Best Cell Phone Signal Booster

[crl]

My wife and I have re-entered the RV realm after several years, with our purchase of a Heritage Glenn HyperLite. We travel to both state parks and commercial RV parks in more remote areas. Due to family concerns, it is important that we maintain the ability to communicate by cell and internet. As everyone knows, many of the places across the county we have and plan to visit have poor cell phone connectivity.

We are considering adding a cell phone signal booster to our trailer and are currently trying to determine the best unit to purchase. Does anyone have any experience with boosters, both good and bad, and would you be willing to recommend a band and model that has worked well for you?

[doc73]

We installed a weboost 4g and put a magnetic antenna on the roof. It adds a few bars and seems to help. 150$ on Amazon I think.

[Flybob]

We have the Drive 4G-X RV and Works well. Easy to install and use. One word of caution these are all cell signal boosters. There has to be a signal to boost. If you have no signal you will still have no signal. Some units have a small antenna inside that needs to be within 10ft or so from the phone while others the inside antenna must be in contact ( attached) to the phone.

[rsdata]

I get 1 bar maybe (sometimes 0) at home... zero bars inside. I installed a Weboost antenna and use it for cell and internet service with great results. The antenna is outside pointing at the nearest line-of-sight tower to give me maximum signal to amplify and boost and re-distribute into the interior of this house. Ease to buy and easy to install. If I traveled more in poor cell phone areas I would buy the RV model.

[Kirk S]

From my research, whatever you decide on must have a strong receiver AND transmitter. Pulling in a good signal doesn't help if you can't send one just as good back to the tower. I haven't decided on one yet, mainly because I can't justify the cost.

Dual threads on the subject.


http://www.forestriverforums.com/for....php?p=1884364

[crl]

I agree that the cost is a consideration. This is certainly the reason we are reaching out for feedback to help insure when we do purchase we purchase a good unit. Feedback received so far is helpful for certain. Additional comments would be appreciated.

[Steve-W]

Originally Posted by Flybob

We have the Drive 4G-X RV and Works well. Easy to install and use. One word of caution these are all cell signal boosters. There has to be a signal to boost. If you have no signal you will still have no signal. Some units have a small antenna inside that needs to be within 10ft or so from the phone while others the inside antenna must be in contact ( attached) to the phone.

I have the same booster. Does a great job as was said if there is a signal to boost. Having the outside antenna on the roof helps clear a few obstacles. Needless to say there are places weve been where no connectivity is possible.

The carrier you use also makes a difference, if you must ha e connectivity your best bet is to have devices from multiple carriers as well as a booster.

You can also use a directional outside antenna on a tall mast to reach out even further.

With cell boosters you definitely get what you pay for. The good omes are $$$. Make sure the booster covers all the bands your carrier(s) use. The less expensive ones may not. Also they are known to cause interference with cell providers systems in certain situations.

[Kirk S]

Originally Posted by Steve-W

I have the same booster. Does a great job as was said if there is a signal to boost. Having the outside antenna on the roof helps clear a few obstacles. Needless to say there are places weve been where no connectivity is possible.

The carrier you use also makes a difference, if you must ha e connectivity your best bet is to have devices from multiple carriers as well as a booster.

You can also use a directional outside antenna on a tall mast to reach out even further.

With cell boosters you definitely get what you pay for. The good omes are $$$. Make sure the booster covers all the bands your carrier(s) use. The less expensive ones may not. Also they are known to cause interference with cell providers systems in certain situations.

I forgot to mention that we have devices from 2 carriers. The back up is a $12 flip phone and we buy minutes only as needed, so another $30 when we do that.
So far, one or the other always has service and emergency calls are supposed to go through on the flip phone even if were out of minutes.

At home, we don't get our carriers signal inside the house. I discovered the 2 rooms we use most have foil covered ceilings! Our carrier sent us a booster at no charge to overcome the problem. It's hard wired to our modem/ router so I don't believe I can take it with me.

[Steve-W]

Originally Posted by Kirk S

I forgot to mention that we have devices from 2 carriers. The back up is a $12 flip phone and we buy minutes only as needed, so another $30 when we do that.
So far, one or the other always has service and emergency calls are supposed to go through on the flip phone even if were out of minutes.


At home, we don't get our carriers signal inside the house. I discovered the 2 rooms we use most have foil covered ceilings! Our carrier sent us a booster at no charge to overcome the problem. It's hard wired to our modem/ router so I don't believe I can take it with me.

Yup 911 calls will always go through (as long as you have a signal). i carry an old flip phone on a alternative carrier just for 911.

I have a microcell in the house for the same reason. As long as it can connect back to the carriers main switch via the net it should work anywhere. The only reason you have to register it to a street address is for 911 calls.

[IICAPN]

With 5G on the near horizon, would these signal boosters suggested be obsolete with the new technology? From what I hear, 5G will be coming on fast in the near future....

[39chevyinar]

I have the Wilson signal booster. Paid around $500. We just got back from a 10,000 mile trip to Alaska and back to Arkansas. We loved it. We had service 85-90% of the time.
But buyer be aware, it only boosts 2g, 3g,, and 4g signal. Not LTE or 5g. But it is AWESOME and boosts any and all cell phone signals so a Verizon and a AT&T user can benefit.

[markb422]

First year using the weboost drive sleek and it has worked well where we would have had trouble doing anything on the phone. There are a number of St Parks here in Michigan that the cell is iffy at best especially in the UP. Every trip so far we have had enough signal to do 4g lte and use the phone as a wifi hotspot.

[johntaylor]

Originally Posted by IICAPN

With 5G on the near horizon, would these signal boosters suggested be obsolete with the new technology? From what I hear, 5G will be coming on fast in the near future....

5G can carry much more data, but its high frequency means it has very short range, and it is absorbed by tree foliage. It will entail a much greater density of cell towers. You won't see it installed outside of cities/towns and along main highways.

The people who invent this stuff, and the journalists who report it, all live in cities, so you don't see this mentioned much.

[Steve-W]

Originally Posted by IICAPN

With 5G on the near horizon, would these signal boosters suggested be obsolete with the new technology? From what I hear, 5G will be coming on fast in the near future....

Well yes & No. Since 5G will take some time to roll out across the country (years, 2020 at the earliest) especially in the less populated areas. Of course then we as consumers have to purchase new handsets with 5G technology. The current boosters will function as always. If both ends are 5G capable then the booster will only function on 4G and below connections. It is expected that 5G will be backwards compatible with 4G but since the carriers have not released the final specs yet nothing is positive.

So yes they will be obsolete, partially but not for some time yet. So if your need for a booster is not for the next 2-4 years hold off, otherwise now is as good time as any.

Unfortunately there is not a simple answer today. As with all technology there is always a newer/better technology around the corner.

[ColoradoRick]

Last year, I got a weBoost 4G-S ($180) and also the magnetic vehicle antenna and it's great. We've been in places with zero bars, "No Service" and plugged it in and got 2-3 bars. (Strong enough to get phone calls and texts but not enough for going on the WWW which is fine.)


I think carriers is also very important. We've had Sprint, AT&T, Straight Talk (Walmart), and now Verizon and Verizon has, by far, the best area coverage for our mountain camping.

[Dp26]

MaxAmp for me (have not tried others). Gets me signal in places others have none. Recent was Palmer gulch KOA. Neighbor had a different booster and could not get signal while I could.

One thing I discovered is the more vertical separation of the antennas, the more power it could use to connect. I moved the interior antenna down 2 ft from ceiling and voila, connection. Working on a pole to raise outside antenna instead.

[Comanchecreek]

I have a weak signal at home and use this directional signal booster. It gives us three bars where we only had one before. I'm sure it could easily be adapted to RV use. We live in a very rural area and it works great most of the time. Weather can hinder it on occasion. I installed it several years ago and it continues to provide us with adequate service where service would be unusable otherwise.
https://www.banggood.com/GSM980C-LCD...l?rmmds=search

[mlmay12]

I installed the WeBoost Drive 4G-X and WeBoost 4G-OTR Antenna and it works very well. Like mentioned before you must have some signal to boost or it doesn't help. I get a few more bars with it and a big difference in data capability. All together about $500.

[crl]

All great comments giving me a bit more confidence to purchase. Really appreciated. Getting ready for a trip to the high country and will purchase before we leave. Will try and post results.

[cariboo camper]

Originally Posted by crl

My wife and I have re-entered the RV realm after several years, with our purchase of a Heritage Glenn HyperLite. We travel to both state parks and commercial RV parks in more remote areas. Due to family concerns, it is important that we maintain the ability to communicate by cell and internet. As everyone knows, many of the places across the county we have and plan to visit have poor cell phone connectivity.

We are considering adding a cell phone signal booster to our trailer and are currently trying to determine the best unit to purchase. Does anyone have any experience with boosters, both good and bad, and would you be willing to recommend a band and model that has worked well for you?

Had a Wilson booster in commercial truck and it worked great. About 10 years ago it cost $500. Had a large antenna, about 30 inches. My point is if you want a good one be prepared to pay.

Just recently tried two of the WeeBoost cheaper models. (think they may be Wilson) and they did not work well at all. You can change your phone so instead of bars you actually get a digital readout of signal which is a little more accurate and the readout hardly changed at all. Returned both, no problem.