Data alternative to WiFi and Phone Network for Cellphone

[AC Question]

I live in an area where all the phone networks we've tried are crap [down in a canyon in a hilly area]. We've tried AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. Along with that, we live in an apartment complex and everybody has a WiFi. There are so many WiFi's in the area that doing things like posting photos to Facebook from a cell phone is frustrating, at best [the WiFi is so bad, here, that I've resorted to networking all of the PCs in the place by wire, and the Roku, too!].

I don't see a way to post a screen shot from the WiFi Analyzer app I have on my Cell Phone, but if I could, you would see how congested our WiFi airwaves are!!

In other words, everything has gone to wires except the cell phones and tablets--only because we haven't found a way. And, that's my question. Can anyone think of a way? Or more broadly, can anyone think of a solution to this data conundrum?

I tried a TP-LINK TL-WA850RE 300Mbps Universal Wi-Fi Range Extender, Repeater but it suffered from the same issue -- unable to deal with all the WiFi interference [a lot of the WiFi's are on channels other than 1, 6 & 11 so there's, probably, a lot of adjacent channel interference].

Another possibility would be to educate my neighbors -- if that's even possible, so they only use channels 1, 6 & 11 -- {"Howdy neighbor? Mind if I ask what channel your WiFi is set to? You don't know or even know how to check? Mind if I check for you? Which Uncle are you referring to?"}, but that would only last until the next service call or the next tenant turnaround (surprisingly frequent).

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! One solution would be to use the 5 GHz bandwidth, which is generally less congested than the conventional 2.4 GHz. But you'd need a device that has 5 GHz capability, and not all of them do. (And of course, you'd need a router that broadcasts on 5 GHz as well.)

If you're primarily concerned with cell reception at home, you could inquire about signal boosters for your house. On T-Mobile, I can get a Cel-Fi signal booster for free, which boosts my signal from 1-2 bars to 5 bars when I'm on a call. Other wireless companies may charge for signal boosters, though.

 

[Michael Lynady]

Had similar problem a few months ago - upgraded to 5 GHz router - fixed everything - less range tho

Posted via Android Central App