Last updated on April 28th, 2023 at 09:02 pm
Ok. You’re planning your pack-out for your next trip. Power is on your mind as you count and test your batteries and chargers for your cameras, computers, spare drives and your cell phone.
Communications are on your mind too. Your cell phone is unlocked and you’re ready for a SIM card for that out-of-the-way foreign destination or cross-country road trip. Your mobile phone plan is set up for worldwide service too as part of your backup plan.
But what good is all this preparation if your cell phone can’t snag a signal from a cell tower where ever you are? Dropped calls or “no service” reports in rural areas or along Interstate highways has happened to all of us. No signal = no communications = no talking or data transfers. Yup, those Periscope sessions for live video transmissions or uploads of pix for family and friends are out the window. What can you do?
Enter the cell phone signal booster. It’s light, small, portable and durable. Throw it in your suitcase (along with your car cam, right?), and you’ll be able to boost the signal from your cell phone from a vehicle wherever you go.
Does it work?
We took out the Weboost Drive 4-GM model for a test drive around the east coast of the United States in October 2016. Our test area included the “low country” areas — coastal Georgia and South Carolina — where cell phones often lose signals between Interstate 95 (I-95) and the coast. And we also tested the unit during Hurricane Matthew during a 7.50-hour drive from the low country area up I-95 to North Carolina, over I-40 west, up I-77 to I-81 in southwest Virginia and back.
The verdict? It works. And the results are easy to see. All you have to do is take a look at the cell phone signal indicator on your phone before turning on the booster. Then, turn on the unit, and check your signal again after waiting a few seconds for your phone to sync with the transmitter. You should notice a signal strength boost of one or more bars.
How was our signal in the low country? Sometimes only 1-bar — but we were able to get LTE service. Without the booster, we might drive for miles before snagging a signal again. And we’d experience frequent signal drops.
And how about our trips over the Interstate highways? We almost always had a signal — another significant improvement.
In some ways, we were the ideal test subjects in the U.S. Our service is T-Mobile — a capable carrier in 140+ countries, but with spotty service outside the major metropolitan areas in the U.S. Given the circumstances, we’re happy with the Weboost.
Because the vast expanse of the U.S. , cellular carriers cannot place towers everywhere. This leads to dropped calls — a common problem for all cellular carriers.
Will you still get “no service” indicators and dropped calls? Of course. But a signal booster, like the Weboost, will lessen the problem.
Weboost claims the booster:
- works with all carriers and cellular devices simultaneously;
- boosts voice & data speeds including 4G and LTE;
- amplifies signals of up to 4 devices in a vehicle;
- extends the battery life of cell phones by 3-hours (the implication is your cell phone doesn’t have to poll towers as much to maintain a connection)
If the booster is turned off in a known “no service” area, it’s unlikely to regain the signal if you turn the booster back on.
Installation
Installation in your car is simple. The Weboost Drive 4-GM is “plug and play”. Place the signal booster in convenient spot in your car, truck, or RV and plug in two antennas: one internal, and one external. Make sure your external antenna is mounted in the center of roof. This provides a good ground plane (reflective area) for the unit to send and receive signals without interference from windows or other electronic devices.
Then, power up the unit by plugging it into a cigarette lighter. Make sure your handset is within 18-20” of the internal antenna when using your cell phone. That’s it!
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Where to buy
You can buy the Weboost at Amazon.com for $378.00 as of October 24, 2016. A newer model is available for a higher price. Sam’s Club sometimes sells the unit for $249.00.
Condition of use
Cell phones are radio-telephones. Radio signals in the U.S. are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. Weboost posts a warning message on the box telling users to register the device with their carrier. Why? Because it’s a signal booster — a transmission enhancer — and some carriers might object to the use of it on their networks. Weboost and the carriers are operating under FCC oversight.