BT Signal Assist.

[Iangla]

Call in and speak to the mobile team  (on 150 from your landline) or search signal assist on shop.bt.com

[liebls]

Yes you can phone BT to obtain signal assists and they will give you the link. It is available to buy online from the bt shop BUT the search at shop.bt.com has I  believe been deliberately set up to exclude a search for "signal assist" to ensure you speak on the phone first.

I can't post the direct link here as the moderators will delete it. I have asked for clarification as the person I spoke to in customer services said there was no policy to insist on a phone call first but the moderators obviously believe that there is.

If the moderators were to recheck and find a phone call was not necessary then I'm sure they will publish the link. Furthermore by the time people get this far on the community I am sure they would be capable of understanding that there is a minimum broadband bandwidth for the signal assist to work acceptably if they were told what that was. As I understand it this is the only reason for the supposed policy on requiring a phone call.

[bejb]

Yes, it is a bit weird to hide it on the BT website, as a simple search on Google for BT Signal Assist shows a sponsored advert (ie Google are paid by BT for the advert) for the femtocell as the very first link.
And as for checking the bandwidth, the BT page says quite clearly 'You'll need a home broadband connection with minimum fixed download speed of 512kbps and an upload speed of 256kbps'. For any technical product, there are prerequisite requirements - I would have thought it was pretty standard to allow people to buy the product, and if they haven't got those prerequisites then it may not work - and that is tough - or if you are feeling generous you might let them return it for a refund.
On the whole, this is BT customers paying for the privilege of expanding and enhancing the BT/EE mobile network (compared with EE paying people wodges of money to have a large transmitter on their land). I would have thought that BT/EE would be incredibly keen for as many people as possible to buy this product.

[bobdanbh]

I should perhaps add now, as I forgot on my first trip to the S West to update my experience, that everything works fine. We've still only got BT-family SIMS to try it with so I can't give 100% assurance.

[darrendodd]

Instructions for using BT Signal Assist are v unclear as to what happens once you have set up.

My box is set up and has the steady green light and i have had the email saying it's activated - but what now?

Should I be seeing more bars on my phone?  Or should I still be waiting for some kind of change to take effect?

[Andy005]

Hi @darrendodd 

If you have a steady green light then the unit is ready to use. 

An easy way to check is to make a call, as soon as you dial the green light will start flashing and you'll hear a beep on your phone, just before you get the ringing tones.

[bejb]

Yep, once there is a solid green light, it is working.

I found it really easy, as there is absolutely no signal where I live. So when it started working, I got bars where there previously had been none.

It is a very low power transmitter, so it doesn't go far through solid walls. I have just bought a second, to go out in a shed in the garden (with a powerline network connection) - with no solid walls, I think I should get coverage throughout the garden.

And  I can confirm that it works with non-BT sims, provided they are based on the EE network. One daughter uses EE, and another uses Virgin Mobile - they both work fine.

It is worth noting the mobile data signal is only 3G. However, it does seems to provide the same speed  as the broadband network it is connected to, so it is as good as a Wi-Fi connection.

If you have little to no signal, I would highly recommend the device. BT/EE should give them away, as you are building their network for them!

[chestermills]

Hi @darrendodd it could be the same as my set-up, because I had a 4g signal at home albeit a very weak one my phone preferred to use the weak 4g signal instead of the strong 3g signal from the signal assist box. My solution was to disable 4g on my phone and all is ok now, it connects every time I am at home.  I do not usually turn 4g back on because I don't notice the difference when out and about using only 3g. Hope this helps.

[darrendodd]

No -  nothing is happening. Solid green light on device and no better signal

[bejb]

I think it is worth noting that it is not a signal booster. It is a Femtocell - a very small transmitter, providing a range of about 15m in clear air, much less if it needs to go through anything solid. 

So if you already have signal, then you have another signal. The original signal is not boosted, you just have another one.

For data, it is 3G. Your phone will probably pick a weak 4G signal if it can. Or maybe your phone is not 3g compatible?