Forum Discussion

Community Alumni's avatar
Community Alumni
Feb 18, 2021

Cell Boosting Kits Sold on Ebay

Has anyone purchased an inexpensive cell boosting kit that are sold on Ebay? If so, are they any good, or they are just worthless junk? There are several of them ranging in price from $100 to $200.

weBoost (made by Wilson Antenna) offers a kit for $500 that has mostly good reviews but I can't justify the cost for the very few times we may need to use it, hence why I'm looking to get something cheaper.

The following link is for illustrative purposes:
Cell Phone Signal Booster



Moderator's Note: Changed URL link to shortcut. Using the full Ebay page link can sometimes cause unwanted characters to appear in Forum posts.
  • _1Flyboy's avatar
    _1Flyboy
    Explorer
    Feb 18, 2021
    .... I’m on about my 6th WeBoost ( currently have 1 in our TC, 1 in our Truck, 1 in our house ) .... I tried a “cheap” cell booster ONCE; won’t do that again.....
  • agesilaus's avatar
    agesilaus
    Explorer III
    Feb 18, 2021
    You are rolling the dice buying electronics from eBay chinese suppliers. I bought this unit off Amazon
    where you can at least return something. It seems to give about one to two bars of signal boost. Tho I have not done a quantitative test yet. We had visible/Verizon signals everywhere this last summer except one spot. That was in 21 states and 32 camp spots.
  • Community Alumni's avatar
    Community Alumni
    Feb 18, 2021
    2oldman wrote:
    Who's your provider?

    T-Mobile
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Feb 18, 2021
    You may consider switching to Verizon and not have a need for a booster.
  • Community Alumni's avatar
    Community Alumni
    Feb 18, 2021
    agesilaus wrote:
    You are rolling the dice buying electronics from eBay chinese suppliers. I bought this unit off Amazon
    where you can at least return something. It seems to give about one to two bars of signal boost. Tho I have not done a quantitative test yet. We had visible/Verizon signals everywhere this last summer except one spot. That was in 21 states and 32 camp spots.


    I'm also considering this unit. I like the fact it comes with an external omni-directional antenna. Based on what I've read, experts recommend using omni-directional antennas for RVs since they don't require taking the time to aim the antenna.
  • agesilaus's avatar
    agesilaus
    Explorer III
    Feb 18, 2021
    2oldman wrote:
    You may consider switching to Verizon and not have a need for a booster.


    Yeash T Mobile has the worst coverage out west. Verizon is the best followed by ATT
  • agesilaus's avatar
    agesilaus
    Explorer III
    Feb 18, 2021
    gemsworld wrote:
    agesilaus wrote:
    You are rolling the dice buying electronics from eBay chinese suppliers. I bought this unit off Amazon
    where you can at least return something. It seems to give about one to two bars of signal boost. Tho I have not done a quantitative test yet. We had visible/Verizon signals everywhere this last summer except one spot. That was in 21 states and 32 camp spots.


    I'm also considering this unit. I like the fact it comes with an external omni-directional antenna. Based on what I've read, experts recommend using omni-directional antennas for RVs since they don't require taking the time to aim the antenna.


    We bought a painter pole that extends to 20 feet for$35 from Lowes. Putting the antenna up higher can get a signal when you have none or a weak signal. I could put a directional antenna on that but like you I am holding off on that. We did not have the pole last summer tho the antenna is on the top of our ladder, about 10 feet up.
  • Community Alumni's avatar
    Community Alumni
    Feb 18, 2021
    agesilaus wrote:
    gemsworld wrote:
    agesilaus wrote:
    You are rolling the dice buying electronics from eBay chinese suppliers. I bought this unit off Amazon
    where you can at least return something. It seems to give about one to two bars of signal boost. Tho I have not done a quantitative test yet. We had visible/Verizon signals everywhere this last summer except one spot. That was in 21 states and 32 camp spots.


    I'm also considering this unit. I like the fact it comes with an external omni-directional antenna. Based on what I've read, experts recommend using omni-directional antennas for RVs since they don't require taking the time to aim the antenna.


    We bought a painter pole that extends to 20 feet for$35 from Lowes. Putting the antenna up higher can get a signal when you have none or a weak signal. I could put a directional antenna on that but like you I am holding off on that. We did not have the pole last summer tho the antenna is on the top of our ladder, about 10 feet up.

    I'm also planning to get a telescoping pole.
  • Community Alumni's avatar
    Community Alumni
    Feb 18, 2021
    agesilaus wrote:
    2oldman wrote:
    You may consider switching to Verizon and not have a need for a booster.


    Yeash T Mobile has the worst coverage out west. Verizon is the best followed by ATT


    After careful consideration we recently switched from Verizon to T-Mobile. We actually have much better coverage with T-Mobile than Verizon in our small community. The real test of T-Mobile coverage will take place when we start traveling, but so far so good.

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