Cell boosters worth it?

[Uniquely Us Adventures]

Are cell boosters worth it? First hand experience would be preferred. I dont trust online reviews much and my research shows no service stays no service but is the price worth the pay off for that extra bar when service is minimal?

 

[TheRealMcCoy]

Yes, but ONLY if you have a signal.

 

[ProtonDecay]

We really liked our Weboost Destination. If there was some signal to work with it almost always made it better. It did take a bit of effort, like 20 minutes, to get the antenna raised and pointed optimally. It worked in Baja just as well as in the US.

We sold it to another OB member after getting Starlink, but would get another booster if give up the "dish pipe".

If you get a directional booster you'll benefit from apps like gaia and network cell info, as finding the best tower and optimizing the antenna to use it requires a bit of finesse.

Best of luck whatever you decide...

 

[donj51]

Are cell boosters worth it? First hand experience would be preferred. I dont trust online reviews much and my research shows no service stays no service but is the price worth the pay off for that extra bar when service is minimal?

If you get one, I have one in each rig, pay attention to the placement of the three components. The receiver, amp and antenna. Having them too close together will indicate a good signal, lousy performance.

 

[Jim SoG]

I bought and returned my WeBoost OTR, was lousy....... But others seem happy with them.

Jim

 

[The_northman_adventures]

In low reception areas it’s the difference between no bars and 1 bar of LTE. It doesn’t produce signal out of nothing…but it increases that one faint signal your phone may not pick up. And that’s the difference. One bar of LTE was always present in the Ozarks here in Missouri where none were there before weboost. Worth it when trying to send a text to someone. I have a Jeep Gladiator and the antenna end is above the roof, power box under the front seat and the transmitter on my dash just a few inches from my phone on the windshield quad lock mount. Works perfectly. Just go into it with reasonable expectations. You are not going to boost to 5 bars and FaceTime from 1 bar with it off.

 

[Dilldog]

I'm bringing this thread back to the top as I'm interested in a booster myself and would like some more info.

 

[Viking1204]

Before my truck died I had a Weboost on it and used it a lot while traveling on the road to keep service to my phone. Where I hunt in MS I could only get one bar of LTE but once I turned on the amp I could usually get 3 bars which allowed me to send pictures to my family.

 

[ProtonDecay]

We had the WeBoost RV Park model for a year or so until we went Starlink. It worked great pretty much everywhere we could get at least some signal to work with (Baja, western states). The directional antenna required a bit of effort to get optimally pointed (there are apps that will show the towers available on a map and then you can use Gaia or similar to orient the antenna), but it almost always made the signal stronger (98% of the time we could get connected). And a stronger signal usually meant faster throughput (80% of the time). It worked better for text/email than any kind of streaming or social media, as if a signal was already strong enough to use for streaming then the WeBoost didn't usually improve the throughput. The biggest downside was not knowing in advance if we'd be able to "see" a tower with an acceptable level of "our" service (T-Mobile/Telmex) in any particular spot. For us, the move to Starlink was a no-brainer. We've only been in a couple of spots out of hundreds now where we couldn't get enough signal to at least handle email/text; once was a cliff to our north which meant no signal, the other was under dense tree cover (Olympic Peninsula). Several times we've made do with partial obstruction (filtered foliage or some amount of mountain in the way). With a bit of planning and orienting we can get 20Mb/3Mb at least 95% of the time and that is generally improving as more satellites come online (the gating factor seems to be downlinks rather than satellites). But....Starlink just notified me this morning they are raising my base rate to $120/mo, with another $25 on top for roaming, and that's like ,what, a whole Skottle every two-three months!. Overlanding sure ain't the cheapest camping. If you can make do with uncertainty and live with meager amounts of throughput from time to time then the WeBoost is an excellent choice for the money. Best of luck whatever you choose :-)

 

[Akicita]

I've been happy with my weBoost OTR throughout travels in the Rocky Mountains and South West where signals can be weak. As mentioned above, the setup of components is essential, especially the distance between your phone or device and the interior antenna. I have tested it in many areas with weaker signals and can verify it does boost reception and data speeds when a signal is present.

 

[Dilldog]

Thanks for the extra input. I'm mostly looking into this for when we start traveling to state / national parks etc. when the trailer is done. I would like to be able to simply send text updates to those back home to let them know all is well. I am also just considering using WinLink. But sending emails has a little less visibility than texts, so chances are this will be my fall back. I'm just struggling with the entry cost of signal boosters. Especially when I do have a viable alternative...

As far as Star Link goes, that's a no for me. I won't go into detail here to keep the discussion on track.

 

[Akicita]

Thanks for the extra input. I'm mostly looking into this for when we start traveling to state / national parks etc. when the trailer is done. I would like to be able to simply send text updates to those back home to let them know all is well. I am also just considering using WinLink. But sending emails has a little less visibility than texts, so chances are this will be my fall back. I'm just struggling with the entry cost of signal boosters. Especially when I do have a viable alternative...

As far as Star Link goes, that's a no for me. I won't go into detail here to keep the discussion on track.

Given your "wants & needs," I would agree that the cost of a cell booster would be better spent on satellite text or communication technology. I don't have any direct experience with WinLink but I have been carrying a Delorme/Garmin Explorer SE all over the world since 2015. You can find those older units like mine that are still serviceable used for under $150.00. Monthly subscriptions can vary but there are options you can turn on and off as needed.

 

[Dilldog]

... don't have any direct experience with WinLink...

In short it is email over ham radio. Because I am involved in remote radio operating I am confident that I could get a message out in probably 95% of all places in the world. The challenge comes with the fact that for that message to be effective someone needs to open up an email app and read it, hence I think its better as an "if all else fails" solution.

Thank you for the suggestion of a sat. based device like a Garmin. I hadn't thought of that, may well be the best bet for me. I really do wish that a decent cell booster could be had for $200. At that price I would go for it as I would rather use infrastructure I am already utilizing rather than introduce a new system...