How to make phone not connect to neighbors network extender?

[troyinne]

How do I do this? If I am on one side of house my phone will connect to it and drop the call I am on if I go to other side of house.

I have good enough reception that I don't want to connect to their extender.

 

[Paul627g]

There is no way to lock those things down by password? I'm not familiar with Verizon's network extenders but I would think they are similar to a wireless router where they are password protected by option. No password/network passkey, no connect.

 

[anon(5484072)]

Oh boy.

There's no password on their network extender?? That's crazy. I would have some fun with that! Lol.

Has this always happened, or only recently? Any apps you've installed that could have caused this?

If all else fails, you could try this: https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...m%3Dandroid+block+wifi+network&token=HtQYCJRH

 

[troyinne]

Oh boy.

There's no password on their network extender?? That's crazy. I would have some fun with that! Lol.

Has this always happened, or only recently? Any apps you've installed that could have caused this?

If all else fails, you could try this: https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...m%3Dandroid+block+wifi+network&token=bJkPQmyQ

The link you provided is for wifi networks.....I'm trying figure out how to not connect to a neighbor's Verizon network extender for phone calls.

 

[troyinne]

There is no way to lock those things down by password? I'm not familiar with Verizon's network extenders but I would think they are similar to a wireless router where they are password protected by option. No password/network passkey, no connect.

I don't know much about them either but if there is security settings this person obviously doesn't have them turned on.

 

[Paul627g]

I don't know much about them either but if there is security settings this person obviously doesn't have them turned on.

Well you could be the good & honest neighbor and clue them into having an open extender.

 

[whoover]

Well you could be the good & honest neighbor and clue them into having an open extender.

It's not like wifi. It just acts like a tower. The phone determines what account is being billed, not the network extender. That's why there's no concept of only allowing certain phones to access it.

It does have a config that allows the owner to enter priority numbers, and they take get first dibs on the bandwidth. But if priority callers are not using up its bandwidth, anybody can use it. But the native account gets billed, not the extender's owner.

It's supposed to hand off calls to a regular tower. You shouldn't disconnect when you move. That probably means you've moved into a dead zone.

 

[mobrules]

I have a network extender. EVERY time I am on a business call and get about a block away the call drops. I would also like to know if theres a way to lock it down. My neighbors dont connect to it. But i get amazing battery life if I am around the house alot. I assume its because my phone doesnt search for a signal constantly.

 

[troyinne]

I contacted Verizon and their solution was to find the neighbor that has it and ask them to enable the password protection.

It's not so much the hand off of calls as it is the poor quality of calls when I'm on it as I must be on the fringe of it's range.

 

[androidluvr2]

I contacted Verizon and their solution was to find the neighbor that has it and ask them to enable the password protection.

I have a network extender and I was told by Verizon that I could not do anything to prevent a neighbor from connecting to my network extender.

Verizon can turn down the signal strength of your neighbor's network extender so it doesn't reach your house unless it is already as low as it will go.

 

[androidluvr2]

If I am on one side of house my phone will connect to it and drop the call I am on if I go to other side of house.

First off, if your neighbor's network extender is set to the signal strength it shipped with, theoretically you need to be within 15 feet of the device to connect to it initially. That is called the network extender's cage. I can tell you that in my experience, my neighbors can connect to mine farther away than 15 feet.

Now once connected, the range of the device is farther than 15 feet by alot, but the exact range is dependent on the structures that the signal has to go through so no one can tell you exactly what the range of your neighbor's extender is unless they come and measure it. And even when you get out of range, what happens is that the network extender is supposed to make a hand off to a cell tower without dropping the call that is if there is a cell tower signal strong enough to hand off to.

All of this indicates to me that you shouldn't be dropping calls walking from one side of your house to the other unless the cell signal is so poor on the other side of your house that the network extender has nothing to hand off to as you exit its range. If so, you would have dropped that call regardless of the network extender's presence since even if there were no network extender, there is not a strong enough cell signal on that side of your house to maintain a call.

What I suspect is happening is that your neighbors can tell you are connected to their network extender because the WAN light flickers when someone is making a call through the network extender and they are purposefully cutting you off by removing the cable from the network extender to their router or cutting power to the network extender. Now THAT will make you drop a call because the network extender is immediately cut off and can't make a hand off to a cell tower.

Bottom line is this - there is no way to password protect a network extender because there is no way for these phones to give a password to the network extender given how they are designed. And remember even if they could put that feature in a smartphone, if existing phones can't do it, then Verizon can't allow it. This is because any cell phone within the cage of the network extender (which in my experience is more than 15 feet) gets overwhelmed by the network extender's strong signal and can't sense a cell tower signal because of it and then preferentially connects to it. That is how you connect to the network extender in the first place. So if they required a password protection, they would be rendering existing phones and basic phones useless within the cage of the network extender because they can't give a password to the network extender.

All you can do is ask Verizon to turn down the signal power on your neighbor's network extender so you won't connect to it. They can do it unless your neighbor's network extender's signal strength is already as low as it goes.

You need to get tech support on the line and they need to put through a network trouble ticket on your behalf for this to occur. Regular customer service reps can't do it. Get to tech support and tell them what is happening and get them to submit a trouble ticket to the network department. Keep calling until you get results. The squeaky wheel gets the oil.

 

[androidluvr2]

I have a network extender and I was told by Verizon that I could not do anything to prevent a neighbor from connecting to my network extender.

Double checked with Verizon - there is no way to password protect or otherwise prevent your neighbor from connecting to your network extender. IOW, your neighbors can do nothing to prevent you from connecting to their network extender. But what they can do is once you are connected, force you off of their network extender by cutting power to the network extender or cutting its connection to their router. That will cause you to drop a call.

The only solution I can think of if that is what is going on is for you to have Verizon turn down the signal strength of their network extender if possible so you won't connect to it in the first place.

 

[androidluvr2]

There is no way to lock those things down by password?

No because when using cellular connection, the phones don't have the ability to give a password to the network extender. A phone connects to the network extender the same way it connects to the verizon cell tower. It authenticates to the CDMA network. Thus, any active Verizon phone within the cage of the network extender will connect to it just like it connects to a cell tower.

 

[androidluvr2]

That probably means you've moved into a dead zone.

Or his neighbors are cutting him off when they see the WAN light flickering on their network extender.

 

[androidluvr2]

Also, I just found this review of the network extender I own, and these reviewers were able to connect to the network extender from 50 feet away. I can tell you my neighbors are at least 30 feet from mine and they can connect to it. The theoretical range is 5,000 square foot, so you should stay connected to it for at least 70 feet from it in theory. In my experience, I stay connected to mine for at least 100 feet away from it.

Verizon 3G Network Extender Review

There is an older model with different specs, but this is the current model.

 

[androidluvr2]

It's not so much the hand off of calls as it is the poor quality of calls when I'm on it as I must be on the fringe of it's range.

That is surprising to me since my call quality is improved on my network extender.

If you are on the fringe of the range, you wouldn't be connecting to it in the first place. You have to be within the cage to connect to it as I explained in my other posts. The range far exceeds the cage. The cage of my network extender appears to be 30 feet and the range 100 feet, although both of those are more than the theoretical specs indicate that they should be. The call quality is excellent throughout the range of my network extender. Much better in fact than when I turn off the network extender and connect to a tower.

Have you tried dialing #48 to confirm you are connected to their network extender?

 

[n2theblu]

Ask VZW for a free network extender for yourself. This is the only way I can think of that would prevent you from bouncing between the two. If they won't enable the ability to manage these connections, then they should provide the device to you for free, IMHO.

 

[Glassman001]

We are experiencing the same thing, our cell phone calls get picked up by the business next door, as we are not on their system we then get kicked off & our calls are lost, there is no switching to a tower. I intend to register a complaint with the FCC, they should not be able to disrupt our business & phone usage.

 

[Glassman001]

I have contacted Verizon, about this, they first reduced the range of our neighbors network extender, this had no effect, they then sent me a free network extender to hook up. The problem is that it requires a faster speed than we are currently running on our WiFi. I am now forced to change my WiFi to cable to get a faster speed to enable the network extender to even function. I have been reading on the internet about these things & I have seen that the two network extenders may cancel each other out.... I guess we'll see.

 

[fossicker1]

You CAN block other phones (and restrict range) -- it's not pretty but it works if you have neighbors on only one or two sides of your house or apartment.
Create a five-sided Faraday cage out of a cardboard box and aluminum foil, and put your Network Extender in the box, with the open side facing away from your neighbors. I can attest that this works -- behind my homemade Faraday cage I get absolutely no Extender signal. Where the open side of the cage is pointing, I get normal signal. Point the open side of the box/cage where you want the Extender to broadcast. The closed, back of the box should be facing your neighbors -- they will be unable to connect

You will need to use the GPS extension cable that came with your unit. Pull open the top back cover and unplug the GPS sensor from the Extender. Mount the GPS sensor high outside a window with double-sided sticky tape. Connect the GPS extension cable to the GPS sensor and route the cable into your house (the cable is slim enough that you can close your window on it). Route the GPS extension cable to your Network Extender.

Find or create a cardboard box the size of a shoe box, with an open vertical side. Cover the outside of the box with aluminum foil, and the inside as well. Make sure the foil pieces are folded over each other: no gaps. You've just made a Faraday cage! Position the box long side vertical, and cut a small hole in the bottom. Unplug your Network Extender from all cables, and push the three cables up through the small hole GPS extension, Ethernet and power -- position the Network Extender deep in the box and plug in the cables. The GPS extension cable plugs in to the top of the Extender. Squish some aluminum foil around the hole where the cables come in to the box. Position the black antenna on the back of the Extender against the back of the box as deep as it will go, it's OK if the front of the Extender sticks out the front so you can see the LEDs.

Some facts:

On your Verizon Wireless portal, you can tell the Extender to /prefer/ your family phone numbers, but this is hardly functional. In practice I find that all mobile phones can normally connect to my Network Extender even to the point of restricting my own phone which is Preferred on the Verizon portal. I've even found this to be true for phones on a non-Verizon plan, AT&T phones can roam on Network Extender, including voice calls as well as 3G data. On several occasions my Verizon LG G2 has told me that my Extender has no free channels and cannot make a voice call. Rebooting the Extender allowed me to eventually make my call, but the Extender takes a long time to boot (5-10 minutes) so this is annoying. There are seven channels available on your Network Extender; six for phones (concurrent), the seventh is for 911. If Android, look in your notification bar: I see a little house icon when connected to Extender.

While you cannot control who can use your Extender if they are in range of your signal, you can monitor how much Internet traffic is being used by the Extender, and then configure QoS to limit the total bandwidth used by Extender. Find your Extender's MAC address, and create a DHCP reservation on your home router/firewall. Once the Extender is always on a known IPv4 address on your private network, you can monitor traffic to/from that IP address, and create QoS rules -- my Extender is limited to 512Kbps up/down. This allows it to make flawless voice connections, but limits the amount of 3G data that can be used.