Tom_M
New Hope, MN
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Joined: 04/24/2011
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kfp673 wrote:Curious, anyone try the "el-Cheapo" $200 options from amazon? Don't need huge sq ft coverage considering we can sit within 10' of the device. Thanks! I have a weBoost Sleek that sells for $200. It comes with a small shark fin omni antenna. The outside antenna has a magnetic mount that's meant to stick to the top of a vehicle. The roof of the vehicle acts as a ground plane. Since RVs typically have a non-magnetic roof you will need something to stick the antenna to such as a pie plate or a piece of sheet metal. The inside antenna is a cradle that your phone sits in. This does an adequate job for me. It will typically give one more bar of signal level.
Tom
2005 Born Free 24RB
170ah Renogy LiFePo4 drop-in battery 400 watts solar
Towing 2016 Mini Cooper convertible on tow dolly
Minneapolis, MN
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ktmrfs
Portland, Oregon
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Joined: 06/22/2005
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as mentioned, height, antenna can make a big difference. Also while most of the boosters have an internal wifi antenna, if the signal is marginal, you really really really want the phone to be right next to the inside antenna/cradle.
Next, the improvement in phone/text vs. data can be signficant. First they usually are on slightly different frequencies. Next the number of users has a bigger effect on data than voice.
We have the latest weboost in our trailer, along with a omni or yagi on a tall pole. There are places where the phone will not connect to a tower w/o the booster and with the booster we get very good voice/text and very good data (not good enough for netflix, but plenty fast for we browsing) and there are other places where we have no service w/o the booster and get voice/text but marginal at best data. And then there are places where nothing works.
And IMHO don't pay attention to "the number of bars". They are NOT a good indicator of signal quality, and the number of bars will vary based on which phone you have.
Go into the menus and look at signal strength for voice, you want shomething around -100db or less for ok voice/text, by the time it gets to -120db your likely out of luck. Once you get to about -60db your about as good as it gets and most systems will limit power so you won't see a signal much stronger than that. also if your phone show ASU the bigger the number, the better the signal.
Finally, just because your phone won't get any connection, does NOT mean a booster will NOT get you a useable signal, nor does getting a very weak signal on your phone insure that a booster will get you a useable signal.
I've experienced both of the above conditions. We often travel way off the beaten path well away from cell towers. In probably 90% of the time when we have very marginal service the booster gets us useable signals. the other.... well.... cell service is NOT everywhere.
Now if the boosters had a MIMO input....... my hotspot does.
* This post was
edited 06/26/23 08:49pm by ktmrfs *
2011 Keystone Outback 295RE
2004 14' bikehauler with full living quarters
2015.5 Denali 4x4 CC/SB Duramax/Allison
2004.5 Silverado 4x4 CC/SB Duramax/Allison passed on to our Son!
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Dutch_12078
Winters south, summers north
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Joined: 10/07/2008
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routeforty wrote:Dutch_12078 wrote:I've had better overall luck getting good cell signals with a dual aimable YAGI antenna set configured as a MIMO set connected to a hotspot. The antenna set has outperformed our previous $600 booster/repeater and the WeBoost prior to that. The MIMO set was about $140. Sounds exactly like what we're looking for. I have some lake property for our TT but we only get 1 bar verizon. Could you maybe expound on what you have, where you got it, etc? We're slightly technologically challenged so you might have to go into a little detail if you have time. Thanks, Gary
Here's a link to the MIMO set I used. Sorry, the price has gone up a little since. And below that is a photo of how I installed them on my batwing TV antenna, making them aimable and easily raised and lowered. I use them with either an AT&T hotspot or a Verizon (MIFI) hotspot. The 'Y' mounting bracket is something I cut from a 1/4" aluminum scrap with the straightened out factory brackets bolted to it.
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084GCBWTN/
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/fEIiOJSl.jpg)
And here's the back. The red arrows are just stickers that show "up" so the condensation vent is at the bottom.
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/T8dkWzml.jpg)
Dutch
2001 GBM Landau 34' Class A
F53 chassis, Triton V10, TST TPMS
Bigfoot Automatic Leveling System
2011 Toyota RAV4 4WD/Remco pump
ReadyBrute Elite tow bar/Blue Ox baseplate
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routeforty
ohio
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Joined: 12/26/2006
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Dutch-thanks for the info and pictures. Going to be on the road for awhile, when we get back I'm going to look into it. Hope I can figure it out. Thanks again, Gary
2018 coachmen leprechaun class c 2008 KZ spree 260FL
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