Cell Phone Booster

[Veggie Man]

Does anyone use a cell phone booster? I'm often in areas of little to no coverage, as are many of you I am sure. Do any of you use cell boosters to allow for network access? I am considering adding one to my gear box since it'll serve multiple purposes. I work 24/7 and am, at times, in need of network access on weekends when I'm out of the city. Any feedback would be great.


"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how."
-Nietzsche

 

[GFB_Steve]

I've used several from different manufacturers... priced from 2-3 hundred dollars to 6 hundred dollars. I have yet to find one I can definitively say makes a noticeable difference. In my opinion, save your money for something worth while. Or, if you find one that works, let me know and I'll try it.

 

[Winterpeg]

I use the Uniden U60. It boosts the 4G signal.
This does require AC power. It's a household booster.

It's a noticeable difference.

Prior to having and using:
- sketchy for phone calls.
- to send an email I hit send and then set the phone on the windshield wiper of the FJ and walked away - checked it later (a watched pot never boils kind of feeling) and it finally sends
- internet surfing was essentially impossible

After installed and using:
- 100% solid for telephone calls
- emails are sent almost immediately - still a slight delay if sending pics
- surfing on the internet is doable if patient... and when we're in the bush for a few weeks and it's a rain-day I'm patient, lol (I think I even sent posted on here last year, I'll do some digging and see if I can find those posts)

I have a boom mast for the unidirectional antennae this year and will be testing that out. I believe my input antennae and the output antennae were just too close to each other and were causing a feedback loop... so moving the input antennae this year should help even more.

(pictures to come later)

 

[Veggie Man]

I've used several from different manufacturers... priced from 2-3 hundred dollars to 6 hundred dollars. I have yet to find one I can definitively say makes a noticeable difference. In my opinion, save your money for something worth while. Or, if you find one that works, let me know and I'll try it.

That's disappointing. Were you in zero signal areas or limited signal areas? I go to a race venue each year that's limited signal. I'd have to walk up the hill to process a customer payment.


"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how."
-Nietzsche

 

[Tim]

I'm not that convinced about boosters... you can't boost what isn't there in the first place. That said I make sure and use a cradle for the phone that allows for an external antenna connection. That way I get the best of the signal into the vehicle and to the phone.


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[Veggie Man]

I didn't think about an external antenna.

My thinking is similar to that of CB/HAM radios. More power means a larger range to receive from. I could just be way off base though.


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[Veggie Man]

I didn't think about an external antenna.

My thinking is similar to that of CB/HAM radios. More power means a larger range to receive from. I could just be way off base though.


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[Tim]

I didn't think about an external antenna.

My thinking is similar to that of CB/HAM radios. More power means a larger range to receive from. I could just be way off base though.


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I guess with a CB or other radio you are looking to reach another rig but with a phone you need to reach a cell tower to communicate with another phone.


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[UplandEric]

I have a Wilson cradle type booster with their directional antennae. I would consider it one of the most basic of boosters and it dose improve signal strength but it's a kin to fishing. Sometimes it really helps but it's not a guarantee of signal. The biggest challenge of Cell signal in back country is that the networks antennae on the towers are directional and are "faced" towards the areas of land that have the most cell phones. Example, in a city antennae are arranged in a somewhat circular (triangle, square) array because there are people in all directions. When your out along a major highway they are arranged parallel to the highway and often none are positioned perpendicular. So if your boon docking 90 degrees of the highway, and only a few miles away, there will be zero signal. My booster doesn't help in this situation.

Where my booster helps the most is boon docking a few miles from a city or town (signal eliminating in all directions) where I have the tiniest of signal, say -118dB and I can occasionally text but no data or voice. Often once I've acquired the direction of the tower with my antennae and booster I will have good enough signal for data and voice. I'm not sure why, but the booster also helps when there is a lot of cell traffic. I have found that in the middle of the night I don't need the booster for data but once morning hits when everyone is on their phones I loose signal. And then the opposite happens in the evening. The booster often helps with this as well.

I carry my booster as a tool that is available to me when "out there" but like others have mentioned it's not a perfect solution.

-Eric

 

[GFB_Steve]

I have a Wilson cradle type booster with their directional antennae. I would consider it one of the most basic of boosters and it dose improve signal strength but it's a kin to fishing. Sometimes it really helps but it's not a guarantee of signal. The biggest challenge of Cell signal in back country is that the networks antennae on the towers are directional and are "faced" towards the areas of land that have the most cell phones. Example, in a city antennae are arranged in a somewhat circular (triangle, square) array because there are people in all directions. When your out along a major highway they are arranged parallel to the highway and often none are positioned perpendicular. So if your boon docking 90 degrees of the highway, and only a few miles away, there will be zero signal. My booster doesn't help in this situation.

Where my booster helps the most is boon docking a few miles from a city or town (signal eliminating in all directions) where I have the tiniest of signal, say -118dB and I can occasionally text but no data or voice. Often once I've acquired the direction of the tower with my antennae and booster I will have good enough signal for data and voice. I'm not sure why, but the booster also helps when there is a lot of cell traffic. I have found that in the middle of the night I don't need the booster for data but once morning hits when everyone is on their phones I loose signal. And then the opposite happens in the evening. The booster often helps with this as well.

I carry my booster as a tool that is available to me when "out there" but like others have mentioned it's not a perfect solution.

-Eric

Great post. This sums up my findings as well. We carry them (for work) but rarely pull them out simply because we haven't found them to be worth the effort. We added satellite internet for one vehicle. It works anywhere but is incredibly expensive and is used sparingly.

 

[Veggie Man]

That's more info than I had prior to this discussion. I'll have to look into that as well. I didn't think about the direction of a cellular antenna.


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[Winterpeg]

Here is my setup...

 

[UplandEric]

Sorry to double dip on the thread but a few things I forgot to mention. Cell Provider and phone model seems to have a dramatic difference on signal reliability. I have T-Mobile and it's OK but the folks with Verizon seem to have signal more often and in more remote areas. Also when I had an IPhone 5S I seemed to have poor reception everywhere (especially my house). Internet rumor was that particular model of IPhone was known for a weak internal antennae. My newer IPhone SE seems to have much better reception in all conditions including when using the Wilson booster.

Just wanted to throw that into the conversation as well.
-Eric

 

[Veggie Man]

Sorry to double dip on the thread but a few things I forgot to mention. Cell Provider and phone model seems to have a dramatic difference on signal reliability. I have Verizon and it's OK but the folks with T Mobile seem to have signal more often and in more remote areas. Also when I had an IPhone 5S I seemed to have poor reception everywhere (especially my house). Internet rumor was that particular model of IPhone was known for a weak internal antennae. My newer IPhone SE seems to have much better reception in all conditions including when using the Wilson booster.

Just wanted to throw that into the conversation as well.
-Eric

No worries at all. Share as much as you have. I've heard that different carriers have access to different towers. I also understand that each phone will have its own signal strength. I'm hoping to maximize as much available bandwidth as I possible can. I know you can't make more but if it's there I want it.


"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how."
-Nietzsche

 

[RockyMountaineer]

Couple things to know before I get to the hear of the issue. Cell phones are essentially a fancy full-duplex radio. Cell phones operates like any VoIP phone service and constantly send data back and forth between the device and towers.

Now for the heart of the issue. Cell boosters can be helpful in certain weak signal areas or they might be useless in more remote areas. The amount of power a system uses is secondary to the efficiency of the antenna. So if you are in a week signal area a good antenna with a solid ground plane might help. I know HAM guys who talk around the world in the HF bands with less then 50 watts. But if you are in a no signal area that cell boosters will do you no good. Simple fact of the matter is that signals in the frequency range of cell phones do not bounce off the atmosphere, they simply carry to much energy. As such the technology is very much line of sight. Which is why the technology requires such extensive infrastructure to support.

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[Big110]

I just posted a review of a unit we have had great luck with. Yes, they do NOT create signal where no signal exists....they do work however REALLY well where there may be spotty or intermittent or weak signal that without a booster you may not get a call through. See the gear review page

 

[Rorschach]

I have used a Wilson booster for a while now and it helped a lot when in the outskirts taking a weak signal and strengthening it to where I could hear and transmit. As was said before, there is nothing that can be done if there is no signal to begin with.

When I changed cell phone carriers to Sprint it no longer worked. I tried various things and finally contacted Wilson. The short version is, if you have Sprint and your area is running their Spark system, it will not work. Sprint's frequencies are right up against the emergency channel frequencies. Emergency channels are illegal to boost so those close to them are not boosted. The person I contacted said Sprint is currently working on this but did not have a date of completion for this.

I do not know if this is true for other carriers, but something to check on with the booster manufacturer before you drop a few hundred bucks.

Addition: I am now with T-Mobile and am running a Wilson system again. It works well with this system so far. I am going on a trip in two weeks that will put me in the middle of nowhere in Northern California. I will update this when I get back.

 

[Asa Farquhar]

I have a weBoost (new name of Wilson) Drive 4G-M and it works pretty well with a noticeable increase in download/upload speeds and call quality if there is little signal. I work for a distributor of these products.
As many others have said, the thing to remember is that they do nothing if there is no signal.... they do however amplify low signal. I have also found it is very important to have the external and internal antennas a good distance apart, seems to help.
Another benefit is that your cell battery will general last longer as it doesn't have to work as hard to find signal.

 

[Big110]

Well said. Now standard in every game warden, ambulance and state police car in maine. Just proven their value over and over!

 

[Matt Hixson]

I'm not that convinced about boosters... you can't boost what isn't there in the first place. That said I make sure and use a cradle for the phone that allows for an external antenna connection. That way I get the best of the signal into the vehicle and to the phone.


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What external antenna do you use, and are you using it with your iPhone?