4G 50db Cellular Booster is here!

Scott & Heather · April 01, 2014, 06:13:11 AM

Wilson came out with one and it isn't even ridiculously expensive in my opinion. They are taking pre-orders:

http://www.wilsonamplifiers.com/wilson-mobile-4g-50-db-amplifier-kit-460108/

Seangie · April 01, 2014, 10:16:14 AM

Scott - Just ordered one. Cannot wait to get it.

We have foregone trying to use any type of wifi boster. It has been really difficult to rely on any type of wifi provided from a non-corporate or non-professional provider. We are finding that 9 out of 10 times we are hot-spotting from the phone way more often than trying to connect to a hot spot. So finally seeing a mobile version of a 4G cellular booster is exciting. The problems with previous versions have been - Recycling of the signal (outside antenna picks up the cellular signal from the booster), Low gain (8-10db), Only provisioning for one carrier (two or three bands), 3G only, Only having a close proximity booster (you have to leave your phone on a cradle)

Seeing a 5 band booster with a 50db gain is very exciting.

As soon as we get it...I'll post some feed back on how well it works. They said they are shipping in under 6 weeks. Still waiting confirmation from the manufacturer and I am sure they will have some issues with the 1st round devices.

-Sean

Scott & Heather · April 01, 2014, 11:12:27 AM

Quote from: Seangie on April 01, 2014, 10:16:14 AM
Scott - Just ordered one. Cannot wait to get it.

We have foregone trying to use any type of wifi boster. It has been really difficult to rely on any type of wifi provided from a non-corporate or non-professional provider. We are finding that 9 out of 10 times we are hot-spotting from the phone way more often than trying to connect to a hot spot. So finally seeing a mobile version of a 4G cellular booster is exciting. The problems with previous versions have been - Recycling of the signal (outside antenna picks up the cellular signal from the booster), Low gain (8-10db), Only provisioning for one carrier (two or three bands), 3G only, Only having a close proximity booster (you have to leave your phone on a cradle)

Seeing a 5 band booster with a 50db gain is very exciting.

As soon as we get it...I'll post some feed back on how well it works. They said they are shipping in under 6 weeks. Still waiting confirmation from the manufacturer and I am sure they will have some issues with the 1st round devices.

-Sean

That's awesome. So glad you're getting it. Technomadia will likely order one of these if they know it's out and available. It will make all the difference for us. The wilson cradle was annoying and it gets so hot, we've left the cradle with the jetpack in the freezer for the past 6 months.

technomadia · April 01, 2014, 09:09:36 PM

The mobile edition is exciting... and not yet available. BUT, we do have a preview release of the non-mobile edition inbound this week (essentially same specs). Keep tuned for reviews and reports. We'll be snagging a mobile version as soon as they are available for review, I'm sure.

Oh, and for anyone relying on the Millenicom Hotspot plan on Verizon, they just had a price increase. Our post gives all the details: http://www.technomadia.com/2014/04/millenicom-verizon-hotspot-price-increase-no-joke/

- Cherie

Scott & Heather · April 15, 2014, 11:10:21 AM

So, I watched the YouTube video on this antenna and I noticed they mentioned that the interior antenna should ideally be 2 ft. or less away from your device... (phone or hotspot). This is a problem in a 40ft. coach. In fact, it would be a dealbreaker for me.

technomadia · April 15, 2014, 07:20:50 PM

Pretty much the way it works, unfortunately. We keep a variety of interior antenna types onboard to switch out as needed... and have them located throughout our bus. The length you can be away from the interior antenna is variable based upon the originating signal strength. Sometimes, we have to huddle around an antenna point to get a call out, and we just keep our MiFi mounted right by its own dedicated patch antenna for maximum boost.

But hey, that beats no usable signal at all to be in scenic locations inside our faraday cages on wheels

Geom · April 15, 2014, 08:38:42 PM

I've been watching Wilson's site for a while trying to get the details on these new 4G boosters.
I agree with Scott, the 2ft thing is a serious downside for us as well.

So I've been considering the non-mobile version. The one intended for a small room.
Near as I can tell that thing would be perfect for the space we'd be using it in and would overcome that 2ft thing. But I know that Wilson expressly says it's not intended for "mobile" use and one of their techs told me the same when I talked to them about it a few weeks back.

They, however, don't explain why.
One reason listed in the FAQ is that it's "too powerful" for RV use. While I certainly would prefer to not glow from radio frequency exposure, surely there is a middle ground between being camped on top of the antenna for a signal, and being blasted by RF.

Another reason, the tech I talked to, listed is that the non-mobile circuitry apparently can't handle the inevitable variability in signal strength that you'd get with a mobile implementation and that it might actually damage the internal circuitry! I'm not an RF equipment expert, but that answer sounds very odd to me. He couldn't provide a detailed enough response when I pressed him for specifics, just the usual "this is not recommended" as the final response.

So I'm torn, do i get the mobile version and deal with the 2ft limit or go with the small non-mobile version and deal with the caveats above.
Decisions, decisions...

Chris and Cherie, I'm really looking forward to getting your impressions of the small non-mobile version; which I suspect is the same one I'm considering.

Seangie · April 15, 2014, 09:25:35 PM

George - the reason the non-mobile units don't work in an RV is that the 3g or 4g signal they emit from the inside of the building is strong enough to carry through RV walls/ceiling and hit the outside antenna and recycle the signal. You need a good 40' and a building wall to keep the signal from recycling. We might have better luck with the metal framed buses that we live in but radio signals travel very far with very little power.

We ordered one and got an email last week from Wilson stating that production has problems and the release date is still unknown and will be later than expected.

2' is not a problem for us. If we can get a signal inside the bus the phone can sit right next to that antenna. Wifi from the phone will cover the entire bus and we can use our Bluetooth headpiece to take and make calls and that works pretty good up to about 12-14 feet. One rainy day without having to stand outside to make a call or get online and it will have paid for itself.

-Sean

Fulltiming somewhere in the USA
1984 Eagle 10S
www.herdofturtles.org

Geom · April 15, 2014, 10:04:30 PM

Quote from: Seangie on April 15, 2014, 09:25:35 PM
George - the reason the non-mobile units don't work in an RV is that the 3g or 4g signal they emit from the inside of the building is strong enough to carry through RV walls/ceiling and hit the outside antenna and recycle the signal. You need a good 40' and a building wall to keep the signal from recycling. We might have better luck with the metal framed buses that we live in but radio signals travel very far with very little power...

Ahh that makes sense! So they probably have it set to two feet on purpose, as they could easily have made it 6 or 8 ft, but at 2 ft the feedback loop is greatly reduced in a mobile configuration.
Is the internal antenna strength adjustable at all, or is it just a function of external signal strength?

sledhead · April 16, 2014, 04:20:45 AM

I have the 3g house unit in our coach .Outside antenna at the far back on the roof with the inside antenna above the front window. We use a hot spot for wifi and most of the time it sits beside the indoor antenna . With our phones they do work from 2' to 15' away if the signal is good . As my buddy that works with this stuff told me if you have a $#!% signal then the booster will give you a stronger shitty signal . We camp in state , provincial parks most of the time and they are 10 - 15 miles away from the highway so not usually a good signal . But we use it all the time as it works good .

dave

Scott & Heather · May 27, 2014, 07:02:23 AM

Sean,

One word: awesome. I had no idea about signal recycling. Someday, you're going to be the old codger on this club doling out advice for free Oreos and Coffee.

That being said, we need this thing bad. Our signal right now is so lame I can't get any work done. At a friends house with wifi right now.

Geom · May 27, 2014, 08:26:10 AM

We picked up the Wilson dt4G booster (the small room model vs the "mobile" model).
We took it out on its first outing this weekend to see how well it worked.

Upon setting it up and messing with all of the settings, we were severely underwhelmed with just how unimpressive the boosting seemed. We tried a number of combinations of having the antenna over here, the receiver over there, and the indoor antenna dangling from that spot, then this spot. Nothing seemed to make a difference.

So knowing that, while this model is intended for a small room, it still needs significant separation between the outside antenna and indoor controller and antenna; we proceeded to do additional testing with the outside antenna actually outside. Boy howdy did that make all the difference in the world! Separating the outside antenna from the indoor stuff by about 30' made all the difference in the world. We dragged the cable outside, mounted the antenna to a 10' piece of pipe, and proceeded to test. The signal boosting was truly amazing. On our ATT phones we went from a semi-usable 2 bar 4g signal to a 4 bar, fully usable, LTE signal.
On the Verizon mifi we went from anywhere around a 2 bar 3G signal or 1 to weak 2 bar LTE signal to a solid 3 to 4 bar LTE signal. We kept it in this configuration for the remainder of the weekend and it stayed pretty solid.
I routed the cable through some conduit to get it outside and will be working on a better antenna mounting strategy than a 10' pipe leaning up against the bus

)

Seangie · May 27, 2014, 05:48:37 PM

George - Im curious if the only difference in the small room model and mobile model is antennaes.

We recieved our mobile unit and it has a very small (6") antenna outside and a flat bar antenna inside. It works great except that the only boost I get is when the phone is right next to (touching) the inside antenna. If its more than 6" away we get no boost. Its great for wifi hotspot and bluetooth phonecalls but I thought Id get at least 3-4' of boost with the inside mobile antenna.

More info to come. Im going to follow up with Wilson this week and see if its typical or we need a bigger inside antenna.

-Sean

Fulltiming somewhere in the USA
1984 Eagle 10S
www.herdofturtles.org

Geom · May 27, 2014, 09:35:55 PM

Hey Sean,

We agonized over getting the DT vs the mobile versions for quite a while.
I think the different antennas are definitely a part of it, but I think the internal controller is also different, or more to the point, I think it's the same controller just turned way down on the mobile version and the adjustment knobs taken out.

Here are the differences as I've noticed them. I have not owned the mobile version so please feel free to correct my statements below if they're inaccurate,

The DT model came with a flat directional outside antenna that is about the size of a dinner plate. The mobile version comes with an omnidirectional stick antenna.

The DT model comes with a black internal antenna that's about the size and shape of a skinny coke can. It too is very directional. The mobile version has a flat stick-on anetenna.

The DT model comes with a controller that has 4 lights and power adjustment knobs. The mobile version does not have the adjustment knobs.

The DT model is AC powered. The mobile version is DC.

The main reason we went with the DT model is exactly for the reason you're describing. 6-12" is all one can expect from the mobile version for boosting internally. While that simplifies the "mobile" portion for the radios (less potential for oscillations and antenna overloading), it makes its use in a vehicle, larger than a car, kind of a pain. The DT's problem is its power. If the antennas are not separated by a good distance, the whole thing shuts down or provides no boost at all (the problem we ran into below). The directional antennas can also be kind of finicky to point to the right location, especially the outside one. That has to point to the tower where the signal is coming, which can be kind of tricky to figure out. Other than a little bit more hassle on initial site setup, overall it's pretty manageable. I plan on fashioning a mount for the outside antenna to maintain both the distance and directional requirements.

With our DT we can get very good boosting anywhere in the front of the coach and decent coverage mid-coach and just about no boosting towards the back, with the internal antenna set forward center of coach. We're playing around with internal anetenna locations as well. While it would be nice to have boosting throughout the coach, this is definitely usable enough for our needs.

Hope that helps.

-George