Passive repeater

[jeenyes]

This is off subject of computers but......... I saw at Wal-mart, a passive repeater antenna for a cell phone. Sold for about $12. Since it uses no wires to the phone, no batteries and will be about 6 feet from the phone, do they really work?

[dmoltrup]

Here's how you can try to answer your own question:

When you're in your car and on your cell phone, open all the windows and check your signal meter. If it goes up, or if you're on an analog phone you can hear a better signal, then YES, buy a passive repeater.

If you don't get any increase in your signal by rolling down the windows, then NO, don't buy a passive repeater.

They are essentially designed to aid in passing the signal through the thick, impenatrable armor-like glass (sarcasm) that has been installed in your vehicle.

You can also find them on the internet in 'final-closeout' status for as low as $5.

[Fatal_Exception]

passive repeaters rarely give you a noticeable improvement in performance since they also pass on the traffic that usually is the problem (rarerly than weak signal). I tried a passive repeater and was able to move an additional 12 meters before losing my signal.