Anyone have Input on Cell boosters/repeaters

[ws6duramax]

I'm looking for anyone that has real world experience with cell boosters . We live in a pretty rural area . Cell services isn't to bad outside and inside my house is ok as well . The problem is we have a pole barn (metal roof/sides) that has living quarters . Inside of it we have terrible service .

Up until now it hasn't been a real big concern . But my Niece and her fiancé recently moved into it , as they are in between places at the moment . They are in their early 20's , so phones are big part of their life . She is also a college student , so she has a ton of courses to take online .

I've looked online and reviews are all over the map . Some excellent and some say they're a paper weight . Like I said I have decent service outside , I just need to get in the building . This is our only source for internet . Any real world insight would be appreciated .

Thanks

 

[OurDee]

I just Googled this, "cell phone booster in metal building". Lot of info and product available.

 

[shibumiseeker]

I just Googled this, "cell phone booster in metal building". Lot of info and product available.

yes, there is a lot of info out there, but very little real world experience from people you can trust. I’m in a similar boat: plenty of cell on my ridgetops but not the rest of the property which is in deep valleys. I’ve researched it for years but haven’t talked to anyone I know who has done it.

 

[whiskey6gun]

Contact your carrier and see if they will add one for you.

My experience is that they work well. Used one for indoor low signal. However, it only boosted AT&T, didn’t boost Verizon, so those folks still needed to go outside.


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[ws6duramax]

yes, there is a lot of info out there, but very little real world experience from people you can trust. I’m in a similar boat: plenty of cell on my ridgetops but not the rest of the property which is in deep valleys. I’ve researched it for years but haven’t talked to anyone I know who has done it.

Reviews are definitely spotty and I take with a grain of salt . On Manufactures websites they're at 90%+ and on Amazon the same product can be at 60% ! Even the reviews on Amazon can be skewed quite a bit . It would be nice to find people that have actually used them . They aren't cheap either $250 - $1500+ . I'd rather buy once and cry once , than have useless POS and have to start over .

 

[citizenkane]

I bought one for about $400 on amazon. I ended up returning it. I could get it work periodically but
never consistently. I messed around with it for a few hours over a couple days and could never get it work properly.

Do you have an internet connection in the barn?
Using WiFi calling would be the easiest way if so.

 

[CampingJosh]

My office is inside a metal building with in a rural area. We typically have 2 - 3 bars of service standing outside, but it was absolutely nothing inside.

I installed a booster system from Wilson Electronics back the fall of 2013, and I've been happy with it. The building is about 5k square feet, so I actually put in two of the indoor antennas, but they are both connected to the same outdoor antenna. This system took me from zero service inside to consistently 3 bars. The stuff I bought is a generation (at least) older that what you would get now, so it doesn't work with LTE. That means that data coverage inside is still pretty bad. Fortunately WiFi can solve that problem. Newer antennas work with LTE, so that's not a problem anymore, anyway.

I've been happy with what I have.

 

[schmart]

I've had decent experiences with equipment from Wilson electronics. I was tipped off to them as that is what is used at work to get a signal to the interior areas of the buildings. Based off of that, I used them to install a new repeater at our gun club after a lightning strike took out the first one. As the first one was only marginally useful, I took time to investigate and learned that the outside signal can be too good for the repeaters to work. If the signal is too high, it overdrives the amplifier which will cause it to shut down. For the club, which is in a valley, I used an android cell phone with "Network Cell Info Lite" to get a meaningful signal strength. In the case of the club, we used this information to identify how high a tower needed to be to get into a signal. Based on recommendations from Wilson's distributors, I went with a higher cost unit that has signal meters on the amplifier itself. Initially it wasn't working as the signal was too good... I was able to install an "attenuator" (basically volume reducer) in line with the antennas and got all the signal bands working. We went from having very poor coverage of anything at the club, to good data speeds in the clubhouse, which now allows match scores to be posted from the club almost as soon as the match is over.
I installed the Wilson Pro 1100 (50 Ohm) Commercial Signal Booster at the club, which is probably overkill for you.

 

[CampingJosh]

If the signal is too high, it overdrives the amplifier which will cause it to shut down. For the club, which is in a valley, I used an android cell phone with "Network Cell Info Lite" to get a meaningful signal strength. In the case of the club, we used this information to identify how high a tower needed to be to get into a signal.

I believe this is the reason for a lot of the bad reviews: people don't read and understand what they are doing. My signal is best when the repeater is set to a little under half power. When turned up all the way, it doesn't work at all. But that's installation-dependent, and it's explained in the directions.

 

[ws6duramax]

All good info guys , I appreciate it . I've looked at the Wilson commercial stuff but that's pretty salty , around a grand or so . I'm leaning towards the weboost stuff , which Wilson sells as well , for about half the price . I only need to cover about a little more than 1000 sq ft .

 

[Hop]

I've been trying to help my sister & brother in law with this same problem. They're in a cell internet only location that has decent download speeds during the day and horrible after work. The signal strength and signal noise levels are on the edge of bad at all times.

I am not an RF engineer but I don't think number of bars is everything. Being able to log into your booster or connect with a computer to read the noise levels is also important. Move the booster around the property to also get a better s/n ratio.

I'd like to try external roof top antennas or elevating the entire booster in a weatherproof enclosure. The higher the better as long as wifi into the house isn't compromised.

Has anyone tried this?

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[CampingJosh]

I've been trying to help my sister & brother in law with this same problem. They're in a cell internet only location that has decent download speeds during the day and horrible after work. The signal strength and signal noise levels are on the edge of bad at all times.

I am not an RF engineer but I don't think number of bars is everything. Being able to log into your booster or connect with a computer to read the noise levels is also important. Move the booster around the property to also get a better s/n ratio.

Yep. I use the android app SignalCheck Pro to actually check. The bars are a decent proxy, though.

I'd like to try external roof top antennas or elevating the entire booster in a weatherproof enclosure. The higher the better as long as wifi into the house isn't compromised.

Has anyone tried this?

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I have the outdoor antenna mounted on a mast. It's at about 18 feet above ground. For me, that was required to really make the system work.

 

[ws6duramax]

Well I built the bullet over the weekend and installed a WeBoost from Wilson electronics . I went with the biggest one they recommend for a medium sized home . I think it said it covers a 5,000 sq ft area under best conditions .

Install was pretty straight forward and fairly simple . The hardest part was making everything look nice and clean . So far so good . It definitely won't cover 5,000 sq ft in my application but seems to do well in about 1800 sq ft . The closer to the booster the better for sure . I went from about -110 dbm to on an average around -85 dbm . Overall I'm impressed by it so far .