Sim signal for working from home

JJardan

Morning all, newbie here. I am now full time working from home, and I was given a work laptop with a sim installed so I can securely access work related e-mails & other stuff. Problem is my house is fairly new and the insulation is so good I cant get coverage on that sim inside the house. So the house is lovely & warm, but I cant get any work done inside it.

I have ended up in the garage at the end of the garden where I can get 4 or 5 bars of a signal, and while my wife is delighted with that I am freezing out there! So I wanted to ask is I can something to boost the sim card signal in my laptop? Something like a wi-fi extender but for cellphones? Probably a really stupid question for tech gurus! I cant change the sim before anyone asks as its the one issued by work. Any advice would be appreciated as the garage definitely was not designed for WFH during December!!

Bikerman2019

Maybe put the sim in a spare phone. With the phone on a window board, it may be able to hotspot you.


Or


Get an unlocked LTE modem, put the sim in and use it as a wifi hotspot. (I have this set up in the wilds of Donegal and it works well enough for netflix.)

D3V!L

JJardan wrote: »

Morning all, newbie here. I am now full time working from home, and I was given a work laptop with a sim installed so I can securely access work related e-mails & other stuff. Problem is my house is fairly new and the insulation is so good I cant get coverage on that sim inside the house. So the house is lovely & warm, but I cant get any work done inside it.

I have ended up in the garage at the end of the garden where I can get 4 or 5 bars of a signal, and while my wife is delighted with that I am freezing out there! So I wanted to ask is I can something to boost the sim card signal in my laptop? Something like a wi-fi extender but for cellphones? Probably a really stupid question for tech gurus! I cant change the sim before anyone asks as its the one issued by work. Any advice would be appreciated as the garage definitely was not designed for WFH during December!!

What network are you with ?

ED E

You can.

https://www.novatel.ie/sd-rp1002-lgdwh-5band-signal-booster

Bikerman2019

ED E wrote: »

You can.

https://www.novatel.ie/sd-rp1002-lgdwh-5band-signal-booster

That's 1400 euro :eek:

JJardan

D3V!L wrote: »

What network are you with ?

the sim is Eir, I can get 1 bar on my mobile inside the house, thats with Vodafone

JJardan

Bikerman2019 wrote: »

That's 1400 euro :eek:

Nice piece of gear but it would be cheaper to put a stove in the garage!😊

D3V!L

JJardan wrote: »

the sim is Eir, I can get 1 bar on my mobile inside the house, thats with Vodafone

I have a corporate account with Vodafone and they told me recently that they're moving their normal customers over to their new system which will run over wi-fi when needed. So your signal issue won't exist.

smuggler.ie

D3V!L wrote: »

I have a corporate account with Vodafone and they told me recently that they're moving their normal customers over to their new system which will run over wi-fi when needed. So your signal issue won't exist.

Just wonder what "system" is that?

Ten Pin

I cant change the sim before anyone asks as its the one issued by work.

Have you got home broadband? If yes then would it not be better to use a VPN to access work servers?

If no home broadband then it's a matter of finding a location inside the house with a bit of signal (preferably upstairs beside a window without any low-e coating), use the SIM in a phone or modem and connect laptop over WiFi. First find the direction with the strongest signal outdoors and put the phone at a window facing that direction. If there's still no signal inside then you'll have to go back to the good ole days of putting weatherproofed phone outside on a window sill and run a USB cable to laptop to tether (window open slightly to let cable through). If the laptop USB ports / LAN port / WiFi are locked down then ask work IT dept to enable LAN port and supply a modem for the SIM.

krissovo

D3V!L wrote: »

I have a corporate account with Vodafone and they told me recently that they're moving their normal customers over to their new system which will run over wi-fi when needed. So your signal issue won't exist.

I have a box from Vodafone that plugs into the broadband at home and all mobile calls/data are routed through it. It boosts the inside signal and works well enough as long as you have Gigabit broadband. When I tried with Eir 50mbit (actual 20) it killed the bandwidth to the rest of the house.

D3V!L

krissovo wrote: »

I have a box from Vodafone that plugs into the broadband at home and all mobile calls/data are routed through it. It boosts the inside signal and works well enough as long as you have Gigabit broadband. When I tried with Eir 50mbit (actual 20) it killed the bandwidth to the rest of the house.

When did you get that , sounds like what I was told by the rep at the time ?

ED E

krissovo wrote: »

I have a box from Vodafone that plugs into the broadband at home and all mobile calls/data are routed through it. It boosts the inside signal and works well enough as long as you have Gigabit broadband. When I tried with Eir 50mbit (actual 20) it killed the bandwidth to the rest of the house.

They're discontinued.

biko

If you feel up to it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPQBMlwzUic

jester77

What router do you have? I can put a sim card in my Vodafone router and use that as an alternative to DSL.

ED E

jester77 wrote: »

What router do you have? I can put a sim card in my Vodafone router and use that as an alternative to DSL.

Dont do this, the OPs SIM may be part corp VPN product so the connection should be used in their work laptop only.

smuggler.ie

biko wrote: »

If you feel up to it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPQBMlwzUic

I think that only works in South Asia market

smuggler.ie

not able to locate one for western world, including Irl, but there is one for East Europe

Lucifer

Have a look at this thread, may be helpful

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057089101