There are some things on the wish list of every RVer, cruiser or nomad:
Health, happiness, cheap fuel, great overnighting locations.
And, for most, a better cellular signal for faster data performance.
One of the problems with cellular-based internet is that the signal can vary greatly depending on many different factors:
- The internal antennas on your phone or mobile hotspot
- The location of the cellular tower relative to your location
- Weather
- How many people are using the tower
- Local terrain - mountains, valleys and even trees
- Nearby buildings
- The structure of your RV or boat.
You often can improve the signal - and thus data performance - by adding external antennas and cellular boosters that can help overcome some of these obstacles.
Enhancing cellular signal and data performance is a tricky subject, and sometimes requires trial and error at each location for each type of device & cellular carrier.
It helps to understand a bit more about frequency bands, decibels, signal to noise ratio and MIMO to help decide on your signal enhancing strategy. It also helps to understand the factors that can impact a signal.
Read our in-depth guide on signal enhancing:
Cellular boosters, which this guide focuses on, are just one of several signal enhancing options.
They can be lifesavers and make a finicky signal usable enough to get online to surf the web, get work done or even stream video.
However boosters might make no difference at all... or might even degrade your cellular data speeds!
Included in This Guide:
- Cellular Booster Basics
- Cellular Boosters and Antennas (member only)
- Booster Installation Considerations (member only)
- Special Case Boosters (member only)
- Dual Boosters for MIMO?
- Machine 2 Machine (M2M) Boosters (coming soon!)
- 5G and Boosters
- Why Sprint is (Mostly) Un-Boostable
- Booster Trouble Shooting Tips (member only)
- Videos: (member only)
- Insider Interview: weBoost & Cellular Boosters (with weBoost's Chief Product Officer)
- Optimizing your Cellular Signal - Site Survey with Antenna & Boosters
- Product Guide - Current Options on the Market
Related Guides:
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Cellular Booster Basics
Let's start with the very basics.
A cellular booster is just a signal enhancing device. It is a one-time device purchase you make to help you get a better signal to your smartphone, mobile hotspot, tablet or cellular embedded router.
A cellular booster works by using a more powerful antenna than the one built-in to your cellular device and then electronically amplifying the received signal.
They're kind of like a hearing aid and megaphone for your cellular devices to better communicate with your carrier's tower.
This can create a stronger signal within a small area of your RV, vehicle or boat.
A stronger signal can result in a more stable connection, less dropped calls, faster data speeds, and prolonged battery life.
The three parts of a booster include...
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External AntennaAlso called the donor antenna, that you place on the top of your RV or boat, or perhaps even in a window. Theoretically, it might be more capable and better positioned than the antennas built into your phone, mobile hotspot or tablet. |
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AmplifierThis is the box part of many designs that the received signal passes through. It contains electronics that amplify the signal and then re-transmit it. It's the brains of the setup. |
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Interior AntennaMost boosters work by broadcasting the amplified signal wirelessly through this antenna, allowing any cellular device within range to receive an improved signal for both voice and cellular data. |
When your device transmits back to the cellular tower, this is all done in reverse – the more powerful transmitter inside the amplifier allows the tower to be better able to hear your cellular device. That's the megaphone part of the equation.
Because of the stronger transmit power of the booster, it's quite common to see increased upload speeds when using a booster, even if download speeds might stay the same or even be reduced.
Video Overview
Here's a quick video overview to cellular boosters and how to choose one that is right for your needs.
Do You need a cellular booster?
Cellular boosters are often promoted online as being the game changer solution that you absolutely should have on board. This is a result of effective marketing by booster manufacturers - they've done a great job of getting boosters into the hands of social media influencers.
In the right situations, boosters DO make a huge difference and they might indeed be an appropriate fit for your setup.
But they're not always the best signal enhancing option.
As boosters are a pricey investment upwards of $200-600, we strongly encourage you to learn more about this technology and signal enhancing in general. We're not here to convince you to get one or not, but rather to help you make an informed choice to determine if they'll make a significant enough role in your setup to merit the cost and installation efforts.
Boosters make the most sense for those who are relying on smartphones, tablets or devices without antenna ports. Boosters deliver the enhanced signal wirelessly, which is the only way these types of devices can get an improved signal.
Directly wired antenna options often will outperform a booster in moderate signal conditions for devices that have antenna ports, as they can better take advantage of a core LTE technology called MIMO (multiple in, multiple out). But in fringe or weak signal areas, the extra amplification of a booster might perform better.
As a general rule of thumb:
- If you're going to be in multiple locations and rely on:
- Cellular devices without antenna ports (smartphones & tablets) then having a booster on board can be a great .. even necessary.. tool in your mobile internet arsenal.
- Cellular devices with antenna ports (mobile hotspot devices, routers) then having a booster on board might be worthwhile as a secondary option to try - but we recommend direct antennas as your primary solution.
- If you're mainly stationary and:
- Getting poor signal, then trying a booster or antennas might help.
- Already getting a great signal & data speeds - then a booster is probably not needed, but antennas might improve things further.
Will a booster work for multiple carriers or devices?
Most boosters on the market are multi-carrier compatible and will work on most 2G, 3G and 4G frequencies offered by Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. But only somewhat on Sprint. They even cover some regional carriers, like US Cellular.
Always compare the bands that your carrier & devices support with the frequency bands the booster is rated for before purchasing. This guide goes further:
Understanding Cellular Frequencies
Frequency Tips:
Sprint: No booster handles Sprint's Band 41 (due to the way this spectrum works). Sprint's two remaining LTE bands (B25 and B26) aren't directly supported by most boosters, but can benefit from some 'spill over' from other bands. See below for more technical info.
T-Mobile's: Their newestBand 71 (their new 600 Mhz spectrum) is not yet approved by the FCC for boosters, so no current booster will support it.
5G: Upcoming 5G will be more reliant on MIMO and current boosters won't work with it. But don't let that hold you back - it'll be at while until mobile 5G is widespread enough for most of us travelers to rely on it. And even then, 5G devices will drop back to LTE. For mobile folks, LTE will be our core cellular technology for quite a while longer.. so current booster technology remains relevant for years to come.
Boosters can work with any cellular enabled device - smartphones, tablets, wearables, mobile hotspots, embeddded routers, connected cars, embedded laptops, etc.
A single device boosters (such as cradle style boosters) are designed for just one device at a time, but may work with multiple devices within very close proximity. More powerful boosters are designed for multiple devices to be utilized at once.
However, boosting multiple devices at once tends to degrade the enhanced signal for each device - as they share the power of the amplifier. So for the best results for data performance, only keep one device on within the active boosted area.
Avoid Boosting Your Expectations
Boosters can be an amazing complement to your mobile internet setup, and make the difference sometimes in whether you can make a particular location work or not for your connectivity needs.
But they are not miracle devices, and there's a lot of confusion over what they can and can not do.
A booster can help with these signal challenging situations:
- Distance to the cellular tower
- Overcoming obstacles that may be between you and the tower
- Your own RV or boat's construction (metal rigs like Airstreams and steel hulled boats can actually block signals).
A booster cannot help in these situations:
- Using an overloaded tower
- No signal to begin with
- Improving an already great signal (boosters can actually decrease data speeds!)
- Getting around hard throttles or network management that your cellular carrier enforces
What about Better Wi-Fi?
There's also a good bit of confusion between cellular and Wi-Fi - they are both, after all, wireless signals. But they operate on very different frequencies.
Cellular boosters are designed to only work with cellular frequencies, and can not help with getting a better Wi-Fi signal. If you're looking to get a better connection to your campground or marina's Wi-Fi network, you'll need different gear (See Getting a Better Wi-Fi Signal).
The confusing part is that many cellular devices can create their own Wi-Fi network that you connect to - so when you enhance your cellular signal your entire internet experience may improve. But you're not actually improving the Wi-Fi signal itself with a cellular booster, just the cellular connection that your Wi-Fi network is distributing.
Confusing sometimes, we know.
Here's more on this:
What's the Difference Between Wi-Fi and Cellular?
Additional Member Only Content
If you're an MIA member, please log in to access the more in-depth parts of this guide - which contains additional information on:
- Boosters & Antennas
- Booster Installation
- Special Case Boosters
- Troubleshooting, Tips & Tricks
Mobile Cellular Boosters On the Market:
Tracking & testing mobile cellular boosters is a top priority for us.
Below are some of the popular/featured boosters our audience tends to select. Click on over to our full Mobile Cellular Boosters Gear Center to see all of the options currently on the market.
We are constantly testing gear here at mobileinternetinfo.com, and many of the boosters and antennas we report on are in constant active testing while we travel about the country.
See what we are currently testing in our Testing Lab, members also have access to our field testing results and notes.
Our field testing then get summarized into our reviews.
Keep Learning - Go to School
This guide is part of our Mobile Internet University classroom, an included benefit for our premium Mobile Internet Aficionados members.
Our course is designed to be self paced, walking you through our content on selecting cellular data plans, equipment, signal enhancing, Wi-Fi, satellite, routers and more.
Continue to the next recommended guide in this series at:
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