Cell Signal Boosters

[k0ua]

Isnt it true that you can get very low loss with the semi rigid "copper tube" coax because the coaxialness is maintained much better -- near perfect?

Semi rigid and rigid feed lines will have less loss generally, but are much more difficult to work with and connectors are very expensive. For this application it would not be cost effective or convenient. Sure some 7/8 heliax with N connectors would be great, but the cost of the feed line and connectors would be more than the wilson unit itself. ironically I had about 300 of the connectors a few years ago, but sold them all.

These type of feed lines still have loss, just less of it mostly due to their size and larger conductors. We once ran some 1.5 inch hardline on one of our repeater installations, but had to have a local machinist make up a set of connectors for it as the cost to buy them was prohibitive.

When you start playing in the big leagues you will need to really open your wallet wide.

 

[Alien]

We are on the fringe with 2 major towers. Phone companies were not much help so we tried an external antenna and there was little difference.
Changed our phone from a Samsung to a HTC and what a difference.... Now we get signal all through the house and no more running to a window or outside. We now get 4G all the time. If you have friends with different phones see if they can help with signal checks before buying your next one.

 

[Ford850]

For anyone considering one of the Wilson kits, Amazon has the better kit on sale right now. Kit 470103 is normally $549 most places, and they have it at $479 right now. Amazon.com: weBoost Connect 4G Cell Phone Booster Kit: Cell Phones & Accessories

 

[N80]

For anyone considering one of the Wilson kits, Amazon has the better kit on sale right now. Kit 470103 is normally $549 most places, and they have it at $479 right now. Amazon.com: weBoost Connect 4G Cell Phone Booster Kit: Cell Phones & Accessories

I saw that but still ordered from Wilson because they have a no-questions-asked 30 day return policy and I wasn't sure about the return policy. I wish I'd have gone with the Amazon deal now since it works like a charm. See below for details.

 

[N80]

So, I got the kit referenced above. Probably could have done the $399 deal but decided I wanted the extra indoor coverage if I was going to spend the money anyway. Our signal was so poor the different tower locator apps could not even point to a tower. Inside the best I ever got was -108 dB (1 bar 1x). The best we ever got outside was -96 dB (2-3 bars, occasional 3G). So, I got everything hooked up, ran the cable out the window and played with pointing the yagi in a couple of directions. Within a few minutes I got -79 inside (3-4 bars, 3G, sometimes LTE), which is a huge improvement! Everything works great, text, voice, internet, can even use iPad on the phone's WiFi hotspot. Currently the yagi is just screwed to one of the porch posts. I'm pretty sure if I get the yagi up higher and play with the aiming we'll even get better results.

On the amp all of the bars are green except for the last one, probably because inside and outside antennas are still too close. I'm not sure I'll be able to do any better since the cabin is fairly small so it is hard to get a lot of separation and I'm not planning on putting up a huge mast.

However, that does bring up a small issue. I'm going to need more coax cable to get the kind of separation and have the cable routed out of the way. Anything in particular I need to know about purchasing additional cable. I have no experience with coax.

 

[Ford850]

N80, did your kit come with 2 cables 30' each? Can't you position the amp mid way, between the 2 cables, and achieve enough separation between antennas? The Wilson site lists 50' RG6 cables too ( https://www.wilsonamplifiers.com/rg-6-f-male-f-male-50ft-white-cable-950650/). The extra cable length might negate any advantage you gain by further separating the antennas though.

 

[k0ua]

The general rules for coax is that the larger the diameter the coax the less loss per foot for a given frequency. As the frequency goes up the loss per foot increases. Also the power handling ability also increases with the increase in size of the coax, and power handling ability also increases with the lowering of the frequency of the RF going thru it.

Also as the size of the coax increases, the price for the coax and possibly the price for the connectors increases, and the difficulty of working with it also increases. Also well know brands like Belden, and Andrews are usually more expensive than some of the imported brands.

 

[N80]

N80, did your kit come with 2 cables 30' each? Can't you position the amp mid way, between the 2 cables, and achieve enough separation between antennas? The Wilson site lists 50' RG6 cables too ( https://www.wilsonamplifiers.com/rg-6-f-male-f-male-50ft-white-cable-950650/). The extra cable length might negate any advantage you gain by further separating the antennas though.

It did come with two cables but I don't think they total 60'. Stretched out I can get the indoor antenna at the front inside wall of the cabin and the outside antenna out on the back porch with the amp in between. But this is with the cable going along the wall, then behind the couch etc and I'm getting maybe a total of 35-40 feet of separation. I will need extra length so that the cable isn't just running straight out the window. In other words, it will need to run along the wall, up a porch post and up a short pole. I might be able to get the full 50' direct separation but since the cable has to routed around stuff to be out of the way, I'm guessing I'll need close to 100' total. Will have to experiment with cable length vs antenna separation. Not sure the lights on the amp will tell me anything about signal loss due to cable length. Might have to watch the cell phone field test data for that.

There may also be some better routing and mounting options too. I'll spend some time planning that out this weekend. I'll try to get the shortest cable route with max separation.

RG6 coax is fairly cheap but comes in a number of basic flavors at the big box stores. Not sure if I need to spend more on 'quad' vs 'double' shielded. The cheapest stuff does not have connectors. I'm assuming a special tool is required to add connectors? Some of it also says indoor only. A fair length of mine will be outdoors so I'll use the provided cable for that.

Final question, which distance should I keep the shortest: Outside yagi antenna to amp or amp to inside antenna........or does that even matter?

 

[k0ua]

Final question, which distance should I keep the shortest: Outside yagi antenna to amp or amp to inside antenna........or does that even matter?

In my opinion if you have a choice, I would minimize the yagi to amp length. Once signal is lost in coax it is lost. The signal from the tower to the yagi is the weakest. This is why in amateur radio practice you will often see mast mounted pre-amps and even power amps put near the antennas up on the tower to minimize the losses. Once you hit the amp, you can make power (both TX and RX) to send down a longer length of coax. But if the signal is lost getting to the amp it is gone forever.

 

[Ford850]

I would go with the best shielding just in case. Not much difference in price that I can see. The RG rating is nothing more than an old term for the core size, and much of the quality difference is in the shielding and connectors. But like you said, it's fairly cheap. I saw this on amazon, 2 50' quad shielded for $18.99. Amazon.com: Cable Matters 3-Pack, CL2 In-Wall Rated (CM) Quad Shielded RG6 Coaxial Patch Cable in Black 3 Feet: Electronics
I'm no expert though. I've been researching all this while reading threads like this, looking for the right solution for me too. I see now that the antennas should be 50' apart, straight line. I understand how 2 30' cables would make that nearly impossible for most installations. For less than $20, you can get plenty of cable to separate the antennas. I think it would be worth it to try since you've come this far.