Complete booster set up for under $200

[highdesertranger]

my bad wrong use of terms. yes I meant a booster. highdesertranger

 

[myway_1]

The refurbished Wilson Sleek is not in stock. Is the new version the Weboost Drive 4G-S ?

 

[jimindenver]

I am still showing the Sleek on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Wilson-Elect...8&qid=1496814944&sr=8-2&keywords=Wilson+sleek

 

[AntiGroundhogDay]

@jimindenver have you test an omni antenna vs. your directional? Or have some in mind?

Though the range of a directional cell phone antenna would be nice, I'd rather not do a setup like Finding Simon if I can:

 

[XFILE36]

Right now on Amazon you can order a refurbished Wilson sleek for $119

https://www.amazon.com/Wilson-Elect...6&sr=8-1&keywords=refurbished+wilson+sleek+4g

Lenny, the first one is unavailable.  I have Sprint.  I know nothing about getting cell service outside where I am now.  Do you only need these three things and will they work for me?  Also, this is separate from internet service for a lap top?

 

[jimindenver]

I have not aside from using the original 4 inch antenna that comes with the Sleek. There I can tell you I showed a 10 db difference in signal. However one of the dwellers here in the group does have a omni directional antenna and their results for the same area are not being able to get a email vs me being able to stream video in a limited way on the same service. They also have another service I have and show no connection at all while I show no service until I put that hotspot in the cradle and see 4 out of 5 bars. That is T-Mobile here and was Sprint in Flagstaff. Again the hotspot showed nothing until it went into the cradle, after that it was streaming like the tower was next door.

The directional antenna is a pain to set up and aim but it gives the best results possible in the most challenging situations. Where I am now is where I developed the whole system for. We are at 9600 ft I believe and the towers are so far off that they do not show up when I bring up cellrecetion.com for Jefferson, Co. I know from the past that T-Mobile is at least 30 miles away on band 12 with terrain causing interference. All of the towers handle so much traffic that congestion becomes a issue. I am just lucky that I can switch between the carriers and find a usable service for the moment.

 

[AntiGroundhogDay]

I have not aside from using the original 4 inch antenna that comes with the Sleek. There I can tell you I showed a 10 db difference in signal. However one of the dwellers here in the group does have a omni directional antenna and their results for the same area are not being able to get a email vs me being able to stream video in a limited way on the same service. They also have another service I have and show no connection at all while I show no service until I put that hotspot in the cradle and see 4 out of 5 bars. That is T-Mobile here and was Sprint in Flagstaff. Again the hotspot showed nothing until it went into the cradle, after that it was streaming like the tower was next door.

The directional antenna is a pain to set up and aim but it gives the best results possible in the most challenging situations. Where I am now is where I developed the whole system for. We are at 9600 ft I believe and the towers are so far off that they do not show up when I bring up cellrecetion.com for Jefferson, Co. I know from the past that T-Mobile is at least 30 miles away on band 12 with terrain causing interference.  All of the towers handle so much traffic that congestion becomes a issue. I am just lucky that I can switch between the carriers and find a usable service for the moment.

It seems a directional antenna rocks, if you are stationary for awhile, but if you are moving every few days and having to take down and setup the directional antenna all the time... that would grow old quickly.  Other than the video I linked, have you thought of any inventive ways to conveniently mount and aim a directional antenna on the regular?

 

[jimindenver]

I only show one listing for the Wilson Sleek 4G open box on ebay for $119.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wilson-Elec...052096&hash=item3adb78f0d4:g:MN4AAOSwmLlX4Yj4

I show the WeBoost Drive 4G-S refurbished on ebay for $129

http://www.ebay.com/itm/weBoost-Wil...ash=item2a68fae94b:g:T2gAAOSwFnFV8zFY&vxp=mtr

I show the WeBoost refurbished on Amazon for $149.

https://www.amazon.com/weBoost-Driv...499972236&sr=8-3&keywords=refurbished+weboost

 

[jimindenver]

It seems a directional antenna rocks, if you are stationary for awhile, but if you are moving every few days and having to take down and setup the directional antenna all the time... that would grow old quickly.  Other than the video I linked, have you thought of any inventive ways to conveniently mount and aim a directional antenna on the regular?

You are correct that the weakness of my system is while on the road or very short stays that make setting up a pain even though it is really only minutes. I have given thought to using the RV's TV antenna mast to mount the directional antenna to. This would allow me to crank it up and turn it much easier but it could shade the solar in some positions while how I do it now allows me to put the antenna where ever it needs to be to avoid shading a panel.

 

[tx2sturgis]

I've had the gear for a few days now and have had some time to play with it. So far I am not terribly impressed. I'm starting to wonder if my booster is no good.

1) The booster cradle gets pretty hot, especially if my phone is clipped in and running as a hotspot.

2) I'm not seeing much in the way of a boost and in fact I seem to lose a bar or two when my phone is in the cradle.

I ran a Wilson Sleek for years, (they were marketed to us truck drivers for the last 10 years or so) and wore out one, and then bought another. Currently they list them at 1.8 watts of output.

For anyone reading about this and think the Wilson Sleek (weboost, now)  are hocus pocus marketing BS like those little stick-on metal foil 'boosters' you see on convenience store counters for $5, rest asssured, they do work. It's a duplex amplifier for cell phones and cellular data. They work.

I still own a dual band Wilson Signal Boost amp, (3 watts output, the legal max)...which I need to upgrade for 4G use.

Anyway, ZZZ, unless yours is defective in some way, the two symptoms you list are signs of RF feedback.

Make sure, very sure, that the outside antenna does not have 'line-of-sight' to the sleek cradle.

The exterior antenna, whatever you are running, needs to have metal between it and the booster, and at least 6 feet of separation, and the more, the better. Ten feet is good, twenty feet is great if you have enough cable.

Also keep in mind the Sleek is not designed for continuous full power output. The little heat sinking it does have will get pretty warm if its working hard.

If you know your going to be online for hours, working a tower that is 10-30 miles away, its a good idea to provide some airflow if you can. Your hotspot will probably also get somewhat warm so give them both a little breeze, either a fan, or open a window or something.

Whatever you do, dont let it sit in the sun and get overheated, it will simply shutdown.

BTW you can go into the settings menu on a smartphone in the cradle, and find the signal strength, in db, and the lower the number, the better the signal. Anything below 100 is a pretty good signal.

___________________________________________________________________________

Edit: I see the Wilson 470108 cell booster is close to $400 but if you need the absolute best unit, and willing to spend more, look at that one.

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

I ran a Wilson Sleek for years, (they were marketed to us truck drivers for the last 10 years or so) and wore out one, and then bought another.

So much good stuff and me getting ready to mount the driving antenna, dash mount, and booster. I still have not played with the directional antenna but will in the near future.

I'll update this again when I have some more imperical data to share. My hopes and expectations are high. Keeping all of this in mind I will need to comsider the placement of the smaller antenne and will come back to the directional.

The next question then of course, aside from a map and compass what is the bes ... the stand ... uh. Thoughts on GPS units and mapping software?



Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[squid]

Right now on Amazon you can order a refurbished Wilson sleek for $119

https://www.amazon.com/Wilson-Elect...6&sr=8-1&keywords=refurbished+wilson+sleek+4g

The WeBoost wide band directional antenna for $50.13

https://www.amazon.com/weBoost-700-...=1492357996&sr=8-1&keywords=wide+band+weboost

and the no adapter needed cable to connect them for $22.89

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SNRIFS6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's the set up I use to get cell signal in the boonies on all of my devices on all four carriers. I have never been without cell service on at least two carriers where ever I have been.

Can this be hooked up to the archaic crank-style TV antenna I have on my RV roof?

 

[jimindenver]

I am going to say no

 

[Stormy]

14846[/ATTACH]

Might not be a bad idea, I remember seeing a new channel on YT doing a mini series on an antenna conversion like that, have to see if I can find it. Being able to tune it from inside would be nice but getting it higher in the air would be my preferance.

 

[jimindenver]

Mounting it on the TV antenna mast might be doable, just watch how much weight is up there and how the antenna base is handling it. I did it in Quartzsite and it made the base sloppy and squeezed the two legs together so that it would not fold down. Otherwise it would be wonderful to adjust it from inside.

 

[mxbrown88]

So I'm trying to decide between a refurbished Sleek vs the Drive, which is only a $10 diff. But the thing pushing me towards the older model Sleek is that I've heard rumors that the newer version actually has more DB regualtions put on it by WeBoost, ect, by the FCC. So I'm think it may actually be less capable in some way. Any truth to that??

 

[jimindenver]

Nothing that I know of but I never really checked out the Drive that much. I can say I had a person with the Drive on one side of me and another with a sleek on the other side, if one had a signal, so did the other. They both want directional antennas after being in a spot where I was the only one with a signal. I had everyone on it and they got to see the difference first hand.

 

[user 15722]

Years back I had a 2mtr yagi 60ft up on a home-made mast that was 30ft higher than anyone else around and it did very well.
Elevation can help a lot !
Storm brought that mast down... lol
wheels

 

[SalsaDog]

I just purchased a Sleek 4G-S (ebay) and a Yagi directional antenna (ebay). As for the cable, I got 15' of LMR-195, N male and a SMA male right angle. I purchased this from Pasternack ENterprises.

After a couple of hours of cable research; RG58 is the worst option. It's old technology and always was/is the cheapest option. The RG58 loss (db) per foot is significantly higher than LMR-195 cable. It's also very flexible at 0.195" O.D. The tech stated that they never use RG58 because of it's poor performance. I mentioned WeBoost sells it. He said because it's the cheapest.

So IMHO, why spend money on a good antenna and booster and then wasted the signal on rubbish cable?

Hope this helps and thanks Jim for all your help.

 

[user 15722]

I just purchased a Sleek 4G-S (ebay) and a Yagi directional antenna (ebay). As for the cable, I got 15' of LMR-195

Yes, the LMR-195 is far superior, especially for a longer run.  wheels