Any advice please

[IanD]

Just now, Tony1 said:

 

I'll have to see if I can find out the manufacturer name and get some more info on it. To be honest its a nice-to-have most of the time (no need for it at the moment, for example, and on my last mooring at Anderton it did nothing to improve things). 

I wonder if a boat roof counts as a 'ceiling or roof'? Certainly it seems to obstruct the phone signal pretty well at times. 

 

The last owner struck me as a very straight and honest guy, and I'd be surprised to find he had a dodgy device installed, but of course the laws (or their interpretation) might have changed in the five years or more since it was put in.

 

Funnily enough the people who sell dodgy gear don't advertise it as such, just how brilliant it is -- even a straight and honest guy can fall for their siren call... 😉

 

(I think the laws previously banned *all* repeaters, the changes allowed them under restricted circumstances to cope with the reality that there were increasing numbers out there, and to try and bring some order to the cellular Wild West)

[Tony1]

8 minutes ago, IanD said:

Funnily enough the people who sell dodgy gear don't advertise it as such, just how brilliant it is -- even a straight and honest guy can fall for their siren call... 😉

 

(I think the laws previously banned *all* repeaters, the changes allowed them under restricted circumstances to cope with the reality that there were increasing numbers out there, and to try and bring some order to the cellular Wild West)

 

So is it the case that all those boats you see with 4-8ft masts mounted (with an aerial device sat at the top) are using repeaters?

And thus potentially not 100% legal?

 

You wonder whether the BSS folks might pick up on these sorts of devices, and ask questions about them.....

Otherwise, It's hard to see what kind of practicable enforcement there is for issues like this.

[IanD]

5 minutes ago, Tony1 said:

 

So is it the case that all those boats you see with 4-8ft masts mounted (with an aerial device sat at the top) are using repeaters?

And thus potentially not 100% legal?

 

You wonder whether the BSS folks might pick up on these sorts of devices, and ask questions about them.....

Otherwise, It's hard to see what kind of practicable enforcement there is for issues like this.

Depends what the aerial is doing. My guess is that in most cases it's *not* a mobile repeater, it's either a TV aerial or an aerial for a cellular router, with the phone then connecting to this by Wi-Fi -- both are perfectly legal.

 

If people are using mobile repeaters on boats then it's very likely that they're illegal, but TBH the odds of being caught and fined are probably negligible -- like speeding... 😉

 

BSS don't care about any of this, it's "somebody else's problem" unless the aerial can cause physical danger to somebody (poke their eye out or electrocute them), they're not radio regulation enforcers.

Edited December 15, 2021 by IanD

[Alan de Enfield]

2 minutes ago, Tony1 said:

You wonder whether the BSS folks might pick up on these sorts of devices, and ask questions about them.....

 

Why would you expect the BSS to be involved ?

 

The BSS is simply to protect passers by and C&RT staff from being caught in an explosion or fire (as they say in their mission statement), safety of the boat, anyone on board or the legality of any equipment use is not within their remit.

 

 

The Boat Safety Scheme, or BSS, is a public safety initiative owned equally by the Canal & River Trust and the Environment Agency. Its purpose is to help minimise the risk of boat fires, explosions, or pollution harming visitors to the inland waterways, the waterways' workforce and any other users.

[vanboosh]

As Ian said, sim goes into a router, but its a simple push in rather than faffing about with paperclips, etc. so not too bad moving sims to a different device if that makes it any easier for you! 

 

We didn't have a repeater, we had a 6' mast with one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00C1DGFPS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which plugs into the back of a router like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-MR6400-Unlocked-Configuration-Required-External/dp/B083KDK9JC/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=4g%2Brouter&qid=1639570432&sr=8-3&th=1 - you just remove the 'bunny ears' and screw the cables into that. It doesn't 'repeat' the signal, it just extends the aerial. But not helpful if you want to keep your sim in the phone, sorry!

[Tony1]

4 minutes ago, vanboosh said:

As Ian said, sim goes into a router, but its a simple push in rather than faffing about with paperclips, etc. so not too bad moving sims to a different device if that makes it any easier for you! 

 

We didn't have a repeater, we had a 6' mast with one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00C1DGFPS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which plugs into the back of a router like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-MR6400-Unlocked-Configuration-Required-External/dp/B083KDK9JC/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=4g%2Brouter&qid=1639570432&sr=8-3&th=1 - you just remove the 'bunny ears' and screw the cables into that. It doesn't 'repeat' the signal, it just extends the aerial. But not helpful if you want to keep your sim in the phone, sorry!

 

Thanks, I'll hang on to those links. 

 

The problem I have is that the EE sim is the one I'd want/need to use on most occasions when a boost was needed, but I cant be arsed taking out the SIM from the EE phone and sticking it into a router. Plus its not straightforward to then use the phone for whatsapp or calls in the evening.

 

I dont mind sticking the O2 sim into a router because I don't use that sim for calls- but as I said, I'm finding O2 does not have the rural coverage, or the strength/speed of EE. 

(I routinely test the speed of both wifi signals as provided to the laptop using a windows app, and the EE performance seems to be consistently faster.) 

That said, the O2 is still usable lots of the time, so its not a showstopper thing by any means. 

I guess I could get a data-only sim from EE, but it makes more sense to use the O2 sim in a router, with the EE sim as the backup option- and just accept a slightly slower performance at times. 

 

The things I do to watch a bit of you tube.....

[IanD]

11 minutes ago, Tony1 said:

 

Thanks, I'll hang on to those links. 

 

The problem I have is that the EE sim is the one I'd want/need to use on most occasions when a boost was needed, but I cant be arsed taking out the SIM from the EE phone and sticking it into a router. Plus its not straightforward to then use the phone for whatsapp or calls in the evening.

 

I dont mind sticking the O2 sim into a router because I don't use that sim for calls- but as I said, I'm finding O2 does not have the rural coverage, or the strength/speed of EE. 

(I routinely test the speed of both wifi signals as provided to the laptop using a windows app, and the EE performance seems to be consistently faster.) 

That said, the O2 is still usable lots of the time, so its not a showstopper thing by any means. 

I guess I could get a data-only sim from EE, but it makes more sense to use the O2 sim in a router, with the EE sim as the backup option- and just accept a slightly slower performance at times. 

 

The things I do to watch a bit of you tube.....

If you want to keep your EE SIM in the phone, all you can do is use the phone as a wireless hotspot...

[Tony1]

2 minutes ago, IanD said:

If you want to keep your EE SIM in the phone, all you can do is use the phone as a wireless hotspot...

 

 

To be fair, the great majority of times the EE signal is acceptable even without boosting, so putting that SIM into a router for boosting would be a fairly rare event, and I could live with that frequency of faffing.  

Anyway, not wanting to hijack the OPs thread too much, as there are a few threads already dedicated to mobile internet etc...

 

[MtB]

2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

The BSS is simply to protect passers by and C&RT staff from being caught in an explosion or fire (as they say in their mission statement), safety of the boat, anyone on board or the legality of any equipment use is not within their remit.

 

Which is of course, a load of old bobbins. It is to satisfy the instincts and needs of a bunch of overpaid and interfering bureaucrats.

 

And breathe....

[Das Boot]

On 15/12/2021 at 11:31, Tony1 said:

 

So is it the case that all those boats you see with 4-8ft masts mounted (with an aerial device sat at the top) are using repeaters?

And thus potentially not 100% legal?

 

You wonder whether the BSS folks might pick up on these sorts of devices, and ask questions about them.....

Otherwise, It's hard to see what kind of practicable enforcement there is for issues like this.

The law changed. See here:  https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/features-and-news/mobile-phone-repeaters

[Chewbacka]

25 minutes ago, Das Boot said:

The law changed. See here:  https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/features-and-news/mobile-phone-repeaters

But none are allowed to be used in boats.

[Das Boot]

1 minute ago, Chewbacka said:

But none are allowed to be used in boats.

You can use the domestic ones. However, the regulations are changing again, soon. The main benefit being - you can use a multi provider booster as opposed to being tied to one (e.g. rather than your reception being tied  to 3, Vodafone or EE, the new regulations will allow the booster to receive all mobile phone provider signals). This was in response to last summer's consultation. https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2021/11/ofcom-uk-expands-the-range-of-indoor-mobile-signal-boosters.html