Cell Signal Booster Hacks
Surely, you’ve experienced it before. You invest money into some new-fangled invention and expect it to change your world. I’ve been left disappointed by technology on more than one occasion. A SureCall cell phone signal booster should almost NEVER leave you with that disappointed feeling. In this article, we’ll explore a few cell signal booster hacks that might help you get more from your booster.
First off, cell phone signal boosters are not magic. Because they aren’t magic, they will not create cell phone signal where none currently exists. They take a crappy signal and make it a little less crappy. Sometimes the little less crappy version of the signal is enough to bring LTE Nirvana. Sometimes not.
You are never going to get blood out of a turnip, but before throwing in the towel, there are a few simple things that you can do to try to get a little more from your booster.
Change The Outside Antenna
One of the simplest things that you can do to get more coverage from your booster is to replace the outside antenna with one that has a little more oomph. If you have an omnidirectional outdoor antenna like this one:
You can easily replace it with the Yagi directional version of that antenna and aim it towards the nearest cell phone tower to get a lot more “bang for your buck.”
There are a few online tools that you can use to find your nearest cell phone tower. All you have to do is aim your new antenna towards the tower, or use this handy Signal Meter to help you dial it in for max signal gain.
Get Rid Of Excess Cable
Every cell phone signal booster kit comes with the necessary cable for installation. Sometimes, the pre-terminated cable that comes with your booster is longer than you need. In those cases, you will likely end up with a coil of extra cable. Cutting off this extra cable and re-terminating the connector is a great way to remove extra loss. Removing this extra loss will help to increase the overall booster performance. This is a great cell signal booster hack that costs very little to implement.
To shorten a cable, cut one end off at the desired length. Strip back the shield and the foil or braid, and crimp on a new connector. It’s really pretty easy to do. For a standard Fusion4Home Omni/Whip Kit, the included 50-feet of RG-6 cable can cause about 3.5 dB of loss (@ 1000 MHz). Cutting that cable in half will reduce that loss by half. Just to give you an idea, removing 6db of loss will double your coverage area.
Upgrade The Cable
Another of the great cell signal booster hacks is to upgrade the cable in the system. If you have installed your booster using cheaper RG-6 coaxial cable, you can almost halve the amount of loss by changing out the cable with a lower loss cable like RG-11. For example, with the Fusion2Go 3.0 RV Kit, you could get an increased 2-3 dB of signal over the 40-foot length by replacing that cable with a better low-loss cable like SC-400.
Cable replacement isn’t the easiest or cheapest way to increase your booster system’s performance, but it is a really great hack that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Replace The Inside Antenna
The last of the cell signal booster hacks that I will share in this post is that of replacing the indoor antenna. Replacing the indoor antenna with a dome or panel antenna isn’t always feasible. But, in situations where it is possible without causing oscillation, replacing an indoor whip antenna like the one included in the Fusion4Home Panel/Whip kit with a directional indoor antenna can provide an additional 6-7 dB of gain.
As a reminder, 6 dB of gain should DOUBLE your coverage area.
Summary
In summation, reducing cable loss whenever possible and changing out antennas for better, higher-gain antennas are great ways to increase booster performance. If these little hacks don’t help, then you could always get a better amplifier. There’s tons of different options out there!
If you need any help figuring this stuff out, just drop me an email to [email protected] and I will be happy to help you figure it all out. Thanks for stopping by!
– Rob
