I need a real boost!

[Teeshot1939]

Currently using either my AT&T Velocity Jetpack or my Verizon 8800L Jetpack for internet access. Need high speed reliable service for my job while RV'ing across our great country! Disappointed with performance of both devices. Wife thinks we need a cell signal booster. Is she right...again? If so, what are your recommendations/experiences? Thanks.......

[ktmrfs]

GordonThree wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Sometimes adding a booster may actually slow data rates. It depends on whether 'mimo' is being used by the device. I'm not sure if there is a booster that had 'mimo' enabled.

x2 for a booster with MIMO, as that's where the speed comes from, multiple radios inside the phone working together on different channels.

like mentioned a few posts pack, a booster could slow your speed, since they often only use one outdoor and one indoor antenna

I've seen this with my Wilson Sleek (now called WeBoost). I only use it when the phone can't get reception on its own, as it does slow down the speed quite a bit.

one outdoor and one indoor antenna has nothing to do with mimo. it's a function of how many frequencies the booster will support simultaneously. One antenna will support transmission and receptions on many frequencies.

But as I mentioned earlier, I've seen the lowest data rate when there is only one nearby transmitter and your in a location with many users. (E.G. a crowded campground) And data ratek varied noticeably during the day, worst in morning and evening/night, much better from about 10am till 4pm or so when people were either gone or not using data.

And in reasonably strong signal areas booster at best didn't change the data rate, at times would reduce data rate.

[ktmrfs]

Acampingwewillgo wrote:
Thank You all for the info on the "We Boost"! I currently have an older Wilson Amp but I bought it used and my understanding it was a 3G model. At the time, I had no intention to ever upgrade my phone but we all know how that goes. Now with staying at rural campgrounds where Wi-Fi is generally non existent, I look for other data options..ie tethering. I know it won't be an all inclusive fix but figure it will help in marginal areas.

ok, here is a BIG issue with a 3G ONLY booster. It will work ok IF the nearby cell towers are still supporting 3G frequencies. A lot are NOT. so the booster looks for a 3G frequency, can't find it and end result is no boost. Been there, done that.

Two of our favorite campgrounds have marginal cell service. my old 3G booster did nothing for data, since the towers weren't supporting 3G anymore. My 4G booster brought it strong 4G signals and high data rate.

[GordonThree]

pianotuna wrote:
Sometimes adding a booster may actually slow data rates. It depends on whether 'mimo' is being used by the device. I'm not sure if there is a booster that had 'mimo' enabled.

x2 for a booster with MIMO, as that's where the speed comes from, multiple radios inside the phone working together on different channels.

like mentioned a few posts pack, a booster could slow your speed, since they often only use one outdoor and one indoor antenna

I've seen this with my Wilson Sleek (now called WeBoost). I only use it when the phone can't get reception on its own, as it does slow down the speed quite a bit.

[Acampingwewillg]

Thank You all for the info on the "We Boost"! I currently have an older Wilson Amp but I bought it used and my understanding it was a 3G model. At the time, I had no intention to ever upgrade my phone but we all know how that goes. Now with staying at rural campgrounds where Wi-Fi is generally non existent, I look for other data options..ie tethering. I know it won't be an all inclusive fix but figure it will help in marginal areas.

[ktmrfs]

rr2254545 wrote:
a booster boosts the single it does not make if faster - you are as fast a you can get

not necessarily. if the signal is weak, data rates to do go down, BER goes up and throughput can suffer. But if the signal is strong, a booster won't do anything. Once the signal level gets to around -100db you may see a drop in data rate. If it's better, likely no improvement.

And if you have a reasonably decent signal, a booster may improve the SN ratio, but actually decrease data rate.

But often the reason for low data rate has nothing to do with signal level, you have a strong signal level and low data rate. Primary reason is tower is overloaded with to many users wanting to much data.

And a booster won't do anything to help that.

we have a weboost 4G RV in one trailer, weboost 4G in the other. my experience is that in areas of low signal, the weboost solves the voice/messaging issue 100% of the time. In remote areas AWAY from big campgrounds I have almost 100% solved the slow data rate. When we are in remote areas that have many campgrounds nearby, mid day data rate is the highest with the booster. early morning and especially in the evenings we often see data rate plummet. Likely because everyone is trying to use data breakfast time and especially in the evening. W/O the booster data rate is often low ALL day, with the booster once the tower isn't unloaded data rate skyrockets with the booster.

[Teeshot1939]

Thanks for the great responses. By "disappointed" I mean: Only 1-2 out of 5 bars on the signal icon of the Jetpack. Dropped connections both on the phones and jetpacks. I've used the online internet speed tests and get varying numbers on both jetpack devices from one moment to the next.(download ranged 0.3-3.2, upload ranged 5.3-11.6, ping 44-80, I thought Ping they made golf clubs!) I've read that the bar indicators are not very accurate. As a test, I placed my AT&T phone 2 inches from my AT&T Jetpack...got 4/5 bars on my phone and 2/5 bars on the Jetpack. At my current location a phone call using our AT&T phones is high unreliable...dropped calls, unable to hear each party. When there is a decent connection then the speed of either Jetpack (AT&T or Verizone) is acceptable. So my disappointment isn't really the speed, it's getting and maintaining a strong signal.
Appreciate the info from the gentleman with 2 WeBoost units. Like the 30 day return policy. May go that route an test before I start drilling holes for cables in my RV's fiberglass roof.
As far as jet pack antenna...both AT&T Velocity and Verizon 8800L research indicate not compatible with external antenna....yet Amazon cells antennas for each?!

[coolmom42]

DarkSkySeeker wrote:

Acampingwewillgo wrote:
I'll be watching this cause I'm close to pulling the trigger on the "We Boost" by Wilson Electronics RV Edition. I've heard good things about it?

I own 2 WeBoosts - one for home - one for the RV.

Since I spent a lot of time routing the cables through floor joists and neatly attaching everything to the house, I did not want to detach it when traveling, thus the second purchase.

At my home, it works great! I get one bar at home without the WeBoost. I get 4 bars with the WeBoost and when using my phone as a hotspot, I get 30MBS up and down. This is better than the wired service I had at my former address in town. The units I bought are the WeBoost Connect 4G. Yes, $500+, but they are worth it. My only gripe about the home installation is that the signal is not strong all over the house. Sometimes we tell people to stand in the kitchen since it is nearest to where the broadcast antenna is.

While camping, it varies. If you have 2 bars or more on your phone, I've found there to be no point to the WeBoost, as I've gotten high internet speeds just from the phone. If the signal is lower, I believe a lot depends on the terrain. In the mountains, I have had the performance be great one day and poor another day. I would guess in flat terrain this might not be the case, but am not sure.

The nice thing about Wilson Electronics is the 30 day guarantee - "All weBoost products are protected by a 30-day money-back guarantee. If for any reason the performance of any product is not acceptable, the product may be returned to the reseller with a dated proof of purchase."

Finally, you have to be sure the receiver antenna and amplifier are separated from the final antenna that broadcasts the signal to your phone. The WeBoost amplifier shows 4 lights. If all is well, the lights are green. If you have the broadcast antenna too close, the lights will be red or will flash red and green from the output signal feeding back to the input antenna. The system does not work well if the lights are solid red or flashing. On my RV I put the receiver antenna way up high on a telescoping flagpole attached to my trailer's ladder, and I run coax to the amplifier near my trailer's door. And then I run coax to the broadcast antenna that is located in my storage passthrough. This seems to work well.

As with other gadgets, if I leave the campground, I worry about theft. Seems to be one of the most difficult issues for me while camping - leaving my toys setup outside the trailer.

I have the WeBoost system as well for my home. The smallest system was right at the size limit for my house (1100 sf) so I opted for the 5000 sf model. It works great.

In my case, the metal roof I put on the house greatly degraded the signal inside. The external directional antenna and internal amplifier got my indoor levels back to the same as the outdoor, which is OK for phone and phone hotspot.

The Wilson products are well designed and I expect the one for the RV would work well for you, IF the problem is low signal strength (not overloaded towers) AND if you install it correctly.

[MrWizard]

pianotuna wrote:
Sometimes adding a booster may actually slow data rates. It depends on whether 'mimo' is being used by the device. I'm not sure if there is a booster that had 'mimo' enabled.

Multiple input, multiple output

Yes boosters do that they just don't say that
They cover multiple bands
And they allow multiple devices to be used at the same time
Unless you have one of the cradle models that hold the phone/Jett pack

Models with inside antennas allow multiple devices that may not be I the same bands

Aka mimo

[DarkSkySeeker]

Acampingwewillgo wrote:
I'll be watching this cause I'm close to pulling the trigger on the "We Boost" by Wilson Electronics RV Edition. I've heard good things about it?

I own 2 WeBoosts - one for home - one for the RV.

Since I spent a lot of time routing the cables through floor joists and neatly attaching everything to the house, I did not want to detach it when traveling, thus the second purchase.

At my home, it works great! I get one bar at home without the WeBoost. I get 4 bars with the WeBoost and when using my phone as a hotspot, I get 30MBS up and down. This is better than the wired service I had at my former address in town. The units I bought are the WeBoost Connect 4G. Yes, $500+, but they are worth it. My only gripe about the home installation is that the signal is not strong all over the house. Sometimes we tell people to stand in the kitchen since it is nearest to where the broadcast antenna is.

While camping, it varies. If you have 2 bars or more on your phone, I've found there to be no point to the WeBoost, as I've gotten high internet speeds just from the phone. If the signal is lower, I believe a lot depends on the terrain. In the mountains, I have had the performance be great one day and poor another day. I would guess in flat terrain this might not be the case, but am not sure.

The nice thing about Wilson Electronics is the 30 day guarantee - "All weBoost products are protected by a 30-day money-back guarantee. If for any reason the performance of any product is not acceptable, the product may be returned to the reseller with a dated proof of purchase."

Finally, you have to be sure the receiver antenna and amplifier are separated from the final antenna that broadcasts the signal to your phone. The WeBoost amplifier shows 4 lights. If all is well, the lights are green. If you have the broadcast antenna too close, the lights will be red or will flash red and green from the output signal feeding back to the input antenna. The system does not work well if the lights are solid red or flashing. On my RV I put the receiver antenna way up high on a telescoping flagpole attached to my trailer's ladder, and I run coax to the amplifier near my trailer's door. And then I run coax to the broadcast antenna that is located in my storage passthrough. This seems to work well.

As with other gadgets, if I leave the campground, I worry about theft. Seems to be one of the most difficult issues for me while camping - leaving my toys setup outside the trailer.

[theoldwizard1]

The best thing you can do for any "hot spot" device is add an external antenna. Skip the booster/amplifier. The higher you can mount it the better. Also directional antennas work much better than omnidirectional antennas.

[pianotuna]

Sometimes adding a booster may actually slow data rates. It depends on whether 'mimo' is being used by the device. I'm not sure if there is a booster that had 'mimo' enabled.

[Bill_Satellite]

Teeshot1939 wrote:
Currently using either my AT&T Velocity Jetpack or my Verizon 8800L Jetpack for internet access. Need high speed reliable service for my job while RV'ing across our great country! Disappointed with performance of both devices. Wife thinks we need a cell signal booster. Is she right...again? If so, what are your recommendations/experiences? Thanks.......

You can't increase speeds where towers are overloaded or Verizon is not providing their top speeds. Do you have a good signal and poor performance? If so, you need to move! If you have a weak signal you MIGHT improve performance with a signal booster but there is no guarantee. The Wilson boosters seem to provide the best overall increases in signal strength but, again, will not necessarily improve your overall throughput.

[Lwiddis]

Apples and oranges.

[pianotuna]

There are a few devices that would allow connection to two (or more) different cell companies at once. Expect sticker shock.

In theory, you could connect to all of the 'big four'. In practise, you, as a user, have no control over the 'back haul' load on the towers.

My brother has a cottage that is 1000 feet from a cell phone tower, which serves a Provincial Park. During the week, it is fast--up to 50 mps down load. On the week end, when every one and his dog is connecting, speed is low low low and ping times may be over 1000.

Maximum range is 25 miles--anything over that and even if the signal is strong, the connection 'times out'.

[MrWizard]

it will speed up data transfer, where the slow down is caused by stability issues because of a weak connection and not system crowding

it won't help where you have a strong signal from the tower but slow speed do too congestion