Reddit mentions: The best cell phone signal boosters

Hey! I'm happy to help :). I basically live and breathe boosters at this point!

So the key thing towards getting better data rates is figuring out why they're low. Generally it's one of two things:

1 - Low signal strength (called "RSRP" for LTE)

2 - Low signal quality (called "SINR" for LTE)

The best way to find out is to actually take measurements using your handset - and doing so depends on which carrier are you on and which phone you have. We have some info on how to take measurements here, but if you tell me the carrier/model/brand I can point you in the right direction.

I'm guessing though that since the Fusion4Home didn't help, the problem is likely signal quality. And unfortunately signal quality is a bit of a harder problem to solve.

The reason why signal quality (SINR) drops in LTE networks is mostly "intercell interference." Generally your phone can see more than one "tower" at any one time. All those different towers are using the same frequency bands, so the signal from the other towers is interference to the tower you're trying to connect to.

The way to solve that is, like you said, to use a directional antenna. But if you really want to get the best data rates, you'll want the highest gain antenna you can find. I particularly recommend the Cel-Fi LPDA antenna that they just released. It's expensive, but we have some open box units that are discounted (and you can use the code 5OFF to get an extra 5% off that price).

In terms of which booster will work best, to be honest, something cheap like that Fusion4Home should even work fine. My favorite booster at the moment though is the Cel-Fi GO X because it will demodulate the signal and show you the RSRP, SINR and band info in the app.

So in short I'd focus on improving SINR to get the best data rates, and to do that you'll want to spend a bunch of time aiming a really high-gain antenna like the Cel-Fi LPDA.

But I'd also be amiss if I didn't mention that there are other factors that affect your data rates. In brief:

- Carrier Aggregation: your phone will likely use multiple bands to connect at once. The more bands your phone can connect back to the tower on, the higher the data rate (generally). Boosters help with this piece.
- MIMO: Your phone has multiple antennas, and they use reflections to improve data rates. Unfortunately all boosters downgrade MIMO to SISO, so you lose the boost caused from MIMO.

<$100 is going to give you a hard time.

I've used a few over the years when adventuring to play Ingress. They work exactly like they're supposed to, and will give your phone's connection and reliability a major boost. I've used a friend's weBoost cradle which worked nicely (though was only 3G), and I'm planning on getting a weBoost Drive 4G-X hopefully soon.

Correct positioning of the external antenna is pretty critical, so I'd make sure to find out what direction the cell tower is you're connecting to. Cellmapper can definitely help you with that.

If you're a T-Mobile customer, they've got a neat booster available for customers that has one unit you put in the house wherever you get the best signal, and then another unit that acts as the transmitter that your phone connects to. It's limited on what LTE bands it supports though, so depending on what the coverage is (and what band the signal's on) in your area it may or may not be useful. I've got one at home and it works great, also acts as a nice way to confirm if the tower's having an issue (booster shows no signal either). If you call them up, they might be able to hook you up for free, or ask for a small deposit ($100 or less, IIRC) before shipping it out to you.

This is all assuming that your low speeds are due to poor signal strength and not a busy tower. There's a couple of different things you can look at. The first option is if your MiFi has an external antenna port (like the 6620l) you can just connect an external antenna to improve signal strength. Two basic types, an omni or a directional like a yagi. Omnis (sample) are cheaper and don't require any fine tuning but don't add as much gain. Directionals (sample) provide more gain but are more expensive and you have to point them in the direction of the tower. Gain is measured in dB, higher is better. A quick search found a number of different options on Amazon for the 6620l.

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The other option is a booster which picks up the signal, amplifies it, and then rebroadcasts it. Something like a weBoost (sample) although there are other options. More expensive than adding an antenna but works not only for the MiFi but all other phones as well.

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In either case your best performance is going to come if you can mount the antenna outside. Being inside cuts your signal level considerably.

I am liking the possibility of a passive repeater, particularly the relatively lower maintenance.

If, hypothetically, we used two of these antennae:

https://www.amazon.com/Verizon-Connect-External-Antenna-1800mhz/dp/B00D19KH6E/ref=sr_1_5?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1521302674&sr=1-5&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A8067600011%2C4041828011

...and connected them with a short length (1-3 feet, depending on what I can get) of cable, is there a way to estimate the anticipated signal strength at camp?

Let's assume a -60 to -65 dB signal at the top of the hill. It may be even better, but I'm trying to be conservative. The top of that hill has direct, unimpeded line-of-sight to the cell tower 7.3 km away.

The antennae claim a 18 dB gain. I am a little wary of that claim, since vendors tend to be a little overenthusiastic, but let's assume half that. So, 9 dB gain. Since we are using two of these antennae back to back (one pointed at the cell tower, and one at camp), would the net gain be effectively doubled? Or do they not "stack?"

In any case, whatever the compound antennae gain is -- if the antenna gain is greater than the cable loss, the net result should be bending a usable signal over the hill, right?

I used this online tool to estimate cable loss:

http://www.qsl.net/co8tw/Coax_Calculator.htm

For a short length (3 feet) of RG-58, unpowered, it gave me a dB loss of less than 1 dB. I tried other cable types, too, and they all resulted in less than 1 dB signal loss.

Still need to figure open air path loss for the hop from the hill to the camp. The distance is 1.3 km.

I know that the signal from the cell tower is still usable at the overall distance of the camp, because there is another large hill even further away from the cell tower than the camp is, and we can get a signal up there, too. So, again, the key seems to be the net loss/gain offered by the passive repeater system.

Anyway, two of the high gain 850 MHz Yagis and a short length of low loss cable would run about $200, which we can probably justify for an experiment.

Any further advice on estimating the potential resulting signal strength at camp?

If wifi calling works great for you and your family then I would call in and see if there is a special offer for you to get a free one. HOWEVER, let me explain the difference between a Network Extender and a Network Booster.

Network Extender(NE for short): An NE runs off of your home wifi so you will get the same quality of service that you have been getting on your wifi calling and the same data speeds that you get on your home wifi. The rang of the NE is going to be roughly the same as your wifi. Yes everyone will be able to auto-connect to it without even having to touch their phones. BUT one major downfall to this is if you have any neighbors that live near you their phones can connect to the NE and use their data that would use your bandwidth.

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Network Booster (NB for short): An NB does not connect to your homes internet, has a much larger range for coverage, everyone will be able to connect just the same as the NE, but prevent your home internet from possibly being slowed down, and the NB would continue to work if your wifi goes out whereas the NE will not. The only major downfall with the NB is that it is a little more work to get it set up, and that no carrier supplies these (that I am aware of.) I will link the one that I recommend below.

https://www.amazon.com/Verizon-Mingcoll-Amplifier-Repeater-WV70-W6H/dp/B07JLB5W6H/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=verizon+network+booster&qid=1565512936&s=gateway&sr=8-2#customerReviews

(Also please keep in mind that most of the 1-star reviews are due to people not reading the instructions and not getting the booster activated with Verizon, which is free, and not doing so causes the device to negate signal rather than boost it. If you have any issues Amazon has an amazing return policy.

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Hope I helped!

I'm over in Mobile, and yes, coverage is not good over there. It wasn't too good in West Mobile until a few months ago. I was at 2 bars (with Verizon and T-Mobile). Verizon continues to be at 2 bars, but T-Mobile is up to 4. They are making improvements, but timing is your issue.

I found this on Amazon.

SureCall Fusion4Home Omni/Whip, Cell Phone Signal Booster Kit for All Carriers 3G/4G LTE up to 2,000 Sq Ft https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AWGY4TE

The good thing about this is it supports both bands 2 and 4, according to the user manual and has an external antenna. In your area you are probably dealing with band 2.

There are a number of boosters that only support band 4 so you have to research.

If you install cellmapper on your phone, you can determine where the closest tower is and where you should place the antenna. I did the same thing for a friend's home but we used the T-Mobile booster. If you PM or tell me your general area, I'll see if I can locate some towers for you. Maybe that will help with your current booster? I'll give it my best shot.

Omni-directional antennas radiate in all directions. Since you know where the tower is, using a directional antenna will focus all the radiation towards the tower, which is more efficient. An example of the antenna you would want: https://www.amazon.com/Tupavco-TP545-Directional-Antenna-Adapter/dp/B078W787GR/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3HCAZXW9E9VVG&keywords=ts-9+antenna+lte+band+3&qid=1556910785&s=gateway&sprefix=ts-9+%2Caps%2C144&sr=8-3


The screenshot from your modem shows you are in band 3 LTE, which means your antenna needs to be able to transmit between 1700-1900MHz, or 1.7 - 1.9GHz. You want an antenna that ends in a TS-9 connector as that is what your modem accepts. Since my example is not a MIMO antenna, you want to connect this to the MAIN antenna port on your modem (the one closest to the USB port).


The antenna on your serving cell can be of two different polarities: vertical or horizontal. Try mounting the antenna both "tall" and "flat" to see which configuration gives you the best results.


Your download signal levels (what you see in the modem) are excellent. However, it is still possible that your upload signal levels (from your modem to the tower) are poor, which can affect your throughput. You cannot directly see what your upload levels are since those are visible only on the tower side of the connection. The antenna may help if this is the issue, but I will caution you that given those download signal levels, you may find the antenna will not help. I understand the desire for faster internet though so I don't blame you if you still want to try. Good luck!

Yes, Are you using a Yagi antenna 3g Booster?

http://www.amazon.com/Phonetone-Booster-Repeater-Amplifier-Antenna/dp/B00SIUHG42?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

I am not trying to sell anything here but use the above as an example of a product booster. Seems from the review somebody with cricket wireless like you had the same issue and is getting 5 bars of 4g :) Hope it all works out!

let me know how it goes.

Also you might want to look at into a 3g booster that does both 800Mhz and 1900Mhz, So you can always use it if in other areas where its only 1900Mhz. :)

Sorry if I came off as crude in the first reply. I did escalations so often I'd see some really odd cases where people just wanted to game the system.

The high rise might be a big source of the problem. Antenna positions are tricky and what might work amazingly with one carrier might not work with another. If you want to try getting a signal booster; something like this gadget would definitely help; may possibly solve the problem. (It's the best rated in terms of cost-effectiveness on Amazon Canada from what I could see).

The store usually isn't as well equipped as the phone agents (albeit the front line ones aren't the most helpful; the managers are exponentially better and more experienced). The phone option is usually to swap them (but they'll swap them for refurbished ones most likely, and I don't think it's the source of the problem).

Try changing the SIM. It sounds crazy, but I've seen it work in multiple cases for reasons unknown to me. Check the settings as well to make sure it's all on the default ones (settings -> backup and reset -> reset network settings)

In terms of fairness; if you do shell out the cost for the signal booster or even the SIM cards, call the customer service line and escalate the issue to a manager. Explain the 26th floor reality to them and how, while they aren't obligated to provide service inside buildings (it's written in the terms, but common sense ought to prevail of course), it would be nice to use your phone indoors and not have to pay out of pocket for poor antenna positions.

(Silly side note; are you able to get a good data connection nonetheless?)

Finally, if all of the above fails. Only option you really have is to make a deal to return the phone or see if they want to split the cost of the issue with you - the "Bell Escalation Team" is probably the highest department you can speak to within the company - 1-866-317-3382 is the direct number.

That's all I've got. Good luck to ya!

I'm no expert so take this for what it's worth.

I found the antenna is only a small piece of the puzzle. I've been using this PCB antenna indoors for the types of things you mentioned & found it works well.

What made a huge difference for me, with every antenna I tried, was getting the antenna away from the computer, HackRF, and other sources of noise with some quality coax. LMR-400 works well for me. Low quality coax just doesn't cut it.

I found my HackRF worked best with a short USB cable. Anything over a meter & the throughput would start to fall off. This may be more a byproduct of my specific hardware than anything else however. A ferrite core on the usb cable also helps keep the signal clean.

We use these to boost the cell phone signal at work. They work great:
http://www.amazon.com/Cell-Ranger-STIX-Phone-Booster/dp/B001AY3IJA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312423126&sr=8-1

Also a good idea to check out
www.powerfulsignals.com

Powerfulsignals has all kinds of cell phone boosters for every kind of house/building/rv you can imagine. If your willing to put down 200 bucks you can get good signal anywhere you are.

I have a WeBoost. Love it.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WMFXE5O/

I bought the 4G-X, the 12v powered one with a relatively small repeater antenna. This last part is very relevant! My iPhone or iPad has to be resting on top of the little black repeater antenna to work well.

I've used it at home where I get maybe one bar on a good day on the front porch, but it's useless for anything other than text messages if I'm patient. With the WeBoost's magnetic antenna, I get 3-4 bars full LTE and both phone calls and data work great.

I've used it in my van camping. Again, I had one bar if I held my iPhone just right, but with the WeBoost, I had 3-4 bars and spent several hours at the campsite's picnic table surfing the web on my iPad. Again, in each case, the iPad was basically sitting on top of the little repeater antenna. It's advertised as supporting multiple devices, but in practice, they have to be very, very near to the repeater antenna.

I look forward to my next Yosemite camping trip where LowerPines might barely get one bar of AT&T. If I want to check email, I have to bike over to the Curry village (or whatever it's called these days).

Other WeBoost products have longer range repeater antennas, but you have to keep it far away from the main antenna to prevent feedback loops. Depending upon your RV, that separation may be difficult to achieve.

I'm wondering if manual band selection is going to help me? Looking at Cellmapper.net, the closest tower is about 13mi away, and has bands 2 and 4. there are two more only a couple miles further that have bands 4, 12, 17, and 30. I don't really know much about any of this, as far as what bands are better, etc.

What yagi antenna's would you recommend? was looking at this one, but sounds like there's issues with it's cable/connection...https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078W787GR/ref=emc_b_5_t

thanks for your reply. I've seen your posts in some other threads.

I have used these and these for a year without any problems.

They seem to lack the "hooks", too, but they stay on just as well as the one that came with the phone. I haven't tried flinging the phone around like a morning star or flail, but it seems like it would take something like that to disconnect the cable from the device "unintentionally".

> Obviously, the bigger the event, the more unreliable the cellular networks get due to congestion. A friend of mine suggested using external antennas to hopefully hit cell towers that the crowd's smartphones do not have the range to talk to.

I'm not sure GSM/LTE devices are smart enough to migrate from a congested tower that has a strong signal to a weaker tower that is less congested. Perhaps someone else that is more familiar with cell network protocols can comment.

But one thing you might be able to do is setup a highly directional fixed antenna to point to the particular tower you want. Make that further tower the one with the stronger signal. You would need a highly directional antenna designed for the particular cell bands in use. There are multiple cell bands in use in different countries and by different carriers, so make sure you are getting the right antenna for your situation.

It would work fine as a UHF directional antenna. UHF television frequencies span from 470 to 890mhz, so this antenna should be reasonably well suited to receiving frequencies in that range. You would want to mount it vertically. Unlike horizontally polarized television signals, most terrestrial radio signals are vertically polarized. The signal loss from a polarization mismatch is not inconsequential.

That antenna will have an F connector coming off its matching transformer, the SO-239 to BNC adapter you linked is probably not what you want. For scanning use, regular old RG-6 coax works great as a feed line, and you'd want an F to BNC adapter.

If you're mainly trying to dig out 800mhz public safety frequencies, I'd go with an antenna like this.

I use two of these if I have to connect to an antenna 4mi away: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XH92RQV/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

One of these to connect to the tower 1.5m away:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BJ61LDY/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Both improve my signal and speeds. Just gotta find that sweet spot for the best signal. It's not always near a window if you mount it indoors.

Well yeah something like this, which is pretty much a monopole - coax - dipole setup: https://www.amazon.com/Cell-Phone-Antenna-External-Repeater/dp/B0053WE8VM
The car does to some degree act as a Faraday cage, so the monopole is placed outside, transmitting the incident waves through the the coaxial cable to the dipole on the inside, which emits the electromagnetic waves for the phone to sense. It of course also works the other way around, with the phone transmitting.
Again, you don't see the passive models very often, as they just aren't that good.

Edit: I just noticed there isn't a coax connecting the two antennas! They must rely on some coupling instead, which I can't imagine working very well

I think there are far better models - I was trying to go a little on the cheap.


SureCall Flare Cell Phone Signal Booster for Home Omni Antenna Configuration | Integrated indoor antenna for easier install | Covers up to 2500 sq ft | Boosts Voice, data for 4G, LTE, 3G https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MS2KFS0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_yC1PDb05AG834

That being said, I got the $299 flare model and it definitely solved the problem - for Fi anyway.

Before I decided on Fi, I tried my AT&T sim and Verizon and both sucked. YMMV depending on your cell towers. Use an app or website to determine what cell towers are near you and look at your topography — my problem is high trees and a hill blocking the tower’s line of sight, although I am no expert and not sure if that really is important.

All I know is that now I have functioning cell service for $35 for 2 lines plus $10/gigabyte and I can live with that rate.

So mad that I paid for AT&T all these years for crap service and I could have switched to T-Mobile — a company I had zero faith in — and have had great service.

I have paid for a DSL backup line because I have to have internet for work and the cable has gone down before. If I had a good data connection I would have saved $75/month!!

1. 3G isn't very fast. Try to get a 4G device.
   
2. First, you should get a mobile hotspot so you have a local wifi signal to connect to.
   
3. Second, you should get a cell signal booster designed for RVs. Personally I use a WeBoost Drive 4G-X.
   
4. Third, consider upgrading the antenna for that booster. I have a Yagi directional antenna that connects to the WeBoost through a few adapters.
   
5. A directional antenna requires you point it at the tower, but provides a much better signal than other kinds of antennae. Downside you need to know where the tower is. There are mobile apps and websites to look those up.
   
6. Try to camp near a decent sized town or highway, because that's where the cell towers are.
   
7. You should be using Verizon. They have the best rural coverage, bar none. AT\&T would be a close second. Don't even bother with any other network.
   
8. If you still can't find a decent signal, you might be stuck with satellite options. They are high-latency, and very expensive.

First, go to Antenna Search and locate the tower you want to pull from. Then find the contact person for that tower by clicking on it. Email that person explaining your problem, and then you'll have a local expert helping you out.

When I ran in to this issue I got 2 yagi antenna, the proper low loss cabling, the adapters to connect to the antenna and to my hotspot, a mounting pole, and put them at a 45 degree angle pointed right at my tower. Then I set the band priority on the hotspot based on what the tower tech told me was the optimal band coming from that tower.

When you get in to the world trying to optimize your LTE connection, you will probably want to join up with the LTE Hacks group on facebook.

They actually do - you can buy a cell repeater where you put an antenna on the roof and point it at the closest tower, and then it has an internal antenna to rebroadcast / receive with your phone at a lower wattage.

Here is a lower cost one that is good for a smaller to medium sized space in a home, such as a basement.

SureCall Fusion4Home Omni/Whip, Cell Phone Signal Booster Kit for All Carriers 3G/4G LTE up to 2,000 Sq Ft - SC-PolyH-72-ORA-Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AWGY4TE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_yDD7CbW4T5QYY

There are much larger ones made for offices and such as well if you have a huge house or something.

It actually works with most if not all carriers because 3G and LTE service all happens on known RF bands. Enjoy!

Haven't seen one quite like that, but reminds me of a passive through window cell antenna, like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Cell-Phone-Antenna-External-Repeater/dp/B0053WE8VM

I use these pipe mounts for Wilson antennas. Nice and small but still look nice and are aluminum so they won’t rust. $17 apiece on Amazon

Missing bands 66 and 71. Not too bad, see if band 71 is in your area with this map: http://maps.spectrumgateway.com/t-mobile-600-mhz-band-71-deployment.html

I'd see if you can get your hands on another phone before spending hundreds on a signal booster. If you got any friends/family with tmobile or mint, time to invite them over.

You can boost cell signal with something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/SureCall-Flare-Signal-Booster-Carriers/dp/B01MS2KFS0/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=signal+booster+indoor&qid=1558834197&s=gateway&sr=8-9-spell
But you need an antenna outside, then a cable running inside to your indoor antenna.

https://www.amazon.com/weBoost-470210-Signal-Booster-Trucker/dp/B01GDZLUJ0/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=cell+phone+booster+for+truck&qid=1567152568&s=gateway&sprefix=cell+phone+boos&sr=8-3


You'll see these on ALOT of work trucks. At least here in the Permian. And they work pretty well

A metal roof will most definitely cause a problem. A point to point RF connection requires Line of Sight to the tower with 40% or less occlusion. At the frequencies most GSM/CDMA/LTE phones operate on a signal will penetrate most wooden structures with little signal loss. Metal is a whole other story. Metal is typically RF opaque. Metal will reflect almost all the RF, both from the tower and from the phone. (not sure about Aluminum, but steel or tin will reflect)

At this point, if you are completely sold on metal, you'll need some sort of repeater or micro-cell. A repeater would be an externally mounted antenna, attached to a powered amplifier in the house. They are not cheap. Some carriers should offer some sort of micro-cell that will work on their network. While they are not inexpensive either, they are usually cheaper than a repeater. Keep in mind, a micro-cell will require some sort of high speed internet.

Here's an example of one offered by ATT

EDIT: Verizon
Sprint

EDIT2: No love for T-Mobile. They currently don't offer booster or micro-cell.

Yes, that's a good damn way to look at the crash dumps, and you have to activate? Check this item out https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XH92RQV/. I looked at the right thing so I think that it's a driver issue, you can try are to do it is to say. There are multiple free programs to help you and read up on how to use sytemlinks to fix some of the stuff.

Thanks! It's a cellphone signal booster. The exterior antenna takes in a weak cellular signal and feeds it to an amplifier that's mounted in the cabinets and powered by the auxiliary battery. Then the amplified signal is sent to an interior antenna and broadcasted in a 3-5ft radius. I've had it boost a 2X to 3G and even 4G.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GDZLUJ0

Yes same as truckers, will see if I can get it mounted tomorrow.

weBoost Drive 4G-X OTR Cell Phone Signal Booster Trucker kit, for up to 4 devices https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GDZLUJ0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_KntLxb7MSZWVF

The router has a few other devices connected to it like a mini cell tower - both this and my parents' computer use ethernet. So if I were to move the router I'd need a switch in their room.

While I'm not sure about transmission on 868MHz, check out some cell antennas you can easily get antennas designed to do what you want for the same price.

you're not going to have any luck with cellphones out there, but if you can get DSL, you may be able to use one of these: Microtel Cellular Signal Booster. We have some property in the Federal Quiet Zone (near White Sulphur Springs), and this has worked for us around our cabin.

I'm using this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WMFXE5O

I haven't tried any others though, so I can't comment on relative strengths/weaknesses

Check the map first to see what kind of data you have available.

https://coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp?serviceType=data&covType=lteplus&language=EN?INTNAV=NetworkP:coverage

Get the Ultra modem, see if it works as-is.

https://freedata.io/shop/ultra-membership-bundle

If not, then get an external LTE antenna, you'll have to do your own research on them but they are fairly cheap.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XH92RQV/

I was actually looking at this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GDZLUJ0/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_10?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Same company!

I've seen they sell this one specifically for trucks but it's really pricey
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GDZLUJ0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_NTQPCbWN7DEAT