Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Cell signal booster

Anyone using a cell booster that you would recommend? Camp is only 4 miles from the nearest tower but we're three wooded hilltops over and bottom of the valley. 1 bar will normally text but sometimes that's iffy. We have a small Wilson 110v cradle for a single phone that gets you 2 bars outdoors, but I'm looking for an external pole mount and indoor antannae to distribute 1200 sq ft or so.

I just installed a Wilson on a 20' mast and went to 4 bars from one.

I have one in my work truck, I couldn’t tell you what brand. With att it really helps.

I looked online, they run about $500 I think.

I used a Wilson in a remote work area with no external antenna, only placed in the window. Worked fine for 3G at the time.

Do you have a model number?

Like you I live in a valley —cell tower is 5 miles away. I live in a house with metal siding and metal roof—1bar out on deck nothing inside house. Got a Wilson and could then get 1bar inside the house.
Got a Z-boost— it was pricey—about $400 but it was worth it—got 4 bars inside now.

External antennae I assume? If so, how high up?

My hunting cabin gets about 1 bar. Can't send a text, but can walk up 50 yds and make a call and text. Which one would I need?

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wilson

How does the cradle model work?. I would rather spend $200 and spend the other $300 on gun stuff.

Wilson is now WeBoost.

I have this one.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RHMFQTO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The area it covers depends on the signal you get on the outside. I have the directional antennae mounted on a pole about 20' in elevation.

I live in a steel metal house, and have 1 bar outside. Maybe. No hint of service inside without a booster.

I have 4 bars inside with the booster.

booster for auto is lower powered than house booster as per FCC regs. Geometry of interior antennae for sending signal to phones in house in relation to receiving antennae outside is critical. Pay attention to instructions. Call service provider with location and get compass bearing to nearest tower to orient outside receiving antennae. Some will give the info and some will not. You can use phone to check strongest signal (not just bars) to rotate antennae for strongest signal. After orienting outside receiver then locate interior transmitter in back lobe so as to minimize interference.

All of that applies.

You can find towers online...

https://www.cellmapper.net/map

https://www.opensignal.com/

Then get an azimuth from your location to the tower, and turn the directional antenna to that tower.


I have two I can get service from here. I rotate the pole to the locations and mark them on the pole with a marker.

More that once, a cell tower has down down, and I just go outside and rotate the pole to the other location. Works well.

I didn't know Wilson now owns three company's including WeBoost..huh...I used to be really into boosting cell signals way back in the mountains to get out where no one else, has ever...

Anyway,the signal bars on your phone are only an estimate and each cell phone differs in the amount shown compared to the actual signal strength..Your actual signal strength can be see by going to...about phone in the settings..Then scroll down to Sim Status...Once on sim status scroll down to Signal Strength...This is your actual signal strength,not the bars shown..Right now mine shows -83dbm 43asu,,Fairly good..The lower the dbm the better the signal is like -70dbm is about as good as it gets while anything over -100dbm is iffy and -120dbm is no signal..

I have two Wilson 45db boosters..You can actually piggy back two boosters together for double the gain..I never have yet..Antennas are almost as important as the boosters..High db antennas work better than low db antennas..I have a directional Yagi antenna for when camp is set and we are going to be there for a while..

Had a cradle booster(Wilson) and there okay but about 1/2 the signal of one of the big boys(actually measured) and don't forget,some of the boosters are CDMA(like Verizon) and some are GSM(like ATT)..Make sure you get the right booster that gets the channels(frequencies) your carrier uses..

Used to love to ROOT cell phones to get the most out of them and get rid of the garbage the carriers put on them you cannot delete and they eat up your battery..

I forgot to throw in,CDMA(example..Verizon) will give you better reception than GSM(ATT) if all things are equal and some phones have better reception(radios) than others like, Motorola has always had great reception(radios) as well as Nokia...The new phones are getting pretty competitive in all areas so it might not make much of a difference with one of the premium phones...

My old Motorola StarTac got out like no other..

Those old, high wattage bag phones didn't need no stinkin' booster...

Really,I still have one, hoping they will bring back the old technology...But they won't...The new technology limits your distance from a cell tower...With my booster/antenna combo,I can bring in signal on the remote Magruder Corridor road in Idaho but can't talk or text, yet I have 2-3 bars..To far from a tower they say..

So all that power just goes to waist..

If cell signal has steadily gone down in strength for an area, does this have to do with the power going to the local towers? Was talking with some guys yesterday and we are all noting degrading signal in our parts of northern Louisiana. Dead zones are growing larger each year, even though technology is "improving". My hunting property went from being able to support a phone conversation 5-6 years ago, to text-only in the last 3-4 years, to zero signal this year. There's a stretch of major highway that had one dead zone in it for years and it now has three dead zones. What's the deal? Is it the changing smartphones or towers themselves? My father still carries a flip-phone and it always beats my various Iphones, even with the same AT&T provider.

That's a good question,I see it here..I don't know if it is true but was told they somehow limit connectivity to a tower by distance from it..30 air miles is what I heard which makes sense if you get signal strength but not connectivity..I can look out my window and see the Verizon tower yet signal strength does not reflect that..The ATT tower is like 5 air miles from the house on an unobstructed mountain yet with an ATT phone 2-3 bars was max..

As I mentioned earlier,some phones just get better reception than others because they have better radios in them..Motorola has been famous for there reception while others just suck.. People that ROOT there phones try different radios for better reception and it works..In choosing a phone for me,reception is always on the top of my want list along with a few goodies and ofcourse,security..Never had an Iphone so I can't say much about them,there not common around here while Samsung is the most used from what I see..I chose the Pixel phones for my use and couldn't be happier with the reception..

I couldn't tell you how many times I have called Verizon and ATT and complained about there towers and reception from different phones..Go's in one ear and out the other.