First off, Im in sales so there is really no "vacation" for us. I need access to my phone and a decent cell connection at all times. This past weekend, I was hunting in stonewall county where I had very poor to no reception on verizon. And as it always happens, murphy showed up. I was dealing with a customer at 10pm and had to use my buddies phone to tether (he had att) and make calls. Does anyone have a good solution to a portable cell booster without having an extra phone on a different carrier. Would also be good to have at our base camp as well.
TIA

I'm in Fisher county just SW of there. There are just some places out here where service is spotty no matter which carrier. I will be interested to see responses to your question.

I put a booster in my truck a couple months ago. It was a gift so I'm not sure of the details. The brand name is "boost". It works but it's not magic. Easy install. I really have no idea how much it cost.

Wilson make a cell booster, I'm sure it's worth checking into.

Justified said:

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Wilson make a cell booster, I'm sure it's worth checking into.

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We have these in our company pickups. It won't take you from nothing to 4g but will usually allow you to connect a call.

Drive to the top of the nearest hill!

Know how I know your not from here?

Got internet at base camp? I know tmobile makes a cell tower that uses internet that you can get for free from them. Others may as well. They also make a pure signal booster but it takes atleast 1 bar reception to boost it. That one requires no standalone internet and is also free. Both of these can be used in combination too.

If you flip your phone to airplane mode, wait a few seconds, then turn airplane mode off. It boosts your signal for while to a couple minutes. Could be mumbo jumbo, but I think its worked for me

Tape several strips of foil to your phone.

Get a burner phone from att. Verizon is good in metro areas but sucks on the road.

Don't

Dunbar said:

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First off, Im in sales so there is really no "vacation" for us. I need access to my phone and a decent cell connection at all times. This past weekend, I was hunting in stonewall county where I had very poor to no reception on verizon. And as it always happens, murphy showed up. I was dealing with a customer at 10pm and had to use my buddies phone to tether (he had att) and make calls. Does anyone have a good solution to a portable cell booster without having an extra phone on a different carrier. Would also be good to have at our base camp as well.
TIA

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I'm seriously considering getting a second phone.

I use a tracfone -- it costs me about $125 per year calls (and I only use about half my minutes then). It's one Verizon and so I'm thinking of getting another tracfone on AT&T. That way, if Verizon is not available, I can use AT&T, and vice versa.

Government used to have a satellite phone program for anyone with a home or business located in areas with inadequate cell phone reception. Phone was cheap, as was the plan, but the minutes were very limited. Phone was bulky but could get service anywhere.

FishrCoAg said:

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Know how I know your not from here?

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Hey, there are the Double Mountains out where you live.

Yep. But not just anyone can get to the top of them.

I have wanted to climb them for years.

I've had more success with At&t's coverage in Southern small towns & etc. Might try a go phone.

Our lease owner installed a weboost in the trailer at our lease. It takes you from about 1 bar of 4g to almost full signal. Works really well. I am not sure if it is this model but I know it looks similar.

WeBoost

FIDO 96 said:

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Get a burner phone from att. Verizon is good in metro areas but sucks on the road.

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I do a lot of traveling around central Texas and that is not my experience at all. Verizon kicks at&t's ass on the road in between towns. And my boss who drives all over Texas and always needs a phone to make calls actually has both at&t and verizon to cover all of his bases. He uses the verizon one as his main phone because it works in more places.

Just my .02. I'd look into a signal booster or something similar and stay with the same phone.

I have a booster in my house because of a metal roof as well as one in my truck. As eskimojoe said it is not magic but you can get enough signal to make a call.
As for cost check the boost website, they are out of Houston towards Sugarland.I think that for $300 each you can cover both. You need to look and see what you need. I have been very pleased with mine.
On your cabin if you can find the nearest tower use a directional antenna and it improves your service a lot.The only problem with that is you need to know where another antenna is because while you get better service with the antenna pointed right at the tower until it goes down and you are back to no service unless you can find another tower.
I know all of this because I own an oilfield service company and we are not big enough to be faceless, that means I have to answer or have one of my guys answer 24/7/365. It is ok by me because i have done it so long but I just have to make sure I have cell service wherever I am.

It is really funny, I have AT&T and have just the opposite as your boss. With the booster I have never been anyplace I could not get service on AT&T.

1) Pull in gate at ranch
2) Open glove box
3) Throw phone in glove box
4) shut glove box
5) ENJOY YOUR TIME AT CAMP!


Now that I have stated what we all wish we could do... For my day job I am a project manager for a disaster recovery company so I too must be connected at all times.

Over the years I have tried a lot of different repeaters, both vehicle and building mounted. Some work better than others but none were great. They are all tuned for specific frequencies so they are optomized for a single carrier. So the one you buy for your Verizon phone will not work as well for your buddy's AT&T phone, etc...

I have resorted to carrying 2 phones daily. One with Verizon and one with AT&T. When I deploy to a regional disaster, like a hurricane hit area, I also carry a sat phone. They are bulky and not as easy to use but they work anywhere...

Nothing handheld that I know of will help your service, but WeBoost by Wilson will help you get service in your vehicle and in a house. Two separate units of course.

I have the vehicle model 4G-M and it works great. The stubby antenna works ok for the most part, but I do have their 12" antenna also for traveling. The antenna is too tall to fit into any garage on my truck if I left it up all the time.

I'll go from 1 bar to 3 or 4 bars when it's turned on. Really, the only time the bars really move is when someone is calling or if I'm calling out. Otherwise it stays around 2 bars.

SD_71 said:

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It is really funny, I have AT&T and have just the opposite as your boss. With the booster I have never been anyplace I could not get service on AT&T.

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This has been my experience as well. Verizon was very spotty to non-existent at farm and at lake cabin. ATT works pretty well at both. It is good enough in my deer blind that I can stream Aggie football games while I am hunting. I dont get Verizon at all in my blind.

Another satisfied WeBoost customer here. I've got the Drive 3G-M on the boat and it gets me another 8-10 miles out into the Gulf from what I had without it.

Thanks for the responses. Looks like the weboost is popular. Im gonna pick one up and try it out next time I go to the ranch in may. Ill report back as to how well it did.

VaultingChemist said:

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I have wanted to climb them for years.

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If you are seriously interested I might be able to help you out.

Cell service in the sticks sucks with Verizon. Main reason I switched to at&t

Used to have ATT too. But I got zero service at our place in Sargent (matagorda Bay Area). On Verizon I can stream videos inside the house.

It has been a while, but we spent two summers in the absolute boondocks in Wyoming. We drove down the mountain and down Hoback Canyon to almost Hoback Junction to make a call. We bought a magnet mount antenna for cellular and it saved us about 10 miles of driving by boosting the signal in the canyon. I am not sure I have seen a phone lately that will accept an external antenna though, so that may be out.

FishrCoAg said:

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VaultingChemist said:

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I have wanted to climb them for years.

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If you are seriously interested I might be able to help you out.

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I definitely am. I had relatives that lived in Rotan and Aspermont, so I have been driving around it for decades.

VaultingChemist said:

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FishrCoAg said:

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VaultingChemist said:

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I have wanted to climb them for years.

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If you are seriously interested I might be able to help you out.

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I definitely am. I had relatives that lived in Rotan and Aspermont, so I have been driving around it for decades.

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Contact me at Rotan Vet Hospital.

Installed Weboost at the camp and it's awesome! Does NOT work in boosting Verizon, only because there is not enough useable service to boost. ATT went from maybe a a bar or two if you shake you leg the right way, to 3-4 bars of LTE.

The reality is, the more west you travel (of San Antonio), the better ATT gets. The more East you go, the better Verizon gets.

I literally hate ATT but am in sales and like to go hunting, hence why my work phone is ATT. So either switch and do work from the lease, get a burner phone to transfer calls to, or just not do work at the lease.

Good luck!

Get taller deer stands