I mentioned on Podcast Episode 112 that the Wilson Amplifier people sent me their top of the line Cellular Amplifier to test out in our RV and that sure peaked a lot of reader interest. In particular, many wanted to know how we mounted that big spring mounted outside antenna that most truckers install on their side view mirrors.
Here's a show and video of my installation.
At $480, this is a professional grade model that the company says provides up to 60% more reach from the cell tower to your phone than other car cell phone signal boosters. The unit I have is officially known as the Professional Grade weBoost Drive 4G-X
That is a steep price but a must have for most RVers, especially if you do the amount of boondocking we do. I had been using a version that costs $179 and have been most pleased with it. But the company said their top of the line unit does an amazing job pulling out low signals and sent me one to evaluate. So evaluate I will. But they make many different cell booster systems, for home and vehicles. Here's an link to the exact booster we use now.
I was stumped on where it could be installed. My friend Ari Adler mounted one on the front of his Roadtrek 210 but my Roadtrek CS Adventurous XL is on the Sprinter frame and his install wouldn't work on mine. When I was at the Roadtrek factory in Kitchener, Ontario this week, I shared my dilemma and, in abut 10 minutes, Chris, Joe and Norm had it all figured out. Even Yan Seiner got involved.
We ended up mounting the tiki-like antenna on a rear door hinge and snaked the antenna cable inside, tucking tit beneath the side wall coverings. It's powered by a 12 Volt cigarette lighter plug. You can watch the video to see how I mounted it.
It works with all major carriers in the U.S. and Canada.
Here's how it works: The outside antenna pulls in whatever signal it finds from nearby cell towers and feeds that into the amplifier. The amplifier boosts that signal and then retransmits it via a small indoor antenna. Your devices then connect to the boosted signal, as if you were closer to the cell phone tower.
In my RV parked in my driveway, my iPhone showed one bar of a 4G LTE signal. With the amplifier on, it went up to three bars.
We'll be driving through some pretty remote areas over the next couple of months. I'll let you know how it does.
One Response to “RV Show and Tell: My new Professional Grade Wilson Cellular Amplifier”
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November 07, 2016at7:45 am, Roy said:
Hi Mike, I just saw your video of your Cell Booster install. You might have an oscillation issues with your install. In a very weak signal area the booster will be trying so hard to find and send signal and it will overpower the interior antenna and oscillation will result. The two antennas need to be as far apart as possible and they should not be on the same horizontal plane. I would mount the inside antenna much lower and further away from the outside antenna if I was you.
I have the WeBoost in my 20′ travel trailer with the two antennas 18′ apart and in remote areas I still run into oscillation and the unit will not work. My trailer is aluminum sides but wood/rubber roof so it affords no RF shielding. One time I needed to put the internal antenna in a large aluminum cooking pot to shield it from the outside antenna.
On my unit, when oscillation occurs a red light is visible on the amplifier. Not sure how your unit would notify you. You can read all about my experience and many other RV articles on my web site http://www.rvbprecision.com Feel free to use anything you find on my web site in your posts. Thanks for a great service you do. I really enjoy reading your posts.