Forums > Specific Focus > Technical Mexico

johnv

Sep 23, 2005, 8:20 PM

Post #1 of 15 (3703 views)

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Cell phone equipment and satellite broadband advice advice

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I need to install a cell phone in a cabaña in a rural area of Mexico. The house has no telephone wires, but excellent cellular signals. I want to connect the phone to a PhoneLabs Dock-N-Talk unit, which connects a cell phone to the interior landline wires in your home enabling use of conventional wired and wireless phones connected to the cell phone. I then want to connect an exterior roof antenna to the stationary cell phone. I do not want any cellular plans. I do not need a cell phone with BS such as cameras, games, walky-talkies, etc, etc, etc. I do however need the best phone money can buy. Please advise as to what phone and antenna to buy. I am not a cell phone user although I carry one when outside my home and make one or two calls a month. This phone will be replacing a Telmex line and will be used minimally for up to 25 calls a month if that, as most my phoning is VOIP

I also need any advice on satellite internet systems that support VOIP. The Telmex lines that could be connected to the above residence for big bucks, due to distance, "in a year or two", would not support broadband for years to come, according to Telmex. Therefore, my interest in a satellite system.

I have been doing extensive internet research on the above matters, but would be interested in other people's knowledge, experience, or opinions on the above subjects.

Anonimo

Sep 24, 2005, 2:36 AM

Post #2 of 15 (3692 views)

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Re: [johnv] Cell phone equipment and satellite broadband advice advice

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I'll be watching this thread with interest. The cabin to where we are about to move, outside of Patzcuaro, comes equipped with a dish that receives signals from a tower somewhere else in the vicinity. (I haven't yet talked with the ISP, but our house owner will introduce us.) By using a laptop equipped with a wireless card, I will be able to do Internet without internal house wiring other than keeping the laptop battery charged up.

As to our phones, we'd like to buy a simple cell phone, as you describe, johnv, with no cellular plan, but using a prepaid card.

Other possiblities, I suppose, might include using a Bluetooth-equipped phone to communicate wirelesssly with the laptop ( a Mac), but as I have a set of earphones already, I can use them to do Skype long distance for the price of cacahuates. ;-)

The difficult part is threading the maze of phone options and plans, in Spanish. Although we speak pretty good Spanish, I don't have Clue # 1 about cell phones. Went to Wal Mart in Morelia yesterday, to the TelCel booth, and I think they told us that they sold the hardware there but not the service. ¿Quien sabe?

Saludos,
Anonimo

johnv

Sep 25, 2005, 6:30 AM

Post #3 of 15 (3660 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Cell phone equipment and satellite broadband advice advice

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I don't think that any dish connecting to a tower, as you describe, is available in the area that I am speaking of. Is this Wi-Fi you are using, or, if not, do you know the name of the type of system?

Anonimo

Sep 25, 2005, 6:49 AM

Post #4 of 15 (3659 views)

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Re: [johnv] Cell phone equipment and satellite broadband advice advice

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Apparently, this is some sort of longer range wi-fi system. I've heard of it being used in Wyoming and in the Patzcuaro region. I don't have the details yet, but I'll be learning a lot more next week.

Saludos,
Anonimo

johanson / Moderator

Sep 25, 2005, 8:24 AM

Post #5 of 15 (3649 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Cell phone equipment and satellite broadband advice advice

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What do you mean by long range? Here in Ajijic, folks are usually withing 5 miles of a standard tower, some were as far as 20 miles. But the service was a little spotty at that distance.

We are using standard 802.11b technology, the same technolgy you use with a wireless router or that you see in a Starbucks. The only difference is the antennas used at each end.

Anonimo

Sep 25, 2005, 8:50 AM

Post #6 of 15 (3644 views)

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Re: [johanson] Cell phone equipment and satellite broadband advice advice

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I don't know the details yet. I'll have to ask our new landlord and the service provider.
But from what you describe, Johansen, it's likely that ours will be the same or similar.

Saludos,
Anonimo

pat

Sep 25, 2005, 4:15 PM

Post #7 of 15 (3620 views)

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Re: [johnv] Cell phone equipment and satellite broadband advice advice

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John,

Try googling "Wilson antenna", and "Wilson repeater/amplifier." I have been considering setting up my home for better cell phone reception by installing a Yagi antenna and a repeater/amplifier unit. The repeater/amplifier receives weak signals (via the Yagi antenna which is mounted externally, or in the attic) from the cell phone tower, amplifies them and transmits them to another antenna in the house which transmits the signal to your cell phone. In effect, you have a small cell tower in your own home. This system allows the phone to be carried throughout the house without being attached to an antenna. The whole thing costs about $ 550 USD. The antenna alone is about $60.00 USD before considering cable and lightning arrestor.

If you get good reception at your house, however, you probably don't need the repeater/amplifier, especially since you are going to use your cell phone as a permanently mounted unit. In this case, simple plug the cable from the yagi antenna into the phone, olug the phone into the docking system, and the docking system into into the house phone system. Sounds like a plan to me.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Pat

johnv

Sep 25, 2005, 7:06 PM

Post #8 of 15 (3607 views)

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Re: [pat] Cell phone equipment and satellite broadband advice advice

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Thankyou Pat, I checked out Wilson's antennas, but more importantly, I learned of the existence of Motorola's 3 watt phones from the Wilson site. I am not sure if the Motorola 3 watt, sometimes called a "bag phone", is what I need, but it sounds like what I would like by the breif 10 minutes of research that I just did. I am going to check these phones out further. They seem to be what forest rangers and the like use in remote areas. As far as roof top cell antennas go I am now considering Wilson's offerings, but am also looking at 8 foot dual band antennas made for motor yachts.

Still waitng for input on satellite internet... I'll eventually find out what I need to know, through research, but thought someone could share info here to cut down on my hours sitting in front of a computer...

johanson / Moderator

Sep 25, 2005, 8:30 PM

Post #9 of 15 (3600 views)

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Re: [johnv] Cell phone equipment and satellite broadband advice advice

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JohnV. Perhaps the reason no one has answered you because VoIP isn't recommended with internet via satellite. Let me explain to you why. It's called lag time or delay. Have you ever wondered why on CNN for example when folks out in the Storm damaged area respond there is a very long delay? That's because all of the ground communications has failed and the folks are talking via satellite.

The delay is so great that it is very hard to get used to.

Two way satellite does work in Mexico. I know several persons who use it. It's just that it is quite expensive and is usually chosen as last resort.

johnv

Sep 25, 2005, 9:37 PM

Post #10 of 15 (3596 views)

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Re: [johanson] Cell phone equipment and satellite broadband advice advice

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Yes, Pete, this is a last resort, as Telmex has informed me that they will not have broadband in the area where the house that I am intersted in, is located,for some years. I am aware of lag times with satellite broadband with voip. But my questions are, wouldn't a satellite voip setup be better than dial-up voip setup? There are companies that claim they specialize in satellite voip and say it is all possible but I havn't gotten any replies from them yet or on price. I had dial-up voip for a while here and it went from fair to unusable over the course of a year. Are there other options for having high speed internet and a working voip phone that I am not aware of? This is very important to me as I could cancel my plans on the purchase of this property if I cannot have broadband and voip.

Also, could someone describe the lag time with satellite internet better? Is the voice clear or garbled? Is the only problem, just waiting 1.3 seconds at the end of a statement ending, in order for the transmission to go on through?

kirkswig

Sep 26, 2005, 1:34 AM

Post #11 of 15 (3592 views)

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Re: [johnv] Cell phone equipment and satellite broadband advice advice

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The voice should be clear, it's just that because the satellite is so high up it takes a long time for the signal to go up and then come back down. If the person you are speaking to is accustomed to this delay it isn't really a problem (you end every sentence with "over"), but if you're talking to somebody who isn't used to this it can be a very frustrating experience.

What you may want to do is go satellite for your Internet needs, which really is quite sufficient (unless you're playing arcade-type games) and then subscribe to Iridium for your voice solution Iridium is satellite too, but they're much lower, so the lag isn't noticeable (or so I'm told.) And it works anywhere on the planet, which, depending on where you travel to, could be literally a lifesaver.

To boldly go where no wig has gone before.

Papirex

Sep 26, 2005, 12:13 PM

Post #12 of 15 (3574 views)

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Re: [johnv] Cell phone equipment and satellite broadband advice advice

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I can’t help you with the technical details you want, but I can tell you all about making phone calls via satellite. My home state is Alaska. Years ago the Army ran the only telephone system up there. All outgoing telephone calls were transmitted via radio. Not good. When the telephone service passed to civilian control, eventually, all outgoing calls to the smaller states were transmitted via satellite. Better, but it takes some getting used too. About 20 years ago, a couple of undersea cables were laid to the lower 48 and telephone service is normal now in Alaska.

You must tell the people that you are calling to wait until they hear your last word in a sentence before they speak. If they speak too soon, or try to interrupt you, the signals will “walk” on each other and be garbled. Other than that, the calls are pretty much normal, voice quality is good usually. We never used to say “over” although that may be a good idea, but each party must still wait a second before replying, or the signals will walk on each other. Some people that you call nob will never get used to it, it’s not something they normally have to deal with. You will often have to ask them to repeat their last sentence. It is a little frustrating, but it is better than nothing.

Good luck, Rex

"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved" - Victor Hugo

(This post was edited by RexC on Sep 26, 2005, 2:29 PM)

johnv

Sep 26, 2005, 6:59 PM

Post #13 of 15 (3544 views)

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Re: [kirkswig] Cell phone equipment and satellite broadband advice advice

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Thankyou RexC and KirksWig. I am heeding your input. Has any one heard of or had experience with ESS (Enterprise Satellite Soutions) David Horacek, San Diego or DBSTV, Houston Media, Mel Berry, Houston Texas. ESS sells a super high priced service and equipment, out of my range, but pretty much guarantees voip, but with the unavoidable delay. DBSTV with partner Daniel Guerra out of SMA,Gto. "pushes" Direcway, the most highly criticized service of this type on the Net.

At this point I am considering Verizon North America Plan replacing Voip to the states, getting cheap Direcway for internet, and maintaining a 2nd cell phone by Telcel, Usacel, or whoever for mexican phoning (replacing Telmex). This is really turning into a hassle. Escaping the ratrace in Mexico is next to impossibe if you want modern services, even if you are escaping it by 8 miles as is my case.

Marlene

Sep 30, 2005, 2:59 PM

Post #14 of 15 (3494 views)

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Re: [RexC] Cell phone equipment and satellite broadband advice advice

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Quote

I can tell you all about making phone calls via satellite. My home state is Alaska

This post walked me down memory lane. (Well at least dog sled trails). I grew up in the Yukon next door to Alaska. When my father decided to "get away from it all" and homestead in the wilderness (as if Whitehorse, YT wasn't already far enough away from the rest of the world!) our only way of communicating with him was via radio phone. It was like talking on a party line because everyone else on radio phones throughout that vast area could hear the conversation. It was considered entertainment when someone got a radio call! We learned to talk about personal things in code, and we did use "over" and "over and out".

I am sure to this day there is no phone service there. There aren't even roads. He had to build a landing strip to have his groceries and mail flown in once a month. (Bless the northern bush pilots, they are a brave lot!) Thankfully he came to his senses, sold "the ranch" and upgraded to the wilderness of BC for his retirement years, where they at least have phone lines.

Anonimo

Oct 5, 2005, 2:06 AM

Post #15 of 15 (3450 views)

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Re: [johanson] Cell phone equipment and satellite broadband advice advice

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Pete, we got an account on Friday, and after some fiddling with the configurations here on the Wi-Fi card equipped laptop, Saturday and Sunday morning, we got a good connection here at the cabina, up above Pátzcuaro.

All I know is that there is an antenna in a tree above our house, it's connected to a LinkSys Wireless G Router. A short Ethernet cable connects it to my Apple Airport Express Base Station, in the laundry room (!) which is close by. I was able to encrypt the signal by using the Airport Administration Utility. (Mac OS X Panther)

Our difficulties in achieving a connection on Saturday and Sunday Am, were probably due to our trying to configure the local network from both the LinkSys (via a web browser) AND the Airport Express Base Station. Earlier, there were TWO LinkSys routers in the setup, which made administration very compllicated, indeed.
At any rate, it works fine; I'd say better than our previous DSL back in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Saludos,
Anonimo