Let’s say you’re one of the many people who’ve installed a cell phone signal booster in their cars. Most people don’t know about this trick… installing a booster will help you get more reliable data and clearer voice calls, even when you’re far off the beaten track. Personally I think they should be built into every vehicle. But, until that happens, it’s up to you to install the booster you need.
But let’s say that you’ve installed that booster and you’re of a mind to improve it. A lot of us are like that. We want to get the absolute best performance from anything we own. We trick out our home theaters, install better tires on the car… that sort of stuff. But what about cell phone signal boosters? You’ve put one in, but are there upgrades you can do?
Well yes, and no
First of all you can install virtually any cellular antenna you want on your car. The only requirement is that it be 50-ohm impedance, not 75-ohm impedance. So essentially, look at this list. Any of the 50-ohm antennas there will work. And here’s the dirty little secret… there really isn’t a difference between an “outdoor” or “indoor” antennas. The designs and materials might be different but really, they both do the same thing.
So any of these antennas will fit the bill. The only thing you might need to do is either get an adapter to connect to the amplifier or sacrifice the old antenna by cutting the cable off it. That way you could solder it to the new antenna and use it. That would be a true “life hack.”
But I’m here to tell you that it’s probably not going to do much. The big limitation when it comes to vehicle cell phone boosters is how close they are to each other. If the signal from one antenna reaches the signal from the other — no matter which antenna you’re talking about — the whole system will step down power until that stops happening. If you put in a larger antenna without increasing the distance between them, you’ll probably get no improvement whatsoever.
Which isn’t to say…
If you really wanted to, you could mount the outdoor antenna on a 10 foot pole mounted to your car. You could do as much as possible to limit any outdoor signals from coming into the car. It’s not out of the question. But, unless you’re really into making the car look like something out of Mad Max, you’re probably not going to be able to do enough to make a difference.
But hey, it’s your choice. At Solid Signal, we’re here to help you live your best digital life. That’s why we have tens of thousands of products that no one else carries. Shop at SolidSignal.com and you’ll find broadcast equipment, cell phone booster systems, and much much more.
If you need advice or just want to talk about your plans for the ultimate lifehack, call us! We’re here during East Coast business hours. Call 888-233-7563 and you’ll get a real trained technician, not a script reader. If it’s after hours, fill out the form below and we’ll get back to you, usually within one business day.
