weBoost Home 4G Cell Phone Booster Kit

[Etherton]

Service provider: ATT/ATT Prepaid

Anyone here have any experience with these? Paying for a service that is barely usable at home.

Seems like we have signal but it is weak. Missed calls, dropped calls and I can hear the caller but they can not hear me. It takes 20 secs or more to connect an out going call sometimes. If you step outside the signal if significantly better. I don't own a huge house so its not that. Will WiFi (reaching here) interfere with cell service? It has been like this since the beginning of summer. ATT responses have been less than helpful.

It is the same problem on several different phones - Huawei Mate 9, Huawei View 10, HTC 10, Samsung Note 4, Samsung Note 9 and Huawei Mate 20 Pro.

I know all of those phone do not have signal issues. All have been updated.

Help?

 

[kirbyrj]

I'm guessing it's the building materials of your house. I have similar issues at my parent's house with metal siding.

The last time I used something like the weBoost it was hit or miss. All it does is try to find a decent signal outside using an external antenna and then rebroadcast it inside.

WiFi calling is another option, however, ATT is backward in that currently you have to use one of their branded phones to get Wifi calling to work, so it kind of depends on what versions of those phones you have as to whether or not WiFi calling is supported. A shame too because Tmobile WiFi calling works on just about any phone that has the capability.

An ATT Femtocell is probably the best option and probably cheaper than the weBoost system, however, last time I checked on that it only works with ATT service, not with MVNOs that use ATT (Straight Talk, etc.). Might work with Cricket since its owned by ATT.

Edit (Personal Note): I struggle to get ATT service at my house, so I'm kind of stuck with Verizon or Verizon based MVNOs. I want ATT to work so I have access to a broader range of phones, but its really only feasible with WiFi calling, and ATT has that too locked down at this time. If they change it to more like Tmobile, I'd think about going back to Cricket or some other MVNO. Currently, I'm on Total Wireless.

 

[Etherton]

I should have added the signal is much better outside. Not perfect but no issues making or receiving calls.

 

[CHANG3D]

I'm surprised you have a problem with the Note 9 since it has WiFi calling.

The problem with signal boosters is

1. You have to have more than one to cover multiple rooms and floors
2. Most importantly, while you might get better strength of signal due to the much bigger antennae designs of the signal booster, if your outside coverage is full of interference or other junk, guess what? Your signal boosters will boost that junk inside too. Basically whatever you get outside, you'll get inside. My old company hired a professional (free consulting), he measured outside and inside and determined that outside interference is the biggest cause to why our signal is bad, so while a signal booster may give us a little bit more strength, he doesn't recommend us spending that money - refreshing way to do business haha. (We winded up with three Sprint femtocells, which was provided free by Sprint; the boss used Sprint... Developed a very good relationship with the local Sprint engineers, getting to test out several devices prior to release. They used our location nearby to see how well the devices worked knowing our neighborhood is littered something that interferes with Sprint. I was on Sprint for a long time because of that relationship.)

The problem with femtocells is that your internet is being used to boost signal every device of your carrier that gets within range of that femtocell.

 

[Etherton]

I don't think mine has WiFi calling. This is where it should be...

 

[CHANG3D]

Shouldn't it be in "connections" instead? If I recall correctly from my POS Galaxy S9.

 

[Etherton]

Just took a look there and done a search. Nothing is listed. Tried just WiFi and Calling. Developer options open too.

edit: YouTube says it is unavailable on Unlocked models.

 

[kirbyrj]

Unlocked doesn't work. You need a branded/locked phone from them or else no WiFi calling. They are getting better in that WiFi calling is available on something other than an iPhone, but it's still too limited.

 

[exlink]

My apartment complex provided me with one of these after I bitched about not getting signal anywhere in my apartment (only had 1 bar near windows). Tried different carriers and had the same issue. So far the booster works great for a 900 sq. ft. apartment; I get 2-3 bars inside now and no missed/dropped calls. I still prioritize WiFi calling, but in the event that the internet went down I didn't want to be left without a way for someone to contact me.

 

[Etherton]

My apartment complex provided me with one of these after I bitched about not getting signal anywhere in my apartment (only had 1 bar near windows). Tried different carriers and had the same issue. So far the booster works great for a 900 sq. ft. apartment; I get 2-3 bars inside now and no missed/dropped calls. I still prioritize WiFi calling, but in the event that the internet went down I didn't want to be left without a way for someone to contact me.

That's pretty much what I have to do. I put the Note 9 in the window and use speaker to answer it or bluetooth. I have 1 bar inside. Probably going to try it this week.

 

[Vengance_01]

Tmobile will give you a free micro cell(it attaches to your internet) and broadcasts an LTE signal. The bad news is anyone then can use this new LTE tower... but it was the only thing that would give my parents good signal.