Who needs a cell booster?

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Pretty much everyone needs a cell phone signal booster. I’ve read a number of articles that suggest that 95% of people encounter bad cell service at one point or another. My thought is, that number’s too low. I want to know who these 5% of people are who don’t have any problems with cell service. Do they not use their phones?

There are a lot of reasons to get a cell booster and the truth is, I’m constantly surprised by people who don’t choose to invest a relatively small amount of money to make sure they have access to the communication they need. I mean, these are the same people who are on their phones constantly either texting, talking, emailing, or on some social network or another. They pay hundreds a month for top-level plans and they won’t pay a few hundred, one time, for a device that would make it all work better. Let’s look at the most common cases where someone needs a cell booster:

Good service outside, bad service inside

This happens a lot. The construction of many homes actually hurts cell service. Red bricks contain iron which stops cell signals. White exterior paint sometimes contains flakes of metal designed to make the paint shine brighter but ultimately scatter cell signals. Aluminum siding? May as well be lead shielding. Stucco isn’t much better because the wire mesh used blocks a lot of signals. The simple fact is that there aren’t too many materials that don’t have a big impact on your cell service.

Marginal service outside, bad service inside

If you live more than a mile from a cell tower or live down at the bottom of a hill, you’re likely to see only one bar when you use your phone outside. This means that you’re lucky to get any service at all inside. Wi-Fi calling can help you with your personal phones but what about your guests? Microcells, which provide good indoor cell service, sometimes have a monthly fee and only work on one carrier. Great for you, but not great for your friends unless they use the same cell carrier you do. A cell booster can boost all signals here and give everyone great service inside your home. It could do wonders for your social life.

Large office buildings

Here’s the little trick… your company probably pays for really fast internet but it probably seems really slow. It’s not because of the people on computers, it’s because of the people mooching off the company Wi-Fi. Average office tasks don’t require fast internet even if you’re working remotely. One employee hooked on cat videos can suck up more bandwidth than an entire floor. Stop giving your employees access to company Wi-Fi and instead, provide them with a high-quality cell signal that they can use instead. There are booster systems that can cover up to 25,000 square feet from a single outdoor antenna.

What about no signal whatsoever?

If you truly have no signal when standing outdoors, there may be little you can do. Before pronouncing the matter over and done, go up on the roof. Hold that phone as high as possible and try again. If you can get even one bar, then the powerful antennas on a cell booster will be able to get that signal in. There are highly directional antennas that literally pull in hundreds of times more signal than a cell booster. Don’t give up hope.

Let’s face facts. You pay a lot for cell service and you don’t want to walk outside every time there’s a call. That’s ridiculous. You don’t want your emails to take forever to send and for gosh sake you don’t want to wait while video buffers. This is 2021! Claim the cell service you deserve by making a one-time investment in cell booster technology. You’ll be glad you did. Of course, while you’re making the decision, I hope you’ll consider the great selection at Solid Signal.

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.