What Is A Cell Phone Signal Booster?

While we may not perform phone calls as often as we used to, there is no denying that they are an important part of our lives. Whether we are connecting with a family member or friend or answering a call back from a job interview, having strong service is key. Dropping calls all the time is incredibly annoying, after all.

This can feel hard to deal with if you don’t have good service from the company you buy from. I know I struggled with it for a while. For some reason, my room in specific in my home was just a cell service dead zone. Talk about inconvenient.

There are some ways to mitigate it, though. In this article I’ll talk about cell service boosters, how they work, and why you may want to consider one if you deal with this problem too!

What are Boosters?

If you haven’t heard of one, you may have heard of an amplifier or repeater. There are three parts to them: the amplifier, the interior antenna, and the exterior antenna. Together, they work to form a wireless system that boosts your cell service and reception.

If this sounds complex, I understand. However, it really isn’t. If you want to read some more about this you can read this page for some tips and tricks on the technical stuff, but it isn’t the most important. The more burning question on your mind might be the legality behind it.

Thankfully, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has determined that these boosters are perfectly allowable so long as they are amplifying already existing networks. This can be 3G, 4G, and 5G.

As far as the exact specifics go, what these devices do is pull in an external signal, then they boost it before finally broadcasting it again back into the area you want. Usually this will be a room inside your home or where you work where you find that you are dropping calls a lot or cannot send out text messages without needing to wait.

There are a few options you can pick here. Namely, there are ones that you can put in your motor vehicle (like a car, RV, or even a boat), and ones for inside a building. What is most important to remember here is that they do not create a new signal. Instead, they amplify ones that already exist.

How They Work

Now, if you recall the three parts of them that I mentioned earlier, that is largely how they function. The external antenna is usually somewhere on the outside of the installation place. Usually they are put on a roof. You can learn more about this here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_repeater.

Next, the amplifier does what the name implies. It makes a spotty signal stronger and more reliable for your use. It does so in the area that you install the system.

Finally, there is the indoor antenna. What they do is send the signal that has been boosted to whatever devices are in its area that you connect. Likely this will be a cell phone.

There are a few things you will want to consider as you look for one of these devices. Normally, you want to think about what area you want to cover. Naturally there are a few options here – you could cover a small area or a huge one. It will all depend on what you want and your budget.

Of course, you will also want to decide what antenna would be best for you. You could choose a direction one, a dome type, an omnidirectional one, or even a panel antenna. Do your research and decide what will be best for your needs. They all have their own benefits and drawbacks, of course.

Why Get One?

If you’re not sold yet I do understand. It might not seem necessary to get a portable cell phone signal booster, but if you ever have issues with cell service you may want to consider it. Besides being annoying, not being able to make a phone call can be detrimental. Just think about if there was an emergency!

That was my biggest motivation in pursuing one of these devices. I worried that if one of my loved ones had an urgent matter, I would not get their call. This actually did happen to me – my father had a stroke, and none of the texts and calls about it reached me until much later.

Don’t wait until something like that. A lot of buildings become service dead zones or at least receive weak service. Devices that allow us to enhance that signal and send it back to our devices stronger and more reliable might be new, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take advantage of them. Talk about helpful!

Also Read: The 14 Best Mobile Accessories To Get The Most Out Of Your iPhone