5 Best Cell Phone Repeaters - The Complete 2021 Guide
- News
- 22 Jan, 2021
What is a Cell Phone Repeater?
A cell phone repeater (also known as cellular amplifier) is a three-part system that pulls in weak signal, amplifies (or repeats) the signal, and then broadcasts the signal to an area in need such as your home, office, or vehicle. They consist of:
- A "donor" antenna - also called an "outdoor" antenna - which receives signal
- A bi-directional signal amplifier, which amplifies the signal
- One or more "broadcast," or "indoor" antennas
These systems are also called cellular amplifiers, or, most commonly, cell phone signal boosters. Follow this link if you'd like to know more about how cell phone repeaters work.
If not, read on.
Why Do You Need a Cell Phone Repeater?
Distance from the closest cell tower, trees, mountains, metal, glass, concrete, thick walls, even weather– a variety of things can interfere with your cell phone coverage everyday.
A cellular repeater improves your 3G & 4G LTE signal strength so that your phone receives strong cell signal, and you're connection to the cell tower is more reliable.
A cellular repeater is like a type of megaphone. It takes the incoming source, multiplies it, and broadcasts the louder or amplified output.
Why Trust Bolton Technical?
Bolton Technical is a leading independent provider of Wilson Electronics (weBoost & WilsonPro) cell phone signal repeaters with thousands of installs for all types of homes, offices and vehicles in South Africa.
About our cell phone repeaters:
- Works for 4G LTE, 3G & 2G
- Works for all mobile operators: Vodacom, MTN, Cell C and Telkom
- Works for all phones and cellular devices.
- Complete kits, easy to install.
- No monthly fees, no need to connect to wifi.
Best Do-It-Yourself Cell Phone Repeater Kit for Room Coverage
weBoost AH100-Pro Single Room Solution
BUY THIS CELLULAR REPEATER IF:
- You have a small room or office with strong outside signal strength.
- You need spot coverage in a room or office.
- You are seeking a cost-effective solution
The weBoost Home AH100-Pro is the best selling do-it-yourself cellular repeater for room coverage. It is the signal repeater that works for those requiring spot coverage.
Most people will probably see a coverage area of 40m² or 80m². If you live in a remote area with very weak outdoor signal, we would recommend the WilsonPro A500. This is the weakest cell repeater you should buy if you have bad signal indoors.
The weBoost Home AH100-Pro boosts signal for all major South African mobile networks. Should you ever change service providers, the weBoost Home AH100-Pro will still work.
Best Cellular Repeater Kit for Medium/Average sized Homes – WilsonPro A500
BUY THIS CELL PHONE REPEATER IF:
- You live in a midsize home with weak outdoor signal and need to improve cell signal in your home.
- You are located in an urban area.
The WilsonPro A500 is made to cover an average sized home. It can cover a large home with decent outside signal or a midsize home with weak outdoor signal. It can give up to 500m² of coverage with perfect outside signal. Most people will probably see a coverage area of between 200m² and 300m². If you want to cover more than one floor, you should buy additional antennas and cabling. If you live in a very weak signal rural area you might get about 150m² of coverage from it.
Best Cellular Repeater for Large Homes and Offices
WilsonPro A1000
BUY THIS CELL PHONE SIGNAL BOOSTER IF:
- You have a large home or office with weak outside signal.
- You are located in a remote area.
- You are far away from cell towers.
The WilsonPro A1000 is our most powerful cellular repeater for large homes and offices. It can cover up to 1000m² with perfect outside signal. Most people will get between 450m² and 650m² though.
If your outside signal is strong enough, this unit allows splitting signal into additional areas/floors of your home or office. It has many different antenna options too. The A1000 can be paired with omnidirectional antennas for cities, yagi directional antennas for more remote areas; dome antennas for drop tile ceilings and wall mount panel antennas for buildings with concrete slabs. It is strong enough to power many indoor antennas. This is a good option if your home or office has several floors or has a very complicated layout.
Best Cellular Repeater for Cars, SUVs, Trucks, Boats, While Driving
weBoost Drive AM100-Pro
BUY THIS CELL PHONE SIGNAL BOOSTER IF:
- You want to stay connected on remote roads and highways.
- You want to boost signal for multiple mobile devices.
The weBoost AM100-Pro Drive is the only tri-band cellular repeater for vehicles in South Africa. It works in cars, SUVs, trucks, bakkies, caravans, fleet vehicles, boats, yachts, and more. This mobile repeater has a lot of options. You can get a hardwire or AC power supply. It can use an OTR antenna for trucks and Caravans, or an inside antenna for a boat. It boosts up to four vehicle cell devices at once. It has high uplink power, so it will work on very remote roads too.
Best Cellular Repeater for Enterprise
WilsonPro A8000
BUY THIS CELLULAR REPEATER IF:
- You have a very large office building or commercial space over 5000m².
- You are seeking a commercial signal booster with remote monitoring and cloud capabilities.
- Best for large multi-story buildings, industrial warehouses, schools, hospitals, hotels, underground parking areas, and other large spaces.
The WilsonPro A8000 is a powerful industrial grade cell phone repeater and a cost-effective alternative to large scale Active DAS solutions. It costs a fraction of the price and will boost all major South african networks. It has many features, such as four independently controlled indoor antenna ports, and three outdoor antenna ports to target multiple network towers simultaneously. This commercial grade amplifier also has remote cloud monitoring capabilities. It can cover up to 8000m² if you have perfect outside signal. Most people will see about 4000m² to 6000m² coverage in poor signal conditions.
FAQ
- Who makes the best cell phone repeater?
Wilson Electronics (weBoost & WilsonPro) by a wide, wide margin. They're more than 3 times more popular with professionals.
- How does a cell phone repeater work?
A cell phone repeater works with 3 major components:
- The Outside Antenna pulls in weak 3G & 4G LTE signal from your mobile operator.
- The Amplifier boosts signal up to 32X.
- The Inside Antenna rebroadcasts the amplified signal inside your home.
- Will a cell phone signal repeater work for my phone & mobile network?
Absolutely.
It will work with any phone or cellular device (hotspot, tablet, laptop, etc.) that works on SA's most popular mobile networks* on frequencies (900, 1800 and 2100).
*Excluding Rain LTE on 2600Mhz
- What if I switch mobile operators in the future?
Our cell phone repeaters are multi-carrier systems. This means they are also compatible with Vodacom, MTN, Cell C and Telkom.
They are future-proof!
- Will 5G make my signal repeater obsolete?
Nope.
4G LTE is still being built out across Southern Africa. It's not going anywhere anytime soon, AND it's getting faster.
4G LTE is expected to peak in 2030-2035. So...come back in a decade and ask the same question and we might have a different answer by then.
How May We Help You?
Bolton Technical is the leading provider of cell phone signal boosters. Cell phone boosters amplify 4G LTE, 3G and 2G for any phone with any mobile network for home, office, or vehicle.
We seriously hate dropped calls and poor coverage, so it's our goal in life to stomp on spotty signal like the little roaches they are:
- Free consultation (ask us anything) with our JHB-based customer support (sales@boltontechnical.co.za) or call us or at 011 749 3085.
- Free shipping on orders over R500.
- Better signal or industry-leading 30 money-back guaranteed.
- We want everyone to be satisfied, so we provide continuous technical support and a 1-year warranty for all products.
Ask us anything and we'll be glad to help.
