Can a gotW3 device share an antenna with a cell booster?

Our gotW3 device has been the runaway hit of the season.  It’s not surprising, really. So many people have been waiting for a simple device that delivers high speed internet easily, without all the fuss of dealing with the cable company. It’s become so popular that some of our customers’ questions have gotten very complex.

One of our customers writes,

If I use gotW3 and I have a cell booster, can I split the signal from the outside antenna?

This seemed like a perfect opportunity for a tutorial.

How is gotW3 different from other internet providers?

The gotW3 device is very similar to the router you have at home. The biggest difference is, there’s nowhere for a cable to plug in. Most internet is provided over fiber optic or coaxial cable. gotW3 does it differently.

The gotW3 service is purely cellular, just like your phone. The signal comes in wirelessly and is turned into Wi-Fi and wired Ethernet from there. It gives you 300GB/month and it’s reasonably priced.

However, because it’s a cellular connection, it’s susceptible to bad cell service. Most average homes have at least one spot where the cell service is pretty good. That’s where you’d put the gotW3 device. But you might have already taken a step toward fixing coverage issues in your home.

Enter the cell phone signal booster

Cellular signal boosters rely on an outside antenna to bring signal inside. They use powerful amplifiers and an indoor antenna to rebroadcast that cell service indoors. Most cell boosters cost less than an average premium phone, but they can last as long as three phones and serve everyone in your home at the same time. They’re a great upgrade to your stay-at-home experience and if you don’t have one yet, I urge you to take a look at your options here.

Getting better service with gotW3

If you’ve been reading up on gotW3, you know that you can add an external antenna to your system easily. This brings up the question as to whether you can use the same antenna for both.

Most of the time, you can’t share an antenna.

The gotW3 system uses a 50-ohm antenna while most consumer cell boosters use a 75-ohm antenna. While the two antennas look almost identical, you can’t use one kind of antenna with the other kind of system. There are combiners but they introduce loss into the line.

If you are using a commercial-grade booster that uses 50-ohm antennas, then you could use a simple splitter. But, you still don’t have to.

The good news: you don’t have to worry about it

The gotW3 system will work perfectly with your existing cellular booster! For best results, put the gotW3 device about six feet from the cellular booster’s indoor antenna. Any closer and it might not receive good signal, and as you put it further, the signal will get weaker. The gotW3 device will pull cell signal from your booster very easily.

Using gotW3 won’t interfere with your cell phone, either. All the devices in your home can connect at the same time and it works great.

When you’re ready to upgrade to the amazing gotW3 system, check out this page and get ready to order!

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.