inside the house, you basically can't even make a phone call! Today, we fix that with the help of Waveform.com and the Cel-Fi Quatra 2000 cell repeater system.
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CHAPTERS
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0:00 Intro

[@LinusTechTips]

If you're interested in learning more about Waveform, check out their website at lmg.gg/waveform. Use Discount Code LINUS for 5% off your order!

[@Maywek]

ok give me a hug first

[@PencilNavigator]

can we all take some time and appreciate how good ltt videos are?

[@seanbrockest3888]

You're definitely getting a referral credit from me!

[@thevirenhooda]

Use vowifi

[@adibafiq6945]

Hey linus this is JOHN CENA!!!!

[@rudeboyjohn3483]

It's so weird, and probably telling, that I get so much satisfaction from seeing a company ACTUALLY provide service. Like, man, how do you get so lucky

[@JakeLoeppky]

By telling them you'll tell 14mil people about them... Lol

[@Airbag888]

You're seeing the result of a lot of failed calls here. It's call it perseverance rather than luck 😀

[@MickSkitz]

@@Airbag888 I wonder if some of those companies dodge this to avoid bad publicity of their products not working as intended

[@nakko6624]

They even have branded cookies lol

[@bobguy6542]

They were probably given someone's cell phone number

[@dawidszyszko]

It is funny to see you guys mentioning concrete as something uncommon. In Europe we don’t have dry walls - our homes are just bricks and concrete so Wi-Fi range is terrible and adding cabling is a nightmare :).

[@PotatoRankEX]

Yuppp.

[@thiccbaron]

Don't they have VoltE so you can receive calls via wifi?

[@dawidszyszko]

@@thiccbaron cellular is usually not a problem for me but routers are having trouble going concrete walls with metal rods inside them. Load bearing walls are like that here. Rest of walls is build with a kind of bricks and Wi-Fi does not have a problem there.

[@JJFlores197]

@@thiccbaron He mentions that it depends on the carrier and phone. I don't know about Canadian cell providers, but AT&T in the US has wifi calling, but only for phones that you purchase from them, iPhones, or phones specifically whitelisted for wifi calling. I have a OnePlus 9 pro. If I move over to AT&T, I can't use wifi calling because AT&T doesn't allow it even though the phone itself supports wifi calling. Its a mess.

[@freelancer42]

Actually we have a lot of wooden houses and drywall here in Sweden. We have brick and concrete houses too of course, especially apartment and public buiildings.

[@MrNicoJac]

Hahaha, the Waveform folks are probably fans of LTT. What an amazing way to advertise the quality of your company and product 👍🏼

[@dertythegrower]

That is how to properly advertise.. its called native advertising.. celebrities are usually not very good at that, like loganpaul and mayweather for example..

[@dertythegrower]

and yes, if i had ten million for advertisers, like a kartrashian or apple, any person gets popular when you spend 8 figures for your event to get noticed

[@MsSgent]

And a LOT of IT or IT adjacent people watch (or are aware of LTT). When they need to spec this for an office building or hospital in 6 months...

[@RDR911]

Kinda a shame LTT didn’t disclose that they sponsored this video as well as seesonic, but Linus has been getting scummier and scummier lately, so I shouldn’t be surprised.

[@PajakTheBlind]

Here in Europe we make buildings out of concrete and bricks. This is the first time I've heard of cellular coverage issues in a building not in the wilderness for over 15 years. Still, this was quite an informative video.

[@johnbuscher]

It depends on the bands, frequencies have different penetration properties so some cell frequencies will be fine through concrete, but some will be blocked and usually it’s the long-range frequencies that are blocked.

[@tooplanx]

In the UK most residential buildings are make with brick.

[@davidklein1245]

I big part of that is the density of cell towers around here. Unless you are right in dense population areas you can have some relatively dicey cell coverage - mainly because of NIMBY folks that don't want a tower anywhere nearby. So even though the tower density may be 'enough' when outside, the signal is low enough (or has enough noise) that it doesn't take much to make it unusable. If you look at the Greater Vancouver area on a tower map, you'll notice that Surrey (where LMG is) has many voids.

[@_Fug]

Now compare your country size to the us

[@ApusApus]

Europe, residential area in a capital city, wooden house. 4G is mostly servicible untill the phone for some reason decides 3G is better, and then goes to carp. 3G coverage is so bad that it immediately drops down to 2G or entirely and just stays there untill a restart (or airplane mode on/off). After reconnecting, 4G works fine.

[@Christian_Luczejko]

Imagine being a realtor trying to explain the additions to this house to a potential buyer if Linus decided to sell the house. "Why are there outlets 8feet up the wall in each of the 4 corners in the living room?" "Oh that's in case you wanted to install base stations for a VR headset" "Okay and what does this one of twenty electronic wall panels do?" "Oh that one lets you know if your shark fin is pointed in the right direction".

[@evolicious]

TBF, the way VR is going, a lot of people are looking for homes that have a room that can dedicated to VR. I even have a friend that built his house last year that built a dedicated VR room as well.

[@ChrisElm]

@@evolicious I would fucking love a VR room. Just a big empty space and no furniture to walk into

[@ThylineTheGay]

@Jeffry Chen why? A good house can last centuries if designed well

[@ATBZ]

@@ChrisElm my ideal vr room is one of those paddes cells they throw insane people in

[@ChrisElm]

@@ATBZ that's just my ideal room in general

[@JDumbroski]

It would be great if you could give a summary of the tech upgrades you would recommend in homes. Most smart-home tech can get complex once you add a lot of brands and some tech is gimmicky. Seeing what you may do for average consumers would help.

[@AthanImmortal]

Just to say someone asked this on the Wan Show podcast (from the 4th of feb 2022 I think), and Linus' response was "Honestly, if you don't know you need it, then you don't need it." With that said, I think a round up of what *he* did and why would make a great video and might inspire others.

[@Ravix0fFourHorn]

if he does that a lot of promotional "doors" might close, especially from the gimmicky stuff. Thats probably why he is going to give a non-answer about it.

[@JDumbroski]

@@AthanImmortal That’s a reasonable response, but for many people we might not even know what’s out there and reputable. Linus plans his smarthome tech in the perspective of a professional for his use case. Linus upgrades with “needs” in mind while many consumers could benefit smart tech that’s not task-essential, but can improve daily tasks/home inconveniences.

[@soccerguy2433]

smart home tech and IoT is so immature and segmented that it's not worth adopting, IMO

[@BradenJohnYoung]

YES

[@Ayane13b]

the way jake heckles you, as if he was you son, is just fantastic. I love you and jake being in more videos together with this series. Reminds me just of myself and my dad. Love it.

[@tudalex]

The only remaining question is when Linus will adopt Jake

[@Ayane13b]

@@tudalex Lol. Its no longer IF, its WHEN. I love it.

[@TheJw1191]

It seems like Jake's already moving in haha

[@ES315]

This series might be about Linus' house, but imo Jake is the star.

[@Respectable_Username]

Huge props to whoever did the editing of this one for doing such a good job on the blurring! Must have been tricky/tedious considering things moving around the shot

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

Yeah that was a lot blurring/pixelation.

[@humy20]

I wonder how long till somebody found the house. You cant keep that secret too long

[@lifeinhd4053]

@@humy20 Someone already has. When he first revealed it, he did not show the exterior at all. Then he was answering some superchats regarding it and someone commented that the roof looked like it needed replacing and he said "oh yeah it definitely does" not even realizing that meant someone had already found it, heh.

[@LetsPlayBojangles]

That feeling when working as a tech for a cell company people would just complain about bad indoor signal. If only every customer was like Linus and dropped 3K and a dozen hours on an extensive repeater setup and wire running. What chumps.

[@megaangelic]

A decade ago I lived somewhere with poor 3G signal, due to the heating & insulation in my house, like Linus. My provider just sent me a super simple device to plug into my router, which gave me perfect 3G signal, but via the broadband connection. Seems a much easier solution than repeating the signal, took a total of 20 seconds to install. Perhaps Linus' provider doesnt do them.

[@Amorousstake4]

Get some repeaters for entire locality with funding instead

[@pileofstuff]

At least they didn't use the cheapest booster they could find on Amazon. Those cause no end of problems.

[@zahedchowdhury0]

@@megaangelic many providers have stopped doing these now.

[@DouglasWalrath]

@@megaangelic these stopped because of security issues, people could sniff the traffic that was going over the network and since any phone nearby would connect to them malicious people could mine a lot of data

[@HiresMerc]

Waveform has the absolute best customer service! I have never received better from any business in any industry. I installed their Celfi X and they walked me through all issues. I strongly recommend them if you’re looking for a cell boosting solution. I’m super rural and they recommend the perfect system after we did a bunch of testing. Can’t say enough good things.

[@MarcusC92]

That's awesome!

[@lilmanluu]

Jake is quickly becoming the main reason I watch the vlog-style LTT videos

[@s--b]

It's just like impressive how much he knows about everything lol

[@frenchpressme]

Quote: "Linus is the reason I have trust issues."

[@unostopcardxd7199]

@@s--b even more impressive that Jake was hired when he was still in high school according to what Linus said during one of their livestreams.

[@YKSGuy]

Most of the time he serves as a good stand in for my inner voice wanting to tell Linus he is wrong in the middle of a video.

[@s--b]

@@djhokage1 you should try not being a buzzkill

[@darincarvalho]

Not sure if anyone's said this before, but you can use NetMonster or OpenSignal to find the closest tower, and the latter has a compass feature if I'm not wrong. Hope this helps!

[@Tobias611]

Closest tower doesn't necessarily mean best signal, direct line of sight beats distance. So you definitely want to take that into consideration as well, and if none are in direct los you go with whichever has the least stuff in the way...

[@Samuel.55]

Does open signal work based of recorded data or the phone calculating the distance, if it’s the latter then it would make sense to follow the phone as it takes obstacles into account when determining where the best signal strength comes from.

[@JohlBrown]

@@Samuel.55 recorded data, I used it a few months ago. It gets cell IDs from a database and points in the direction of whichever you're connected to based on GPS/ID

[@mrlockermanmy]

I prefer CellMapper (although in some areas it has less data compared to opensignal). You can actually contribute to its map (web/app) by contributing points & locate it to its correct location in its map OpenSignal does not associate indiviual sectors (cell id) with a gNB (5G)/eNB (LTE)/NB (3G) like CellMapper btw... basically for example there could be actually only one or two towers around that area whereas OpenSignal claims to have several towers in its map Also if you guys decided want to map cellular tower & coverage using CellMapper (only Android atm), please consider supporting them for 3 CAD/month (via PayPal)... yes, CellMapper is Canadian-owned & the onwer is living in Vancouver, same as Linus

[@Thegreatequalizer]

With the increase in Linus based DIY, I'm going to enjoy the inevitable "Linus Medical Equipment Tips" episodes.

[@hcol47]

Settle down. They aren't in the US.

[@noodlelynoodle.]

Linus insurance fraud tips

[@DavidMorseMusic]

DIY colonoscopy guide when?!

[@Timi7007]

Linus: Complains about actual floors and buys a cell repeater. Me, living in Germany: Yeah, even those are illegal here :(

[@MethmalDhananjaya]

wait what? but why?

[@kdmion]

As a person that lives in Europe as well, and everything is bricks and concrete, how the flippedy fuck do I get full bars on the ground floor of our building.

[@fakuri913]

@@kdmion American cellular tower isn't design for concrete

[@ThadMiller1]

@@MethmalDhananjaya You need a licence, but you dont get one. ^^

[@kuchenmustermann6191]

@@MethmalDhananjaya apperently it's not outright illegal, but you can be fined if because of your cell repeaters for example your neighbors have worse cell reception i.e. your cell repeater interferes with the main cellular network.

[@yuGtahT]

I love the chemistry between Linus and Jake. Whenever these two are together, those are my favorite videos.

[@TheMightyZwom]

Yeah, right? They act more like brothers or close friends (helping each other but also messing with each other constantly) than like a boss and his employee :D

[@paulthompson6579]

Linus you should do a Likes and Views count of Jake and Anthony videos. Im betting they are the highest two employees along with your self

[@jonathaneriksson9273]

@@paulthompson6579 It's also that they are they most knowledgeable employees. Some of the other employees like Alex convince Linus to spend hundred of thousand of dollars on equipment that he thinks he can use after watching KZbin videos of others, this is why they are always shit and he's never made anything successful in over 30 videos. I honestly don't know how he's still and some of the other engineer student dropouts...

[@allanshpeley4284]

I get the sense that Jake is related to Linus or somehow close to the family. Linus definitely treats Jake differently than the other employees and Jake has a bit of an "I'll say and do what I want" attitude, like he's unfirable. There are other other staff that are far more competent - take Anthony for example - who Linus treats less like a friend and more like an employee.

[@TheMightyZwom]

@@allanshpeley4284 Well, if I remember correctly they did share a house/flat at some point? I think they just go waaay back and are maybe friends since childhood. That would explain their behaviour well.

[@kastorcaster]

Every one of these videos makes me wish for a Linus and Jake buddy cop show. I love the dynamic you guys have.

[@jasonnemeck7351]

I'd have fired Jake years ago. At least, never put him on camera ever again.

[@natalie5947]

They have the same dynamic as Linus and Luke, it's a really good one. Same reason I like watching the WAN show.

[@timbermonson]

@@jasonnemeck7351 why?

[@HoloScope]

@@jasonnemeck7351 Jake is cool tho 😎

[@nordern1]

Linus Crime Tips

[@Verlisify]

I find it funny how they are censoring the house when that dong and sharkfin will be identifiable from space

[@ChristopherGray00]

@Alfa i omega and boom bam just like that you are reported for spam

[@weker01]

@@ChristopherGray00 Don't engage them just report. Replying to them may make the algo think that they may be actual users

[@SaberRattlerII]

@Alfa i omega yes

[@SaberRattlerII]

@@weker01 no

[@rightwingsafetysquad9872]

Don't be no bitch, report for terrorism.

[@Celsian]

This is probably the most useful LTT video this year for IT people. The number of times I've heard complaints from people who can't use their cellular phone in a new age building is extremely high.

[@bradendude1414]

I actually have been looking into doing something like this for both my house and my dad's business, so I'm really happy to see that you did a video on it. I'll definitely be checking them out soon, and seeing if I can finally resolve their cell phone issues!

[@Moist_Accident]

You may want to be sure this will be the solution. If your service outside of the house is terrible, this won't solve the issue.

[@bourne_]

@@Moist_Accident It can still be somewhat better because the antenna at the top spot of the house (at least it should be).

[@jairtzinio]

Depending on the cellphone service provider you have they can provide you with what's referred to as a cellspot which just uses your internet and generates a 4g lte signal. Sprint used to have one that they would give to businesses to help with this as well. If it weren't for the cellspot i have there is absolutely no way I'd have any service at home.

[@Moist_Accident]

@@bourne_ a directional antenna with a slight elevation will only do so much. And even then, this solution requires that antenna to have a pretty clear reception. Climb a tree. Use a ladder. But if you are getting less than than optimal reception, expect that. This isn't adding a node. This is a repeater catching numerous signals that are absolute chonkers on the spectrum.

[@dylanevans5644]

@@Moist_Accident A correctly placed directional antenna is significantly better than the tiny ones you hold in your hand. I use both directional and omnidirectional antennas to improve hotspot WiFi at work and they can improve a barely connecting 1 bar signal to a stable signal with good speeds. It is obviously situation dependent, but it is incorrect to suggest a poor signal on a phone cannot be dramatically improved with an antenna that's 100x the size and focussed on a specific area.

[@deef0]

Jake & Linus is great entertainment. Craving for more of this duo.

[@georgedicu7397]

Agree!!!

[@runeseeker993]

Just need jake and yvonne house collab vids, cause linus is no longer really a voice in that house it seems, and linus was worried about dennis

[@Platinum_Squid]

I would watch that HGTV show

[@carlkolthoff5402]

This is great! Just came here to tell you there are now also windows built with radio transparent insulated glass, which is probably a great idea if you're in the planning stages of building a new home. If your house is already built and the windows are in good condition, a repeater solution like this is of course the preferable choice.

[@TroublesomeOwl]

Huh, what a cool concept

[@carlkolthoff5402]

@@TroublesomeOwl Yeah, I agree! Not sure if it's available on the consumer market yet. But the company I work for did install 18 of them for a client last year for testing and evaluation purposes. (Disclaimer: We're not really in the window selling business, so this is not a marketing plug or anything like that).

[@37racso]

Windows don’t usually account for the majority of signal loss - concrete walls and ceilings, multiple floors, really bad geographical location do and sadly there is very little that can be done outside of moving to a different place really. Cell boosters help, but happen to be illegal in many places unfortunately

[@carlkolthoff5402]

@@37racso while all those factors you mention definitely makes a huge impact, I'd say it's also a matter of house design trends. At least where I live, it's very popular to build new houses with huge windows, like floor to ceiling, wall to wall-sized windows. Not in every room obviously, but second floor living rooms and such. And they're usually triple glazed and equipped with some sort of thin metal film to reflect UV light. Unfortunately they also reflect radio waves pretty well, so in those houses I'd say it could make a big difference for usable signal or no signal. But in the end it will of course be up to the architect and contractor to look in to the specifics of each individual building and location.

[@37racso]

@@carlkolthoff5402 Oh I mean if we're talking super modern housing with glass doors and windows and sometimes even walls then I'm sure that starts to matter a lot more. I meant more in terms of the traditional houses with relatively small window to wall surface area ratio. In the instances you described I'm sure it makes a bigger difference

[@RoozenB]

10:50 Linus: "Okay, how does it look?" Jake: "Awful!" A-tier content

[@tonyjohansson8395]

I installed a simular solution a year ago or so in the middle of nowhere. Before the install customer had mostly no reception and barely being able to make a phone call when standing close to window. After install he had 140-150mbit down and up over 4G. Outside you could get maybe a 100mbit and on the roof you got 150mbit. Customer was finally able to take orders via phone and their payment terminals worked.

[@adoksym]

Fun fact: in Germany you are not allowed to use cell repeaters.

[@WarBringerLT]

@@adoksym Why?

[@adoksym]

@@WarBringerLT My best guess would be possible interference problems. Germany has regulations for everything. You can ask for permission from the network operating companies (good luck with that). If you install such a device on your own you run the risk of being fined (6000 USD or more).

[@TheMightyZwom]

@@adoksym But I've noticed that I have good cell reception inside elevators in Germany. Elevators are metal boxes, basically; so I always assumed they have cell repeaters (e.g. for emergencies). Do they have a special permit for that?

[@tonyjohansson8395]

@@Bratfalken Funny thing. There was no phone line ever to this building. Most homes that are close have fiber. The building I did the install on were storage for boats up until a few years ago. I would agree that Telia sucks ass for cutting phone lines to most homes without having installed fiber to replace it.

[@MetalMan1245]

Linus's house has so much stuff in it that solves problems I would just deal with and think nothing of, it's great.

[@levelup1279]

Like running upstairs to get a better signal on calls or going to one side of the bed to get better wifi. Ah problems, their so much fund to deal with.

[@ParksandRec314]

Keep the house updates coming, I am currently renovating a house and I like to see what other people are doing (not just the technology)

[@FixitFred]

The first rule of any access point install or in this case cell booster install. Is have your network cable installers give you a certification report or certify each cable. Its amazing how often a cable is improperly terminated or contractors damaged the cable during construction.

[@lolimrob]

Growing up we had Sprint in a SUPER RURAL AREA. Literally 200 Kbps.. 0-1 bars at all times. I swear I always was so interested in repeaters because of that. love the vid!

[@hoihallo2904]

This makes me glad that I live in the Netherlands. Although most houses are brick and mortar, the country is so densely populated and small that cell and wifi coverage is nearly 100%. And the ISP I have actually deliverers the promised speeds on cable. So that's a plus too. I do have a mesh network for the best wifi coverage on all floors of my house.

[@snuke2703]

You also don't have things like terrain and stuff

[@hoihallo2904]

@@snuke2703 True, it's almost completely flat here. Almost no obstructions.

[@ApusApus]

*Chougsumerprotectinschough*

[@jabuki2]

I love watching these videos of tech upgrading your home. Keep them coming.

[@cesarvarela5438]

I love how for 90% of the American content having a "concrete" home is a problem Meanwhile I'm here in my concrete house having full 5g bars because where i live(Puerto Rico) cellphone companies actually account for the concrete structures and make the towers better at building penetration

[@bethelscrubs2549]

I wonder if because of the increased traffic such as population, cell, wifi, air traffic control, satellite(MTU's for cable internet), etc, that they have to reduce the strength of the signals so as to not cause interference. My bet is regulations cause weaker signals here, whereas in Puerto Rico, there's not as much red tape so they can pump out the signal.

[@thebaker8637]

​@@bethelscrubs2549 There's a couple reasons why this doesn't happen often. What you want to do when you have bad signal reception as a carrier is install more transmitters. Boosting the signal of your existing towers gives you marginal benefits and a lot of disadvantages. Incidentally, this is true for all wireless communication (like WiFi), not just cell towers. Why? The main one is physical limits. A cell phone tower consumes quite a bit of power when it's transmitting -- around 50 watts in an urban area. Because a tower radiates in (almost) all directions doubling the tower's output power does not give you twice the range. Due to the inverse square law you need four times the power to get a 2x boost in signal reach, sixteen times the power to get a 4x boost, etc. (In real life a cell tower is what we call a non-isotropic radiator as it tends to be placed on a vantage point so it does not need to broadcast in all directions, which helps with this.) A company will not pay four times as much money to get a 2x boost unless it's absolutely essential. There is also a hard limit of 100W which cell towers cannot exceed in urban areas. The other problem is interference. The issue is not with other users -- carriers have a dedicated band of the spectrum from a government so there should be no interference from other transmitters (unlike with the 2.4 GHz unregulated band used by WiFi, Zigbee, microwave ovens, etc.). There is, however, the issue of interference from other nearby cells. You want to make sure that each customer has a single preferential cell tower to connect to at any given point. Boosting the power of each of your towers will cause issues with handoff and leads to more pollution of the band.

[@bethelscrubs2549]

@@thebaker8637 The only place I have cell phone data issues is near the phone store(there are 3 provider stores in a 2 block section of a super busy area.) Whenever I leave that area, a mile or two, I must connect to a different tower, whereas when I'm in the busy area, it feels like there are too many users for the urban tower at one time so there's a lot of people in queue. But as far as why the cell service suffers through concrete here, but not in Puerto Rico, it could also be the copper piping for the heating solution acting like a Faraday cage.

[@niteshkumarpatel]

Same in india.

[@Surtistuff]

Well yeah.. why would cell phones companies spend time and money to account for concrete homes in a place where there are very few

[@tyrannicpuppy]

I did the cellular install on one of the skyscrapers in Melbourne about a decade ago and it was one of the coolest jobs I ever did. The backbone coax cable was really stiff and chonky af, about 5 cm diameter with a hollow inner copper conductor that was SOOOOOO easy to kink and ruin a run of a hundred metres while trying to make a bend. Had one of my favourite days on the job ever though. The cable drums were massive, about two thirds of my height. And being an under construction skyscraper, the only way between floors with them was the alimak. The floor I had to move the drums from was only serviced by a single of the four alimaks and was halfway up the building, so every time it went past in either direction it was too full to get on. Spent half a day waiting for a ride up two floors.

[@kadenbirch]

I'd love it if LTT's video titles became a little more descriptive so I could find old videos with reasonable success!

[@Daylen151]

you know it's a big house when you see literally 5 toilets just sitting in the garage waiting to be installed. linus is ballin.

[@flaagan]

Watching this vid with interest. We used to have the internet-based signal boosters at our place, but AT&T discontinued them after it was discovered that it messed with their DSL service (to the point that it took down a whole region repeatedly). We tried adding some Amazon-bought boosters, which kind of worked, til AT&T had a service rep stop by with an angry letter saying our boosters were negatively affecting reception in the entire area. We tried a booster that the rep said AT&T signed off on, and it mostly works, but doesn't reach the full length of half our house. I haven't tried it in recent times, but the WiFi calling features sucked when they originally came out cause the phone would switch mid-call to any even sliiightly decent cell signal, then drop the call as soon as the cell signal crapped out.

[@krophiquon]

my phone now has a setting in the wi-fi calling options to "prefer wi-fi" so it doesnt' jump to cell connections if it detects one.

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

@@krophiquon i was confused why linus just dont use wifi calling its been out for a LOOOONG time

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

@gürkan mehmetoglou I'm in UK

[@chrisgraham6031]

@@girlsdrinkfeck Mentions it at the 2 minute mark

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

@@chrisgraham6031 so why not use it

[@O1ez]

From a european perspective it is pretty funny how you have to explain that there is concrete in the floors. In europe this is the standard in pretty much all houses.

[@jtowensbyiii6018]

Almost all homes have concrete UNDER the house and wood flooring ontop in America

[@rijaja]

4:30 A new member has joined the family! After the LCD display, the HDD drive, and the HTTP protocol, make room for the brand new POE ethernet!

[@666Tomato666]

Don't forget about the SSD drives!

[@levygaming3133]

@@666Tomato666 or the ATM machine

[@patemathic]

@@levygaming3133 or the TPM module

[@alanhilder1883]

Power Over Ethernet ethernet?...

[@Mellie036]

Next up, LTT Tips?

[@Indiestructible]

So I decided to run a speedtest comparing Verizon to AT&T here at the airport in Austin, TX. Seeing my friend pull 170+MBPS on AT&T while I struggle to maintain 3MBPS just hurts my head so much. Congrats Linus

[@GenericAnimeBoy]

"Branded cookie...that's next level" How long do you figure before LTT cookies hit the store? 🙃

[@erlend1554]

I think he said something about not wanting to deal with the fda but id love it

[@johngy6296]

I’ve used a number of Cel-Fi units over the years and they’re great. Some useful tips: They have repeater units which connect wirelessly to the primary/network unit, though they’re much happier connected via network cables as it doesn’t take a lot in between to significantly lower the signal between the units, which tends to significantly lower the reach of the repeaters. Of those I’ve used, the primary/network unit also acts as repeater so you won’t also require a repeater in the location it’s installed to. Try to install the network and repeater units as far away from the outdoor antenna as possible, as although the coax length can cause losses, having them too close to the outdoor antenna can create a feedback loop giving all sorts of buggy issues, especially if your main antenna signal is already very low. I also set up my primary/network unit (and repeaters if they separately powered) on a mains power timer (just a cheaper rotary timer is fine), so the system automatically powers down daily so it can resync everything.

[@minskwatcher]

But why not something as simple as wifi calling?

[@jmacd8817]

@@minskwatcher because many phones aren’t capable of WiFi calling.

[@DooMMasteR]

@@jmacd8817 What phone, that has LTE access, has no WiFi calling in 2023? Hell my Oneplus 3 had it, back in 2016.

[@budthecyborg4575]

Waveform owes Linus a cut of the 10x increase in sales they're about to have.

[@rocky-zx6kq]

It might be less than 10x but it will still increase their sales

[@jeremywp123]

They did, by sending him thousands of dollars of free tech

[@budthecyborg4575]

@@jeremywp123 5:06 Ah yes I missed that small piece of information, plus the promo code.

[@johngangemi1361]

Great advertising. It was so simple as the answered the phone when the customer called and got the sale and decent advertising on the video. They will easily make whatever they traded Linus for the air time and then some. Good on them too.

[@circuitdotlt]

Huge props to everyone doing their part in sponsor blocking multiple segments of this.

[@PetrKlapper]

Been using the Wifi calling all around the world, works great when your phone & operater support it (don't know how US ones do). Costs nothing more abroad, draws less phone energy when you have solid wifi, goes to sleep when wifi does when screen does if you want (handy for watching something before sleep).

[@JJFlores197]

He's in Canada and not the US. Most US cell providers support wifi calling, but usually only for phones you buy from them. AT&T doesn't allow you to use wifi calling unless you buy the phone directly from them or an iPhone. I have a OnePlus 9 Pro. It supports wifi calling, but since its not approved by AT&T, they will not allow the wifi calling option to even show up on the phone.

[@PetrKlapper]

@@JJFlores197 That's just sad, thanks for the info. I would even expect AT&T and others welcome an option to help with the coverage reputation, especially with some unlimited text & call plans, but there could be other layers of greed as usual that I don't see and am not used to not living there.

[@shikharrawat7316]

Linus: Nothing can fix the cell reception in the basement. *Waveform took it personally*

[@Norweeg]

I figured this was going to be a Cel-Fi video. I’m glad I was right. I installed one at my old work and it worked extremely well compared to other options.

[@cmslick3]

Hey I've installed dozens of these Cel-Fi units. They are a top notch vendor and this stuff just works. We've installed them where signal outside was almost nothing and it managed to pull in plenty usable signal, with the right donor antenna, and phones inside the building just started dinging with missed messages and calls. Cel-Fi just WORKS!

[@bearxor]

15 years ago I was working as an engineer designing equipment that would be located in the middle of nowhere and we needed data transmitted back to us via cellular. Finding the right equipment back then was a huge PITA but we finally got it sorted out. We were lucky in that we were using a cellular modem where I could wire the antenna directly to the modem and not have to rebroadcast the signal.

[@kenzieduckmoo]

It’s awesome they sent you carrier grade Coax. I hadn’t seen it that thick since I worked at Spectrum

[@BZTV-wi9gw]

100% support Cel-fi I've installed many throughout the years in large offices, small service centers and even a hydroelectric dam.

[@martinpokorny6055]

When thinking about cellular signal repeaters also make sure they are not against the law. In my country, if you install one without ,not that easy to obtain, permission from the authorities, you are just waiting for hefty fine. Eventhough you would install it on your property for example.

[@CHiTO316]

Any cell repeater that provides less than 70dB of gain is legal in the US. Now for the Cel-Fi equipment they purchased, only a certified installer can purchase it. Since Linus is certified CAT installer they were able to sell it to him

[@macking104]

@@CHiTO316 The FCC’s Signal Booster Regulations The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is the organization that regulates the use of cellular frequencies in the United States. In 2014, the FCC created new regulations that apply to all signal boosters sold in the US. The FCC created two sets of regulations: one set for “broadband” devices that amplify all cellular signals from all carriers, and another set for “carrier-specific” boosters that only amplify the signal of one carrier at a time. “Broadband” booster regulations: The gain of the amplifier can be no more than: 64 dB for the 700 MHz band 65 dB for the 850 MHz band 72 dB for the 1900 MHz PCS band 71.2 dB for the 2100 MHz AWS band. The downlink output power of the entire amplifier system, including the losses from the cable, can be no more than 12 dBm. “Carrier-specific” booster regulations: The gain of the amplifier can be no more than 100dB on any band. The downlink output power of the entire amplifier system, including the losses from the cable, can be no more than 12 dBm per 5 Mhz block. Since the gain of broadband boosters is limited by the FCC, we recommend using a carrier-specific booster where possible if you have weak signal at the outdoor donor antenna location. At the moment, the only carrier-specific boosters are made by Cel-Fi. Their products include the Duo and Pro lines, as well as the GO X, GO M, Quatra, and Quatra 2000. (Waveform website)

[@404-Error-Not-Found]

The purpose is to limit interference. It would be incredibly annoying for your neighbors if their cellphone's stopped working because they use a different carrier and you set something up for your building incorrectly that creates interference. The FCC and other government organizations take commercial interference very seriously.

[@LeonSplittime]

In the Netherlands you cannot use repeaters unless the provider gives permission. Which they will not and the fines are fairly high. The problem is that each repeater increases the noise in the uplink and as such reduces the cell tower's range by a bit. Think of it like this: If you and a friend are standing a fair bit apart from each other in the middle of nowhere, you will be able to talk to each other. If the friend is a bit further away you may have to talk louder (as in increase the send power on you phone and drain the battery faster) but you can still talk to each other. Now plonk a busy highway behind your friend and you will have a much harder time in understanding each other due to the added noise. The rather pathetic speeds Linus got there could be due to: 1. Provider doesn't have enough capacity on the cell (so a bad provider) 2. Too many repeaters in the cell, causing too much uplink noise and reduced cell performance 3. You could be on a cell intersection where 2 cells with the same channel frequency have about the same signal strength and that causes interference. It could be all of the above, of course. You can use an app like "Network Cell Info" do a quick check on the probable cause. You RSRP (signal strength, ie. no. of bars on your phone) should be > -100-ish dBm. RSRQ should be > -20 though -15 and up is better as this does affect your internet speeds more than signal strength. Compare that to the first neighboring cell to see if you are on the cell edge or not and get interference from that. You can also keep an eye on the PCI (cell identifier) to see if your phone hands over to another cell. Those are generally places with reduced data throughput and you do not want that to happen too much in your building. As for the coax cable, that is just standard 1/2 inch cable. Biggest we use is 1.25 inch which is a pain in the behind to use. Just make sure you put the connectors on properly as a faulty connector can cause quite a bit of noise as well and that will mess up both your coverage and cause problems for the provider. Also put the antenna on the roof and make sure it has line-of-sight with the tower if possible. Though you may need to take precautions for lightning strikes.

[@denvera1g1]

WiFi calling/texting works fine for me, i live in the middle of nowhere, and just got symetrical Gb fiber to my firewall. Before this, i had to use a wired cellular booster

[@ethanbaker22]

Yeah immediately thought the same. My phone is on airplane mode when I’m home as signal sucks just use wifi?? What carriers/phones don’t support Wifi Calling in Canada?

[@walkinmn]

"Needs to be encased in concrete on each level of the house! which heavily blocks cellular and wifi signals" he makes this sound awful, meanwhile most of the homes in Latin America are built with brick encased in concrete including the inner walls (it's less on the affordable modern houses). This makes me wonder if cellular companies install more antennas around here, because although reception can be awful in some areas of some houses, I would say around most of the urban areas it's fine (at least in the 100 km around Mexico City which I know best)

[@danswope]

Good point and it kinda depends. Certain providers use different frequency bands and different bands are better at going through material (but the trade off is usually range from the tower or speed). So it always kinda depends on who you use for a carrier and what antennas are nearby

[@timonkuschke3861]

I was going to say the same, the concrete layer on his floor is probably only 5-8cm thick and that's like nothing here in Germany (normal ceiling is like 20cm). I remember only a few buildings I had problems getting connections inside and that was mostly in the basement or ground floor.

[@Fattony6666]

@@timonkuschke3861 This just in, Canada is way bigger with way less population than Germany and Linus probably does not live in the city. There's no way we can have as many towers/as good coverage.

[@bennyfalkenberg24]

@@Fattony6666 i completely disagree also they are in bc which has a lot of people

[@TwilightWolf032]

Oh, these North Americans and their houses of paper with cotton candy between walls. They are so amusing.

[@jonyrock]

This was fascinating to watch, truly a rare topic no one talks about. As always, thanks for sharing

[@davidcooley2694]

Linus: My ping is ¾ of a second 😡 Me: Finally a worth opponent 😈

[@Hello-kh6sc]

mine is 10 secends 😈

[@Baby.Yoda.knows.tech.]

My Ping : 68 ms

[@hariskhan01]

Thanfully my ping is just a couple of seconds😁

[@Baby.Yoda.knows.tech.]

That's 10 ms milliseconds... Actually here in every house near my neighborhood Ping is like 1 or 2 ms.. But my house is cursed..

[@jonathansoko1085]

Its funny how whats trash to linus is every day life for most of us, or worse LOL

[@R3YNZ]

The thing with boosters/repeaters is since you're connected to one antenna you lose MIMO Ability and sometimes carrier aggregation. This is where the speeds come from with cellular connectivity

[@MarcusC92]

Yeah that's a great point! MIMO is so important for data speeds, but in most cases where cell signal is bad, stepping down to SISO for better signal strength and quality is usually worth it.

[@UncleKennysPlace]

I used to carry a signal booster on road trips in the olden days. I literally just gave it away. Also, it occurs to me that when Linus' beard turns grey, he can revive _The Red Green Show._ He has the kind of vibe.

[@dh2032]

was it Linus's beard turns grey before the new house?

[@OleBaconBeard]

LTT Home/House videos of house upgrades/construction are literally the best xD

[@AthanImmortal]

6:48 Love the subtitles, hahahha "I have no effin clue"

[@RyanFennec]

Ikr lmao

[@REAL-UNKNOWN-SHINOBI]

If you turned on the actual subtitles it will say, Jake speaks gibberish

[@ColeMarkusen]

Nice, been looking forward to this episode of the series. Have a cell booster in my car (SureCall Fusion2Go 3.0) for similar reasons, typically gets me 2-3 extra bars of reception. But like you mentioned, reviews are hard to come by. And your mileage varies so much depending on where you're at.

[@MarcusC92]

Yeah, that's why it's so important to be able to rely on experts like Waveform for a solid recommendation.

[@astridphoenix4686]

i love having seen non stop jake as i've been bingeing this playlist. he's such a cool dude.

[@ant.s]

In the UK we can buy these router like devices that plug into your router that uses your home network to create cell signal. They are a bit weird though and some from the likes of Vodafone required you register your phone with the device before it would work. They are generally exclusive to the network you bought them from too.

[@joshj392]

US too, I have a t-Mobile one in my house

[@chankwanting]

Based on another comment here, the registration is probably for security so your neighbours phones don't connect to a box you control which may enable you to snif their traffic.

[@EinChriis]

"They use concrete on every floor" *Laughs in europe* No for real it is actually pretty hard to get good wifi throughout a house.

[@SyntheticFuture]

It's not if you have a good accespoint on every floor ;)

[@chaos.corner]

Aluminum siding makes my cameras unhappy. Not even very far from the AP.

[@tomf3150]

Never experienced problems. Wifi router is on the second floor and signal is cleat in the basement.

[@rrroootttaaa]

Meanwhile in civilised world we have Voice over LTE and more importantly VoWifi so we dont need to rely on cellular reception.

[@danswope]

He addressed that lol. Voice over lte doesn't work if you don't get an lte signal lol. And voice over wifi doesn't help with *everyone's* sms, and anyone on older phones or some international builds get wonky

[@GrumpyF0X]

What you've installed is what is called a DAS. A Distributed Antenna System. It operates basically like you said, WiFi access points, but instead it broadcasts cellular service. Cel-Fi is actually used in enterprise buildings that could be, literally, 1 million square feet. They make all their own hardware and even their own chipsets so they can control everything and build it to their needs specifically. I actually work for a healthcare company that has sites all across the US of varying sizes. While sometimes a fiber based DAS is better, since that's actually more of a direct connection to the towers (it's complicated), Cel-Fis are an excellent solution for many many different types of scenarios. You could even daisy chain their systems and just, keep going and going. I've actually been working for this healthcare company for 2.5 years now and we've been using a Corning ONE full fiber based DAS. But some other sites, are located in a building with other businesses, and running fiber through the WHOLE building, doesn't make sense (though sometimes the building owners will help with funding sense it's a good selling point for tenants). There's a company we work with called Vision Technology. They do MASSIVE amounts of work. These people install DASs in stadiums, airports, military bases, they're the real deal. They have recommended brands, bare aren't really loyal to one brand. (Similar to how a mechanic might recommend a certain car or car brand for you, but at the end of the day, you do you). Vision is a big proponent of Waveform products as well as Corning. Waveform even has info about their DAS solutions on their site! (www.waveform.com/pages/das-distributed-antenna-systems ). Before this job, I did cell phone sales, IT Helpdesk support, Desktop breakfix support, and then this job was presented to me that, I knew nothing about. Cellular technology always interested me and I know a fair deal, but I had no idea DASs were a thing or how they work. Now I'm part of an engineering team! How? Hell if I know, but it's cool stuff! 😅😅

[@seanbrockest3888]

Early Prediction: Cell Booster to the rescue! Edit: I'm really glad Linus posted this video. For the last month or so I've been having the same headaches trying to find a solution, and have hit the same wall of people not calling me back, or people not being willing to even guarantee their product. The fact that these waveform guys required them to do a signal test in the house first, tells me a lot about who they are.

[@ei3046]

yea

[@theanimeotaku2794]

I mean what carrier do you use it's pretty dependent

[@seanbrockest3888]

@@theanimeotaku2794 Sasktel/Telus both have towers in the area but share customer usage.

[@theanimeotaku2794]

@@seanbrockest3888 oh I thought you'd be in the US but cel Fi as Linus used is good for a signal repeater since I have a similar one but in the US with TMobile it's just a window unit and a coverage unit it's pretty useful since my phone would drain more from low signal strength plus speeds are more consistent

[@SzczyrbakMichal2D]

I love how they solve problem that do not occur in Europe, and I am pissed when they have some cool things that never come to EU.

[@dertythegrower]

repeaters used worldwide since 2G... kids just now learning through linus? lol whoa

[@michaelburrell4685]

The editor subtitling Jake mumbling with “I have no effin clue” was hilarious to me. Just me? Okay I’ll leave now.

[@sab_1055]

I guess I need to study. I moved to the boondocks and no one gets a good signal out here. NOTOK. You two remind me of me and my dad when he added various types of functionality to my house. I always thought It'd be so ugly but I was glad when it was working.

[@linuscellulartips1804]

@2:55 you sure about that linus?

[@zsoulweaver]

Telco I used to work for in Australia, just in retail, resold the Cel-Fi Go Repeaters to customers as well as the antenna needed if you wanted. Virtually everybody that got one never had complaints and said it worked a treat. Pretty much every provider here, at least the big 3, provide WiFi calling and SMS so it's not a huge deal, I would say we sold more on-the-go mobile versions of the repeaters than the at home versions.

[@Sliznark]

Honestly gotta say I am loving these house videos even though I am not invested at all into Linus' house lol. They serve great entertainment value. Keep it up team

[@Jaru]

They should just name this series "First World Problems" for Linus upgrading his house like Tony Stark over there lol would be fitting

[@artieartya]

Lovin the home builds keep them coming. Can’t wait till you smartify your whole house up hope you’re enjoying every moment as the home is being remodeled.

[@timdesmond1327]

Linus I must say I totally enjoy watching your learning on the go videos they are so funny and entertaining. I have been watching you since 2010 when I started watching your reviews this is when I started in professional it work. Love the content and I'll keep watching ya :) and the epic team you built

[@dvanerdivkanade]

Jake’s knowledge when it comes to networking is outstanding, I want to be like him when I graduate college

[@WhoWatchesVideos]

Damn, more companies should get into tasty branded cookies. Customer loyalty starts best with a little flavour for a favour.

[@Adizzle235]

I wouldn't be surprised if the cookie is part of another business the same family owns :)

[@TroublesomeOwl]

My business does branded cookies. We don't use chocolate though in Australian heat, that would just be a nightmare lol

[@logun0]

The house videos are the best. I love seeing what you're doing, how you're doing it and if I could do any of it.

[@dertythegrower]

They should do a colab with pbs public tv classic home repair show (DIY on This Old House)

[@tonyh2596]

Can't wait to see the future video on taking days to update firmware in all the gadgets going into this house.

[@iwantmypot]

8:07 Seems like Jake has been hanging around with Luke a LOT. He inherited Luke's laugh.

[@prz98]

It’s important to remember that in most UE countries (and probably others too) it’s illegal to use this kind of devices if you are not carrier company.

[@dertythegrower]

If you are smart you can moot that because the signal strength by the repeater is undetectable by the companies... you can encrypt and just simply make that not transmit to the employees..

[@DanielePauletto]

It's always funny watching how houses in Canada or America are made! Houses in europe are made with concrete by standard.

[@levygaming3133]

What, a new single story home would be made with concrete walls? Why?

[@DanielePauletto]

@@levygaming3133 old country magic.

[@DAVISION-YT]

​@@levygaming3133 there are basically NO single storys homes made in Europe in like the last 100 years or more. It's just a waste of expensive AF ground to build single Story. And we don't like our houses to fly or swim away.

[@asdfhun]

Yeah, every time there's an earthquake or a tornado in the US, and i see in the news all those houses basically disappearing, i always think, maybe if your house wasn't built out of plywood and plasterboard, all you would need is a new roof.

[@TheGrejp]

@@levygaming3133 Single story homes are usually a brick and reinforced concrete mix, at least in my country (which in Europe). It's a well developed and widely adopted technology here and makes for tough and sturdy houses that can last for centuries if built properly.

[@vince4929]

Easy solution: landline phones You can thank me later for the tech tip Linus

[@bendito999]

Thanks

[@kaldo_kaldo]

Oh cool, I can use whatsapp and facetime?

[@pointed.sphere]

Or WiFi calling

[@DAVISION-YT]

SMS via Landline? New to me.

[@PhilippSchwarz]

I'm sitting here in Nuremberg, Germany, just a few kilometers from the airport. I got 28 MB/s down, 2 MB/s up, 21ms Ping, 130ms Jitter, 9% Paket Loss. Crazy to see how much those things increased the numbers!

[@arigato7788]

... ... well sucks to be Linus, the VoWiFi from my cell service provider covers not only calls, but texts as well. It makes bad service reception moot as long as you have WiFi.

[@ThadofOhio]

Mine, also. Mint Mobile, using the T-Mobile network.

[@JJFlores197]

I know AT&T in the US doesn't allow wifi calling unless you buy a phone directly from them or an iPhone. If I bring over my OnePlus phone (it supports wifi calling), AT&T won't allow it since its not on their 'whitelist'. In short, its about money.

[@remus907]

Would be nice if your cellular provider allowed you to do phone calls on the wifi network. Most major ISP's in Norway allow you to do that independant of what your cellular provider is.

[@grahamleiper1538]

Same in UK. Voice over WiFi means the mobile companies no longer offer femtocells to domestic customers. My mobile provider told me to turn on VoWiFi last year when they were working on the local cell tower. Works great.

[@foty8679]

@@grahamleiper1538 I think you also get higher voice quality.

[@haikaido]

I love the relationship between Jake and Linus lol. The banter is hilarious xD

[@gordonx145]

" linus is the reason I have trust issues " I have GOT to stop drinking coffee when i watch these two, my keyboard gets sprayed every time :)

[@imerence6290]

I had no idea concrete even blocked signal this much. All of the houses I've ever lived in was made with concrete and cement and I've never had a signal problem.

[@criscrix3]

Well Americans do live in cardboard boxes with a nice finish so for them to see concrete is something out of the ordinary.

[@666Tomato666]

I mean, sure, it does block the signal, but it's likely that Linus lives in the boonies, never had problem in brick and mortar, with concrete flooring, homes to get at least enough coverage to get SMS, but yeah, sometimes for calls you had to move from one room to another so the call didn't drop.

[@DAVISION-YT]

Not the concrete is the problem, it's the pipes filled with water in them. The Floors made like this are basically a RF Blocking Device for the House.

[@TheGrejp]

@@DAVISION-YT Many European buildings have reinforced concrete floors and walls with loads of rebar (so they are a giant metal cage) and up to 30cm (12") thick and don't have these problems. Sure, the signal drops a bit but I live in one such building and still have 2 out of 4 signal bars in almost the center of the building, 8 meters (26 feet) away from the nearest outer wall and with 6 concrete slabs above me

[@TheJttv]

@@criscrix3 LTT is in Canada.....

[@nordlands8798]

1:48 No the tubes do not have to be encased in concrete, they can be laid in foam or wood based grooved plates such as Thermalboard, Warmboard, Rauboard, Heatply and Roth EPS 30.

[@rookm13]

i feel like the concrete is used as a battery for the heat, other forms would just heat the actual floor instead of providing some form of battery to store the excess heat thus making it really efficient

[@Nick51100]

@@rookm13 exactly that

[@markdoldon8852]

He didn't say they HAD to be, he said they WERE. There are good and valid reasons to use concrete, they made that decision early on. Frankly the service where Linus lives sucks at the best of time (I'm in the same general area) OUTDOORS, so reception inside tends to suffer no matter how your home is built.

[@MrDoYouLikePie]

Can you talk about why you “pirated” OCCT instead of purchasing a license or reaching out to the creator?

[@agentzeroaz]

I got my repeater about 2yrs ago. Totally worth it

[@sambrothersyt9546]

Love ur vids Linus!!! Keep it up!!!

[@nightshocker6908]

got a booster for my house a while back and it works great. total cost was about $200.

[@treemaniscool]

Strange, T-Mobile has had Wi-Fi calling as a standard feature on pretty much all phones for like 5 years. It also includes SMS over Wi-Fi I can use both texts and calls even if I'm somewhere with absolutely no cell signal whatsoever

[@Samsonfs]

Yeah in the UK all the major providers let you call and text over wi-fi with 0 signal SMS, MMS or RCS and phone calls

[@jamesnicholls9969]

@@Samsonfs three does not, it only works on three if you buy the phone from them. if you are a sim only and your phone is not on their list you are screwed.

[@ethanbaker22]

Yeah my phone stays on airplane mode at home. Had wifi calling for literally like 6 years.

[@JJFlores197]

Pretty much all major US carriers and I assume Canadian carriers support wifi calling. The issue is that some providers don't let you use wifi calling if you don't buy a phone from them. AT&T supports wifi calling, but if you bring your own phone from a different company or buy an unlocked phone, wifi calling can't be enabled even if the phone itself supports it. They basically just want more money by having you buy a branded-phone.

[@ethanbaker22]

@@JJFlores197 wow that’s crazy 😵. I’ve bought all my phones refurbished so do sim only £10-15 a month and they all come with WiFi Call

[@deaxes]

I'm surprised you haven't just gotten a Femtocell system, the kind you plug into the internet and it sends out a local cellular signal. I don't understand why you wouldn't just have a system like that, as it wouldn't need an external antenna.

[@Airbag888]

You realise not all providers support that..

[@zstation64]

He’s in North America, cell service is difficult for them. Here in the 1st World femtocells were a thing until Wi-Fi calling became a thing 10 years ago.

[@hexd0t]

The problem with DIYing a cell repeater is that you're capable of disrupting the carrier's signal with these installations when configured incorrectly - putting you on the hook for possibly disrupting emergency calls in a worst case scenario.

[@Sunscreen723]

how do you disrupt emergency calls? can you explain?

[@hexd0t]

@@Sunscreen723 Bit hard to explain in a YT comment. There was a talk from a German Cell Radio Technician about his experience with repeaters at C3 a while back (as he explains, repeaters are completely forbidden in Ger though, while a short Google check shows it seems to be legal in Canada, as long as its not interfering) kzbin.info/www/bejne/eaHaqWCigtxjjtk - the live translation sadly has a few rough edges, but its the most insightful public resource I know

[@_NaLo_]

@@Sunscreen723 If you send RF signals that interfere with the cell towers then that can disrupt calls, including emergency ones. Speaking from experience (telecom radio software engineer), interference is a pain to deal with and it can be hard to figure out where it's coming from.

[@Sunscreen723]

@@_NaLo_ but doesn't a phone already send rf signals to a cell tower? how is a signal booster different? thanks in advance

[@hexd0t]

@@Sunscreen723 The cellphone 'understands' the cell network though. The cell tower tells it when and how to send. A repeater has to be transparent to the tower and the phone, so it cannot easily take part in the protocol - especially with 5G, where radio traffic is being encrypted. Another aspect: Phones are sold in very large quantities, so it's possible to spend multiple thousands on testing they're compliant without making much of a difference on the end price sticker. Cell repeaters on the other hand are a much more limited market, so amortization becomes harder. Last but not least: A broken phone totally could disrupt the network - but you also don't see any DiY Cell Modem radios, but just buy a licensed one

[@Oretal]

I like the intro’s message, “cell tower inside his house” Gave me a big smile.

[@MasakoX]

2:14 I guess it never miss, huh?

[@404-Error-Not-Found]

As someone who works professionally with cellphone tech. Your description of analog is pretty far off. Your cellphone isn't transmitting using an analog signal, it's using a data protocol. The difference in the system is that instead of just receiving and boosting the original signal (digital) By sending that signal through a Coax cable (where you'll get loss). In the "digital system" It's internally interpreting the signal transmitting that signal to the antenna using a data signal through ethernet cables that's interpreted and then boosted at the network box and sent to the antenna. Because the transmission line is sent and received as a data signal through ethernet, there's no loss in that leg of cable. It's the exact reason they want the antenna to be close to the networking Box. They are limiting the dB loss, if you put the box too far you'd have the exact same problem as the "analog system" The "analog" You're referring to is simply that the receivers send digital signal directly to the repeater via long Coax lines, instead of the receivers interpreting the signal. It's all still digital either way.

You are wrong, mobile devices transmit and receive analog signal and their modems transform the signal to/from digital based on modulation used.

[@404-Error-Not-Found]

@ dude... I was a Signals Intelligence Analyst for the National Security Agency. I know what I'm talking about, I'm literally an expert in the technology and how it works. Go Google TDMA and GSM.

@@404-Error-Not-Found Feel free to be, but you will find analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converter in every mobile device. It's converted to analog as it leaves the device and it's converted to digital as it enters the device.

[@404-Error-Not-Found]

@ you are simply wrong. The existence of the modulation interpretation is not analog to digital. It's taking the digital radio signal and turning it into a digital signal that the computer in the phone understand. If the signal were analog coming in, you wouldn't need a digital conversion for you to speak on the phone, it would be just like an FM hand held. The conversion only exist because it's digital radio. You're flat wrong, and if you spent 5 seconds googling you'd find a direct answer that you're wrong. GSM, TDMA, CDMA are digital radio. Learn how to be wrong.

[@404-Error-Not-Found]

@ here you go idiot since you're too dense to Google: GSM "The Global System for Mobile Communications is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to describe the protocols for second-generation **digital cellular** networks used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablets. It was first deployed in Finland in December 1991." TDMA: " TDMA is used in the digital 2G cellular systems such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), IS-136, Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) and iDEN, and in the Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) standard for portable phones." Oh and for bonus points here's CDMA, the tech used by Verizon: " Stands for "Code Division Multiple Access." CDMA is a wireless transmission technology that was developed during World War II by the English allies to avoid having their transmissions jammed. After the war ended, Qualcomm patented the technology and made it commercially available as a **digital cellular** technology. Now CDMA is a popular communications method used by many cell phone companies." You can even find a website that answers this exact question by googling "Is CDMA Digital or analog". They explicitly mention that for cellphone tech, the signal must be digitized before transmitting.

[@NolePTR]

Linus, hoses in Florida are basically made out of concrete. We get the same issue with reception. Usually it isn't so bad though because it's flat and a cell tower can basically get into every room, but any windowless room or hallway has horrible reception.