Antenna for iPhone, or big ladder for Padre Island National Seashore

[horn4life 3818]

From my searching I cannot find anything that acts as an actual antenna for the iPhone. Is this correct to all your knowledge?

The problem is I like going more to the South Corpus Christi beaches than my traditional Port Aransas.  My original idea was a kite and some sort of antenna, but that's shot unless somebody tells me the above conclusion is incorrect.  I have and older Iphone with the old plug for headphones because... I'm Dad and I take care of my shit.  So my other idea is perhaps a ladder.  When there are some spots closer in where I do get spotty reception.  I have also seen folks with ladders on their suburbans and expeditions, and I think this may be what they are doing.  I guess they cold be using the ladders to get up on top of their vehicles to camp or shark fish, but I wonder...

Anyhow I know that anytime the beach is really tight from super high tides I lose reception as microwave doesn't do well through a dune of sand.  So is a ladder my best/only hope.  If it will work I would go for it.  I was thinking perhaps one of those aluminum telescoping ladders, that I could tilt against my expedition.  If I could get a little south to the nicer beaches and still figure out a way to get cell reception/ check my email I would be thrilled. I want to get it as vertical as possible without falling off or having it tilt and dump me from 16 feet in the air.  I fugure las it to the top rail and us a rope through rear wheel for support at the bottom.  Oh to be able to be certain I don't have any issues to take care of would be so much nicer than a cascade of stuff to take care of from a day enjoying the beach as the emails and texts roll in.

Anyhow- very weird question I know, but that's what great about asking for help! Even with the ridicule...  

I just thought of something, I could text my theory by using my bluetooth headset. Strip the phone onto my 12 foot surf Rod hold it up  as high as possible and see if it will call back a number or see if text updates.  

[immamac 43571]

weBoost Connect 4G 470103 Indoor Cell Phone Signal Booster for Home and Office - Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint -  Supports 5,000 Square Foot Area https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RHMFQTO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_y3gtDbRXW5RET

 

Your welcome 

[UnivTex34 1763]

I've had lots of luck in 5 or so trips, all a different distances down island of just walking to the top of the tallest dune. It's not always the greatest connection, but I've been able to check weather/tides and send a text. We camped last year about 20 miles down, set a phone and a bluetooth speaker at the top of the dunes, and listened to the UT/ISU game at our campsite.

This also worked last year all the way at the cut, when a storm was blowing in. Now I will admit, I have no experience between MM20 and the cut, because I have never needed to stop between those points and check.

 

All this to say, I do have a buddy that has one of those Cell booster antennas that he runs up a telescoping flag pole on his little airstream. He works from home, so he travels and works for weeks at a time, and this was his solution for 4 weeks in BiBe earlier this year.

Edit to add: my buddy referenced above has the Weboost brand Imma linked above.

Edited August 8, 2019 by UnivTex34

[horn4life 3818]

Even with a booster you still need a line of sight correct?  

I've done the top of dunes and found the lower gap areas for receptions as well.  The booster is sort of interesting  and that would work for multiple phones. Definitely will do some research here.

I need to test my bluetooth range.  As it may be just as easy to run it up on a small kite, and see if it can connect to siri.  Think I am gonna do the pole test where I tend to go.  I knew that there was some reception at land cut, I trying to figure out how far down I can wander 10,15 miles? and still get some signal.

Thanks for the quick replies.  The booster is also cool and I will do some research on it.

Funny thing is we were cleaning out the garage and I told the wife to hang on to a 100' length of coax cable.  

Edited August 8, 2019 by horn4life

[woohorn 1131]

I LOVE the small kite idea-esp once you add some weight to it. Sounds legit.

Have you tried one of these?

[Kennythetiger 9500]

You girls need to put down your phone, pick up a fishing rod, and enjoy nature.

[horn4life 3818]

21 minutes ago, Kennythetiger said:

You girls need to put down your phone, pick up a fishing rod, and enjoy nature.

This is exactly what I want to do. But driving out of PINS and having my phone blow up sort of taints the enjoyment.

Nobody wants to talk or text me at dawn.  But I want the joy of nature and a means to defeat the limits of technology. Simply as if I can check once or twice a day for any fires.  More importantly it's a lot more fun to send Fish Pics to my working buddies in Austin live! 😉

 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11825]

You can get service at the cut without anything. Just walk up to the tall dunes at the start of the jetty on the north side.  Anywhere else between 20mm and there I dunno, never cared enough to try.  Always having too much fun.  

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

16 hours ago, Kennythetiger said:

You girls need to put down your phone, pick up a fishing rod, and enjoy nature.

Yes, was about to say, maybe the neighborhood pool is more appropriate. Toss a couple handfuls of sand in your car if you want the full effect.

[Kennythetiger 9500]

16 hours ago, horn4life said:

This is exactly what I want to do. But driving out of PINS and having my phone blow up sort of taints the enjoyment.

Nobody wants to talk or text me at dawn.  But I want the joy of nature and a means to defeat the limits of technology. Simply as if I can check once or twice a day for any fires.  More importantly it's a lot more fun to send Fish Pics to my working buddies in Austin live! 😉

 

I know what you mean, I was just being a suly smartass.  I just got back from a ten-day trip across the country.  Have been working on it for a year, and couldn't wait to "put my phone away".  One day into it, and I realized that I'd be coming back to a shit show that would ruin the trip if I didn't check messages and e-mail once a day.

[horn4life 3818]

Luckily the past year+ I have had a place in Corpus I was remodeling and fished the surf I would guess 75-100 times.  A lot of those were just hit the beach right before the guard station, an hour or two before sunset. I can get access in the dunes in some spots and not some others. I just want to be able to figure out IF and how far down I can go and  have a chance at cell phone service.  Unfortunately I need to be able to check my messages and email at some point. But it would be nice to be able to stay all day and know I won't get some nasty surprise on the phone after enjoying a great day.   If One of the things I liked about fishing Port A was I could run Pandora and hear any calls or texts via my portable speaker. If I could do this again on PINS consistently it would be awesome.

I did a little more research and there is a tower in Port Mansfield, that would give you the right angle at the land cut to get a signal with a little vertical height. Nothing that close on PINS. May be an effort in futility.  Just call me the the Don Quixote of PINS cell phone service.  So if you see next week some guy driving down PINS with a 20' yellow painter's pole lashed onto their Expedition it's me! 

Edited August 9, 2019 by horn4life

[Liquor and Poker 3659]

19 hours ago, Kennythetiger said:

You girls need to put down your phone, pick up a fishing rod, and enjoy nature.

Yeah, the lack of phone service seems like one of the attractions.

[horn4life 3818]

22 minutes ago, Liquor and Poker said:

Yeah, the lack of phone service seems like one of the attractions.

It is especially when the kids are around.  I just don't like the anxiety driving back in worrying about what I might have missed that actually needed my attention.  I want to play hooky fishing all day and still not have to pay a price financially.

[kevwun 15943]

22 hours ago, immamac said:

weBoost Connect 4G 470103 Indoor Cell Phone Signal Booster for Home and Office - Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint -  Supports 5,000 Square Foot Area https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RHMFQTO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_y3gtDbRXW5RET

 

Your welcome 

They do work pretty well, but you also have to be able to mount the antenna somewhere where it can get a good signal.  The only way for him to do that would be to put it on a long pole or a ladder and that may or may not be enough depending on where the nearest tower is.  It may be an expensive guess in his case since it's not the usual problem where a building is blocking reception. 

I think I would try getting up on top of a ladder with your phone first a few times throughout the day to make sure you can get a signal that way.  Then I would feel pretty good about the booster working like it's supposed to.

Edited August 9, 2019 by kevwun

[immamac 43571]

28 minutes ago, kevwun said:

They do work pretty well, but you also have to be able to mount the antenna somewhere where it can get a good signal.  The only way for him to do that would be to put it on a long pole or a ladder and that may or may not be enough depending on where the nearest tower is.  It may be an expensive guess in his case since it's not the usual problem where a building is blocking reception. 

I think I would try getting up on top of a ladder with your phone first a few times throughout the day to make sure you can get a signal that way.  Then I would feel pretty good about the booster working like it's supposed to.

You can also put it at the top of a dune that you know has signal and it'll repeat down under the dune on the other side the range on these is pretty dang good.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11825]

I’m still laughing at the thought of someone trying to climb a ladder atop a 20’ sand dune.  Video that, even if you can’t send it until later.  

[horn4life 3818]

Thanks again guys for all the input and ideas. Some of the useless shit I have learned today that may be of interest to you.  Cell towers transmit between 22 and 45 miles on average.  The signal booster's success depends on the initial level of signal. Most are adding a bar to your phone signal, though the accuracy of the bars on your phone do not necessarily truly reflect signal strength. A low signal does not repeat as quickly, the boost allows a faster repeat to get better cell reception and allows for data use.  In essence sometimes you can make a call with a low signal but not get any data functions.

The bottom line is to have signal at the beach (or anywhere else) you have to have a line of sight to the cell tower, whether you stand on a dune, have an antenna on a pole on the beach, or the Judge is trying to climb a ladder in the dunes. 😉

Ideally I would just like something I could pop up next to the truck parked right next to the surf.  My one restriction is that I need to be able to see the phone, The directional antenna on the weBoost unit Immamac provided would likely get the best signal.  But I wonder what if any effect the thing swaying around on a 25' tall pole in the coastal winds might have on the signal? Since we are toying with the idea of getting a toy box trailer, so the signal booster is even more interesting.  My wife can work from home for a lot of her job, the idea of being able to be out in nature and still work is very appealing to her.  She saw what I was doing and liked the idea of me fishing, and her finishing up her work from the beach after a nice morning walk.

I don't know if you have ever been to Port A during sandfest or Spring Break it can be a bitch to get a signal, I wonder if the signal booster here would give me an advantage here as well?

Thanks again guys

 

 

Edited August 9, 2019 by horn4life

[kevwun 15943]

The network gets overloaded during those events and I don't think the booster will make any difference.  There's still gonna be too many devices for the towers to handle.

Edited August 9, 2019 by kevwun

[crash_davis 23159]

2 hours ago, kevwun said:

The network gets overloaded during those events and I don't think the booster will make any difference.  There's still gonna be too many devices for the towers to handle.

Switches only have some many ports for service access. When there's congestion one way to resolve is to add more ports, so in other words more switches, which isn't going to happen immediately.  The other way is to patiently wait for everyone to make their calls and to finish what they are doing on the net.

There are apps which show signal strength and the network antennas that you are getting reception from. Signal strength is shown as dbm. The lower the negative number, the better the reception. When the dbm gets into the -100s is when the signal is unusable.