How do cell phone boosters work? Reasonable questions. These devices have not been without controversy, but there do exist legitimate, legal cell phone signal boosters that prevent dropped calls, weak signal, and interrupted mobile communications.
For those familiar with no signal frustrations, the critical concern is: do cell phone signal boosters really work? By carefully reviewing each element involved and breaking them into it into five key points, we hope to show how and why cell phone boosters are a solution to your cell signal problems.
Take advantage of our system design and installation services. Learn more or call us for a free consultation: Cell phone signal boosters work to enhance the coverage of existing signal , allowing your mobile phone to have better reception and service for both inbound and outbound communications.
They are made of three key parts: first, the outside antenna, which captures the existing signal; second, the amplifier, which boosts it; last, the inside antenna, responsible for broadcasting the amplified signal to your phone. The three key parts of a cell phone signal booster for home. These were intended to improve the quality of calls and messages in rural territories or buildings that make signal transmission difficult. As a general rule, all sellers must offer cell boosters with the three elements mentioned above and within certain guidelines.
Reputable sellers will not stock cell phone signal boosters that exceed these guidelines. Decibels are the international standard unit used to measure signal strength. The technology is more advanced than any of the other cell boosters we sell: the Quatra digitizes cellular signal and distributes it via ethernet Cat5e or higher cable. This can dramatically reduce cabling costs or even allow you to avoid running any new cable by utilizing existing cable in a building.
We recommend the newer Quatra - it is compatible with 2 carriers at a time, unlike the older device that only supports one carrier per system. A single Quatra "Network Unit" can support up to 4 "Coverage Units" similar to indoor antennas in other systems.
With 4 coverage units, a single system can cover an area of up to 50, square feet. Multiple systems can be installed in larger buildings to covera larger area, or to amplify signal for 4 carriers instead of 2.
The Quatra offers up to dB gain, making it ideal when donor signal is weak less than dBm. Each Coverage Unit puts out up to 12 dBm of downlink output power — so installing a Quatra Network Unit with four Coverage Units is roughly equivalent to installing four more traditional cell phone signal booster kits.
The Quatra and Quatra also have a robust remote monitoring and alarm system that allows users to monitor overall system health. Since the unit generates fresh signal, no outdoor coverage is required in order to use this device. Multiple units can be installed in the same building to expand coverage even farther.
Similar to the limits on gain for buildings, the FCC limits the gain of mobile amplifier kits. Multi-carrier mobile boosters are limited to 50 dB gain, and single-carrier mobile signal booster kits are limited to 65 dB gain. Unfortunately the only single-carrier booster is the Cel-Fi GO M, and after recent hands-on testing we no longer recommend that unit. The new weBoost Drive Reach is the most powerful in-vehicle kit available. It offers up to 50 dB of gain, the maximum permitted by the FCC for broadband in-vehicle mobile boosters.
It also offers significant uplink and downlink power improvements. Uplink dBm is increased by up to 5 dBm compared to the excellent weBoost Drive 4G-X, while downlink power is increased from 2 - 3 dBm, to over 5 dBm on every band.
It's so important though, we'll say it again: for best performance with a vehicle cell signal booster, you need to have your phone sitting directly on top of the in-vehicle antenna. To use your phone wirelessly, just sync it via Bluetooth - it's safer too! In addition to weBoost's Drive Reach, we really like weBoost's "cradle" boosters.
A cradle booster ensures that you always have your phone directly next to the booster's antenna. The brand new weBoost Drive Sleek is the latest in a long line of cradle boosters from weBoost. It's beautifully designed, with a number of aesthetic and functionality upgrades that make it our favorite car and truck booster.
Due to the format, the Drive Sleek only works with one device at a time, and won't work with tablets or mobile hotspots. If you need something for those devices, consider the Drive Reach. Our founder was an RV owner for many years, so we learned a thing or two about which units work best while on the road. This makes it difficult to cover the entire cabin of your RV with strong cellular signal while on the road.
If you spend most of your time stationary at camp sites instead of on the road, you can install a booster designed for homes in place of a mobile booster. We particularly recommend the SureCall Fusion4Home with an omni outdoor and indoor whip antenna. While a yagi antenna would provide better performance, trying to figure out the direction every time you arrive at a camp site would likely be a pain. Like any technology, cell phone signal boosters can be quite complicated.
Our goal in this section of the guide is help explain some of the key information about how signal boosters work, how to pick the right accessories, and how to install your signal booster to get the absolute best performance.
Cell phone technology is typically released in generations; 2G, 3G, and 4G all refer to cellular technologies released over the past 30 years. This allows phones to make calls entirely over the 4G LTE network, without ever connecting on the older 2G and 3G networks.
Different carriers are at different stages of this roll-out:. Most people think the bars on their phone represent signal strength. Signal quality can limit the number of bars just as much as strength. Understanding this fact is really important for installing a signal booster correctly. As we mentioned above, most cell networks utilize LTE for both calls and data transmissions.
We'll show you how to measure each of these in the Measuring Signal Strength and Signal Quality section below. Modern cellular technologies such as 4G LTE use the same frequency bands to transmit signal from all towers. Inter-tower interference is one of the main common reasons we see weak signal in urban and suburban areas.
Cellular signal is weakened as it travels through space. Even if the signal outside the building or vehicle is strong, materials like drywall, wood, concrete, metal, and low-e glass can attenuate the signal, making it weaker inside a home, office, and vehicles. In the same way that building materials block signal, your signal reception can be limited by attenuation from buildings between you and the nearest cell tower.
A signal booster can help no matter which of these is causing poor cell reception. But in each case, there are slightly different nuances to ensuring you pick the right equipment.
Cellular service runs on a number of different bands that are licensed to the carriers by the Federal Communications Commission FCC. There are 4 main frequency bands used by carriers in the US.
These four bands are supported by almost all of the boosters we sell:. No carrier uses just one frequency band in any particular area.
Your phone will automatically switch between the different bands depending on which band offers the clearest and strongest signal. The most important thing to know about frequency is that the higher the frequency, the more easily the signal is attenuated. So, for example, a MHz signal has a much harder time penetrating a building than a MHz signal.
How does this affect a booster installation? Even after you install a signal booster, the higher frequencies will still be attenuated more easily.
As a result, boosting signal on the MHz band inside a building is typically easier than boosting signal on a higher frequency band. A cell signal booster also known as a cell repeater works by amplifying the cell phone signal being sent to and from your phone to the nearby tower.
Amplifiers designed for small homes can cover up to 2, sq ft, and the coverage area for medium to large homes can range from 5, sq ft to 7, sq ft. For commercial buildings, there are commercial amplifiers available that can cover areas up , sq ft. Keep in mind that the quality of your outside signal and the type of amplifier purchased can affect the coverage area.
This home booster can extend cellular coverage up to 5, sq ft under perfect conditions. Meaning, there is a good signal outside and there are no obstacles interfering with the signal. But, real-world results show that you can expect a coverage area of about 2,, sq ft. These amplifiers are given names such as "Home MultiRoom" or "Home Complete" to denote the coverage area - i.
When looking at different signal boosters you will see the terms dB decibels and dBm decibel-milliwatts. What do they mean? Cell phone signals are radio waves, they operate within a certain frequency band in the radio spectrum. The signal can be measured in dB or dBm. Decibels dB are used to measure an increase or decrease in signal strength gain or loss ; they measure the radio waves.
Decibel-milliwatts dBm are used to show how much power the amplifier is capable of producing, or how much power your mobile devices are getting. The bars on your mobile phone are a representation of how strong the cellular network is. Generally, cell phone signal levels can range from dBm to dBm.
In "bar" talk, dBm is full bars, and dBm is a dead zone. All amplifiers are measured using dB outputs; this would be the max gain the amplifier offers. What an amplifier does is potentially increase your dB signal gain to get you closer to the dBm range.
For more information out how to read dBm on your phone, check out our guide on finding the best way to read signal strength on your phone. It's important to note that the amplifier can boost signal up to its dB value, but does not guarantee an instant boost to that dB number. Because many factors are involved such as distance from the cell tower, outside interference, inside interference, building material, etc.
Hence why it's very important to find your dBm readings first and talking to a certified signal booster expert to achieve the desired and realistic results. Hey, we're signal boosting experts, email us at sales wilsonamplifiers.
And please do share any cronut recipes you have. Once the amplifier has boosted the signal, it's passed onto the inside antenna to rebroadcast the signal to the desired areas. There are two types of indoor antennas:. Panel Antenna : This antenna pictured above is generally wall-mounted and tends to send signal cone ranging from degrees, meaning that the strongest signal will be delivered to the areas closest to it. If you need the absolute best signal in a certain area of your home like a single office, home office SOHO , living room, or bedroom, placing the panel antenna there will give that area the best signal before broadcasting the signal to lower priority areas.
Dome Antenna : This antenna is generally ceiling-mounted and tends to equally distribute the signal in all directions or a degree angle.
They will work best when trying to boost the signal in a large area. The majority of weBoost signal boosters by Wilson Electronics use panel antennas. But, depending on your cell phone booster system kit, some manufacturers prefer one style of indoor antennas over the other. For more information, see our blog on Panel vs. Dome Antennas. When installing the indoor antenna, make sure there is at least a distance of 20 feet vertical or 50 feet horizontal between the outside and inside antennas.
This will prevent oscillation, which will cause your signal booster to automatically shut down. Cradle Antenna : These antennas are best for one user. The cradle is connected to a small amplifier and will direct all of the booster signal to the device on the cradle. This antenna will require the smartphone to sit in the cradle at all times. Low Profile Antenna image above : These antennas are the most commonly used for vehicle signal boosters. They are very easy to install; simply place the antenna vertically or horizontally on the dashboard or a seat usually Velcroed.
Low profile antennas are omni-directional, so it will send and receive in all directions. For a more in-depth description, check out our full article on the benefits of a signal booster , but in a nutshell:. The most common cellular signal boosters today are analog ones. These amplify all types of cellular signals across all bands, allowing them to work for all major cell phone service providers.
These are also known as wideband cellular repeaters, cellular amplifiers, bi-directional amplifiers BDAs , and, of course, signal boosters. Just know these are all referring to the same thing. These are a newer type of booster attuned to specific frequencies.
These are programmable, and generally quite advanced. Some smart boosters can improve signal up to dB. Much of the time mobile reception and cell coverage problems are caused by building materials that block RF signals like brick, steel, stone, low-emittance glass, concrete, metal roofing or siding, etc.
Since , all U. There are also lots of third-party tests and reviews out there proving that cell signal boosters do work. Please see below for some real-life examples:. This chart below shows testing done by the Fit RV with a weBoost booster that shows the improvement in signal with the booster on vs. To learn more about antennas, check out this article on how antennas work. But how do you know if a cell booster will work under your specific poor-signal conditions?
There must be at least a weak signal that the booster can amplify into your vehicle or home. Most all weBoost signal boosters amplify cell signal for multiple devices simultaneously as well. Quick Menu Vehicle Boosters What type of vehicle do you need to booster? Car RV Truck Fleet.
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