How to get decent internet with a weak signal?

I’ve got this vacation house out in a spot where the cell signal is pretty much nonexistent. In certain parts of the house, I just get "no service," and in others, my phone manages to cling to an Edge connection just enough to trickle some data through. But here’s the kicker: when I try to use my Verizon internet USB stick with my laptop, nothing works. It connects to the network, sure, but then says the signal strength is at 0%. I tried tethering too, but no luck there.

I heard there are these access point devices designed to grab a better signal—basically, you plug the USB stick into them and they broadcast Wi-Fi to your laptop. Has anyone actually messed around with those? Any specific gear you'd suggest? I really don't want to drop money on some hardware, head out to the mountains, and realize I'm totally cut off from the world since I need the web for work...

Alexander James15 said:I’ve got this vacation house out in a spot where the cell signal is pretty much nonexistent. In certain parts of the house, I just get "no service," and in others, my phone manages to cling to an Edge connection just enough to trickle some data through. But here’s the kicker: when I try to use my Verizon internet USB stick with my laptop, nothing works. It connects to the network, sure, but then says the signal strength is at 0%. I tried tethering too, but no luck there.

I heard there are these access point devices designed to grab a better signal—basically, you plug the USB stick into them and they broadcast Wi-Fi to your laptop. Has anyone actually messed around with those? Any specific gear you'd suggest? I really don't want to drop money on some hardware, head out to the mountains, and realize I'm totally cut off from the world since I need the web for work...

What you’re actually looking for is a GSM signal booster.
Something like this:
http://www.lightinthebox.com/hr/c/booster_6070

I haven't personally used one, though, and honestly, the big question is whether it would even make a dent in your specific location. Nobody can give you a straight answer on that without testing it right there on your property.

Alexander James15 said:I’ve got this vacation house out in a spot where the cell signal is pretty much nonexistent. In certain parts of the house, I just get "no service," and in others, my phone manages to cling to an Edge connection just enough to trickle some data through. But here’s the kicker: when I try to use my Verizon internet USB stick with my laptop, nothing works. It connects to the network, sure, but then says the signal strength is at 0%. I tried tethering too, but no luck there.

I heard there are these access point devices designed to grab a better signal—basically, you plug the USB stick into them and they broadcast Wi-Fi to your laptop. Has anyone actually messed around with those? Any specific gear you'd suggest? I really don't want to drop money on some hardware, head out to the mountains, and realize I'm totally cut off from the world since I need the web for work...

Just pick up a Homebox B260 or something better and unlock it. If Verizon doesn't have any coverage out there, just swap to T-Mobile or whoever has the best rates in the area and call it a day. That’s exactly what I did for my place in the mountains. Those little USB sticks are useless; their antennas are pathetic.

I’m running into this exact same issue myself. I get such a terrible cell signal inside my house that I can barely get anything better than Edge. I was wondering if there’s anything that can actually be done about it, or maybe some kind of device I could pick up to help boost the signal and improve the data speeds.
If this Homebox B260 turns out to be a real solution, I’d probably pull the trigger on it right away, but I just don't want to spend money on $167 something that might end up being a total waste.

First, you’ve gotta figure out if you're just dealing with a weak signal or if your area doesn't even have 3G coverage and is stuck on EDGE... check the coverage map on your carrier's website. If it's the latter, there isn't a single device on the market that's going to fix that for you.

So, I tried tackling my connection issues by picking up an AT&T stick, since someone suggested their signal might be more robust. It helped, but only halfway. With Verizon, I was getting a decent signal maybe 0-5% of the time, whereas with AT&T, I’m seeing it about 40-60% of the time. Still, that's just not enough if you're trying to get actual work done.