Can a Cell Phone Booster work in this? More tests on the HiBoost
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- Опубліковано 22 лют 2022
- In the second of two parts, I do more in-depth testing to see if the HiBoost Travel 4G 2.0 RV Cell Phone Booster is suitable for my small fiberglass trailer. The results were a little surprising! I also get to try a few of my viewer's suggestions to improve performance. The speed app I used is "Network Cell Info Lite" which is available at Google Play Store.
UPDATE 2/24/2022: After correspondence with HiBoost, I received a response to a very specific question: "Is this system suitable for a fiberglass RV?"
Their answer: "Yes, our booster is suitable for fiberglass RV. But for fiberglass RV, the coverage range seems not good enough if compared with metal (roof) RV. The booster could provide a wider range if it is used in a metal (roof) RV."
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Yes, it is MegaBITs not MegaBYTES, I get it. I have pinned this so I don't have to respond over and over again. Thanks! SP
Hahaha!!! Never post with a mistake!!! Hahahaha!!!
8Mb(Megabit)= 1 MB (MegaByte)
This series is exactly what I needed. I'm trying to boost signal in my house. Thanks sp
Heya Slim! Very interesting experiment. A quick word of practical advice: Secure the Cable running from the exterior antenna to the booster so that the weight of the cable isn't resting entirely on the connector on the antenna itself. It looks like you may be able to clip or otherwise fasten it to the pole easily. That connector is a fairly fragile point of failure and the weight and movement of that cable could easily wiggle it loose if left to support itself. Happy Trails!
Good point!
Great comment!!
Especially in the wind at the beach 🏖🏝
Looks like I left as you arrived. Now at an Army Corp of Engineers spot 2 hours north. Learned a LOT with this video. Thanks! Be real careful with the winds. They took down my CLAM screen tent and E-bike attached in one fell swoop and it was sand bagged down into the sand 6 inches!
UPDATE 2/24/2022:
After correspondence with HiBoost, I received a response to my very specific question:
"Is this system suitable for a fiberglass RV?"
Their answer:
"Yes, our booster is suitable for fiberglass RV. But for fiberglass RV, the coverage range seems not good enough if compared with metal (roof) RV. The booster could provide a wider range if it is used in a metal (roof) RV."
Vindicated! Now does anyone know if WeBoost has a similar disclaimer? Thanks! SP
The fact that the indoor antenna has to be within a couple of inches of the phone would be a deal killer for me. Has to be something better out there.
Hooray for Nature! I get why the booster is important and appreciate that you're working hard to share what you've learning with the community but for me, nature is the key.
Thank you for your time and energy Slim. I am blessed that there are people like you who do this research for me (or at least some of the research). I'm still working part time and likely always will. So when I get time to go camping I want to make the most of it. You and many others facilitate that immensely. Many thanks again and happy travels!
Thanks for your effort to produce this. Your conclusion was right on. You weren't really enjoying the location while you were testing it. I'm glad you gave us the review, but I'm more glad that you signed off and enjoyed the rest of the day, on the beach. I really do appreciate your sharing your life with us. Be safe.
i always appreciate the thoroughness and rationality when you are explain/reviewing equipment. tfs.
I've had the same problem in my A-Frame (Chalet). I get some oscillation and I've been tinkering with that because like Slim, I only have so much room to work with. The solution as I see it is to increase the distance between the two antennas so they don't "talk" to each other. The manufacturer of my unit (Sure Call) recommends at least 25 feet. I now use a 25' telescoping aluminum flagpole sitting in a flagpole hitch receiver mount at the rear of the camper. It's not extended all the way to give it some strength so I probably get 21 feet out of it. The interior antenna you have is omni-directional and you can try to shield the side of it that faces the exterior antenna or try a different interior antenna. I now use an indoor desktop antenna from Weboost that's semi omni-directional that I got on Ebay for $10.00 and I shield it from the back with a thin sheet of aluminum. The small aluminum sheet lets the antenna sit on a cell phone stand and I can move it around and adjust the height a bit. It hasn't eliminated oscillation in all cases but overall it's been a big improvement for me.
Thank you Slim for this review. I have a fiberglass camper, a Parkliner, and have been wanting to buy a booster for a while. I’m glad you did this review. I think I’ll wait a while for technology to improve. I’d be upset if I spent several hundred dollars for a device that didn’t give good results. I guess we all need some digital detox once in a while. I love your videos-keep them coming!
Great review! I suspect the improvement moving to Jeep was primarily increasing the distance between outside and indoor antennas thus reducing negative interaction. I have a different Hiboost model and the instructions are to have indoor antenna behind the directional outdoor antenna, separated as much as possible vertically and horizontally.
That was my thought too. We need one more experiment with the test in the camper, but the external antenna moved as far away as the car.
Already looking forward to your beach boondocker video!
Great video Slim. Thanks for taking the time to do this for us. We need a cell booster and your videos have been a great help including the other viewers shared knowledge. Have a great week.
Hey Slim, I had a cell phone booster on my trailer I used for the oil patch. I was in some remote areas. What I did was i attached the antenna to an extendable pole that could retract into itself and extend an extra 20 feet above the trailer. The difference it made for reception was 10 fold
Excellent example of controlling variables when troubleshooting!
Interesting test results! The best outcome of this is that now you have plenty of options for all the different environments you'll encounter.
Best way to separate indoor and outdoor antenna is a faraday cage. That is basically a metal box to shield the signal from passing through. That is why your Jeep got a better signal, there was less interference from any outside signal and not just from the outside booster. In the event of an EMP they recommend you place electronics in a metal can, the strong signal can't penetrate. Best you could do is build a box with a fine screen mesh. That way you could still see the device and shield it from outside signal. My best advice, if you need to upload, get closer to the cell tower, or best go somewhere where you can get an ethernet connection.
....or you can cover the camper in tin foil.....won't look strange at all
I was going to suggest something similar, no need to put a big piece of metal over the roof of the trailer, just put a small piece around the booster. The problem I see with a faraday cage (while I'm sure it would work better at reducing interference) is that you'd have to have the cellphone inside of it.
I appreciate and value your scientific approach!!! You go, Slim!!! Enjoy nature! Blessings!
Love your videos - even though I probably will never get to do what you are doing it is a joy to watch each one of your videos - also you are very handy in solving problems - keep up the good work
If you ever have an update, we would be curious about the performance when you have just one bar of base cell signal. That's when we can't consistently get coverage to use the signal.
Just like anything in the nomad life, ya gotta make concessions. Good signal, or pristine camping 🤔
Great video Slim!
the shot where you stand the pole up shows the sky sea and other things. the tonal graduation is great. there is detail in every part of the frame. the sky had detail which is normally washed out as too bright. yet the shadows also have detail which is normally too dark to see
Hi Slim. Nice one! Just a few observations if I may? I'll not write a dissertation like last time. As mentioned in the comments that ground plane is for the external antenna. You can fashion a small one from metal. That can be quite fiddly though, has to do with tuning antennas. There do exist aftermarket antennas with integrated ground planes designed specifically for fiberglass vehicles. The in-jeep test which made a good ground plane looks like it did help considerably. That internal antenna seems a little suspect to me. You typically don't need to have them that close to your device. Honestly, you might want to go back to Weboost with a cradle antenna as you previously had. They make some good kit.
Throughout your tests at the beach I kept thinking you were right on the edge of useable service. You had decent throughput without boosting. The booster may have been causing you to hand off to a less desirable site and the uni antenna would exacerbate that (too much gain). Like you alluded to, you need to consider both RSSI (signal strength) and throughput via speed tests. Try an app that monitors RSSI, RSRP and RSRQ. That's more accurate. Really, once you find a kit that works well, you'll probably need a small arsenal for best results. A couple of antennas to try and good testing apps to help you determine when and when not to boost should be good enough. That's about all I use. MIMO vs. boosting is something you might want to look into as it eliminates traditional boosting issues (like ground planes). Works well for me but it does require a separate hotspot. Lastly, there are apps that report service data about cell sites in a given area. Another good tool to have. And like you said, now it's time for less cell-signal nerding and time for more camping ;-) I'm looking forward to your next adventure report. Thanks for all you do and happy camping!
Glad to see you add speed tests to your testing. It seems like most of the larger video streaming services allow you to download the video to your device. In that case, it doesn't matter so much what speed you have so long as you plan ahead and have at least a stable connection to download from.
Thanks for satisfying my inner science/Mcgyver nerd!
Thanks for the info, Slim. Keep up the great vids and travels.
Enjoy and stay safe Slim! Hope to see you in Cape Breton this summer!
Thanks for the experiment Slim, I'm sure it helped a lot of us. Enjoy the waves!
Interesting as always! Thanks, Slim!
Thanks Slim. Good information for sure.
Safe travels to you Slim!
I put a WeBoost studio booster in my cargo trailer conversion a few years ago, and it works great. I have it on a 10ft piece of 3/4" electrical emt with the tv antenna. I run it into the camper through the same cable input as the tv coax, but use an A/B switch. I don't use both at the same time. My cargo trailer camper is all aluminum as well and I loose significant signal strength between being inside and outside which is why I got the booster in the first place. Your camper being fiberglass is an advantage when your in an area with a descent signal to begin with.
Good afternoon Slim. I like these analysis videos you occasionally do. I'm up in Quartzsite now. Cheers, Steve
Bill the" science guy" would be proud of your excitement. Science rocks keep up the fun and energy.
Cheers 🍻.
Slim maybe try to place a metal disk like a squirrel bird feeder shield on the pole just below the antenna… that may replicate a metal roof on your camper 👌
This was a great video test testing the antenna boosters and effects on services thanks
Thanks Slim.
A few years ago I watched a similar test with similar equipment and the tester found she needed distance between the two antenna’s as well as the orientation of the indoor antenna to the phone position within the area made a big difference. I believe it was all in a very small cabin…… Good Luck from BC.
Interesting experiments, Slim. I kept thinking how happy I am that you aren’t fighting that wind in your A-Frame. The metal might have helped your signal but I think the fiberglass trailer is an overall net positive for you. Happy trails!
Megabits per second.. Divide by 8 to get actual megabytes per second! :)
Yor correct. To get the best results the ground plane needs to be between the receiving and transmitting antennas. I would suggest a circular disk of metal (3mm alumuinium slightly larger in diameter than the external antenna) underneath the external antenna to increase the isolation between antennas. This will stop the signal feedback and make your signal more stable. i have a similar system in my house and this did the trick. have fun.
Well!!!! I’m watching you backwards this trip!! Beach camping is very interesting to me!!!
I know a trucker that got that one for his truck & he loves it !!!
Thank you Slim that was a real great review..
Slim, great video! I had no clue that fiberglass would've been so detrimental to the test. Who would've thought that??! Thank you for such an in depth video!
I have not concluded that a booster will not work properly in a fiberglass trailer, only that it may warrant further study. Thanks! SP
cool beach camping. looking forward to the boon dock video. nice review. like the tweaks, good information.thanks for the video. now thinking of getting a booster for my cottage. there's no reception and good to have for emergencies. as you say safety first...safe travels
Got a kick out of your beach comment. I was trying to see the beach as you were wrapping up. Thanks for the info, especially the bit about using a power pack. Enjoy your trip!
One of the things you need to remember about boosters/amplifiers is that if there is any interference it will also be amplified and can in effect drown out the signal you want.
Another interesting test would be to test on a fringe signal area.
It's still very interesting to see real world tests though.
Hey Slim. Good ideas with the testing so far. I agree with the theory that you're getting some feedback between the two antennas. Here's some different advice. If you roll up to a campsite and your speeds are good, don't activate the booster. Signal strength does matter, but signal to noise matters more and as Mike Mainer states, the booster is amplifying the signal and the noise. -95dbm is a fine signal for LTE, as long as the noise floor is low, that's a very usable downlink signal. If your speeds are acceptable, just use the phone as-is. The booster is boosting the uplink and the downlink from your cell phone and the tower (they are two-way radios using separate transmit and receive frequencies). The suspected feedback is sometimes hurting your downlink as evidenced from the download speed changes, but the uplink is being improved. It's a balancing act. I also do not recommend touching the phone to the antenna, I don't think that's helping your performance overall, but just giving a high reading on an app, if nothing else, it's not designed to work that way. If you want to tweak, I suggest you continue to chase usable speeds vs a high signal reading. Also note that the phone is only reading the signal down from the tower (and through the repeater), your upload change is the only indication that you as a consumer have of your uplink (from phone to the tower) RF quality and strength. All of this could be validated with an engineer on-site and some test equipment, but as a layman, you only have so many test options. BTW if it matters, I've been in various technical roles in wireless communication (paging and cellular) for 26 years. I'm trying to keep this simple and applicable to your equipment in hand but I've still written a lot :)
Great program safe and healthy travels
Hey Slim, love the sounds of the beach.
Great, exhaustive review, many thanks. AJ
Can't wait to retire, look at all the good fun/testing. Thanks for your channel, fun!
Slim, be cautious on your cable. you can ruin the cable’s impedance permanently when fan folding the cable. it is better to coil the cable for storage, just not too tight as it can mess the cable up as well.
Super interesting content. Thanks fir all your efforts.
Great video! I am in the RF Industry and was glad to see others chime in as well around the Oscillation and the Auto Gain Control in the BDA (Bi Directional Amp) or "Booster". If the AGC in the BDA is kicking in, it does that to meet the spec and not overload the tower with "Noise" that would cause issues for other users on the tower. We see this all the time in the commercial markets with in building BDA's. As far as performance of having to have it right on the phone, that could be that the "Hi Boost" is just to transmitting a very strong signal to also combat issues with oscillation. I believe We Boost handles this a bit better with their model that does NOT use the cradle. Good luck!
HEY ! Good afternoon Slim. I hope that all is good for you and thumbs UP !!
Aw your a breath of fresh air Slim yes keep videos coming
Great experiment
...Taking notes...Thanks, Slim!!
Thanks for the video! This helps a lot.
Good feedback !
Slim great videos, most entertaining and informative. I like your style. I couldn't find a video on the vertical wind turbine. Would like to know how it turned out. Not to good I'm guessing. Keep up the great videos. Jim H.
Great demo.
Thx Slim 💕😀
One thing to remember with boosters is that a booster with your antenna setup is only one antenna whereas a phone has multiple antennas in it. That affects speed throughput.
Interesting stuff, Slim. My own experience with cell phone boosters is that they are only useful if you're at a location where you struggle to get a single bar of reception and can't get a decent data connection. Otherwise, they are a waste of money and not worth messing with to get negligible improvements in data download/upload speeds. IMHO. :)
Our experience is not consistent with yours, we routinely get improved signals.
Very interesting, & educational. Thank you.
I was so comfy the way he walked in and threw his coat off
i was amazed at how stable your solar panel looked given how windy it was there at the beach!
Thank you for this review.
Very very cool camping on the beach
Thanks for all your efforts....
I may need that info sometime....
Glad you talked about the cable, I was wondering if the old cb antenna thinking made a difference at cell frequencies.
Last test, longest distance from jeep and trailer from the antenna out in the open. Cheers on product testing.
Thanks for a very informative video. You and I are from the same mindset, I am going camping to get away not bring everyday life with me. In all my searches all I could find in cell boosting videos with people installing thousands of dollars in equipment. Why, all I want to do is make a phone call. Cheeper to find a pay phone.
I know this is an old video but for those interested I’ve found when using a booster it’s best to put your phone in airplane mode for a minute turn on the booster then turn airplane mode off once the booster is up and running. It seems to make your phone rethink what’s coming in and takes more advantage of it.
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻, interesting research!
The unit that I have for my camp - and my camp has a steel roof and has terrible reception on a good day - has a unit for inside with 2 antenna's on it. It is meant for a 2000-3000 sq. ft home, and does well with the phone away from the unit. Not much change. I would say it may be the actual indoor antenna that is the problem. I love your testing and I am glad you did all the tests including uncoiling the "left overs" as mine is coiled up under the deck. Glad to hear it doesn't make a difference. Mine does tell me though if it is too close to the outdoor antenna. I am not sure if yours does that or not. Cheers Slim.
EXCELLENT REVIEW !! What app are you using ?
As a ham radio operator, I can tell you if the cable shielding is good, you won’t get the coiling effect. So you have rather good cable, which will also mean 20 ft vs 30 ft loss won’t matter much, as you mentioned.
Always fun to follow you, and Fla is no exception ! Cheers Slim !!
Great video
i think the big thing for a booster is getting signal where you wouldn't have it, or better signal when it is really spotty. As always, the video was a great watch. Thanks.
I would try using a better quality cable from the antenna to the booster and from the booster to the antenna. I had CNC machine tool that used a USB printer cable and the original cable created random issues. A standard printer cable didn't work at all and a better quality cable eliminated the issues entirely. This made me a believer in the importance of cable quality.
There are a lot of variables that determine how well these boosters work!
Forgive me if this has been suggested before. Try the antenna on the car? You may get the ground plain effect for the antenna which will improve antenna performance if that is an issue. The metal on the car may help. But bravo on the testing. Yes indeed mega bits - 10 bits to a Byte. My old out to lunch sign used to day "out for a Byte be back in a Bit!" Ha ha ha. Regards =Cosmo
And a lovely beach!
I enjoyed the last minute the best
The cable is shielded to prevent any cross talk or the wound copper cable effect 😉
somewhere along the gulf of Mexico? Texas? The sound of the ocean will make you sleep like a baby.
I wish I had any good suggestions. But yes, enjoy the outdoors. ✌️😘
This is so captivating, I wish this never ends. Any chance we can do a 10 episode series on signal booster testing @Slim potato?
Mb/s is megabits per second, not megabytes per second. Divide your Mb/s by 8 to get MB/s. Example, 50 Mb/s = 6.25 MB/s
He responded to that same comment 20 minutes before yours.
Doesn't matter in the comparison as long as you are comparing bananas to bananas.
Good test of the booster slim. You don't need sunscreen in the UK at the moment, just robust wet weather gear.
Also need to consider other users on the bandwidth like rush-hour traffic slowing down system.
Great, thorough reviews on this.
I'm curious with this model, or your previous one, if the boosters make any difference when you're at a park with a weak signal that cuts out a lot? Wondering if the booster antena gives you a more consistent signal
This is a cell phone booster, not a WiFi booster. It should give you a better cell signal wherever you are. SP
Buy a cheep large cookie sheet. Cut hole and mount horizontally just below the outside antenna. Possible offset to shield front of trailer where inside antenna is. To simulate a metal roof. Feedback-crosstalk is the daemon of any amplifier. Think the feedback with a microphone on a stage.
I'm thinking that the real value of a booster is not when you have adequate signal to use your phone but when you have next to no signal and the booster can increase it to a usable signal. Just something to think about. Keep the good stuff coming.
Sir, good luck with your trip. I do not remember why you have chosen to use AT&T cell phones with GSM technology rather than Verizon CDMA technology. GSM is shorter range and has strong coverage in the cities and along major highways but has weak coverage for out of the way places. As someone with experience with coverage in the American west and in remote parts of the US the Verizon technology definitely offers better cell service. I found it to be a little more expensive but the additional coverage was definitely worth the difference.
Anyway, good luck with your phone.
Regards,
Richard
That is no longer true, Verizon 3g was on cdma and they are shutting that down December 31,2022 So there will be coverage loss, gsm has no difference att coverage has expanded with first net they have matched Verizon and best them in square miles of coverage also att has better speeds they have band 14 which is superior to Verizon’s band 13 Verizon is no longer the largest network in the USA.