Electrical Cell boosters?

[RevN3]

Anyone have any experience with cell boosters? I'm wondering how well they actually work. Max Powell had a video on one (back when he had a Tacoma channel) and I was thinking that would be very helpful if it worked:

https://www.weboost.com/products/drive-reach

 

[midnight20pro]

I haven't run one but I'm curious about how well they work also. Tough to tell what's an honest review vs what's an ad these days on youtube.... so I would love to hear if anyone on the board is running one also and how it works for them.

 

[wd1036]

I used to work the oil field in West Texas and that was the only way any of us ever had cell service out there. Worked decently.

 

[black_taco]

Anyone have any experience with cell boosters? I'm wondering how well they actually work. Max Powell had a video on one (back when he had a Tacoma channel) and I was thinking that would be very helpful if it worked:

https://www.weboost.com/products/drive-reach

I’ve never used one myself. But when I was doing tech support for one of the giant cell phone providers our network team would always recommend Weboost boosters where signal sucked ass. They’re not cheap but they get the job done.

 

[RevN3]

I think my problem is I'm conflicted on which one of these to get:

Car model with magnetic mount:
https://www.weboost.com/products/drive-reach

Truck model with hard mount:
https://www.weboost.com/products/drive4g-x-otr

I'd go with the second one because I like it better both for the form factor and mounting options but range is the most important thing here. I can't imagine that little car antenna has better range but it kind of sounds like it uses the metal of the truck body to enhance the signal? At least that was the impression I got watching reviews.

Hey @Rob Daman I watched your video from awhile back. Any change of opinion since then?

 

[midnight20pro]

Looking at the spec sheets I see no difference in what they're selling you besides the form factor. The claims are identical on both spec sheets. One weighs half what the other does and since they don't provide any details on the antenna its tough to believe the antenna works any differently from one to the other. One takes 5v 4.5A and the other 6V and 2.5A. I think take a look at an install video and see which antenna may work best for you, which mounting options etc. Good luck!

 

[RevN3]

Looking at the spec sheets I see no difference in what they're selling you besides the form factor. The claims are identical on both spec sheets. One weighs half what the other does and since they don't provide any details on the antenna its tough to believe the antenna works any differently from one to the other. One takes 5v 4.5A and the other 6V and 2.5A. I think take a look at an install video and see which antenna may work best for you, which mounting options etc. Good luck!

Thank you! I also reached out to them directly to see if they could clarify/confirm the differences.

 

[midnight20pro]

lmk what they say. To me it looks like form factor and mounting options with a slight difference in power input. All output seems identical. Good luck.

 

[Mr. Nobody]

I can't say much, but I should know more about these soon.

 

[Rob Daman]

The product works if there's any signal to boost.

The larger antenna ideally would make a difference but I'd like to have one to really confirm my suspicion.

I think my problem is I'm conflicted on which one of these to get:

Car model with magnetic mount:
https://www.weboost.com/products/drive-reach

Truck model with hard mount:
https://www.weboost.com/products/drive4g-x-otr

I'd go with the second one because I like it better both for the form factor and mounting options but range is the most important thing here. I can't imagine that little car antenna has better range but it kind of sounds like it uses the metal of the truck body to enhance the signal? At least that was the impression I got watching reviews.

Hey @Rob Daman I watched your video from awhile back. Any change of opinion since then?

 

[3cent.Taco]

I have the Drive Reach (car model) and I was not overly impressed with the performance. I tried it sitting in my drive way where I only get a single bar of signal on T-Mobile. I can't even fire up Google Maps to get directions. I turned on the Weboost and I was able load maps and directions. Although the booster worked, it wasn't like it boosted it up to full bars or loaded Google Maps super quick.

It works, I just wasn't super impressed with it. I guess I was hoping for bigger results? I did take it with me to NM on my trip over Labor Day and a small piece of advice would be to plug it into a circuit that is always hot. I didn't do this so I didn't get to utilize it fully on the trails when we had little to no signal once we reached camp.

 

[Tacomadad18]

I have a need for one of these...

Is there multiple brands? Anyone one of them better than the next?

 

[RevN3]

WeBoost has not replied to my question about the antenna differences yet...that's disappointing.

 

[Tielur]

I installed a Weboost 4G-X OTR almost a year ago and I love it. Driving from Arizona to New Mexico through the mountains I was able to boost my signal from around 3g with 2 bars up to 4g with 3 bars. I used it last weekend at Lake Powell to boost my signal from nothing in the truck to enough to be able to send SMS messages to a friend.


The important thing to understand is that it doesn't create a signal, it only boosts it. So if there is no signal at all it will not help, but it will take a weak signal and make it stronger. I think a lot of the bad reviews on them come from the lack of understanding that.

Here's a video th at OXOverland did a few days ago between the WeBoost and a different brand called HiBoost

Original link: https://youtu.be/3ZWUbP4G6EI



Also here's some pictures of my install.

I have mine mounted to my roof rack so it's at a high point. I then ran it inside of the door seam ( I have intentions of cleaning this up eventually but it's been working fine for almost a year and it's out of the way). I then have it plugged into the cigarette lighter. I plan on eventually hard wiring it into my dual battery system once I get that setup. The main booster is under the passenger seat and then I ran the internal antenna ( this is the antenna that rebroadcasts the amplified signal ) to my Expedition Essentials TPAM on the dash right next to where our phones sit.