Mobile Cell Phone Boosters (1 Viewer)

[r2m]

Often times when we're off roading in the middle of California and beyond, we either have very week cell service or none.
I'm looking at cell boosters for my rig, something like the weBoost line of products.
My criteria is I don't want a single phone cradle. I want the "RV" type that can connect multiple phones and not be in a cradle.
I like my wireless charging cradle that is already mounted and don't want to change any of that. Also, while we may be listening to Pandora on my phone, she'll be mapping our route or following maps on here phone, so we need both phones to get reception.

So my question to you all is, does anyone have any experience either first hand, second hand (or, heck, even third hand) experience with them?
Any preferred brand or model??
Any tips?
I know that what I'm looking for will probably have two antennas. The omnidirectional antenna that is external (probably to be mounted in the very back on my rear bumper) which picks up the the signal from the cell towers and that sends a signal to a smaller antenna that has to be as far from it as possible withing the vehicle, I imagine that would go under my dash.

I'm looking at this from Amazon, but shrinking away from the price:
Amazon product ASIN B01GDZLUJ0

 

[MrTorgue]

I’ll be watching this thread!

 

[Acrad]

I wonder when the overland version of Starlink antenna will be out?

 

[MrTorgue]

I wonder when the overland version of Starlink antenna will be out?

Hopefully after they exit the beta test phase. I’ve been following them for a while now. It’s exciting stuff.

 

[r2m]

Or simpler yet, when in the heck will satellite phones become as affordable as cell phones with data?

 

[Acrad]

VOIP over Starlink will probably be cheaper... even in beta seems some really awesome speeds. Performance in blizzards that makes me wonder if ham radios won't go the ways of CBs & shortwave.. Don't get me wrong... All devices have their place for disaster backups though and won't ever go away but when things "are working" & "everyday"... perhaps less used.

 

[MrTorgue]

VOIP over Starlink will probably be cheaper... even in beta seems some really awesome speeds. Performance in blizzards that makes me wonder if ham radios won't go the ways of CBs & shortwave.. Don't get me wrong... All devices have their place for disaster backups though and won't ever go away but when things "are working" & "everyday"... perhaps less used.

Speeds are insanely good in parts of ID/MT in the middle of no where. Makes me excited for when we move up there (or WY).

 

[Acrad]

As to r2m's comment... IMO: satellite phone costs will have to drop down or they will become irrelevant and disappear

 

[folivier]

The type of cell booster r2m is talking about needs to have a certain distance between the 2 antennas. Not sure it'll be possible in a GX.
Another option is a SpotX satellite messenger or the Garmin product. I have a SpotX and have used it for texting in remote areas especially on our Alaska RV trip a couple of years ago. Worked great when crossing the Yukon with NO cell signal for most of the trip.

 

[r2m]

The type of cell booster r2m is talking about needs to have a certain distance between the 2 antennas. Not sure it'll be possible in a GX.
Another option is a SpotX satellite messenger or the Garmin product. I have a SpotX and have used it for texting in remote areas especially on our Alaska RV trip a couple of years ago. Worked great when crossing the Yukon with NO cell signal for most of the trip.

Ah-ha!! This is the type of info I'm looking for!!
I haven't seen any information on just how far the two antennas need to be, have you? I wonder if I put the secondary antenna under the hood in a weather sealed compartment if that would be far enough from the external antenna??
The only thing with using any satellite options is one: $ for just text; and two: to be able to do data is $$$$.
I have satellite radio but as most folks on this forum know, my roof top tent blocks my antenna signal when I travel in certain directions of the compass, usually west so we usually stream Pandora. And I am aware, if we know the area we'll be off roading we could download the Google map and use it off line, but my wife (navigator) also likes to look up trivia about some of the remote locations we find.

 

[folivier]

This unit may work for you. They've made lots of progress since I looked into them a few years ago. They don't list a specific distance between antennas but say it will work in a car.

Drive Reach Cell Phone Signal Booster - weBoost

Drive Reach is our most powerful, in-vehicle cell signal booster yet. It can reach the farthest cell towers in remote areas. Learn more here!

www.weboost.com

 

[FJCowboy]

This unit may work for you. They've made lots of progress since I looked into them a few years ago. They don't list a specific distance between antennas but say it will work in a car.

Drive Reach Cell Phone Signal Booster - weBoost

Drive Reach is our most powerful, in-vehicle cell signal booster yet. It can reach the farthest cell towers in remote areas. Learn more here!

www.weboost.com

Wow...that looks pretty legit. A bit pricey, but if it does what it says could be a great investment.

 

[r2m]

This unit may work for you. They've made lots of progress since I looked into them a few years ago. They don't list a specific distance between antennas but say it will work in a car.

Drive Reach Cell Phone Signal Booster - weBoost

Drive Reach is our most powerful, in-vehicle cell signal booster yet. It can reach the farthest cell towers in remote areas. Learn more here!

www.weboost.com

Yep, that's the one I'm looking at and it is $$$. But when you're stuck, what price can you put on being connected to Facebook er... I mean help??

 

[GXinPDX]

I have the Weboost 4G-X. The interior antenna that came with it works with multiple phones. My exterior antenna is the OTR, works much better than the crayon that came with the booster. One thing is to get the antenna up as high as possible, this will give you the best signal. My cell service has a lot of patchy areas and with the booster I've more or less eliminated them. It's fun using a cell signal program on my phone and watch my signal strength jump when I turn the booster on.

 

[r2m]

Great news! I've been hoping someone with real world experience with one of these weBoost would post.

 

[joaopatrique]

I've used the Weboost Drive Reach OTR in my travels from Seattle to Los Cabos and every where in between. It's really worked out well for me. I work while I travel, and I've been able to do conference calls in the Black Rock Desert, and while relatively far from towns in Baja. There are some limitations for data, as you're increasing latency, and that's problematic for some applications, but overall I'd say it has worked really well. I have my OTR antenna mounted at the back of my roof rack, and the interior rebroadcasting antenna down by my knee on the drivers side. They need to be out of the same vertical plane, and with as much space as possible between them. It's doable in an SUV. I wouldn't put the rebroadcast antenna under the dash, as the face of it is the direction of broadcast. You can also get a much stronger signal by literally touching the phone to the antenna (or place it as near as possible when driving) while at the limits of range from cell towers. I have an app that measures cell signal, and the solution can add a solid 50db, just as advertised.

I use Google Fi, and am considering using the weboost to provide a strong signal to a SIM card bonding router with wifi. I need to do more research into whether you can load balance or bond across multiple cards from different providers. The issue I want to fix is getting dropped off data in Mexico. Sometimes I could be within visible range of a tower with a great signal, and I'd get kicked off the network. I'm assuming it's a data usage thing, where Telcel, or whoever owns the tower starts throttling noisy neighbors (me), to continue providing service to the rest of their users. Not sure, but I need a workaround if I'm going to work remotely.

 

[r2m]

Great info! Do you go down to Baja for surf? Or just some sunny weather, getting away from Seattle rain.

 

[joaopatrique]

I went to La Ventana to meet up with friends who were there for kite boarding, but yeah, to get out of the grey I'm headed back down for another month here in a bit to go surfing on the pacific side. I also race down there for some of the SCORE events. I'm looking to add a UHF radio, in addition to the cell bonding device, specifically for the races. We end up supporting each other when we're not in the car, driving or navigating... it's a lowbuck operation

 

[ducktapeguy]

I just picked up the WeBoost drive OTR, it has the exterior antenna of the Drive RV but the internal antenna of the drive reach, so the best of both worlds for a vehicle mount.

I’m actually in the process of installing it today. I haven’t tested it yet but I’ll be heading to canyonlands soon so I’ll be able to test it out there. The reviews are almost universally positive so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Hopefully this will allow me to work remotely and stay out longer without having to drive back into town to check up on emails and whatnot. For as crowded as California is there are a huge dead zones for cell reception in the south west.

 

[r2m]

I just picked up the WeBoost drive OTR, it has the exterior antenna of the Drive RV but the internal antenna of the drive reach, so the best of both worlds for a vehicle mount.

I’m actually in the process of installing it today. I haven’t tested it yet but I’ll be heading to canyonlands soon so I’ll be able to test it out there. The reviews are almost universally positive so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Hopefully this will allow me to work remotely and stay out longer without having to drive back into town to check up on emails and whatnot. For as crowded as California is there are a huge dead zones for cell reception in the south west.

I agree with you, living and off roading in CA, there are many locations with dead or VERY weak signals. And it doesn't matter who your cell carrier is.
Looking forward to hear how this works for you!
When you're using it in the middle of nowhere, can you take a moment to see what your signal strength is and then get out of your vehicle, walk maybe 15-20 feet away and see how many bars you get without the WeBoost?