Improving Cellular Reception

Two requests we field everyday:

• I want the most powerful cellular antenna.
• I want the most powerful cellular amplifier.

Power in an antenna, typically refers to antenna gain. With a cellular amplifier, power usually means gain and output power. To the consumer with a weak cell phone signal, “I want the most powerful..”  means the most powerful signal I can use to make calls or surf the web. In other words, “I don’t give a flip about gain or output power or oscillation or antenna separation”. Despite that, I will go ahead and explain briefly (very briefly and not technically)  these power measurements and how it helps to decide on the most effective cellular amplifier system for your unique situation.

Antenna Gain

There are several factors to measuring the attributes of an antenna and deciding which would be more effective in an particular installation. Power is measured in decibels (db). Antenna gain is derived from a formula that compares the relationship between an actual antenna’s intensity compared to an theoretical ideal antenna that radiates in all directions. Need more detail? Larsen has a good page on Antenna Basic Concepts.

The higher the gain of an antenna, the wider the pattern. Of course you give up radiation height with more width. Picture a beach ball. A 0db gain antenna would be close to round. As you push down on the top of the beach ball, it reaches out further but not as high. The pattern is more focused as you push down on the ball. As an example a 0db gain antenna is usually a better fit in a city surrounded by tall buildings or an area surrounded by hills or trees. A 5db gain antenna would be more powerful in flatter, more open areas.

I’ll get to Amplifier Output Power & Amplifier Gain in the next post. In the mean time you can read Seven Tips to Identify a Quality Cellular Amplifier from Wilson Electronics.

Wilson DirectConnect Power Booster

We get asked quite often if  a DirectConnect type cell phone booster can be converted to a repeater type system that does not require a direct connection to a mobile phone or PC card. Instead of attaching the DirectConnect to a device, attach another antenna to it to broadcast the signal over a larger area.

Unfortunately the answer is no. DirectConnect type amplifiers do not have enough gain to broadcast over a larger area. They are tuned to connect directly to a devices antenna port.

Repeater type systems require more gain. Thankfully there are amplifiers that have higher gain and are made to be used as repeater systems. They range from vehicle cell phone repeaters to larger building cell phone amplifiers.

It seems to be getting harder and harder to find newer cell phones that have RF ports (a usable one anyway). Without the RF port, you will be unable to attach an external antenna to it.

A phone may have a usable port buy the port may be too weak to support an external antenna adapter. An adapter can’t be made to stay in the port or the port is too weak and may break if an adapter is plugged into it.

So what are our options?

Wilson SignalBoost Universal Cellular Amplifier

Basically, find another phone or use a universal amplifier that has enough gain to transmit an improved cellular signal through the phone’s case.

If you’re service provider doesn’t offer a phone with the features you like that has an RF port, you can try and find maybe a used or refurbished one. Just make sure it will work with your service provider before you make the purchase.

Univeral cellular amplifiers like the Wilson SignalBoost Universal work in a similiar fashion as using an external antenna adapter. The difference is that instead of plugging in the adapter to a phone’s RF port, the adapter attaches to the cell phone by use of a universal adapter and velcro tape. The amplifier must have enough gain to transmit the signal through the phone’s case so a directconnect type of amplifier will not have enough gain.

Another option using cellular repeaters. A basic setup is to have an outside antenna and inside antenna both connected to a cellular amplifier. The amount of coverage you will get from the inside antenna will depend on the signal strength outside and the gain of the amplifier.

Do Cell Phone Signal Boosters Work?

Recently, as I was reviewing commonly searched words and phrases having to do with cellular, I notice questions along these lines that kept popping up.

Do cell phone boosters really work?
Do cell phone amplifiers really work?

At first I said to myself, of course they do. Why would anyone be selling this stuff if it didn’t work?

Then that old circut board looking sticker came to mind. I’m sure others have seen them. They were sold as cell phone boosters. They are just a sticker that you were to place under the battery of your phone and it was supposed to boost your cell phone signal. I’m pretty sure billions of those were sold.  Although I’ve never known anyone that used or tested them and found them to work, I have read testimonials written by who knows who that said they worked.

So, just to answer the questions (and  not counting those sticker things), yes adding an external antenna directly to your cell phone will improve your signal. Adding a power booster will help even more. And, you can get very effective cellular repeater systems to improve the signal inside your home or or building.

More info on cell phone antennas

Antenna Adapter and Cell Phone RF Port

How do you know when you have a good connection between your cell phone external antenna adapter and your cell phone or cellular broadband card?

To test for a good connection, it’s best to put your phone into test mode.  You should be able to tell by looking at the signal strength bars but reading the db gain in test mode is more accurate. For this test, you will be using the adapter by itself with no antenna connected to it.

The process is simple:

1. Record Signal Reading before attaching antenna adapter
2. Attach antenna adapter
3. Record Signal Reading after attaching antenna adapter

Signal strength is measured in db (decibels) gain. A reading of -75db is much better than a reading of  -100db.

If you’re getting a good connections, your signal should drop after attaching the adapter. This happens because the adapter disconnects the devices built-in antenna and uses the adapter as the antenna. For better results, you might try covering the adapter with your hand to keep it from acting like an antenna but that is usually not necessary.

WARNINGS

I have seen some devices that do not disengage the internal antenna when the adpater is attached and they work fine once an external antenna is connected.  Avoid forcing the adapter in too far as you may damage your device or adapter. Be sure and wait a bit (a minute or so) to see a change in signal strength. Once you attach an external antenna to your adapter, the cellular signal should go back up and you should see an improvement in signal strength.