Jump to content
SASS Wire Forum

Cell phone signal booster???


Pulp, SASS#28319

Recommended Posts

I recently moved to a little remote community in southern OK called Lebanon.  Cell reception is weak, rarely more than two bars.  In addition, the house I built is steel frame, walls and roof.  If I’m lucky I get one bar.

I’m researching cell phone signal boosters, wondering if any of y’all have a recommendation.  Unfortunately, money is an object.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have used Wilson boosters in 3 different houses and 5 portable skid shacks( basically heavy mobile homes on skids). Worked real good for me. Separation between inside antenna and outside antenna is important.  Location of inside antenna is something I always had to play with. Set it up temporarily so you can try different locations. There are different  types of outside antennas, depends on your location. Can make a big difference in cell signal 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is what they use where I work. Executive row has poor cell reception they bought these. They also use them in other areas where cell reception is non existent. 

We put one in at a location where we had intermittent service and now have 4 to 5 bars.

 

weBoost Home 4G   (Formerly Wilson Electronics DT 4G 460101)

 

Some areas needed a little more signal so they add this optional directional antenna:


Wilson makes the best boosters on the market. You get what you pay for.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No idea if it's true or not, but an IT buddy of mine says the bars don't mean anything on a digital system, only on the older analog systems. According to him, if you have a consistent signal, it doesn't matter if it's one bar or five, you're connected. Five bars aren't any louder or clearer than one bar, as long as it's consistently the same strength. He also said there is no standard on determining "bar strength", and one phone might show 2  bars, while another right next to it will show 5. It just depends on the algorithm the manufacturer uses to determine signal strength.

 

Who knows. :mellow:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Down in the holler that we live in cell service is non existent from any carrier. We installed a Wilson Cell booster on the recommendation of the cellular carrier Verizon and we still don’t have cell service. You might ask the carrier if you can try it first before you buy, because ours was a waste of money.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Verizon sent us a free booster after multiple complaints. Just one problem it requires 10MB internet service to work. We might get 2.5MB on a good day. We can see the cell tower about 5 miles away. We used to have really good service from them up until about 2 years ago, it keeps getting worse. I think equipment at the tower is going bad but we live in a rural area with few customers so there is no incentive to repair or improve service.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I had bypass surgery in 2016 I lived with my daughter for 3 months; because, of the many medical appointments required.  I live 2 hrs. father from the venues where I had appointments.  Where she lives cell service is poor, wired terrestrial vhf/uhf internet service is none existent.  The one bar signal from Verizon meant slow hotspot performance.  I needed internet service for my consulting services; so, I purchased a ($400) booster from Verizon with money back guarantee should it not help.  The external antenna was directional.  I selected the highest point on the side of the house to mount it & pointed it in the direction of the nearest cell tower.  I tried adjusting the direction to no avail.  Due to the short nature of my stay a satellite ISP wasn't an option.  The service was so bad that it was only useful for email with very small attachments.  I had to drive 5 miles to Starbucks to do anything else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, Pulp, SASS#28319 said:

I recently moved to a little remote community in southern OK called Lebanon.  Cell reception is weak, rarely more than two bars.  In addition, the house I built is steel frame, walls and roof.  If I’m lucky I get one bar.

I’m researching cell phone signal boosters, wondering if any of y’all have a recommendation.  Unfortunately, money is an object.

The wife & I have iPhones & in the 6 years we have lived here we only get 2 bars.  Until the local phone co. ran fiber to within 3 miles of our property we used a Verizon jet pack for internet service.  We switched to DSL service when the phone co. offered it to us.  The speed was slightly faster the Verizon but the cost is 1/3 what the Verizon data charges were.  I sometimes use my phone as a hotspot when DSL service is poor or nonexistent. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing most are not aware of. Cell towers rarely service all carriers. Any given tower usually only supports one protocol. Some only support one carrier. Just because you see a cell tower doesn't mean your phone can use it. Occasionally the problem is that a 3G only tower has a stronger signal than a 4G/LTE capable tower.  You want to use data but your phone doesn't choose the tower that will provide high speed data.

 

You can use this site to find your closest tower by provider and protocol.  CellMapper.net

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.