treeturner123":2mqs7hhj said:
Hi
So am I and started the thread!!
What I meant was something like this
http://www.ukmobilebooster.com/Shop/UK- ... commendCTY
From that site:
Q? Are your kits legal?
A. Essentially, this boils down to the issue of licensing. Ofcom states that a licence is required to operate a product broadcasting in a mobile carriers radio spectrum. The reason for this is to avoid interference in the providers networks. However, as can be seen in Sec 1.2 in the link below, taken directly from the Ofcom website, our products are exempt from such licensing requirements, as they do not cause any such network interference.
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consul ... es/summary
Indeed, many of our customers are referred to us directly from the network providers themselves, reflecting our trusted position within this industry for providing both high service and product quality.
The red emphasis above is mine. I'd point out two things:
(1) The law is what it is, and the
reason for the law is not relevant to breaking it or otherwise. It is disingenuous to suggest that these things don't interfere with mobile signals - they modify the environment for mobiles, and they rebroadcast on mobile (GSM) frequencies, and they certainly
can cause interference. If Ofcom came after someone using one of these things, the owner/operator would be hard pressed to make an effective defence in court. As far as I know, there is no mechanism for an individual to get such a licence.
(2) Coverage varies dramatically by network provider. It's quite possible that other carriers in a given area have relatively good coverage in the area (although in this case I appreciate you're on the edge of downland where coverage is patchy). These things can cause what's known as "co-channel interference". In the digital domain, the presence of this signal, albeit weak, overlaying another network provider's signal, could mean no network access for anyone trying to use that service legitimately. And that would include calls to emergency services, etc.
I appreciate it is frustrating, but the only legal route is something actually given to you ("installed") by the network provider.
You do have plenty of options to put out a stronger WiFi signal, however, if that will help you. I'm moving over to Ubiquiti "UniFi" WiFi access points at home (slowly!), because they will allow me to build a mesh of several working together seamlessly and can be centrally managed - high performance, dead spots dealt with, etc. At work, about five years ago, I raised a quote for doing something similar for a large and fairly complex trade show stand. It was going to cost several thousand pounds (renting out the kit!). I could now do the same thing throughout our house (which is awkward), and covering garden and my workshop, probably for less than 1,000. Technology costs continue to piummet.
