Mobile phone signal booster

[IceBoy]

Hi All,

I'm looking to boost my mobile phone signal at home and was looking for a device like the Wi-Fi booster. Something I can just plug in to the socket.

I'm struggling to find such a device, everything seems to be an antenna that has to be put up and cables and wires.

Any advice, I've switched to wifi calling but it is not good enough I need to boost the cell signal.

Thanks in advance.

[Zetec-S]

Following with curiosity.

We have virtually no mobile signal at home, and very weak outdoors, so rely on wifi calling which is fine although no backup when that goes down. However, with my limited knowledge I'm not really sure what there is which could genuinely boost a cell signal? Surely it comes down to the network you're on and proximity to the mast? Anything which claims otherwise surely has a whiff of snake oil about it?

[jimothyc]

Unfortunately mobile phone signal boosters are illegal without prior authorisation from Ofcom. So your options are limited to:

1) Use wifi calling
2) Change provider
3) Move house.

[Mammasaid]

jimothyc said:

Unfortunately mobile phone signal boosters are illegal without prior authorisation from Ofcom. So your options are limited to:

1) Use wifi calling
2) Change provider
3) Move house.

4) Change phone, some are better at wifi calling than others.

[Mont Blanc]

jimothyc said:

Unfortunately mobile phone signal boosters are illegal without prior authorisation from Ofcom. So your options are limited to:

1) Use wifi calling
2) Change provider
3) Move house.

Is the correct answer.

You should have absolutely no need for a good phone signal in your house anyway. All calls should be going through wifi calling, and your data will be using wifi anyway.

I've used wifi calling for years and it has always worked perfectly.

Is your wifi speed/bandwidth ok?

[semisane]

I don't think you can receive calls over the WiFi though ?

[Mont Blanc]

semisane said:

I don't think you can receive calls over the WiFi though ?

It works for all. Incoming, outgoing, texts, everything.

Your phone knows you are within range of your WiFi and seamlessly switches to using that instead of a cell tower.

[biggiles]

Wifi-calling is a dark art, but should solve the problem here. You can't run your own mobile phone booster these days AFAIK.

Wifi-calling can be emasculated by a very weak mobile signal, or rubbish wifi. So make sure your wifi is "good enough"* and switch to aeroplane mode (wifj wifi turned on) so it won't try to use the weak mobile phone signal. Then any calls/texts should Just Work and prove the point.

• good enough - no clear direction as far as I know from any of the UK providers. I'd assume 10mbps and good pings are necessary.

[IceBoy]

With airplane mode switched on and WiFi turned on, calls don't come through.

I live in the sticks and the mast is too far away.... On a good day I may have 1 bar and calls become very intermittent.

It's really frustrating and I didn't know it was illegal to have a booster. Do the sticky antenna work... The ones you stock on your phone me?

I'm getting desperate.

[119]

WiFi calling is great but my albeit a fair few iphones ago experience is that it can eat battery life for some reason.

Worked great though!

[OutInTheShed]

IceBoy said:

With airplane mode switched on and WiFi turned on, calls don't come through.

I live in the sticks and the mast is too far away.... On a good day I may have 1 bar and calls become very intermittent.

It's really frustrating and I didn't know it was illegal to have a booster. Do the sticky antenna work... The ones you stock on your phone me?

I'm getting desperate.

Airplane mode stops your phone working as a phone.

Some people have given themselves enough service by things like a 4G modem high up on a mast, your phone can then wifi to that.
Back in the day, we used to use foreign SIM cards, so they would roam to any UK network.
Also, the old 'car kits' would give 2G coverage from an external antenna.

There's always starlink.

[alangla]

IceBoy said:

With airplane mode switched on and WiFi turned on, calls don't come through.

I live in the sticks and the mast is too far away.... On a good day I may have 1 bar and calls become very intermittent.

It's really frustrating and I didn't know it was illegal to have a booster. Do the sticky antenna work... The ones you stock on your phone me?

I'm getting desperate.

This might be a silly question, but what network are you on? Not all of them support WiFi calling, eg the late, unlamented PlusNet, which is why I lasted about a week with them before running to Lebara

[119]

OutInTheShed said:

Airplane mode stops your phone working as a phone.

Some people have given themselves enough service by things like a 4G modem high up on a mast, your phone can then wifi to that.
Back in the day, we used to use foreign SIM cards, so they would roam to any UK network.
Also, the old 'car kits' would give 2G coverage from an external antenna.

There's always starlink.

You can switch wifi on in Airplane mode on an Iphone though.

[JoshSm]

jimothyc said:

Unfortunately mobile phone signal boosters are illegal without prior authorisation from Ofcom. So your options are limited to:

1) Use wifi calling
2) Change provider
3) Move house.

Not entirely true though, as anyone bothering to look at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/cove... would see. Even has a list of some license exempt repeaters.

[2172cc]

My friend always calls me via WhatsApp which seems to be better than a normal call for him as his signal is poor. I've got very good mobile reception where I live so makes no difference to me.

[Phil.]

I have this problem

I solved it with an eSIM from another provider with better coverage in my area.

Costs me £10 a month.

[JonPage76]

Mobile boosters are not illegal. I had one fitted under this scheme.

https://www.connectingdevonandsomerset.co.uk/bette...

My equipment is a triangular external aerial and an internal transmitter box that s been installed in my loft.

I have gone from zero indoor signal to a few bars of 4G. The booster box can only boost one network at any time but you can change the network via an app. This is the Ofcom limitation.

In my experience, WiFi calling is too flaky. Especially if you have multiple WiFi access points in your home.

Edited by JonPage76 on Friday 19th September 22:39

[NDA]

IceBoy said:

I live in the sticks and the mast is too far away.... On a good day I may have 1 bar and calls become very intermittent.

I live in the middle of nowhere and have no mobile signal at all - not from any provider.

I've used wifi calling for around 6 years - phone calls, FaceTime, Zoom, Teams... I've never had any issues. Thankfully I have a fibre to the house and have a decent connection with a Deco mesh system through the house.

[Griffith4ever]

I use a mobile signal booster, and I'm afraid you NEED external antennas - that's how it works. It picks a stronger signal from outdoors (which will be stronger than your weaker signal indoors), then amplifies it down the cable and repeats it indoors, where you need it.

They can't just grab your weak indoor signal and make it better unfortunately.

Wifi repeaters take a working wifi signal, and re-transmit it - insreasing the overall range. If a Mobile signal repeater did that it would just be extending the range of your already poor signal. You want a better signal.

I to had consistency issues with wifi calling, hence I have a signal booster. They do work well.