Several years ago, I put out a simple article called "What is a cell booster?" I'd seen a lot of diagrams like this one:
and they did a pretty good job of showing the process, but I thought it also deserved a bit of an explanation in words. Google still understands words better than pictures, so I thought the article would get out in the world and help more people understand cell boosters.
Here it is quite some time later and I thought I'd dip into the same thing but with an eye toward the more technical aspects of the process.
Generally speaking, when we talk about cell boosters we say that a cell booster takes weak signal from outside, amplifies it, and pumps it out inside. That's true. But it's equally true to say that cell boosters take the signal from your phone, amplify it, and pump it out to the closest cell tower. That makes sense, because cell phones wouldn't be any good if all they did was receive calls and information. You also have to send stuff back, and a cell booster will help you with that as well.
It's also common to refer to the outdoor antenna as a "donor" antenna and the indoor antenna as a "broadcast" antenna or "server" antenna. But, those names imply that the antennas only do one thing and as I said above, that's not really true. Both the donor and server antennas do essentially the same thing, which is both broadcasting and reception. The donor antenna is the one connected to the tower and the server antenna is the one connected to your phone. But, I often get asked if you could use an outdoor cell antenna indoors if you wanted. The answer is yes.
Antennas are, at their heart, very simple things. They're really just pieces of metal that are designed to be a specific size. That size lets them broadcast or receive signals of a specific frequency efficiently. There's no more to them than that. To broadcast, you pump enough electricity into the antenna that it can't help but transfer that electricity to the surrounding air. To receive, you just let the antenna sit there and transfer electricity from the surrounding air. There's nothing more to it.
Generally speaking, the donor antenna and server antennas work differently. One sends and receives signals over a long distance. It does this by focusing those signals a bit more. The other sends and receives signals over a short distance. It does this by blasting out signals in a large, wide pattern. But you could switch them if you really wanted to. They just wouldn't work as well.
Every cell phone booster has a thing in the middle which doesn't seem to do much. There's usually a power light to tell you it works, and that's it. This is the most important part of the whole system. While we refer to it as the "amplifier" there's so much more to it.
The amplifier's primary role is to amplify both incoming signals and outgoing signals. Typically vehicle amplifiers will amplify the signal level about 10,000 times while amplifiers for buildings will amplify the signal level about 100,000,000 times. This amount of amplification is needed because any broadcast signal gets weaker very quickly as it passes through air. Even with that massive amount of amplification, the indoor signals dissipate down to their original level within about 50 feet and the outdoor ones dissipate down to their original level within about 1.5 miles. The difference in distance is largely due to the legal output level allowed for these devices, measured in watts.
The amplifier also performs another important role. While it doesn't change the characteristics of the signals that pass through it, there's some complicated filtering involved to make sure that the noise surrounding the signal isn't amplified as much as the signal is. If this weren't done, there would be no benefit to a booster at all. You'd have a strong signal but it would be so noisy there wouldn't be a point to it.
Several times a second, the booster checks the overall quality of the signals going in both directions. With so much amplification, there's a real risk of feedback. You're familiar with feedback, of course. Think of when a microphone picks up the signal from its own speaker and you get a deafening screech. Now imagine that same thing happening to the cell phone system. A feedback loop could burn out a cell tower or take down a large part of the network. The law requires that cell phone signal booster systems have complicated anti-feedback systems. These systems test the signal several times a second. If any feedback is detected, the power of the amplifier is reduced until that feedback goes away.
That's why it's important to put the two antennas as far away as possible, because if they're too close the power of the amplifier will be reduced and you won't get the true benefit of the booster.
Traditionally, home systems use 75-ohm cable while commercial and vehicle systems use 50-ohm cable. I could write thousands of words trying to explain impedance over coaxial cable, trust me. But that's not the point of this article. All you need to know is that there are two types of cables and if you use the wrong one, the system won't function to its best capacity. It's actually pretty hard to use the wrong cable since 75-ohm cables tend to use different connectors than 50-ohm cable.
Conventional wisdom says that 50-ohm cable is better in general. Today's 50-ohm cables for cellular use can be very thin and still carry strong signal over longer distances than 75-ohm cable. However this doesn't mean 75-ohm cable is bad. Home installations use 75-ohm cable because it's commonly used for other things in the house. This lets the homeowner reuse cable if they want. Some of the smaller office systems are available in 75-ohm and 50-ohm versions. You would choose the 75-ohm version if you have existing cable to reuse; otherwise choose the 50-ohm version.
If you're interested in a cell phone signal booster for your home, vehicle, or office, you'll find the best ones when you shop for weBoost products at Solid Signal. We have the best products at the best prices, and the support you need to get it done right! If you want top-notch customer service, call the experts at 888-233-7563 or fill out the form below.
The post A more technical look at what a cell booster does appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
and they did a pretty good job of showing the process, but I thought it also deserved a bit of an explanation in words. Google still understands words better than pictures, so I thought the article would get out in the world and help more people understand cell boosters.
Here it is quite some time later and I thought I'd dip into the same thing but with an eye toward the more technical aspects of the process.
The bidirectional nature of cell phone signal boosters
Generally speaking, when we talk about cell boosters we say that a cell booster takes weak signal from outside, amplifies it, and pumps it out inside. That's true. But it's equally true to say that cell boosters take the signal from your phone, amplify it, and pump it out to the closest cell tower. That makes sense, because cell phones wouldn't be any good if all they did was receive calls and information. You also have to send stuff back, and a cell booster will help you with that as well.
Understanding the antennas used
It's also common to refer to the outdoor antenna as a "donor" antenna and the indoor antenna as a "broadcast" antenna or "server" antenna. But, those names imply that the antennas only do one thing and as I said above, that's not really true. Both the donor and server antennas do essentially the same thing, which is both broadcasting and reception. The donor antenna is the one connected to the tower and the server antenna is the one connected to your phone. But, I often get asked if you could use an outdoor cell antenna indoors if you wanted. The answer is yes.
Antennas are, at their heart, very simple things. They're really just pieces of metal that are designed to be a specific size. That size lets them broadcast or receive signals of a specific frequency efficiently. There's no more to them than that. To broadcast, you pump enough electricity into the antenna that it can't help but transfer that electricity to the surrounding air. To receive, you just let the antenna sit there and transfer electricity from the surrounding air. There's nothing more to it.
Generally speaking, the donor antenna and server antennas work differently. One sends and receives signals over a long distance. It does this by focusing those signals a bit more. The other sends and receives signals over a short distance. It does this by blasting out signals in a large, wide pattern. But you could switch them if you really wanted to. They just wouldn't work as well.
Understanding the amplifier part
Every cell phone booster has a thing in the middle which doesn't seem to do much. There's usually a power light to tell you it works, and that's it. This is the most important part of the whole system. While we refer to it as the "amplifier" there's so much more to it.
Yes, it amplifies
The amplifier's primary role is to amplify both incoming signals and outgoing signals. Typically vehicle amplifiers will amplify the signal level about 10,000 times while amplifiers for buildings will amplify the signal level about 100,000,000 times. This amount of amplification is needed because any broadcast signal gets weaker very quickly as it passes through air. Even with that massive amount of amplification, the indoor signals dissipate down to their original level within about 50 feet and the outdoor ones dissipate down to their original level within about 1.5 miles. The difference in distance is largely due to the legal output level allowed for these devices, measured in watts.
Quality control and safeguarding
The amplifier also performs another important role. While it doesn't change the characteristics of the signals that pass through it, there's some complicated filtering involved to make sure that the noise surrounding the signal isn't amplified as much as the signal is. If this weren't done, there would be no benefit to a booster at all. You'd have a strong signal but it would be so noisy there wouldn't be a point to it.
Several times a second, the booster checks the overall quality of the signals going in both directions. With so much amplification, there's a real risk of feedback. You're familiar with feedback, of course. Think of when a microphone picks up the signal from its own speaker and you get a deafening screech. Now imagine that same thing happening to the cell phone system. A feedback loop could burn out a cell tower or take down a large part of the network. The law requires that cell phone signal booster systems have complicated anti-feedback systems. These systems test the signal several times a second. If any feedback is detected, the power of the amplifier is reduced until that feedback goes away.
That's why it's important to put the two antennas as far away as possible, because if they're too close the power of the amplifier will be reduced and you won't get the true benefit of the booster.
A little bit about the cabling
Traditionally, home systems use 75-ohm cable while commercial and vehicle systems use 50-ohm cable. I could write thousands of words trying to explain impedance over coaxial cable, trust me. But that's not the point of this article. All you need to know is that there are two types of cables and if you use the wrong one, the system won't function to its best capacity. It's actually pretty hard to use the wrong cable since 75-ohm cables tend to use different connectors than 50-ohm cable.
Conventional wisdom says that 50-ohm cable is better in general. Today's 50-ohm cables for cellular use can be very thin and still carry strong signal over longer distances than 75-ohm cable. However this doesn't mean 75-ohm cable is bad. Home installations use 75-ohm cable because it's commonly used for other things in the house. This lets the homeowner reuse cable if they want. Some of the smaller office systems are available in 75-ohm and 50-ohm versions. You would choose the 75-ohm version if you have existing cable to reuse; otherwise choose the 50-ohm version.
Want to know more?
If you're interested in a cell phone signal booster for your home, vehicle, or office, you'll find the best ones when you shop for weBoost products at Solid Signal. We have the best products at the best prices, and the support you need to get it done right! If you want top-notch customer service, call the experts at 888-233-7563 or fill out the form below.
The post A more technical look at what a cell booster does appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
