Cellular booster

Hello,
Can anyone recommend the best cellular phone booster for traveling trawler?
Thank you,
Kenneth
CraSeaHorse

In a prior life, I ran a company that owned a distributor of cellular phones and equipment, including all the major brands of boosters. I still follow that closely for a variety of reasons. Right now, I would recommend either the SmoothTalker boosters or PepLink PepWave routers and antennas. I'm assuming better data rates are your objective? Where and how will you be using the boat? In a whole bunch of areas, coverage has gotten so good, a booster is no longer a necessity. Plus installation integrity is a critical factor for boosters.

I have a Wilson booster that I've used for 10 or so years. It will usually add at least one bar in remote locations. But George makes a good point that in most areas, a booster isn't really necessary anymore, at least compared to a few years ago.

Cell Booster

Good morning George & Ken,

Thank you for your response. This will be our 1st adventure down the Tombigbee River to Mobile Bay and then to Marathon. We pretty much decided not to install one before we go and just see how necessary a booster really is.

We do a lot of streaming on our cell phones thru the tv.

Safe Travels,
Kenneth & Susan Bladow

In our current state of cell technology, I don't believe cell boosters will help at all on a moving boat. Any article you find on the internet is from a company that sells boosters. My best advice is that you can get a refund if it doesn't improve your signal.

I have the Shakespeare cell booster on my boat and it does help in some areas, but not always. Here in the Pacific Northwest and in Canada, coverage is divided between Verizon and T-Mobile. In remote anchorages, often one will work but not the other. The best solution here is to get a mobile hotspot from the carrier other than your phone. Something like this: https://www.t-mobile.com/search?q=franklin t9 mobile hotspot

I used to easily get coverage about 10nm out at sea from downtown, but those transmitters were a few hundred feet high on the top of towers. That's without a booster.


So with a booster what kind of range have you guys achieved?

We don't know what kind of coverage we get yet. We will be starting our departure November 1, 2020 from Decatur, Alabama down the Tombigbee to Mobile to Marathon.
We have decided not to purchase anything at this time and just see what we can get on our cell phones.

Thank you!!!

Did you end up installing a cell booster? I’m looking for something for my little camper. We have been going to a remote beach spot and it’s really hard to get a signal.

What about weboost? Does that work?

As asked above, the key information needed is: do you have no service and want to SMS/Call, or are you looking for better data?

For better data, then pepwave, or a hotspot with external antennas start coming into play. If you have a fixed location, then you can even tune those antennas to be directional on the frequencies needed.

Most of the "boosters" are outdated, given MIMO, Carrier Aggregation, Band 71 (Tmobile), etc... I would build whatever setup around those features - also fully understanding mid-band 5g is out, but most of the offerings out now do not support it.

It couldn’t hurt to try using a small taco antenna. Could be temporarily mounted to a rail and turned in the general direction needed

Sounds like the OP is on the right track, seeing how the phones perform on their own.
A better question might be: What are the best cell hotspots on the market? Is anyone having particular success streaming Netflix or other video with a certain hotspot?
If a phone isn't quite cutting it, i'd speculate the next best thing is to have a standalone hotspot.

Mako said:

It couldn’t hurt to try using a small taco antenna. Could be temporarily mounted to a rail and turned in the general direction needed

Click to expand...

I meant to say “yagi” antenna, not taco antenna.

I hate autocorrect!!

I installed a Wilson and found that it improved the service well enough that my wife could work from the boat using her cell phone as a hot spot connection for her laptop. Internet service was improved 100% over marina wifi connections. She would normally work from home doing Zoom classes for her college students but now can boat all summer with me. I call that a win win and having unlimited data with Verizon had no affect on billing.

We have used Netgear 6000450 passive MIMO Antenna (~$40, Amzn) for 18 months with a Jetpack 8800L Mimo.
I ran several tests with and without it - it improved reception 1 bar on a 5 bar scale.
I am satisfied.
Our Verizon cellular internet has been near flawless from St Pete to Key West to Charleston (except Beaufort SC). It works (>5mbps, usually >10) in the Everglades and middle of Lake Okeechobee. It is great when something works!
We work aboard while we cruise...

Ther are somedxcellent articles and equipment reviews on Panbo.com and seabits.com.

I'm considering adding a cell booster system to our boat for our annual summer cruise to Maine, where reception can be quite poor or nonexistant at many locations.

Panbo and Seabits authors have reviewed Wilson Weboost Reach and Cell-Fi Go+ amplifiers and the Shakespeare, Wilson, Cell-Fi, and Poynting antennas.

I'm looking closely at the Cell-Fi amplifier and Poynting Omni400 antenna based on the Panbo and Seabits reviews. Ben Ellison has indicated he will have a review in the not too distant future on the Cell-Fi booster system he tried at an island anchorage where cell service is extremely poor.

Gary

Mobile Must Have is running a special on cell booster+antenna kits. They initially were providing the same stuff to RV'ers (bigger market), but the same gear is ideal for boating folks. You can also find more technical information at the Mobile Internet Resource Center, founded by a couple RV'ers who also cruise on their boat half the year.


You can also visit Milltech Marine, who has the Peplink gear and various antennas for cell boosting available too.



No affiliation, just passing along the info.

Having counseled hundreds of people on boosters vs. antennas+routers, and tested many of them myself, it's actually still a hard question to answer.

It comes down to budget (what doesn't) along with your use patterns and the areas you are going to be traveling.

More often now, people are choosing a quality outdoor antenna (or more than one) and a good indoor mobile router with cellular support. This works better in almost all situations, and with the advent of WiFi calling on cell phones, provides both an internet connection aboard as well as quality phone calls, something a booster was good for in the past.

Boosters used to be the only way to get a good signal when more remote, but they really only worked well when you were very far away from a tower or signal. The closer you get, even in the mid-range coverage areas, the more the booster actually made things worse.

If your use pattern is moderate to low, where you're only looking at web pages, getting email, a couple of devices, etc. then a booster might be a good solution. It's going to ruin the signal in populated areas, and even in moderate areas it will affect your connection so you couldn't do things like streaming, etc. but that may be OK for your use case.

While I have multiple boosters aboard, I find that I use them maybe once or twice a year where I am so far away that nothing will find a signal at all. Turning the booster on will give me enough of a connection to do some basic things, and then it goes back off again when I see signal elsewhere.

Warnercons said:

I'm considering adding a cell booster system to our boat for our annual summer cruise to Maine, where reception can be quite poor or nonexistant at many locations.

Panbo and Seabits authors have reviewed Wilson Weboost Reach and Cell-Fi Go+ amplifiers and the Shakespeare, Wilson, Cell-Fi, and Poynting antennas.

I'm looking closely at the Cell-Fi amplifier and Poynting Omni400 antenna based on the Panbo and Seabits reviews. Ben Ellison has indicated he will have a review in the not too distant future on the Cell-Fi booster system he tried at an island anchorage where cell service is extremely poor.

Gary

Click to expand...

Cel-Fi is an interesting type of booster - the Wilson, Surecall, Shakespeare and others are all analog boosters, where they simply just boost whatever the source device is asking for.

Cel-Fi is a digital booster, and that is both good and bad. First, it means you have to choose the provider and bands that you want boosted, which means it can only boost one provider at a time. That can be limiting if you have devices that you want boosted that are from different providers. Second, it means that they have software doing the boosting, and that has lead to some issues with compatibility. When they first came out, they had some issues with supporting a couple of different bands/providers and it took them over a year to resolve them. The current models out also have a weaker transmit side than most of the other boosters out there, so upload speeds are not going to be as good. This can't be fixed by software or firmware updates.

The Cel-Fi has some positives going for it though - because it is software based, they can update it to include new features and support. There are rumors they will be able to support some of the newer 5G bands with a firmware update. It also has a higher gain over the top booster of 70dB (Wilson), although remember that the upload transmit is compromised. For areas with really low signal, the Cel-Fi is going to perform better than the Wilson or any other solution at least for getting the initial signal.

However, I would really look into whether you need a booster or whether high quality antennas and router are a better solution.

If you are more stationary than moving, the Cel-Fi is probably the best solution out there. If you get a directional antenna and combine that with the Cel-Fi, you have a super powerful solution (100dB!).

If you want the all around best performing booster that can deal with multiple providers at the same time, and has more band coverage, the Wilson Drive Reach is the current king of that world.

Hi SteveMitchell - I'm an avid fan of your Seabits web site and Ben/Ben's Panbo web site as well.

Since my cell reception issues are very much like those experienced by Ben Ellison, although with AT&T rather than Verizon, as I am traveling the same territory, I wonder if you and Ben/Ben could have a discussion and determine if a cell booster solution or indoor wifi booster with cell support (vendor?) solution (of which I am unfamiliar) would be the better solution for the Maine coastal area. Given the number of boaters traveling the Maine coast annually, your joint expertise would be quite helpful to those of us less technically sophisticated looking for a good solution.

Gary

Warnercons said:

Hi SteveMitchell - I'm an avid fan of your Seabits web site and Ben/Ben's Panbo web site as well.

Since my cell reception issues are very much like those experienced by Ben Ellison, although with AT&T rather than Verizon, as I am traveling the same territory, I wonder if you and Ben/Ben could have a discussion and determine if a cell booster solution or indoor wifi booster with cell support (vendor?) solution (of which I am unfamiliar) would be the better solution for the Maine coastal area. Given the number of boaters traveling the Maine coast annually, your joint expertise would be quite helpful to those of us less technically sophisticated looking for a good solution.

Gary

Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words.

In that particular region, just like some of the more unpopulated areas of the British Columbia coast, you're likely to be in areas where a booster would actually make sense. Lots of inlets, islands, tall mountains and obstructions, and *some* cell towers, but not always.

In those conditions where you could be past the max distance, or have significant obstructions, a cell phone booster will be the only way to get a signal. The signal level itself will be so low that an outdoor antenna + indoor router will work in a lot of situations, but it simply won't have the "power" for lack of a better term to pull in the signal and give you a usable connection.

We have Att and Verizon, Traveled from Marathon across the state, up the coast across the Gulf. Up the Tombigbee. I guess we may had a few short gaps, but there some dead zones on the Tombigbee, just you and a few billion trees.

Cell Booster

Hello again SteveMitchell,

Thanks for your followup response to my request for advice for Maine coastal locations. I did some additional review today of your Seabits site and Panbo, as well, in response to your suggestion to review a router solution, and kinda ended up where you did with a cell booster as likely the best solution for us.

I do have another nimby question for areas where the booster isn't required but where the advantage of the roof mounted antenna could provide some benefit. Will the exterior and interior antennas, if connected together (booster bypassed), provide any signal enhancement or improve thruput of our cell service? I haven't seen this option discussed anywhere, so don't know if this is a feasible alternative to a router and associated equipment for those service conditions.

It would require some cable switches and jumpers to create a bypass, but that would be easy if there is a benefit. I assume when the cell booster is turned OFF that there is no direct connection in that equipment of the exterior and interior antennas.

Happy New Year to you and all the forum members.

Gary

I recommend you check out Surecall 4G/LTE booster. I just installed one and am pleased with it.

Just remember, a booster cannot boost something that isn't there in the first place.

Not allowed boosters in Australia, but we are allowed repeaters which apparently......boost

Only one we are legally allowed to use is the cel-fi, so say our telecommunication masters

I happened to be in a unique situation. I'm using verizon for many years and chose it due to best overall coverage. Recently, we moved to an area where verizon has poor signal (1-2 bars, but mostly 1). I also have verizon jetpack, which is now struggling with signal as well.

After doing some research, my first attempt was to boost cell signal for my jetpack. So, I bought External antenna (11dB Marine External Antenna). Zero improvement!

Then I switched into cell booster approach and got Wilson's weBoost Drive X Marine Antenna Bundle Vehicle Signal Booster Kit. The result was horrible. Zero improvement!

Years ago, I was travelling and hitting some spots with poor signal, so I bought Wilson Sleek booster. That was a waste of money. I tested it on many occasions and when I needed it the most, it would not deliver. Their claim of making poor signal better, is a total BS.

Before giving up on Wilson completely, I asked them for other recommendations. I was willing to pay up to $1K, but preferred to stay with $600 range boosters. So, they recommended weBoost Home MultiRoom Signal Booster Kit. I was told that its directional antenna will boost the signal x5 better than originally purchased omni-directional marine antenna. So, it would be best solution when at the dock. Then, I would switch to my omni-directional antenna when cruising.

It sounded great and I bought this kit. The result was very disappointing. Zero improvement. Doesn't matter how I move that antenna it was useless. So, another $550 unit returned with great disappointment.

Since my goal was mostly to get better signal in regards to data, my solution was to get T-Mobile's 5G Mifi. Being in some kind of strange "dead" zone in my marina/community 5G Mifi also doesn't do a fantastic job, as the signal fluctuates drastically. I can see a range from 9mbps to 200mbps (mostly in 30-50 range), no consistency. But, at least I get much stronger and better signal.

Despite some positive reports, at this point I'm totally disappointed with everything I tried from Wilson. Perhaps, this applies to most brands, not just Wilson.

Now I think that the only realistic option is investing into a system that gets mounted as a dome antenna (similar to KVH Tracphone LTE-1), where you insert SIM card(s) and it boosts the cell signal. A friend of mine bought this setup from YachtConnect few years ago, the cost was around $1500. He was happy with it. For some reason I can't find them anymore, I'm guessing they no longer exist.

Does anyone know of a similar products? It's good to see TracPhone LTE-1 coming down in price, ranging in $1,100-1,300. Does anyone here have it? Does it really work?

Perhaps my situation is so unique that even TracPhone LTE-1 won't help. The towers are not too far, maybe the signal just obstructed too much. I was just hoping that with solution like booster or Dome type will be able to grab the signal from other towers, even if they're further away.

Alex F said:

Now I think that the only realistic option is investing into a system that gets mounted as a dome antenna (similar to KVH Tracphone LTE-1), where you insert SIM card(s) and it boosts the cell signal. A friend of mine bought this setup from YachtConnect few years ago, the cost was around $1500. He was happy with it. For some reason I can't find them anymore, I'm guessing they no longer exist.

Click to expand...

Boosting any cellular signal is going to have pros and cons given how that is done, and in most of my testing / customer use, it is not as effective as really high quality antennas paired with purpose-built LTE routers.

You might want to check out the Peplink HD1/HD2 domes. I did an article and a video on them:
Peplink MAX HD1 Dome

It is an outdoor dome with the LTE radios directly inside the dome. The SIM cards can be inserted into the dome itself, or you can both power the dome and manage the SIM cards in an inside product called a SIM injector.

I have two of them aboard my boat and they have outperformed even high end LTE antennas and $10k LTE routers in almost all cases. There are a bunch of caveats (article forthcoming on using multiple domes) but in general this is the direction I see a lot of vendors moving - LTE radios outside instead of lots of cables and complications.

They're not cheap, but if you are really wanting reliable connectivity with a minimal amount of cables and loss, this is a good option.

This is Jeff Cote on the west coast doing an unboxing of the KVH TracPhone LTE-1. I can not vouch for this product nor do I know anyone using it. But I thought you might be interested in this unit and hear what Jeff has to say:

[Jeff Cote runs and owns Pacific Yacht Systems, specializing in electrical and electronics for boats only]