“Boosters have specific technology that helps them receive a lower power signal than your cell phone would,” says Jeffery Andrews, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at University of Texas at Austin. A cell-phone signal booster “is helpful in patching up the coverage holes,” Erkip says. But sometimes the coverage also has ‘holes,’ which are certain regions where the reception is weak.” Those holes in your connection could be caused by being in a remote location or even the material used to construct the building you’re in. Typically, the base station has a wide coverage area. Elza Erkip, an institute professor at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering says, “The way a cell phone works is that it receives signals from and sends signals to a base station. Muriel Medrad, a professor of electrical engineering at MIT, says it’s best to think of a cell-phone booster as a middle man between the base station and your cell phone. (Check out our story here for how Wi-Fi mesh systems work and the best options.) But if that won’t work for you – maybe you’re often traveling in remote areas, or your internet speeds are particularly slow – you might want to use a cell phone signal booster.
Wi-Fi mesh systems ensure that your wireless signal is strong throughout your home, giving you a strong backup signal when cellular fails. Most phones have settings that allow them to automatically switch from cellular connections to wireless connections when a cell signal is low. If you’re spending more time pointing your phone in the air searching for bars than you are talking, the easiest solution is often a Wi-Fi mesh system. Cell-phone coverage has come a long way since those “Can you hear me now?” commercials, but there are still some parts of the country where it’s nearly impossible to call a friend without standing in the exact right spot, on your table, in the living room.
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