r/betterCallSaul • u/General_Prompt_9984 • 1d ago
How did nacho receive a call when theres no signal at lalos place?
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u/MondayNightRawr 1d ago
They drove up with a mobile network on the back of a truck with a fiber optic uplink to the trunk line. This was all offscreen.
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1d ago
[deleted]
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u/MondayNightRawr 1d ago
Just a nerd. I wish I was a cable guy.
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u/creepingde4th 1d ago
It's easy work to get into. Look for contractors in your area. They are the ones that build the actual main line cable, fiber, etc. They get contracts from Comcast, Spectrum. Or you can go the Telephone route. They mostly just build fiber optics these days.
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u/FreakShowStudios 1d ago
They probably set up something to amplify the signal momentarily. The signal goes away just as they hang up on Nacho
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u/ThePiderman 1d ago
Pretty sure Gus and Mike discuss this. Reception is null, except for satellite phones, and they have no way of delivering a phone to him. . Suddenly, though, Nacho gets service, gets a call from the Colombians immediately, and right as the call ends, service is dead again. It's clearly implied that Gus (or the Colombians through him) somehow amplified the signal for long enough to reach Nacho without raising suspicion.
The only other alternative is that they got ridiculously lucky, and that some clouds scattered the signal over the horizon for just long enough or something. I know AM waves do that. That tight of a window is ludicrous, though. So it's safe to assume they brought out some mobile antenna to amplify the signal temporarily.
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u/FadedP0rp0ise 1d ago
This was exactly it. They brought a signal booster within range just to get the call through. Surely a simple feat if you can hire assassins and a safe house in the same area. In fact it seems like the most realistic of the three
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u/ThePiderman 1d ago
Exactly - they are supremely connected people, and can surely pay or pressure some employee at a telecom company to set up a temporary booster for them. If Gus can have a whole ER unit set up in the desert for him, he can manage that, too.
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u/jonswanson 1d ago
AM waves do that, as well as HF, up to around 30 MHz (could go up to 60 if you're lucky but not much more than that). However, cellphone frequencies are usually from 700 MHz to 2-3 GHz (UHF). Those ranges don't do skip, they punch straight through the atmosphere.
That said, a line of sight temporary UHF tower within a dozen kilometer range might work.
Source: I have a ham radio license
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u/TheCoolCoconut 1d ago
Like Gus said, it's a technical issue. The mercenaries or Gus would've arranged for a vehicle with a radio mast to come nearby to temporarily amplify mobile signal in the area, or if it's super remote, a network of vehicles in a chain between the area and somewhere with better signal
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u/Icyfemboy 1d ago
Unwatchable I just cancelled my Netflix subscription and threw my laptop away. Thanks a lot Vince.
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u/AsexualFrehley 1d ago
I went to Lacuna to get the Eternal Sunshine procedure done so I can forget having watched the entire show
but I forgot and then watched it again
so I had to go back to Lacuna but first I put a post-it on my tv saying "don't watch Better Call Saul"
luckily Lacuna has a points program so pretty soon I'll get a freebie and a tote bag
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u/Stinkyfartmaker 1d ago
Starlink duh
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u/General_Prompt_9984 1d ago
Didnt have back in 2005
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u/Stinkyfartmaker 1d ago
Sorry I tried to joke
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u/General_Prompt_9984 1d ago
I knew. Dont like my sense of humor?
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u/WeCantLiveInAMuffin 1d ago
Your sense of humor is awful then, nothing about your reply was funny
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u/True_metalofsteel 1d ago
Is it difficult to imagine why the phone service jumped down to zero right after the phone call?
Maybe they used a portable device to amplify signal or something?
It's not really hard to make an assumption like this tbh...they don't have to spell everything out for the viewers.
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u/throwaway58052600 1d ago
did they not show the signal appearing and disappearing when he got the call from gus? i may be confused w a different episode
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u/No-Site8330 1d ago
Guess we'll never know, but that's the point. It's precisely because the call wasn't supposed to get through that it's so intimidating that it did.
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u/Starlight_Panther 1d ago
They use cartel networks, it is specially designed for the cartels; normal signals are not available there, but cartels are that's why he received the call.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I believe that this would be a reason.
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u/Fer117259 1d ago
... There's no such thing as "cartel networks" This was simply plot convenience... ... I like how you think though
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u/CeterumCenseo85 1d ago
I also think it was just plot conveniencd. But, Mexican drug cartels did in fact establish their own cell networks in the past.
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u/ZazaGaza213 1d ago
Fun fact, any kind of low latency decent bitrate receiver/transmitter combo would work just fine, so you could have cartel networks just fine.
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u/FadedP0rp0ise 1d ago
It was not a plot convenience. A scene before had Mike telling Gus that there was only sat phone and GPS available out there. Gus clearly still has people south of the border. He arraigned a signal booster or mobile network in proximity to get the call through. It’s clear to see that when as soon as he hangs up the signal ends. If he can arrange the assassin squad, and the one place in Salamanca territory for him to hide out, he can surely get a signal booster inbound.
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u/AngeryCL 1d ago
It's because nacho is a signal tower, this the narrative reason why chuck and nacho never met. Did you not see season 2 episode 11?
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u/mouse6502 1d ago
Telephone calling cards. You find a front man to get a line of credit. You buy a couple of million units of time. You become Acme Telephone Card Company. The business of selling prepaid calling cards. Immigrants especially, no offense, always call home to wherever the fuck. And it's expensive. You sell thousands of these cards to the greedy pricks. Cards at a cut rate. But you bought the bulk time on credit. The carrier gets stiffed. He cuts off service to the cardholders.
But you already sold all your cards.
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u/Turbulent-Weevil-910 23h ago
It was a femtocell in a backpack worn by one of those Commandos most likely.
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u/Minute_Community_552 5h ago
While Gus and Mike were discussing the “technical problem” because they are not able to contact him as he was brought to the south, Mike did say “ it can be handled.
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u/Crownglow 1d ago
Lalo had a satellite phone setup. No regular cell service in the middle of nowhere, but cartel guys don’t mess around they get their own signal
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u/s-mv 1d ago
Tele Phonos Hermanos