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Old 04-01-2014, 07:27 AM   #1
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Cell Phone Bosters

I would like to know if anyone has used any of the cell phone boosters on the market.
I see Wilson looks like the best out there http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/sto...ry/38/wireless
What I would like to do is not only use it for voice but data as well so I can run Netflix in the RV for the TV. Has anyone been running Netflix? Or what are you doing for your RV?
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Old 04-01-2014, 08:08 AM   #2
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I use a Wilson Sleek amplifier and an external antenna with a Verizon Jetpack. Most often, I've found that the Jetpack on its own receives a good signal; the Sleek helped out a couple of times. An amplifier can only help out when there is almost, but not quite, enough signal for a connection. It can't help if there is just no signal.

I prefer connecting to the Jetpack using a device like a Sleek (which does not require a physical connection to the Jetpack) because I had difficulty connecting an antenna to the Jetpack using the exterior antenna plug in connection.

The Sleek does get warm in use, so it needs some ventillation. A verizon Jetpack is a mobile hotspot for data, not voice (unless you use VOIP). I have used Netflix with the Jetpack and the show streamed well, but video streaming requires a lot of bandwidth; a one hour TV show from Netflix uses about 1 GB of bandwidth - so we only stream near the end of the monthly use period if we happen to have enough remaining bandwidth.

Different amplifiers work with different cellphone providers; if you get an amplifier, you'll want to verify it works with your provider.
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Old 04-01-2014, 08:43 AM   #3
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I have one of the first unlimited plans from sprint for voice and data as I understand it no cap on usage.
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Old 04-03-2014, 07:55 PM   #4
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I have the Wilson Sleek that I use with my smartphone as a hot spot on Verizon. Without the Sleek I didn't have a useable signal. The small antenna that came with the Sleek works fine for me when attached to an inside window pointing at the cell tower.
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Old 04-05-2014, 07:31 PM   #5
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We used a Wilson external antenna and it worked very good.
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Old 04-06-2014, 05:52 AM   #6
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Clutch, Where did you bring the antenna wire into the inside? So far my internal antenna is doing the job for me, but I know at some point it won't.
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Old 04-06-2014, 12:58 PM   #7
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I brought the antenna cable from my Wilson antenna inside using one of these through the rear side of my trailer. I attached the antenna to a short length of conduit which I fastened to the ladder with several stainless steel hose clamps.

The Newmar fitting is rather pricy, but it's construction and design sure seemed effective. The fitting size must allow the connection on the end of the antenna cable to pass through it.
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Old 04-09-2014, 06:44 PM   #8
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I dry camp in the boonies as often as possible. The Wilson is great for maintaining contact with the Officer of the House if you know what I mean. I do not have the antennae permanently mounted. Instead I run the wire out the top of the door - does not get pinched in any way. The magnetic base then affixes to the screw on the top of the awning on the roof.
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Old 04-10-2014, 10:21 AM   #9
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I use the WILSON SLEEK with outside antenna. It really comes in handy at the camp grounds for my Verizon MIFI unit sitting in it. Extends both the VERIZON Signal range as well as the MIFI HOT SPOT area around my trailer.

Since the connection to the cell phone or MIFI unit is passive it doesn't require you to make any physical connections to your devices...

Wouldn't leave home without one... I have one in my Truck and one in my OFF-ROAD Trailer...

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Old 09-05-2014, 05:29 AM   #10
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Stupid question, but did you have to drill a hole for your antenna wire to come into the trailer using those fittings? I would hate to drill a hole through the side or top of my camper, but maybe I'm being too timid.
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Old 09-05-2014, 09:27 AM   #11
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I too don't want to drill holes in the roof of my trailer. I have had good luck drilling thru the side of the trailer up near the roof and mount my SCANNER and VHF/UHF Ham antennas there. They extend up above the roof as shown here... Everything on the outside all sealed up and weathertight.


This area on the inside of the trailer comes out inside a cabinet mounted near the ceiling. From there I can route the cables almost anywhere in the trailer using wire management items from LOWES.

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Old 09-06-2014, 09:39 AM   #12
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Thanks for the info and the very helpful picture. I'm a newbie to drilling into the sides of houses and campers, so I had some more questions:
What kind of screws do you use to hold the antenna's base and the other fittings?
How do you know you're not going to hit something unwanted, like an electrical cable?
How did you match where you drilled in from the outside to where you wanted to be on the inside? Did you just kind of approximate?
Thanks for helping a fellow Virginian!
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Old 09-06-2014, 09:50 AM   #13
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Looked at the Sleek, but confused by the 3 models from basic at about $80 and up from there for the 3G 4G. What is the best model for basic phone usage?
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Old 09-06-2014, 11:42 AM   #14
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I also use the Wilson sleek with external antenna. The antenna is attached to the ladder in the rear of our FW. I then dropped the rear panel of the belly panel and drilled a hole up thru the floor under the dog box that covers our water pump. The antenna coil stays in the dog box till we need to hook up the sleek. We use my iPhone as the mifi. We run the iPad as well as the laptop on it works real well. Pretty hard on the iPhone battery, so we keep it hooked up to a charger as we use it. As someone said before, it uses a lot of band width if you stream much video.
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Old 09-06-2014, 11:56 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bassdogs View Post
Looked at the Sleek, but confused by the 3 models from basic at about $80 and up from there for the 3G 4G. What is the best model for basic phone usage?
The basic sleek model (2g/3g) will work just fine for phone service. Be aware tho that it does require that the phone needs to set in the cradle to be used. Some sort of bluetooth device will be needed to talk and receive.
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Old 09-06-2014, 01:06 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bassdogs View Post
Looked at the Sleek, but confused by the 3 models from basic at about $80 and up from there for the 3G 4G. What is the best model for basic phone usage?
The main thing is to get one that works with your provider's technology - either AT&T or Verizon technology; right now, I think, there are really only the two versions, one for AT&T and one for Verizon. Both the Verizon version of the Sleek and the AT&T version will work with 2G, 3G, or 4G networks.

Here's what their web page says:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cradle Boosters

Built into each of Wilson’s all-in-one Cradle Boosters is a signal booster, internal antenna, cell phone holder, and battery charger. It is ideal for hands free operation, and can be used with your Bluetooth device, handset or phone’s speaker. The Cradle Booster product line includes the Sleek, Wilson’s most affordable and compact cell signal booster, the sleek 4G-V* and Sleek 4G-A** to boost 2G, 3G and 4G signal and coming soon the Sleek 4G-C and Sleek 4G.

* The Sleek 4G-V works with all devices on conventional 2G and 3G networks, as well as the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network
** The Sleek 4G-A works with all devices on conventional 2G and 3G networks, as well as the AT&T Wireless 4G LTE network
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