I'm trying to identify the best option to add a signal booster to my parent's home. Looking for any first-hand feedback/experience you have with a signal booster.

The inside of my parent's home is a cell phone dead zone despite good signal strength outside of the house.

Overview of the home. With the garage included somewhere around 1600 sq ft. Office, master bedroom, dining room, large kitchen, medium-sized living room, laundry room, and 1/2 bath. Staircase in the middle of the floor plan to the second floor and basement. The second floor has an open walkway to bath and bedrooms.

They do not have internet or cable tv in the home. They are using a cell phone as an internet hotspot for email. Both are in their 70s, my father seems to be lazy and or just giving up on understanding technology etc.

They practically only use the first floor and the garage.

I've done some research. The top-rated signal boosters are from Wilson and cost anywhere from $500 and up.

weBoost 470144 Home MultiRoom Signal Booster

Looking on Amazon there are many out there in the $150 price range. The reviews on Amazon are really good for them I just can't believe the price difference. Something like this. Anntlent

I am contacting both Wilson and Anntlent to find out how their products compare / why the difference in price. See what they have to say about each other.

Any input from the Sig Forum brain trust would be really helpful!


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Separately and to my frustration
It seems my dad has given up on knowing technology and or doing much of anything technical. My dad started life as a USCG E-5 Electrician working on vacuum tubes radios, lighthouses in 1962-66. He finished around 2001 as a new vehicle launch supervisor after 35 years with Chrysler. His robot techs were certifying and installing new vehicle stamping assembly lines running PLC-5 on ABB robots, hemmers, presses, etc. Thus the course of life I guess.

I have Verizon. Samsung booster for 10 years. Needs internet for outgoing transmission.
Samsung provides a 25 foot umbrella of coverage.

Thankyou SIGfourme

Unfortunately no internet in their home.

Contact Verizon, explain the problem, they may have a signal booster you can get at no charge since they cannot obtain service at all.

We had neighbors who used those, got them free from their carriers as our subdivision was a bit of a dead zone until the built a cell tower nearby.

I am literally in the process of having a contractor put three wireless phone signal booster systems in the house as I type this. First two done, last one is waiting for better weather. The results have taken my 'poor' Verizon signal rating into the lower range of 'good' - when I'm in the right spots in my house. The systems are capable of working with other providers/wireless tech, but we only have Verizon phones at the moment.

I would not do it on my own. There are a lot of quirky interactions possible between the signal-getter antenna that talks to the cell towers and the signal-giver antennas that distribute the amplified signals in your house. [not using industry lingo here- there are probably better terms that would apply] Plus, you need to put the signal-getter where it can point to a tower, but also where it won't interfere with/get interfered by signals that will be coming from the internal antennas.

Doing it wrong (getting them too close) causes feedback and failure, as would overamplifying the in-house signal. It's an art.

The professionals have a bunch of inventory and can bring some of everything to an install, so if needed they can swap stuff around (change the amps, etc.) so you get the boost you need without feedback.

Another thing is that the signal-giver antennas are not this perfect sphere of nirvana - the signal-giver antennas have their own radiation pattern and need to be aimed where you want the better signals to arrive.

And the amplified signals are not uber-energy, penetrating all walls, masonry, and metal objects with impunity. It's not only external walls, etc - the stuff inside your house absolutely can block/degrade the signals. Example: after the planned two systems were put in, we found out (by testing with our phones, after we thought we were done) that the brick chimney between the living room and kitchen completely blocks the signal. Thus, because we need better signals on both sides of that chimney, a separate system/amp/antenna was added to the setup. We'd never have guessed that going in.

Finally, and most obviously, there needs to be some signal outside the house to amplify. Sounds like you're in good shape there, as you said there was good signal outside and the in-laws are already using the phone as a hotspot. The stronger the outside signal, the better your end result will be.

Could you do it yourself? Possibly/probably, although expect some iteration. Will the experience be enjoyable? Odds are against that, IMO.

The least expensive booster I know is about $500 that works well without internet.

https://www.wilsonamplifiers.com

It is a true repeater, unlike the Samsung that is a internet extender.

I had one before the the Samsung came out.

My older one did not have LTE so I transitioned to the Samsung.

One antenna outside connected to the amplifier and one antenna from the amplifier inside gave me 4 to 5 bars inside.

I have one of the cheap Amazon boosters in our cabin. It works well enough but I would absolutely recommend against it for your application. The cabin is 480 sq ft and the booster is only effective in about half that space. If you want it to work and work properly you are going to have to spring for one of the “whole house” units. Wilson (weboost) is the one all others are measured by.

I put a G3 unit in 2 years ago. Best thing ever. Fixed our dead basement.

Now I wished I had put in an LTE amp....but I made the decision 2 years ago

quote:

Originally posted by SOTAR:



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Separately and to my frustration
It seems my dad has given up on knowing technology and or doing much of anything technical. My dad started life as a USCG E-5 Electrician working on vacuum tubes radios, lighthouses in 1962-66. He finished around 2001 as a new vehicle launch supervisor after 35 years with Chrysler. His robot techs were certifying and installing new vehicle stamping assembly lines running PLC-5 on ABB robots, hemmers, presses, etc. Thus the course of life I guess.

Just a thought on that:At 69 yrs old I am getting to the point that trying to keep up with all the NEW technology can be confusing and/or overwhelming. Your father may be at the point that he just doesn't want to be bothered trying to learn new stuff. It may no longer interest him.
Just the way things go for some people as they get older.

I have a friend who installs these commercially, and he said that there is a lot of dissatisfaction with the home units, even the Wilson. The Wilson is the minimum level I would suggest you buy.

A cell phone is a transceiver. A signal booster is a repeater. It is a transceiver that has to receive and transmit at the same time. We know what cell phones cost. Does it make sense that a decent repeater could sell for $150? I submit it does not. Those cheap one have to be straight from China, no quality control, probably no FCC approval for the U.S. market, etc.

Certainly a cheap one can do some good if and while it works. Thus the decent reviews. But quality level? Longevity? Warranty? Tech support? Not likely to be there.

The cheapest and best solution might be to get them on a cheap internet plan and that will fix everything.
They can use Wifi calling on their phones and will have much better internet at the same time.
My parents were like (not techies) that when they were aging and once they saw the light, a lot changed.

I called Verizon and raised hell until they sent me one for free. It works great. I do recall that it had to connect to my WiFi though.

Either way, I’d call Verizon. They can check the towers and maybe upgrade the cellular settings on the phone if nothing else.

thank you all that is exactly the feedback I needed.

I have a Wilson and it works great! Antenna placement is important, and directly affects performance.

I've used a ZBoost. It worked OK

quote:

Originally posted by sig2392:
The least expensive booster I know is about $500 that works well without internet.

https://www.wilsonamplifiers.com

It is a true repeater, unlike the Samsung that is a internet extender.

I had one before the the Samsung came out.

My older one did not have LTE so I transitioned to the Samsung.

One antenna outside connected to the amplifier and one antenna from the amplifier inside gave me 4 to 5 bars inside.

I have used the Wilson as well and it works but probably in only one room.

It's a simple bi-directional amp and the cheapest solution that works well and carrier agnostic.

If you find something else make sure it runs at LTE speeds and supports 600/700/800/1900/2100 mhz

quote:

Originally posted by ruger357:
I called Verizon and raised hell until they sent me one for free. It works great. I do recall that it had to connect to my WiFi though.

Either way, I’d call Verizon. They can check the towers and maybe upgrade the cellular settings on the phone if nothing else.

Depending on the tower location there's not much that can be done besides changing azimuth or down tilts and trying to convince the local RF Engineer to do that won't be fun.....

Most phones transmit at .03 of a watt.

Find a Ham fest and buy them an old VzW 1 watt bag phone and keep it charged for e911 calls.

I miss my old 3W truck phone, that thing dragged sectors 40 miles....the RF team hated them

We originally had Sprint phones at our house and service was terrible so I purchased a Wilson/we boost and attached it to the highest gable end on our house and it didn't help at all....500 bucks wasted and it is still on the roof.
We switched to Verizon a couple of years ago and much better service. We have a Tmobile hotspot for internet and we can stream Netflix all day long so now that Tmobile purchased Sprint we may switch over to Tmobile and save a bunch....Tmobile has the "55" plan which is $55.00 for two lines with the users over 55 years old.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
The cheapest and best solution might be to get them on a cheap internet plan and that will fix everything.
They can use Wifi calling on their phones and will have much better internet at the same time.

This is likely your best bet, provided they live in an area where affordable broadband internet is available, and have phones that are compatible with wifi calling.

Cheap broadband internet plan (~50mbps or even less) + wifi router + wifi calling enabled on their phones.

Many broadband companies offer modems with built in wireless networking, along with tech support for their built-in wifi, for additional ease of use.

It'll be better/more reliable than a booster, plus they won't have to use their phone hotspot for email or internet surfing any longer.

If your lazy and technology-adverse father can figure out how to enable a mobile hotspot and connect their computer to it, he can certainly handle enabling wifi calling and connecting their phones and computer to a wireless network. The broadband company will set up the modem and wifi to get them started, and provide tech support if they run into issue down the road.