I finally tried cellular backup on a rural install and it backfired on me

I got a call last month to put a system in a farmhouse about 30 miles outside of Boise. The owner wanted cellular backup because they had no landline (you know, typical rural setup). I went with a communicator from a brand I'd used in town a dozen times without issue. Well, turns out the nearest cell tower was behind a hill, and the signal was so weak the panel kept dropping offline every couple hours. I spent two days running a Yagi antenna up a pole just to get a stable connection. Anyone else had luck with specific antennas for dead zones like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

ericcraig23h ago

Did you try aiming a dish at the nearest McDonald's free wifi instead? I've definitely learned the hard way that "good enough" signal in the van is not the same as "good enough" inside a metal farmhouse...

theajohnson19h ago

Right, solid advice. If you can get line of sight to a McDonald's or a library from a window, a good directional antenna makes all the difference. I picked up a cheap panel antenna and a USB wifi adapter with a long cable, and I can park at the edge of a parking lot and pull in a signal that's totally unusable inside the van. Getting that antenna up on a tripod or even suction-cupped to a window on the sunny side of the farmhouse changes everything.