It dates from 20 years ago when there were scams that claimed to enhance cell phone reception but didn’t really do anything except take people’s money.
Times have changed, and the short answer is “Yes, cell signal boosters actually work.” They can boost the cell signal strength inside your home, office or vehicle by 32 times or more.
And this is how they work!!
Cell phone signals are carried by radio frequency (RF) waves, in the same way as terrestrial radio signals. Consider the FM radio in a car. Those signals are collected by an antenna, amplified and re-transmitted inside the vehicle so you can enjoy music, sporting events or talk show programming.
Cell phones operate on different frequencies than FM does. But a cell signal booster uses very similar technology to collect, amplify and re-transmit signals inside your vehicle, home or other indoor space allowing you to enjoy on your cellular device the voice and data traffic the signals carry.
In addition, a cell phone booster helps transmit signals from your phone or other cellular device back to the signal source, the cell tower, thereby completing the communication loop. That’s why a booster lets us enjoy voice calls and YouTube videos on our phones even in places where the cell signal is normally pretty weak.
The bottom line
This is an important and an evident point to be noted. To be sold in the U.S., all cell signal boosters must be tested and certified by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In Canada the testing and certifying body is Industry Canada (IC).
This is an important and an evident point to be noted. To be sold in the U.S., all cell signal boosters must be tested and certified by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In Canada the testing and certifying body is Industry Canada (IC).
These government certifications are assurance for consumers that (a) cell signal boosters work as manufacturers claim, and (b) that boosters don’t cause harmful interference on the cellular network.
So everybody out there just make sure any signal booster you install is FCC or IC certified. That’s your proof the booster works as promised.