I’m curious whether anyone has experience using a cell phone signal booster (like this one)?
After being rock-solid for a couple years, my Frontier internet service has been out for several hours three times in the last two weeks. To compound the problem, apparently AT&T is using Frontier as its backhaul carrier, so when Frontier goes down, my AT&T signal drops precipitously. I can get a very weak connection to what I presume is another AT&T tower not affected by the Frontier outage, but it’s tenuous at best.
One of the options I’m looking at is a cell phone signal booster, but I have no idea whether they’re worth the (surprisingly high) cost. Anyone else used one of these?
In the past, I’ve had two types of cell signal booster. I live in a dense urban area so my experiences, obviously, probably will be different from rural and suburban people.
The first booster I had was a third party antenna + signal amplifier. This was during the 3G era. The only real effect I noticed was my phone always reported great signal strength because it was connected to the amplifier. But the data and call quality wasn’t affected much.
Later, in 4G/LTE times, Sprint offered me its Magic Box. Again, my phone always reported a strong signal. My recollection (Sprint ended the Magic Box program a few years ago) is that data and calls were better than without the MB but were still worse than in places where the primary cell signal was at its best.
I currently don’t use any sort of booster. As before, my home cell signal tends to be 1-2 bars. But the signal is “5G UC” most of the time. So now my (extremely cost effective) solution to maximizing my connection is to go to Wi-Fi calling for any phone calls that go beyond a couple of minutes and only use over-the-air updates for apps.
I’ve been using a WeBoost booster in my RV for years. Mine uses a directional antenna outdoors, and a whole house antenna indoors. (It’s the Destination RV model.)
I have found it works pretty well, but it is going to connect to the closer tower in the direction that outdoor antenna is pointing. If the secondary AT&T tower that works is in a different direction, I anticipate it will solve your issue. If it’s in the same general direction, it may not.
FYI: If you buy directly from WeBoost, they have a 30 day return policy.
An amplifier can’t create a signal where none exists.
But…
If your home’s construction is such that you have good reception outside (or in the attic, etc.) but not in the places where you live, then you might have success with something like this - put the outdoor antenna where you have a good signal and put the indoor antenna where you need it.
But…
Most cellular carriers these days offer Wi-Fi calling as an option. If you’ve got good broadband, and your local Wi-Fi has good coverage in your home, that might work better. And it may even be a free service (it is with my Verizon contract). So turn it on and see how it works before you buy new equipment.
Very true. I got one for the van I converted into a camper. I found that at some campsites I’d have one or two bars outside the van, but inside the metal walls just killed the signal. The unit came with an antenna that attaches to the roof with a magnet and I run the thin cord through the doors at the back (taped down so the cords don’t move and get caught). There’s a separate broadcast antenna that is placed inside the van and it spreads the cellular signal throughout. It’s a tiny van so it works quite well.
Depending on where I am parked it generally gives me half a bar to a full bar of extra connection. But if there are no bars at all, it doesn’t help.
Thanks for the replies. I could probably have been clearer in my original post: I’m not specifically looking to boost the cell signal for the purpose of making phone calls, but rather to use my phone’s hotspot as a backup internet source when Frontier goes down.
That’s good to know. I was looking at the single room indoor antenna model, but it’s interesting that (at least in your case) the outdoor antenna is directional. That would certainly inform where I install that antenna on my house. I guess the next time Frontier goes down, I’ll have to put my phone into Field Test mode and try to figure out where this tower with the faint signal is located.
If I were thinking about a similar decision, the cost of the booster would be a major factor for me because during a widespread ISP outage, a lot of people are going to be using their phones as hotspots. The active cell tower is going to be congested plus, depending on my cell plan and carrier, the tower operator might deprioritize my hotspot connection.
In my area, hotspot performance often is similar to airplane cabin Wi-Fi. It’s OK for tasks such as instant messaging and email but not really usable for things like streaming video and online conferencing. Consequently, I would be unlikely to pay hundreds of dollars for a signal booster.
Years ago I worked out of an office which had its storefront at ground level under a multi-level parking garage with a garden park on top of it.
A signal booster was necessary; once it (and its antenna which has to be located next to it) was properly located it worked fine for one cell service only.
We ended up choosing Verizon company accounts, primarily because Verizon had a cell tower on an adjacent building with a line of sight to a part of our building where we could feasibly locate a booster.
Yes, a good signal booster is surprisingly expensive. It can also be expensive to run power to it, depending on where you need to locate it.
Good point. During the last episode, I subscribed to Verizon’s 30 day free trial. On the phone*, the internet speed was still slow compared to what my daughter who has a Verizon account reports as normal for her. Once the Frontier outage was over, the Verizon line seemed to recover a bit, despite the fact that they have their own (or at least non-Frontier) backhaul lines, from what I’m told.
*You can’t use a hotspot on Verizon’s 30 day trial, for whatever weird reason. I mean, it’s nice they offer that (as an incentive to convert, of course), but why would they exclude one of the most important features you’d want to test before switching? I did find out after the fact that Visible (a Verizon affiliate) offers a 15 day free trial, but does let you tether your phone. Next time.