The struggle to stay connected with family, friends, and coworkers has become more and more real during this age of Social Distancing. Never before has quality-of-life been so affected by tiny little bars on a cell phone. Thankfully, for those of us living under metal roofs or out in the country, HiBoost is here with a solution for all our connectivity needs.
The HiBoost brand has been around for a few years now, making cellphone signal boosters all over the world. They are region-specific, so you can’t take an American HiBoost unit on your luxury yacht around the Mediterranean, but for the majority of us that won’t be a problem. HiBoost USA boosters work for every carrier in the United States and Canada, and are all approved by the FCC for use. Don’t be fooled if your local phone carrier doesn’t know about signal boosters and tells you they aren’t supported, they are all legal for use with a simple registration at signalboosterregistration.com
One thing that I really like about the HiBoost boosters is their sleek and sturdy design. They don’t feel cheap, they are made of sturdy materials that shed heat better than other boosters I’ve tried. They use only the best Type-N connectors and LMR-200 or LMR-400 cable that helps to minimize loss and can be buried if needed.
Most of the boosters offered at hiboost.com or amz.hiboost.com work using these same general principles. Line-Of-Sight to a tower from your roof, isolating the indoor and outdoor antennas so they don’t have feedback (oscillation), and using the App or the LCD screen to fine-tune the aiming of your antenna to maximize your signal strength. Here are some tips for installation, because it can be tricky:
- Do some research! www.cellmapper.net or www.cellreception.com can aid in finding your cell tower. You can also call your carrier and ask them.
- Always do a “Soft Install” first. Don’t drill any holes or make any permanent changes until you know this will work in your location.
- Mount your antenna on the wall closest to the tower, pointing AWAY from your house. (Feedback between this antenna and the indoor antenna can be an issue, so they must point in opposite directions.
- Get that antenna high enough so that there can be a minimum of 20 feet VERTICAL separation between this antenna and your indoor antenna. (Indoor antenna will go on the wall facing your living area, opposite the direction of the tower.)
- Whether you look at the “Power dBm” column on the booster LCD screen or the gauges on the Signal Supervisor App, the range on these numbers is from -24 dBm (worst) to +12 dBm (best). You want to get these numbers as close to +12 as possible.
Now that you have a general idea of what it is going to take to install these machines, let’s go over how to choose which booster is for you. If you’ve ever purchased home broadband internet you understand that the advertised speed is not what you will actually achieve. The SmartLink series comes in three categories that cover 4K, 10K, 15K sqft. These estimates are in a perfect world, with 5 bars of signal outside, and 0 inside. Instead of expecting to get those out of a poor donor signal, go ahead and take half that number if you only have 3 bars outside, and 1/4 of that number if you only have 1 or 2. The booster can only boost what’s there, to begin with, and that is the same for any cell booster.
4K SMART LINK Cell phone signal booster boost signal strength with a powerful antenna system. With up to 60 dB gain of amplification (uplink: 24 dBm, downlink: 10 dBm), it greatly enhances 3G & 4G LTE cell service for all wireless devices. Perfect for increasing your signal bars in a bad reception area up to 4,000 sqft. You could purchase it on Amazon and save 20% with the coupon code: 20SYC3A2.
I am consistently asked, “What about 5G?”, and the answer is simple: HiBoost boosters will continue to work to boost 4G, 3G, 2G, and they are working on coming out with a 5G capable booster as well. Cellular Carriers are not going to stop transmitting 4G signals any time soon because the range for 5G is so low that most people won’t ever even get to experience it. Unless you are living in a metropolitan area and are less than 800 feet from a 5G tower, then it’s unlikely to reach your home any time soon.
Another thing to consider is obviously the price. Thankfully HiBoost doesn’t charge any ongoing service fees or require a monthly commitment, it’s a one-time hit to the wallet and then after installing properly you can enjoy a life free from dropped calls and slow data speeds.
