Berkeley CSUA MOTD:Entry 34499
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2025/04/07 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
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2004/11/1 [Consumer/CellPhone] UID:34499 Activity:high 61%like:34459
11/1    10/30   Why is my t-mobile reception so bad?  Could it be the phone or
        is t-mobile just worthless around here?
        \_ T-mobile has the smallest network of the majors.
           \_ Kind of depends where `here' is.  T-mobile doesn't have any
              towers in Northern California; they rent tower time from
              Cingular.  In case it's not clear, there is, effectively, only
              one GSM carrier in northern California.
        \_ My AT&T reception has been going to hell as of lately too.
           \_ As of a few months ago Cingular users can use ATT towers and vice
              versa.  It's possible your area had lots on Cingular users and
              not that many Cingular towers.
              \- man why cant they make cell phones that have good signal ...
                 i dont care whether it can play tetris or surf the
                 WEEB or manage my stock portfolio. has anybody made a
                 phone that has signal strength as its only distinguishing
                 feature? now that i'd pay for.
                 \_ verizon.  great signal, but aside from that, phones suck.
                    \- i meant a phone unit, not a service. surely something
                       can be done with antenna/amplification.
                       \_ Phones already have amplifiers, but amplifiers are
                          'dumb' and amplify both signal and noise.  The SNR
                          is what really matters for a phone.  To improve the
                          SNR you can add a phased antenna array, which will
                          massivly increase weight, power consumption and
                          cost, or you can use a high-gain antenna, which is
                          by necessity directional.  A high-gain antenna would
                          be big, which is bad for a phone, and would depend
                          strongly on orientation, which is very bad for a
                          phone being moved around.  The best compromise would
                          be a long straight antenna, which is not as big as a
                          dish, and has the only directional requirement that
                          it is upright.  Most phones use antennas which are
                          about (8/7)*(1/2) wavelength long so they get optimum
                          performance when slightly off perfect vertical.
2025/04/07 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
4/7     

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