WeBoost Install...What do the numbers mean??
I finally got to remove the cover from the travel trailer and start the install of the WeBoost Drive 4G-M. WeBoost: I cut a piece of steel 13" x 13" and placed it on the forward part of the roof. Mo...
Forum Discussion
Generally speaking there are 2 scenarios where the WeBoost will not make a noticeable difference in speed 1) when there is no signal, you cannot amplify nothing 2) when you have excellent signal, you cannot make the fastest signal faster. Where you will see a noticeable improvement in db and speeds is when you are in a fringe area where the signal is weak.
Also Speedtest tests are notoriously inaccurate and do not tell the whole picture. In this situation, the primary reason is the WeBoost amplifies the signal from the phone/hotspot to the cell tower. From the cell tower the signal goes a long way via fiber optics into the carriers network. The congestion is most often between the cell tower and the carriers network, so improving your signal to the tower will not speed up the fiber connection where the performance sucks.
If you are going to do Speedtests I would suggest doing them multiple times during prime time and multiple times when the cell network will be dead (middle of the night or very early morning) then average both sets of results. The first will tell you how fast you will be under normal circumstances while others are using the network, the second test will tell you how fast you can actually go under perfect circumstances. Also to really measure the effectiveness of the Amp I would test from a location that is only getting around 1 bar without the Amp. Generally if you are in the city I would not expect the WeBoost to make much difference.
Also keep in mind when measuring db, it is not linear it is logarithmic, so and increase in 3db is actually roughly double the signal strength. Many of the Wilson/WeBoost models offer "up to" 25 db improvement (mostly the cradle models) and some others offer "up to" 50db improvement, however that depends on many factors including the specific band/frequency the carrier is using, how effective the antenna is tuned for that band, how good the signal is already etc...
Also Speedtest tests are notoriously inaccurate and do not tell the whole picture. In this situation, the primary reason is the WeBoost amplifies the signal from the phone/hotspot to the cell tower. From the cell tower the signal goes a long way via fiber optics into the carriers network. The congestion is most often between the cell tower and the carriers network, so improving your signal to the tower will not speed up the fiber connection where the performance sucks.
If you are going to do Speedtests I would suggest doing them multiple times during prime time and multiple times when the cell network will be dead (middle of the night or very early morning) then average both sets of results. The first will tell you how fast you will be under normal circumstances while others are using the network, the second test will tell you how fast you can actually go under perfect circumstances. Also to really measure the effectiveness of the Amp I would test from a location that is only getting around 1 bar without the Amp. Generally if you are in the city I would not expect the WeBoost to make much difference.
Also keep in mind when measuring db, it is not linear it is logarithmic, so and increase in 3db is actually roughly double the signal strength. Many of the Wilson/WeBoost models offer "up to" 25 db improvement (mostly the cradle models) and some others offer "up to" 50db improvement, however that depends on many factors including the specific band/frequency the carrier is using, how effective the antenna is tuned for that band, how good the signal is already etc...
