• 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.

Cellular Repeater System

Where would you like to improve your cellular signal?

• Home?
• Office?
• Warehouse?
• Hanger?

Today, it’s easier than ever to improve your cellular signal. One of the best cell phone accessories categories is cell phone signal improvement. There are many systems that improve cellular signal strength inside of buildings. Picking the right one is the only challenge (well, installing the system can be a challenge too).

A cellular signal improvement system consists of:

• Outside Antenna – Receives & Transmits to Your Provider’s Tower(s)
• Cellular Amplifier – Takes Outside Signal, Amplifies It, Sends to Inside Antenna
• Inside Antenna – Sends & Receives from the Amplifier and Broadcasts Inside.

That’s the basics. You’ll also need electrical power, maybe a lightning surge protector, cables and connectors.

The cellular amplifier (repeater) is the key. To strong an amplifier and the inside and outside antenna create oscillation. Unless your amplifier shuts down automatically, you can cause real interference with carrier towers in the area.

Basically you’ll need an amplifier that:

• Communicates with your service provider’s towers at up to 3 Watts
• Has Oscillation Control – Preferably automatically shuts down if it senses oscillation.
• Has enough gain to cover your intended area.

More Info: In Building Cellular Booster Systems

WiFi Antennas

WiFi Directional Antenna

Most antennas that come with wifi products are low-gain, omni directional antennas. That means they send signal equally in all directions. A lot of that signal could be going in directions where you don’t need it. You can add a directional WiFi antenna to point more of the signal in one direction. For instance, if your in a long rectangular shaped building and your wireless access point is on one end of the building, you many want to add a directional WiFi antenna to point the signal across the building. Of course simply moving your access point to the middle of the room, away from obstructions is sometime the least expensive and simplest way to improve signal but if a move is not possible, consider a directional antenna.

WiFi Cards & Access Points

If adding a directional antenna is not enough, you can add one or more additional access points. The typical wireless router (with built-in access point) and built-in laptop wifi puts out around 40 milliwatts of power. For reliable indoor use or long-range outdoor use, you need to maximize your signal and bandwidth. For a very low cost, you can build a system that can put out from 100mW to 1000mW.

You can overdue WiFi signal improvement with wifi signal boosters (access points, adapters, cards, amplifiers, etc) that create a lot of negative signal noise in your area that effects other WiFi users. The most powerful is not always the best for yourself or your neighbors.

Products for WiFi signal improvement.

It’s the popularity of the iPhone 4 that has brought the issue of how you hold the phone effects signal quality to the forefront. However, the potential to lose signal occurs in pretty much any cell phone if you cover the internal antenna with your hand or your head gets between the phone and cell tower.  So, this is not a new issue. I’m guessing that Apple’s announcement to change the signal bar calculation means that the signal drop should not be as dramatic as reported and that Apple feels that the actual problem is not the iPhone design (Where they placed the internal antenna).

Unfortunately there is no standard for calculating signal bars in relation to actual received signal strength reading.  Is Apple or AT&T any different from other carriers and manufacturers in the way they calculate signal bars? From our personal experience and testing, the major carriers and phone manufactures are all over the board in calculating signal bars as compared to the device received signal strength. The formulas are proprietary so there little that can be done to evaluate each. We have even seen cases where 2 phones on the same network, show different number of signal bars.

The most accurate way to determine your signal strength is to put your device into test mode and get a signal reading (in dbm). A BlackBerry’s signal reading can be found in Options > Status. Many GSM devices, including the iPhone 4, do not allow you to access test mode or any signal reading.

Here’s a good article with lots of contributions from the Wall Street Journal blogger on the issue.

The Case of Apple and the Mysterious Bars

Tekkeon Mobile Power Supply

Cellular Amplifier Back Up Power

We get many requests for using a cellular amplifier in areas where there is no access to electricity or during power outages.

We have done some initial testing using a cellular amplifier with a couple of Tekkeon mobile power supplies with some pretty good results.

TekCharge MP1800

We tested the Tekkeon TekCharge MP1800 with our lowest power amplifier, the Wilson Sleek, and got about 5 hours of stand by time. We will continue to test with larger amplifiers and report the results.

More Info On Tekkeon Power Backup / Chargers at Alternative Wireless

Wilson Mobile Professional

On the Go? Need to improve your cellular signal at home, in the office or on the road?

Since we started offering cell phone accessories, we have received these questions a lot and there are several options. One of the best is the Wilson Mobile Wireless Cellular Amplifier. It’s a 3 watt amplifier with about 40db gain. It’s a great mix of power while it minimizes required antenna seperation.  In a vehicle, the outside antenna is placed on the roof getting 6 ft of seperation from the inside antenna and having the metal of the vehicle between the two. In a home or office, the outside antenna can be placed outside a window and the inside antenna at your desk.

Wilson Mobile Wireless 3 Watt Amplifier System

Other more portable options are the Wilson Mobile Mini-Amp and the Wilson Professional. With the Wilson Professional, you can improve your cell signal just about anywhere like the home, office, hotel, airport or vehicle.

More Infor on Portable Cellular Repeaters

Q: Why does the Wilson installation guide say an exterior antenna on a vehicle must be placed at least 11 inches away from any person? Is it a health hazard if the antenna is closer?

A: The FCC requires that such a warning be placed on any product that emits more power than your cell phone – as does an antenna connected to a Wilson signal booster. The warning states that people should stay 11 inches from the device. The warning applies ONLY to any person who is outside the vehicle. All persons inside a vehicle are protected from the antenna by the vehicle’s metal roof. Even if the rooftop antenna is located just a few inches from a vehicle occupant, the roof provides 100 percent shielding for that person and all occupants.

More Information on Improving Cellular Signals

Wilson DB Pro Cell Phone Signal Booster

CE Pro magazine and the Custom Electronics Dealers and Installers Association (CEDIA) have awarded Wilson’s SignalBoost DB Pro cellular booster with their 2009 Best Electronics Systems Technologies (BEST) Award in the Home Networking Device Category.

CE Pro held it’s inaugural BEST Awards at the recent CEDIA Expo recognizing the “most noteworth new products and technoligies” for 2009.

Wilson Electronics answers the growing need to improve cellular signal inside buildings  ”with the SignalBoost™ DB Pro kit.  Allowing home integrators and contractors to cash in on an emerging market and consumer demand, DB Pro is installed using standard RG-6 cable, common to home installers and often prewired in newer buildings.”

Read more here: http://www.cepro.com/best/details/signalboost_db_pro/

Find the Wilson SignalBoost DB Pro at Alternative Wireless.

Wilson Sleek

The Wilson Sleek

At CES this week Wilson announced it’s new Sleek cell phone signal booster. The Wilson Sleek™ is designed to be simple, plug and play and easy to move from vehicle to vehicle.

At a planned price of less than $130, the Wilson Sleek will come in at a lower price point than Wilson’s other amplifiers making it very attractive. It will support most signal frequencies from AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and the rest except for Nextel’s iDen 800MHz.

The Wilson Sleek Features:

• Reduces dropped calls
• Extends signal range
• Speeds data rates
• Up to 20 TIMES more output power to cell site when in a vehicle
• Built-in port for battery charging
• Simplifies hands free operation
• Installs in minutes – no special tools required
• Adjustable arms to fit most any phone

No expected delivery date has been given by Wilson. For more info, Wilson Sleek

Wilson Cradle Boosters

Wilson’s new Cradle Boosters are a nice compact, portable and very effective to boost the signal to your device. The Cradle Boosters come in 3 versions: Apple iPhone iBooster, BlackBerry Curve C-Booster and the universal version U-Booster that works with most cell phones and cellular PDA devices.

Shop Wilson Cradle Boosters