Cell phone booster for a building

[lan101]

I don't know a lot in this area so was wondering what good products there is out there for this.

Good reception outside of building but bad reception in the building.

I was looking at something like this, but was wondering some good recommendations.

https://www.signalbooster.com/products/surecall-fusion4home-3g-4g-home-building-signal-booster

Thank you for any suggestions on this.

 

[Diggs]

All I've ever used are Wilson stuff and more Wilson stuff. Now I see they call (part of?) their brand weBoost. I like their stuff but not their prices.

 

[Sky-Knight]

I've got a weBoost 4G booster, the thing is amazing. Not cheap, but still amazing. It lets me get well off the beaten path. Installing one in a fixed structure just needs a DC brick, and a different set of antennae. Call them and tell them, they'll find all the correct parts to make it turn key.

Sure, you pay for all that... but it just works and you don't have to be a master of cellular tech to pull it off.

 

[AlohaTech]

At one of our buildings we installed a WeBoost Connect 4G-X. We have been very happy with the setup. It provided coverage in an area of the building that never received a signal.

We purchased online from Repeater Store

 

[lan101]

Awesome thank you all for the suggestions, I will check them all out.

 

[Markverhyden]

Personally I've only done a handful and they were all for VZ users so we used theirs. Do these others actually handle all carriers in (in reality)?

 

[lan101]

Personally I've only done a handful and they were all for VZ users so we used theirs. Do these others actually handle all carriers in (in reality)?

Are you referring to this one? Or a different model. This thing looks like any outdoor antenna is separate...and I'm sure that's what they need since inside reception is really poor. Reviews seem pretty positive on this one though.

https://www.verizonwireless.com/products/samsung-4g-lte-network-extender-2/#sku=sku2490003

 

[Mercenary Roadie]

The Wilson and weBoost units cover the full cellular spectrum and work with all cell providers. Wilson is meant for large areas and weBoost is meant from the smaller areas and they also have boosters for vehicles.

 

[Mercenary Roadie]

Personally I've only done a handful and they were all for VZ users so we used theirs. Do these others actually handle all carriers in (in reality)?

The Verizon units require internet access and the Wilson/weBoost units don't.

 

[Markverhyden]

Are you referring to this one? Or a different model. This thing looks like any outdoor antenna is separate...and I'm sure that's what they need since inside reception is really poor. Reviews seem pretty positive on this one though.

https://www.verizonwireless.com/products/samsung-4g-lte-network-extender-2/#sku=sku2490003

Yes. But, as @Mercenary Roadie mentioned they require an Internet connection. They also require GPS. No GPS, useless box.

 

[HCHTech]

Stay as far away as you can get from recommending the Verizon network-extender or femtocell or whatever the vendor is calling the thing that acts like a cell tower but routes calls over the internet. In the dozen or so installations I've run into (including trying one in my own shop), they are figity to setup, fragile once the ARE setup, and give a bad result. Support is horrible, they are expensive, and just an all-around bad answer.

The Wilson equipment is expensive, yes, but you are still using the actual cell towers. It takes the real cell signal and amplifies it. ESPECIALLY if you have good signal outside, this is the best answer.

 

[mikeroq]

Working on a quote on a weBoost 4G-X right now.

Any booster provided by a carrier is going to work by producing its own cell signal and using your internet connection as the back haul. Also will only work with their service.

 

[Markverhyden]

Stay as far away as you can get from recommending the Verizon network-extender or femtocell or whatever the vendor is calling the thing that acts like a cell tower but routes calls over the internet. In the dozen or so installations I've run into (including trying one in my own shop), they are figity to setup, fragile once the ARE setup, and give a bad result. Support is horrible, they are expensive, and just an all-around bad answer.

I think I've worked on/with 5 locations. It only worked well in one, where there was 0 bars from VZ.

 

[innovativeteks]

I have only done 2 weBoost installs. One was residential. Guy had a house in the country, nearest tower a couple miles away and could only get 1 or 2 bars. Installed device with 2 antennas and now he gets 4 and 5. He put the brick in the attic on circuit so he can reboot with a simple wall switch.

The other one was in Chicago for a basement and 1 st floor. Had almost no signal. Installed weBoost antenna on the roof (4th floor) with antenna mounted in basement. Not as great results but 3-4 bars - Chicago is busy spectrum wise and was difficult to tune.

All in all worked as expected. Boosted multiple carriers as I recall. We have another client that wants one installed so we'll see if things have gotten better or worse.

 

[Sky-Knight]

I know my weboost booster works with all carriers. I head out of town with a church group and I wind up with 5-10 people standing around my "interior" antennae using it. I'm on Verizon, but I've seen all the rest. Pretty good stuff when the setup consists of hauling the car antennae up a tree with a rope, and a set of alligator clips on my popup's battery.

 

[Paul Rodgers]

Another up for the weboost gear. The VZ stuff is garbage because you need to have gps and it’s hard to roam between two. You get stuck on one with poor signal.

 

[almnet]

I worked for a local government. Verizon was more than happy to provide a hardware device to boost signal within the large, solid brick government building. It did connect to the internet to provide the service, but lack of signal went away. I don't think they charged for it. But, they were spending serious money already for their mobile phones and police department access from the patrol cars.