While carriers continue to expand their coverage areas by adding more towers on land, water still presents a challenge for getting good cell signal on a boat or marine vehicle. Cell phone signal boosters are designed specifically to solve this problem by taking a weak outside signal from distant cell towers, amplifying it and then broadcasting it to passengers on the boat. If you're looking for better reception while docked or out on the water, then a marine cell phone signal booster is the right choice for you.
Jump to Selecting the Right Booster for Your Boat or Marine Vehicle
What is a Marine Cell Phone Signal Booster?
A marine cell phone signal booster is similar to a microphone, amplifier and speaker system that you would find someone using to amplify the sound of their voice to a much larger area. A signal booster functions the same way in that it uses an outside antenna (the microphone) on the boat to receive the weak outside cell signal (your voice), passes it via a cable to a signal amplifier (the amplifier), and then passes it to an inside antenna (the speaker), which broadcasts the stronger signal to a larger area inside the cabin of the boat.
The system also works in reverse, so if you're in the cabin of the boat and you're dialing out with your cell phone, the signal will go into the inside antenna, through the amplifier and then be broadcast from the outside antenna out to the distant cell towers. This ensures that you'll get consistent calls and data speeds both when receiving and making calls and data requests.
In order for a cell phone signal booster to work, it does require at least some outside signal to boost. If there isn't any outside cell signal, then the booster will have nothing to boost, and won't work until you move into an area with a small amount of cell signal.
Oscillation and Overload
There are two main issues that may arise while you're using your cell phone signal booster: oscillation and overload. Here is an explanation of each and how to handle it:
Oscillation
Oscillation occurs when the boosted signal that is being broadcast from the inside antenna of the booster makes its way back to the outside antenna and creates feedback in the system (very similar to the squealing sound you get when a microphone gets too close to a speaker). Due to this, most signal booster systems require that the inside antenna be located inside of the cabin of the ship so that the exterior of the boat blocks the boosted signal from reaching the external antenna.
If you do experience oscillation, the best way to fix it is to increase the physical separation between the antennas by moving one or both antennas away from each other. You should also ensure that the inside antenna is not pointed towards the outside antenna, so the broadcast signal is not sent directly back towards the external antenna.
Overload
Overload occurs when the existing outside signal is very strong and the amplifier is overloaded with too much signal. In this case the amplifier will shut down and not provide any boosting.
This scenario will most likely only occur when close to shore and nearby cell towers, so the passengers on the boat should already be receiving a good cell signal, and the booster won't be needed anyway. Once the boat moves away from shore and the outside signal strength drops, the booster will start working correctly again.
Selecting the Right Signal Booster for Your Boat or Marine Vehicle
The type of boat that you have will determine what type of signal booster will work best for you.
Boat with an Enclosed Cabin
For any boat with an enclosed cabin, the best and most popular marine cell phone signal booster is going to be the Drive Reach Extreme Marine Signal Booster Kit. This kit will boost all of the networks on all of the major carriers in North America, allowing you the freedom to sail or cruise to Canada, the United States or Mexico, and still receive boosted signal. It also has the most powerful mobile amplifier on the market with the strongest uplink back to the tower, so you can be as far as possible from the cell towers and still receive boosted signal, though you may need to be close to the inside antenna for your phone or mobile device to receive the boosted signal.
Open Air Boat
If your boat does not have an enclosed cabin or space to locate the inside antenna of the cell phone signal booster, then the best option for you is to going to be the weBoost 470135 Drive Sleek Cradle Signal Booster Kit with the Marine Antenna Kit and SMB to SMA-Female Connector. This setup will boost all of the networks on all of the major carriers in North America to an individual device that sits in the cradle of the booster, which eliminates the risk of oscillation and allows you to use the booster in the open air. Since the device must sit in the cradle at all times to receive boosted signal, voice calls will require you to use speakerphone or a bluetooth headset.
Final Thoughts
Marine signal boosters can provide greater convenience for voice calls and data usage, as well as peace of mind in case of emergency situations. If you'd like help choosing the right marine signal booster for you, please do not hesitate to contact us with questions.