COVID-19 pandemic brought to light many pre-existent issues, manly because they got exacerbated by unprecedent situations trigged by lockdown and the impossibility of doing daily things like before.
At that time, connectivity issues were one of the most common complications. Since most of the people were studying, working, shopping, keeping entertained and socializing through a connection to the internet, poor signals became a massive issue that prevented many from doing very basic things.
Before pandemic, it was common to experience some bad-signal related problems, but at that time it was easier to deal with the situation since it wasn’t really causing any trouble. Once everybody started doing everything from home, it became a critical situation that could not be tolerated anymore.
Cell phone signal boosters became a solution to poor signal issues, since they enhance and improve the quality of the connection in every room of the house. But what are exactly signal boosters and how do they work? Even though there are many signal booster review online, for some people it still unclear what this technology is for and if it will actually help them have better connection in their mobile devices.
In this article, we will go through a detailed signal booster review, in which all the features will be explained in order to fully understand what this product is about and in which case is worst buying them.
Signal booster device description
Most of signal boosters are basically amplifiers that can improve cell phone and other devices reception.
Signal boosters, also known as cellular repeaters, usually consist in three objects that work together in order to capture and amplify a signal.
First, there is an outdoor antenna that is generally installed on the roof or by a window to better communicate with a neighboring cell tower. This device is called “donor antenna”. Mobile devices, such as cell phones and tablets have integrated donor antennas, but they are small enough to fit into the very slim technologies we use nowadays. The fact that the mobile devices donor antenna is so tiny has an impact in its ability to capture signals. That is the reason why, by installing an bigger and external donor antenna outside the house is a very effective way of actually getting a good an stable signal into the house.
Second, an indoor antenna that are actually repeater systems that can rebroadcast the captured signal indoors, making it sufficiently available to secure a good and stable connection in all the rooms as the house.
Last but not least, an amplifier or booster. This part of the device is responsible for the amplification of the signal that allows a better availability at home. Also, boosters have a major role in cleaning the signal, making sure that it doesn’t mix with other frequencies that may be present and affecting the quality of the connection.
What is a weak signal?
One of the most important things before buying a signal booster is to fully understand if it actually will help improve the GSM connection of the mobile devices used at home.
A weak signal can be produced by many reasons, such as living in a rural area in which the base station is far away and thus difficult to reach through the tiny donor antennas of the mobile devices.
Sometimes, construction materials are the reason behind a weak signal. Buildings with thick walls of concrete, or in which a large amount of metal was used can be behind the weak signal issue. Energy efficient windows, solid foam or fiberglass insulation can block or reduce transmittance.
Also, in urban areas its common to find some dead zones caused by interference between different wavelength.
In any of these cases, having an outdoor antenna connected by wire to a booster and an indoor antenna should improve the signal and thus provide a better connectivity to mobile devices used indoors.
To sum up, nowadays having a proper and stable GSM connection is a must. Weak signal is a very common issue that can be significantly improved by signal booster, avoiding any undesired interruptions while working, studying or doing any other task that implies the use of mobile devices. Signal boosters are widely available in the market at a relatively accessible cost and they come with a full instruction manual to go through installation in a very simple way.
