This is why you dont use unauthorized mobile signal booster

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BioNz

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#257104 15-Sep-2019 15:02

hi.

this is just a quick post to say dont go out and buy a cheap mobile signal booster from places like trademe or aliexpress or even mobilesignalbooster.co.nz

the ones on there are mostly unathorized units that can and do go faulty causing a headache for people like me who have to track the down and ask you to please turn the device off and not to turn it back on due to the interference it is causing to the networks.

what does the interference look like?

places like mobilesignalbooster.co.nz give the look that they are selling approved units but they are in no way approved for use in nz and they wont.

the only approved one for people to buy are the cel fi units from powertech. they are a great product and are so easy to install. any questions im happy to help out.

save me the trouble dont waste your money on the cheap ones.

this post is more about education more than anything.

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#2318133 15-Sep-2019 15:32

"mobilesignalbooster.co.nz give the look that they are selling approved units but they are in no way approved for use in nz and they wont. "

They claim to have been around for over 10 years and have 1000s of satisfied customers. Is it that hard to shut down the supply of unapproved equipment?

alasta

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#2318134 15-Sep-2019 15:33

I am assuming that when these things cause interference on the telco's network you can trace the source and report it to MBIE for enforcement?

What happens if one of them is not interfering with the telco's network but causing other problems for nearby residents, for example interference with radio/TV or wifi reception? Presumably the neighbouring residents would have no idea of the source of the problem and therefore no enforcement would occur.

There really needs to be a crackdown on the people who are selling them, otherwise the genie is out of the bottle.

Linux

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#2318145 15-Sep-2019 16:08

US uniden cordless phones do the same thing thing in the 2100Mhz band

hio77

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#2318151 15-Sep-2019 16:40

Great Post. I think the one thing missing though is how it translates real world.

I could see non techys not quite understanding the graph.
Maybe put it in terms of 5g rf radiations?

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sbiddle

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#2318172 15-Sep-2019 17:51

Linux: US uniden cordless phones do the same thing thing in the 2100Mhz band

The US uses different frequencies for its DECT handsets than anywhere else in the world.

BioNz

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#2318190 15-Sep-2019 18:59

what your seeing in the graph is from a spectrum analyzer we use in the field to hunt down the interference. the way 3g and most 4g in nz works is what is known as FDD - frequency division duplex( this is when the transmit and receive are is 2 different frequency allocations. when the rx has an interfering signal on it the cell tower/base station will send more time trying to process this signal as it thinks its a cell phone trying to communicate with it. this causes the other phones in the area to wait. this split sec of waiting is really all it needs for a dropped call to happen or when the phone goes to voice mail/ delayed txt mgs / slower than normal data speeds

as you can see this is a freq grab from a 850mhz network and it has 2 lines on it. one is in real time(a) the other is max hold (b) this is showing the interfering signal at the high end of the band. this in a way is taking out of service this band.depending on how the operator has set up the band will depend on where the signal is sitting ( eg how wide the band is be it 2mhz,5mhz etc wide)

if the conditions are right a faulty mobile signal booster can be picked up a long way away ( had over 30kms before)

we find a lot of faulty old tv signal boosters in winter and the dect phones are a real pain as well as baby monitors from asia

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Handle9

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#2318221 15-Sep-2019 20:21

Bung: "mobilesignalbooster.co.nz give the look that they are selling approved units but they are in no way approved for use in nz and they wont. "

They claim to have been around for over 10 years and have 1000s of satisfied customers. Is it that hard to shut down the supply of unapproved equipment?

How would you suggest RSM in NZ shutdown an overseas company? If it can't be done for weapons or drugs it sure can't be done for a signal booster.

Bung

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#2318231 15-Sep-2019 21:07

Sorry, hadn't realised it was an overseas company. NZ Customs already have dog tracking collars, high power laser pointers and radio jammers on the prohibited import list. Mobile boosters seem to be in a similar class.

BioNz

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#2318236 15-Sep-2019 21:20

a mobile booster in simple terms is not illegal. its the operating on the band with an unauthorized device thats the issue. the networks have what is called a non interference licence with their management rights and that means that they get to say who and what is ok to transmit on the freq bands they have spent a lot of money on.

the celfi are the only ones approved for consumer install etc but there are others that are used from different companies. all of these ones have network safety protection built in. if the device goes faulty it will shut down. in the higher end celfi units they will send for help.

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gareth41

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#2320240 19-Sep-2019 11:36

BioNz:

a mobile booster in simple terms is not illegal. its the operating on the band with an unauthorized device thats the issue. the networks have what is called a non interference licence with their management rights and that means that they get to say who and what is ok to transmit on the freq bands they have spent a lot of money on.

the celfi are the only ones approved for consumer install etc but there are others that are used from different companies. all of these ones have network safety protection built in. if the device goes faulty it will shut down. in the higher end celfi units they will send for help.

I'm interested to know the occupied bandwidth on that carrier - any spurs around the carrier and offset?, possibly also the phase noise if you were able to measure it. I suspect there will be in band spurs due to the cheap components the Chinese use in these things. I suspect they're probably using a low grade DDS synthesizer or VCO and then picking off its harmonics to get the higher carrier frequency, then amplifying this while attempting to filter out all the other stuff lower down the band. A DDS also has a lot of nyquist products that *need* to be filtered out, another thing which I suspect they probably have paid little attention to.

BioNz

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#2459494 11-Apr-2020 18:53

hi there just a reminder with the lockdown.

if your working from home and are needing the use of a booster please look at the approved ones eg celfi and not the Chinese ones. if you have ordered one from aliexpress or the likes please dont install it.

i am having to leave my bubble and hunt them down as they are impacting on the networks.

The Views I have may not be those of my Employer and are my own

Mighty Ape

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Linux

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#2502664 11-Jun-2020 06:11

BioNz:
hi there just a reminder with the lockdown.

if your working from home and are needing the use of a booster please look at the approved ones eg celfi and not the Chinese ones. if you have ordered one from aliexpress or the likes please dont install it.

i am having to leave my bubble and hunt them down as they are impacting on the networks.

The only bubble now is New Zealand

timmmay

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#2502665 11-Jun-2020 06:12

BioNz:

i am having to leave my bubble and hunt them down as they are impacting on the networks.

It's time to step out of your bubble and rejoin the world ;)

Lias

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#2502671 11-Jun-2020 06:52

I'm a geek, a gamer, a dad, a Quic user, and an IT Professional. I have a full rack home lab, size 15 feet, an epic beard and Asperger's. I'm a bit of a Cypherpunk, who believes information wants to be free and the Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. If you use my Quic signup you can also use the code R570394EKGIZ8 for free setup. Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

hio77

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#2502677 11-Jun-2020 07:23

timmmay:
BioNz:

i am having to leave my bubble and hunt them down as they are impacting on the networks.

It's time to step out of your bubble and rejoin the world ;)

time to hide the boosters! He's on the hunt!

In all seriousness. I wish we could just stop these even being imported or disable the catchy websites that fool the general consumer...

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

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