Hello, friends!Based on a lot of reading here and elsewhere, I have decided to invest in a cell phone signal booster and a Wifi amplifier. We won't need these often, but we do stay in several places where they would come in handy. Since I won't use them all the time I've decided against a permanent antenna installation, but would rather mount both antennas on the same, temporary mast that I could set up as needed. If I use a cell booster antenna such as the omni-directional Wilson trucker-type or something similar on the top of the pole, then use a flat panel directional antenna below that for the Wifi, I figured I could set up the mast, point the directional Wifi antenna in the direction of the campground Wifi, and be all set.Do any of you folks who understand the magic of electronics know of any idea why this would not work? If it matters, the cell booster is the Cyfre CA-819, and the Wifi booster is the Alfa AWUS036NHA.Thanks very much!Regan

I seem to recall you want to separate antennas by a minimum amount calculated by the wavelength of the band they operate in. 2.4g ISM I think is around 13 centimeters? Cell-phone is kinda all over the place 700mhz to what, 1900mhz? Going for the longest wave, that's roughly 43 centimeters or a little under a foot and a half?If you have room on the mast to separate them by 43CM, go for it.There's HAM folk on here that can either confirm this or let you know I'm full of **** :)

On my WILSON SLEEK Cradle setup I also had to separate the external antenna mount to not interfere with my DROID Cellphone Antenna sitting in the cradle. They had be on a different vertical plane more so than mounted side by side. Interference would show up as decresed signal strength bars on the Droid unit. My setup had two WILSON SLEEK Cradle setups one in the truck and the other in a nice outof the way area inside the RV trailer. You can think of the WILSON SLEEK Cradle as my DROID or MIFI UNIT docking station.In my case it was more noticeable being used in my truck cradle setup as both indoor and outdoor antenna were usually in the same vertical plan. In my RV setup my external antenna is mounted on the side of the roof so that gave a lot of vertical separation when my DROID was sitting in the Wilson Cradle.Roy Ken

I use a Wilson Sleek for Verizon. I stick my JetPack in the cradle and use a 12" magnetic mount antenna outside my 5ver. That works for my cell booster and wifi.

You should have them at least 12 inches apart

Thanks very much for the input, folks, I really do appreciate it. I knew that they had to be some distance apart, but had no idea how far. Your specific answers were very helpful!I find it interesting several of you mention the Sleek. That setup, maybe with a better antenna, was my first choice but when I asked some specific questions from Wilson Electronics tech support, they responded, "Oh no, you need this system!" (the much more expensive one, of course) instead of answering my questions about the Sleek. I am glad it works well for you, and may end up wishing I had gone with it anyway! The idea of putting the Wifi booster in the Sleek cradle was a good one, too- I hadn't thought of that!Thanks again, safe travels!Regan

Cell Phone Booster and Wifi Amp Antennas on Same Mast?

13 Replies

Junk4u
Explorer
Oct 09, 2014
Woodtroll wrote:
Hello, friends!

Based on a lot of reading here and elsewhere, I have decided to invest in a cell phone signal booster and a Wifi amplifier. We won't need these often, but we do stay in several places where they would come in handy. Since I won't use them all the time I've decided against a permanent antenna installation, but would rather mount both antennas on the same, temporary mast that I could set up as needed. If I use a cell booster antenna such as the omni-directional Wilson trucker-type or something similar on the top of the pole, then use a flat panel directional antenna below that for the Wifi, I figured I could set up the mast, point the directional Wifi antenna in the direction of the campground Wifi, and be all set.

Do any of you folks who understand the magic of electronics know of any idea why this would not work? If it matters, the cell booster is the Cyfre CA-819, and the Wifi booster is the Alfa AWUS036NHA.

Thanks very much!
Regan

I just bought the wilson mobile 4g. It is certified for RV use.
I have a pole tie wrapped to my rear ladder , and a trucker anntenna at the end.

It is awesome..

I was at 1-2 bars 3G.. getting dropped. etc..

Now 4g and super fast.. If my network provider can keep up and stop throttling me.

Consistant -82dbm Signal

Best investment I made for the rv so far. Though we need our internet, and can't have the stress of slow speed either..

I don't know much more about the tech.. Just needed something.. And it works great !

mY .02
Maxi_Signal
Explorer
Aug 07, 2014
paulsang wrote:
Maxi Signal wrote:
pamngreg wrote:
Maxi Signal wrote:
pamngreg wrote:
Has anyone tried the Smoothtalker Mobilex1 that was highlighted in the most recent issue of Trailer Life? I was wondering how it would compare to the Wilson model. We have 4G through Verizon, need to get signal in the mounntains in Southern Colorado and NM. Thank you for any inforamtion.

That unit is only dual band ( 850 & 1900 mhz ) and will not do anything for 4G frequencies . 700 , 1700 and 2100 mhz

Recommendations? How about the new Wilson DB Pro???

Best recommendation - Wait ! There will be lots of options later this year when FCC gets all new units passed . You would be doing your service to make a purchase right now . There will be more options and better quality stuff available in the near future.

Any clue on a time frame? I am super curious.

September or October . There seems to be movement at the FCC
paulsang
Explorer
Aug 07, 2014
Maxi Signal wrote:
pamngreg wrote:
Maxi Signal wrote:
pamngreg wrote:
Has anyone tried the Smoothtalker Mobilex1 that was highlighted in the most recent issue of Trailer Life? I was wondering how it would compare to the Wilson model. We have 4G through Verizon, need to get signal in the mounntains in Southern Colorado and NM. Thank you for any inforamtion.

That unit is only dual band ( 850 & 1900 mhz ) and will not do anything for 4G frequencies . 700 , 1700 and 2100 mhz

Recommendations? How about the new Wilson DB Pro???

Best recommendation - Wait ! There will be lots of options later this year when FCC gets all new units passed . You would be doing your service to make a purchase right now . There will be more options and better quality stuff available in the near future.

Any clue on a time frame? I am super curious.
Maxi_Signal
Explorer
Jun 19, 2014
pamngreg wrote:
Maxi Signal wrote:
pamngreg wrote:
Has anyone tried the Smoothtalker Mobilex1 that was highlighted in the most recent issue of Trailer Life? I was wondering how it would compare to the Wilson model. We have 4G through Verizon, need to get signal in the mounntains in Southern Colorado and NM. Thank you for any inforamtion.

That unit is only dual band ( 850 & 1900 mhz ) and will not do anything for 4G frequencies . 700 , 1700 and 2100 mhz

Recommendations? How about the new Wilson DB Pro???

Best recommendation - Wait ! There will be lots of options later this year when FCC gets all new units passed . You would be doing your service to make a purchase right now . There will be more options and better quality stuff available in the near future.
pamngreg
Explorer
Jun 19, 2014
Maxi Signal wrote:
pamngreg wrote:
Has anyone tried the Smoothtalker Mobilex1 that was highlighted in the most recent issue of Trailer Life? I was wondering how it would compare to the Wilson model. We have 4G through Verizon, need to get signal in the mounntains in Southern Colorado and NM. Thank you for any inforamtion.

That unit is only dual band ( 850 & 1900 mhz ) and will not do anything for 4G frequencies . 700 , 1700 and 2100 mhz

Recommendations? How about the new Wilson DB Pro???
Maxi_Signal
Explorer
Jun 16, 2014
pamngreg wrote:
Has anyone tried the Smoothtalker Mobilex1 that was highlighted in the most recent issue of Trailer Life? I was wondering how it would compare to the Wilson model. We have 4G through Verizon, need to get signal in the mounntains in Southern Colorado and NM. Thank you for any inforamtion.

That unit is only dual band ( 850 & 1900 mhz ) and will not do anything for 4G frequencies . 700 , 1700 and 2100 mhz
pamngreg
Explorer
Jun 16, 2014
Has anyone tried the Smoothtalker Mobilex1 that was highlighted in the most recent issue of Trailer Life? I was wondering how it would compare to the Wilson model. We have 4G through Verizon, need to get signal in the mounntains in Southern Colorado and NM. Thank you for any inforamtion.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Feb 27, 2014
THink about how far apart the Wi-Fi hot spot is on a Smart phone or on a Jet-Pack.. You will have no problems with both devices on the same mast UNLESS... ....

The best antennas for both greatest Wi-Fi range and Greatest Cellular range are, of course, DIRECTIONAL antennas.

Aiming can be an issue if the Wi-Fi router is say East of you (As the one is where I'm at) and the cell tower, SOUTH,

One soution to this is a mast within a mast.. put the smaller antenna on the top mast, run the coax up the center, the smaller mast is longer,

The larger mast carries the longer antenna, the coax runs over the mast on that one.

Also, a side mounted antenna will tend to be directional (if you put an omnidirectional atop the mast the side mounted antenna may exhibit direcitonal tendencies.
Woodtroll
Explorer
Feb 27, 2014
Thanks very much for the input, folks, I really do appreciate it. I knew that they had to be some distance apart, but had no idea how far. Your specific answers were very helpful!

I find it interesting several of you mention the Sleek. That setup, maybe with a better antenna, was my first choice but when I asked some specific questions from Wilson Electronics tech support, they responded, "Oh no, you need this system!" (the much more expensive one, of course) instead of answering my questions about the Sleek. I am glad it works well for you, and may end up wishing I had gone with it anyway! The idea of putting the Wifi booster in the Sleek cradle was a good one, too- I hadn't thought of that!

Thanks again, safe travels!
Regan
Maxi_Signal
Explorer
Feb 26, 2014
You should have them at least 12 inches apart