Ok, here what I want to: get as much gain as possible (at least 20dB) on a 1900MHz signal.

 

How might I accomplish there? Could I use a type of satellite dish, and more important where could I get it. Where can I get giant antennas with gains like that?

 

Size of the antenna or dish isn't important, but cost is, let's keep it around $150

 

 

This is for my cell phone... here in the US it's on GSM1900 band, and since the US is always behind national standards, the coverage sucks. Here in miami, the coverage is excellent, but I frequently travel 50-100 miles from the nearest cell phone tower, so I'm looking to boost the signal by as much as possible with the budget of a college student. ideas?

get a new service provider.

No. Any other provider wouldn't have better GSM coverage. And I must have GSM

Bump... and.. if i can get a weak signal (barely able to talk) at night, and no signal during the day... how much of a gain (dBi) do I really need? I was looking at a base station antenna that offered a 13dBi gain for $72, would that get me good coverage?

Good question Faf and I been researchin too. It's a learn a lot as you go question and ain't being ignored. It's just the answer ain't easy, yet. Thanks for keeping these rusty old gears in my head crankin.

Just aman