External Filter and Cell Phone Signal Booster Advice

[NewRV4me]

Oh my goodness!! It felt soooooooo good to finally get out and camp!!! We have two questions we are hoping to get input on as previous answers and help have been amazing at helping us learn and understand!! 1. We saw a number of campers with blue external water filters hooked up to the campground water supply. We have a filter under the sink in our 2019 Greyhawk 29mv. Do we need an external filter as well? 2. We have Verizon and were able to get one bar at times and only a really good connection if we stood by the visitor center antenna. LOL! My dad is 92 so we're looking into getting a cell phone signal booster to make sure we can get calls in and out in case of emergency or just to stay in contact (and of course internet would be a bonus but not a deal breaker - we can turn one of our phones into a hotspot if we can get a signal), but reading the posts - there are so many and there wasn't a real current post that I could find. Any advice on where to start? We've done a lot of reading through posts and searching on the internet - but we're basically just overwhelmed and not super techy. Can anyone help us make a good decision?

[Jagiven]

I have no help on the cell booster.

As for the filter, your internal is going enough. However, most MHs seem to put them in a horrible location to change filters. Many people cut out the internal filter and only use an external filter.

Personally, I would buy a whole house filter, pipe in hose threads, and put it outside. You can buy what ever filtration media you like, and the media is a lot cheaper than the blue rv filters.

[eeek]

If you have an internal filter, you don't need an external one. A lot of folks are obsessed with hating the internal filter. Mine is a pain to get to, but it's a 5-minute job. It also allows me to do an inspection in the cavity where it's located. If you irrationally fear it as many, many folks do, get rid of it, and go to an external.

For cell boosters, WeBoost is a name that will come up frequently. If you choose to get one, make sure and test it in many campsites before you mount it.

You said the most important thing in the cell boosting game- you had one bar. If you are camping and you look down and see one bar, then more than likely, a cell booster will work. If you see no bars, no booster is going to work. You have to have something to boost.

[RetiredOne]

X2 on the Weboost.

I'm typing right now hotspotted to my phone in a Weboost Drive Sleek cell booster in a campground . Had one bar and phone kept switching to 3G, after placing in the cradle, I was able to get enough boost to stream the NASCAR race to my tablet.

Regarding the filter, my on board filter was hidden in the rear wardrobe cabinet, a real pain to get to and change. I cut it out and only use the blue external Camco filter. One filter like that lasted the whole season for us.

[NewRV4me]

Thank you! We looked up the weboost drive sleek. It says it is just one user vs. multiple. Does that mean only one of us could use it at a time, or do you boost one signal and turn that into a Hotspot that the other person can use for their phone, tablet, or computer?

[RetiredOne]

We put one phone in the cradle for the boost, and everything else (other phones, tablets, laptop) hotspots off of it. I haven't tried multiple connections at one, like streaming a movie to the SMART TV with Netflix and using the laptop at the same time yet.

I was impressed again with it. Where we were camping, I barely had one bar, and phone kept switching to 3G. The guy next to me couldn't get service on his phone. Once I put my phone in the cradle, I had between 3-4 bars and hotspot my laptop off the phone, and didn't have any slow downs or access issues. One night I streamed live video on the tablet at the same time.

Many people spend $500+ for one of the larger Weboost systems, but for like $250 with the OTR antenna, this has worked fine for us...

Even wifey was able to understand how to use it (and she's not technical at all), and hotspot her phone for her laptop access.

[NewRV4me]

Thank you!

[SamJ]

We were looking for a cell signal booster about a year ago and ended up with a short list of WeBoost and SureCall Fusion2Go. Both looked compelling and we did find a couple of legitimate tests against these. Some things to keep in mind when searching:

• Signal boosters are not always repeaters. A signal repeater and booster is much more sophisticated and generally more effective than a signal amplifier. Hence, these are more expensive.
  
• Antennas can be unidirectional or omnidirectional. If you want to use the booster while underway, you need to go with omnidirectional. Unidirectional antenneas can pick up signals better when aimed at the cell tower, but must be set up each time at camp. Unless you stay put for weeks at a time, the omnidirectional antenna is better.
  
• Be aware of the generation and model number of what you buy. WeBoost and SureCall have several generations of the same model, and better performance comes with the later generations at a higher price. That $200 Fusion2Go is not the same at the $400 Fusion2Go 3.0.
  
• While you can piece together all of the parts that you need, buying an 'RV kit' will give you everything you need, and then some. The kit we purchased included two power supply options and two internal and two external antenna options.

We ended up with a SureCell Fusion2Go 3.0 RV Cell Phone Signal Booster Kit. The only parts I needed beyond the kit was a proper cable entry cover for the roof and some sealant.

With one year of use behind us, I can say it definitely works. If you can pick up any semblance of a signal, the booster will make it useable and generally faster. The range of the interior antenna is limited (it must be to avoid feedback and properly function), so staying within a few feet of it makes a huge difference. To get the most shareable data from the signal, we switch from the short mast to the patch antenna, place the phone on the patch, and then set that phone as a hotspot. (Alternatively, just placing the phone within a foot of the mast antenna works almost as well for serving up a decent hotspot.)

[pconroy]

I think SamJ hit the nail on the head with regards to boosters. We just installed the WeBoost Drive X RV.


Installation wasn't hard, but it did take some creative thinking. To get started I just ran the wire in thru the slideout. Once I was happy with it, I made the installation more permanent.


A couple of things people forget about with Cell Phone Boosters, that SamJ mentioned too:
- there has to be SOME signal for them to work. If you're too far from a cell tower, then a booster won't help either
- Seeing "more bars on your phone" after the booster is installed doesn't mean much. The real test is whether you can make a phone call, download content etc.


But they do work and we're glad we have one.






On the filters - the blue ones that you see really don't filter much "bad stuff" out. They're 20 micron which is a pretty big opening. I do use them (rarely) but consider them a pre-filter. A filter before they hit the inside filter.


So no, if you have the inside filter then you do NOT need an outside one.

[RetiredOne]

Originally Posted by pconroy

A couple of things people forget about with Cell Phone Boosters, that SamJ mentioned too:
- there has to be SOME signal for them to work. If you're too far from a cell tower, then a booster won't help either
- Seeing "more bars on your phone" after the booster is installed doesn't mean much. The real test is whether you can make a phone call, download content etc.

Another accurate way to check to see if you're getting a higher signal is to check your phone, under Settings, to see what the signal strength is under SIM status. A decent booster should improve your strength by at least 20+ dBm.

[brained]

WeBoost RV-65 for us and has worked great, I velcro'd a Visible phone right to the internal antenna.




Originally we had the little external blue water filter and a 2x10 internal filter. Hard water pushed us to adding a water softener, and they need a little protection. We've moved to this setup and I can get it out and hooked up faster than I could unwinding the old white hose:

• Gorilla quick connects (the good kind with an O-ring) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y4T5V52
• Short hoses between filters/softener/inlet https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NTTV4HQ
• Dual canister filter (to protect the softener mostly) with 5 micron and .5 micron filters https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GBZ83HH
• Water softener https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NQ9I5WC
• two of these collapsible hoses https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N1FB8WV
• and finally the house filter gets a Bacteriostatic KDF and Carbon Filter https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0014C5D78

When packing up all the hoses get connected back to themselves, the prefilter has a shorty that connects back around to itself and so does the softener. This way nothing drips, leaks, or gets contaminated. The filter and softener ride up in the truck (trying to lighten the trailer pin weight) and the hoses ride next to the water compartment.
When it comes time to recharge the softener I fill it with salt and let it sit in it's own brine while switching the trailer over to tank water.


It looks like a lot now that I type it all out but it's really easy to setup now and handles turbid hard California water with out issue.