In the 21st Century, when it comes to connection and signal reception, there’s no middle ground.
You either have a great reception, or you have problems with work and studies.
One of the two. Now, we all understand that internet and mobile reception are not birthright, but thankfully there are many ways to bring you the so desired 5 bars on the phone and many ways to enhance the signal if it’s weak. One of those ways is making sure you have a mobile signal booster in your home, or place of business.
Most of us are not really familiar with the device, so let’s go over the main points and make sure you can choose a good one by the end of this read. But first, let’s understand why you are experiencing a weak signal and dropped calls.
Weak signal
The reasons for a weak signal are not really diverse. First of all – location. Cell phone basically uses radio frequencies to connect, and if you are too far away from the source, i.e. the cell phone tower, your signal will be weak.
The second reason is physical barriers. It can be mother nature (mountains, forests, etc), or concrete, or anything else thick enough to create an obstruction for the signal to get through. Typically, the buildings that get weak reception inside have a large amount of metal in the construction. Enough to influence the signal.
There is another reason for trouble, though. Interference between signals. If you are located between two cell signal towers, their signals might cause a disturbance, and, as a result, the conversation on your phone will be noisy, rather than crisp and clear.
One way or another, if you have an obstruction that you can’t really deal with, a booster is a perfect way out. This solution has been around for a while, but there were some complications. The tricky part was to make them stable enough, not to create a disturbance on the emergency lines, in case of malfunction. Nowadays they pose no threat to other lines, and no threat to your health, either.
What is a booster?
We are hopefully clear on why you have a weak signal, now let’s see what is a booster and how it functions. A mobile signal booster is a device that enhances a signal and broadcasts it. Any signal booster has the following 3 components:
- Exterior antenna. It’s usually placed on the roof of the building, or near a window. The objective of this device is to “catch” the outside signal, even if it’s very weak and send it forward to the next part, which is
- The amplifier. It receives the signal and makes it much stronger. This device works with a certain frequency signal. E.i., it’s not capable of just enhancing anything that comes its way. That’s why you have to consider the frequency of your mobile carrier, before making a purchase. The received signal is then transferred to the final piece of equipment:
- Interior antenna. This antenna spreads the enhanced signal across the building, farm, apartment, house, what have you.
How to choose one?
When it comes to choosing a good booster for your needs, you have a few important things to consider:
- Carrier. Your future booster has to cater to your special situation. So the first question is, who is your mobile carrier? As different carriers usually use different frequencies to transmit their signal, you have to choose your booster according to the carrier. In case you are running a hotel, for example, and you have to transmit signals from all the carriers, you need a specific booster, a multi-band device that will use multiple frequencies and will be able to amplify all types of signals: Call, 3G and 4G from all the carriers in your area.
- Location. If you live or own a business in a densely populated area, you will most definitely have a strong enough outside signal, and a possibly weak inside signal, due to thick walls, or dense wiring, etc. That means you don’t need an extremely powerful device, just choose the type of antenna carefully. And if, on the contrary, you live or work in a remote location, the chances that you’ll have a strong outside signal are very bleak. That’s when you need more powerful equipment to catch even the slightest signal, enhance and transmit it across the whole building.
- Coverage area. You might need a signal booster for your small apartment in the city, you might need it for a boat, or a huge hotel, a farm, a big restaurant, etc. The area of transmission can be very diverse, and you will have to consider that before choosing the right booster. Maybe you’ll just need it for a specific room in the house that just doesn’t get enough reception. In any case, the choice comes down mostly to the interior antenna, or antennas for that matter.
Consider all of the options mentioned above, to make sure you get the right device. Most of the problems caused by signal boosters have the same root: they were not the right choice for your situation. So weigh everything carefully before making the final decision. Thankfully, there are so many options to choose from.
Scan the market, familiarize yourself with all the different possibilities in your area. Purchase the best booster for you and make sure you or your business partners and clients don’t experience dropped calls or weak reception again!
