Mobile Cell Phone Boosters

[LandCruiserPhil]

You lucky dog Long time, no see!!! I'm still stuck here where it's hotter than #@$!.

Its been nice

 

[giovanni]

I went with the Cel-Fi booster system on the recommendation of a guy I know who said he ran both Weboost and Cel-Fi side by side. I'll have it installed in next few days and will report here as I use it.

 

[rockyjco]

I have the Weboost RV one like you are talking about in my GX I have the internal antenna close to my phone and and the large antenna on the roof. I configured the roof antenna to lay flat on the roof, but its on a swivel so I can raise it vertical if need be. To be honest it works very well laying flat with the internal antenna right next to my phone mount inside. Pretty impressed so far, worth the $500. I also have a Garmin Inreach sat communicator for backup but have not had to use it much lately because of the increased range via cell now. I'm here in CO so we are in the mountains all the time.

 

[r2m]

I went with the Cel-Fi booster system on the recommendation of a guy I know who said he ran both Weboost and Cel-Fi side by side. I'll have it installed in next few days and will report here as I use it.

Haven't seen you in a while! I too will be very interested in how the two products compare.
Cell phone amp is next on my list.

 

[giovanni]

This is what he said and why I decided to buy the Cel-Fi.



Just to let you guys know that I have been doing a bunch of testing between the Weboost and the Nextivity Cel-Fi systems. I mounted both on my truck and did side by side comparisons all over the USA last year and this year. The Cel-Fi is the clear winner by miles, no pun intended. The Cel-Fi has a 50 db gain over the the Weboost. That is huge. By calculation that is 100,000 times more. What is unique about the Cel-Fi is that it only amplifies the bands of the carrier you choose inside of the app. Why is that better? It means it is only amplifying the bands you need and not all the other noise out there. The Weboost on the other hand is amplifying all bands including the noise and that is why you have to have your phone so close to the server antenna in order for it to work. If you have the Cel-Fi you can boost the whole vehicle, plus up to 50' outside of the vehicle. If you pair it with the antenna from RFI that we get out of Australia you can really reach out there. On top of that it has an app that tells you what you are boosting and by how much. Super cool. Yes I do sell them now because I know they work. https://4thdsolar.com/collections/communication

 

[r2m]

This is what he said and why I decided to buy the Cel-Fi.



Just to let you guys know that I have been doing a bunch of testing between the Weboost and the Nextivity Cel-Fi systems. I mounted both on my truck and did side by side comparisons all over the USA last year and this year. The Cel-Fi is the clear winner by miles, no pun intended. The Cel-Fi has a 50 db gain over the the Weboost. That is huge. By calculation that is 100,000 times more. What is unique about the Cel-Fi is that it only amplifies the bands of the carrier you choose inside of the app. Why is that better? It means it is only amplifying the bands you need and not all the other noise out there. The Weboost on the other hand is amplifying all bands including the noise and that is why you have to have your phone so close to the server antenna in order for it to work. If you have the Cel-Fi you can boost the whole vehicle, plus up to 50' outside of the vehicle. If you pair it with the antenna from RFI that we get out of Australia you can really reach out there. On top of that it has an app that tells you what you are boosting and by how much. Super cool. Yes I do sell them now because I know they work. https://4thdsolar.com/collections/communication

This looks really cool!
Couple of question: I only see up to 3G, 4G, LTE, but no 5G?
If no 5G, how well is data being processed, e.g. Google maps, Pandora/Spotify or whatever on uses to stream music? Plenty of speed to stream?
What all comes in the package?
All the photos show "donor" and "server" antennas. What's are donor and server antennas and do they come in the package for $599.99? Or do you have to spend another $299.99 for the LTE antenna?

There's not really a lot of info about how it's packaged and what all is needed on their website.

 

[giovanni]

If you go direct to the Cel-Fi website, the info is much better. The "Go" package is $599 and comes with both antennas and all the wiring/cabling. The $299 antenna listed on 4thD Solar website is one that he found to further improve the ability to pick up a very weak signal and boost it.

GO G32

The CEL-FI GO G32 Smart Signal Booster solves cellular reception challenges by boosting signal for indoor, outdoor, and mobile applications.

www.cel-fi.com

I've not tested it enough to answer your "how well" question yet. The answer is going to be "it depends" on how strong the signal received is. A booster can only do so much - Dave says that frequently the Cel-Fi (with the more powerful antenna) would "see" a signal that a phone could not, and then boost that signal enough to enable web surfing on a phone.

 

[shellb]

I went ahead and bought the whole set up!

Hopefully I have a vehicle to install in on by next Wednesday and then will test it going from CO out to San Diego...

Also have mobile wifi set up via pepwave +sim + poynting antenna.

 

[GrizzlyClint]

I've not tested it enough to answer your "how well" question yet. The answer is going to be "it depends" on how strong the signal received is. A booster can only do so much - Dave says that frequently the Cel-Fi (with the more powerful antenna) would "see" a signal that a phone could not, and then boost that signal enough to enable web surfing on a phone

Now that’s exactly what we need, especially in north Idaho and in the middle of no where Wyoming when we go up there. Looks like this may be a good investment.

 

[giovanni]

Not a very thorough or well documented test, but yesterday we drove out to the LBJ Grasslands NW of Dallas - there were area where my iPhone didn't have any bars, but when I turned the Cel-Fi on there was enough to pull up a website. They definitely work.

 

[Jstawgn]

That cell fi looks to be much stronger. It was not available two years ago when I got my Weboost. The mobile one is rated at 65 dB gain. They have one for non moving RV that can get 100 dB gain. Not sure how big is the external antenna for that.

 

[giovanni]

I did some research because I didn’t really understand how boosters work. Cel-Fi is the only one in the US that is carrier specific (it only boosts one carrier frequency spectrum at a time), all the others are broadband (they boost all received frequencies). The FCC limits power of broadband boosters to 65db but allows the carrier specific gain to be 100db.

As far as I can tell, the only downside to the Cel-Fi is that if there’s no AT&T signal, I’ll have to manually set it to all the others to see if there’s a roaming signal that I can boost and that my phone will see.

 

[r2m]

As far as I can tell, the only downside to the Cel-Fi is that if there’s no AT&T signal, I’ll have to manually set it to all the others to see if there’s a roaming signal that I can boost and that my phone will see.

Are you on AT&T also? Considering that my family are all on AT&T, am I understanding this correctly that if one is on the fringe and just missing an AT&T signal, Cel-Fi won't be able to pick up that fringe signal and boost it? Also, when purchasing, do you tell Cel-Fi who your carrier is and they send you a carrier specific device, or is there a physical or software switch that is selected on the "box" that has the various carriers that one can select?

 

[giovanni]

Cel-Fi has an app they call Wave, and you use it to change which carrier you want the box to boost. You can change on the fly, and then it takes the box 3 or 4 minutes to rescan the selected carrier frequencies for a signal. I don't know what happens if the box finds a Verizon signal to boost but your phone is AT&T? Maybe it goes roaming?

I am on AT&T, and I've found it to be generally better than T-mobile and Verizon for coverage. I was shocked at how poor Verizon was.

 

[GrizzlyClint]

I was shocked at how poor Verizon was.

Verizon really shines in the PacWest. Hence why we got it in advance of relocation to northern ID. AT&T a little and Sprint were woefully poor in some of the areas we would be frequent. I was rather surprised how well we did in some of the valleys near Canada and far west MT with Verizon and with this Cel-fi unit it would be a game-changer. AT&T though will be a great alternative and my phone carrier allows us to pick and choose what network we want to use so we could switch pretty easily if the situation presented itself. And when we spend time in AK we will likely switch to AT&T since it is better up there.

 

[NudeLobster]

Verizon really shines in the PacWest. Hence why we got it in advance of relocation to northern ID. AT&T a little and Sprint were woefully poor in some of the areas we would be frequent. I was rather surprised how well we did in some of the valleys near Canada and far west MT with Verizon and with this Cel-fi unit it would be a game-changer. AT&T though will be a great alternative and my phone carrier allows us to pick and choose what network we want to use so we could switch pretty easily if the situation presented itself. And when we spend time in AK we will likely switch to AT&T since it is better up there.

i was gonna say, Verizon dominates in coverage for AZ. I'm eying the Cel-fi now. The RFI brand that makes that 38" bullbar 6.5db antenna also makes a 26" 5.5db antenna, but no one in america carries it and the Australian retailers dont seem to ship to North America...

 

[Bunga]

Quick question about the cel-fi, it looks great: does it come with the small ducky antenna? They say they will upgrade to 5g, but the vendor, 4th solar, is not on the authorized vendor list from what I can tell. So would I be able to upgrade when that becomes available?

 

[giovanni]

It does come with the small ducky antenna. I don't know about the upgrade. It seems that there are really two versions of 5G - currently, all the "5G" stuff is really riding on 4G wavelengths so the Cel-Fi does a good job of boosting these pseudo 5G signals. At some point in the future, true 5G on millimeter wave will come around and I don't know how that works.

I do know that the millimeter wave 5G doesn't travel very far, which is why most of us who have "5G" for the moment are really seeing rebranded and slightly enhanced 4G LTE signals.

Not All 5G Is the Same: All the Flavors and Names Explained

From 5G Ultra Wideband to 5G UC and 5G Plus, we'll break down every different flavor of 5G.

www.cnet.com

Here's a website I found that has a TON of hard to read but helpful information if you have the patience to grind through it all.

Mobile Cellular Boosters for RVs & Boats Overview

Cellular Boosters for Mobile Data Performance Boosters are a popular (and pricey) option to get a better cellular signal for stabilizing cellular signals. But are they the right choice for cellular data performance, and more

www.rvmobileinternet.com

 

[r2m]

It does come with the small ducky antenna. I don't know about the upgrade. It seems that there are really two versions of 5G - currently, all the "5G" stuff is really riding on 4G wavelengths so the Cel-Fi does a good job of boosting these pseudo 5G signals. At some point in the future, true 5G on millimeter wave will come around and I don't know how that works.

I do know that the millimeter wave 5G doesn't travel very far, which is why most of us who have "5G" for the moment are really seeing rebranded and slightly enhanced 4G LTE signals.

Not All 5G Is the Same: All the Flavors and Names Explained

From 5G Ultra Wideband to 5G UC and 5G Plus, we'll break down every different flavor of 5G.

www.cnet.com

Here's a website I found that has a TON of hard to read but helpful information if you have the patience to grind through it all.

Mobile Cellular Boosters for RVs & Boats Overview

Cellular Boosters for Mobile Data Performance Boosters are a popular (and pricey) option to get a better cellular signal for stabilizing cellular signals. But are they the right choice for cellular data performance, and more

www.rvmobileinternet.com

Are you thinking that when "true" 5G becomes prolific that your Cel-Fi (and maybe even WeBooster) may not work on full 5G frequencies?

 

[NudeLobster]

Are you thinking that when "true" 5G becomes prolific that your Cel-Fi (and maybe even WeBooster) may not work on full 5G frequencies?

That is correct.

Also, Verizon already implements the true milimeter wave 5G in major urban areas. They also have "5G" in the 4G bands for coverage further out of urban areas. Verizon is the only 5G on mm waves so far.