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Devils Lake, ND | This subject comes up a lot on this forum, so I though I'd share what I have learned recently after switching phones. I recently switched from an old phone, with an external antennae port to a new Verizon smart phone. No new phones have external antennae ports, meaning my Smooth Talker phone booster wouldn't work. So I got a Wilson Cellular repeater. (Repeaters don't hook into your phone.) I wasn't happy about this, as I really liked the kind of boost my Smooth Talker gave me. I had heard mixed reviews on the Repeaters, but had no choice. (Smooth Talker makes a "cup" that pushes the signal through a phone's case, but that didn't sound like a good setup.)
Two days ago, the repeater showed up. I installed it and turned it on. The signal meter on my new phone showed maybe one more bar, but nothing like my Smooth Talker. That thing would peg it out almost anywhere. Driving around and talking, it was OK, but I wasn't sure the booster was doing anything. So I did some internet research. First I learned that little signal meter doesn't tell you much, and it indicates your 3G signal, not voice. But you can go into your settings and get your actual signal level. Not every phone is listed here:
http://www.wilsonelectronics.com//Files/PDF/PhoneTestModes.pdf
But it's a good start. The Motorola Droid isn't listed, but my Verizon wireless card is. I drug my laptop out to the pick and got a baseline signal level of -98 to -103. (The higher the number, less negative in this case, the better your signal.) Switching it on got me up to -67. The Wilson's instructions says your internal broadcast antennae should be 8 to 12 inches from your phone. That doesn't give you much range, but I found closer was definitely better. Two feet away the signal was somewhat lower.
How does that compare to my Smooth Talker? Fortunately my Verizon card has an external port. Repeater on, booster hooked in and turned on; signal of -71. Basically the same. Big surprise there; the Wilson repeater was just as good as the Smooth Talker.
I later figured out how to view the signal level on my Droid. It showd -96 with the repeater off and -81 turned on. Not so good, but still a benefit. | |
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Phone Boosters and Repeaters
