Do vehicle Internet Boosters work?

[John Santa Fe]

Does anyone have experience with WiFi Internet Boosters for cars?

To see if I could get by without an AM/FM radio I bought a $80 Android Tablet, used a CD mount which I found far superior to a suction mount, enabled WiFi Hotspot on my Google Pixel phone, subscribed to both Tidal for music and Simple Radio to connect to both all local radio stations and 1,000's of radio stations from around the world. Mostly works well and even has a better range for local low-power radio stations. As I drive up towards the local ski resort, I lose Internet access after about 8 miles from town while the car's radio is still receiving.

I have no experience with vehicular Internet boosters. Has anyone tried one?

 

[1yeliab_sufur1]

I have not i just use my phone for everything and what I am assuming about the 8 mile dip is no wifi towers for phone service a good alternative if you are looking for wifi on the go would be tge starlink mini I recently got star link for my Nana house and she loves it vs phoenix Internet since we couldn't get any other provider

 

[beatle]

I take road trips in my Miata out to the middle of nowhere for the best roads. A lot of these areas have no cell signal. I use Spotify and use it to download playlists and albums onto my phone so I can play them back without an internet connection (Google maps allows you to cache maps for offline use as well). If there is no cell signal, your booster won't do anything.

Caching is especially useful for a device that has no cell modem in the first place, like your tablet. I can listen to downloaded Spotify content on my laptop on an airplane, for example. Tidal has this option as well, though you're out of luck for Simple Radio; it needs an active connection.

 

[cadblu]

I take road trips in my Miata out to the middle of nowhere for the best roads. A lot of these areas have no cell signal. I use Spotify and use it to download playlists and albums onto my phone so I can play them back without an internet connection (Google maps allows you to cache maps for offline use as well). If there is no cell signal, your booster won't do anything.

Caching is especially useful for a device that has no cell modem in the first place, like your tablet. I can listen to downloaded Spotify content on my laptop on an airplane, for example. Tidal has this option as well, though you're out of luck for Simple Radio; it needs an active connection.

/\ Leave it to the IT guy to explain this so well. It's true that Cell service can be spotty in remote areas, just like having dead spots in home WiFi. My Tesla's cell carrier cuts out streaming audio in the exact same places on every drive.

A bit off topic. I also used to support a Data Center, and I recall lifting out and replacing out the rIdiculously heavy UPS battery modules. If my Slate ever needs a battery swap, rest assured it will be by others!

 

[Johnologue]

It seems the easiest solution being recommended is to make your in-car entertainment not rely on a constant internet connection.

Caching from the streaming service, downloading/owning your music. I imagine that will be a popular opinion from Slate fans.

"Internet booster" sounds like a scam/junk, but I can't speak from expertise.

"If there is no cell signal, your booster won't do anything."
I take that to mean the limitation is with the transmitters, and not the receiver.
The towers put out a signal that only goes so far, and there's nothing for a bigger antenna to "amplify" past that?

 

[beatle]

"If there is no cell signal, your booster won't do anything."
I take that to mean the limitation is with the transmitters, and not the receiver.
The towers put out a signal that only goes so far, and there's nothing for a bigger antenna to "amplify" past that?

Pretty much. A "booster" is really just relaying the available signal at a level strong enough for your phone to pick up. Since it has a much bigger/stronger antenna, the idea is that it would be able to pick up a signal that your phone couldn't. But there are some places a signal just doesn't reach far enough to be usable even with a big antenna, and then the booster won't do anything. I could see a booster being used more in fixed places where you know they'll work instead of a road trip where you hope they can fill in all the gaps. No gaps guaranteed when you're just playing cached content. I just pretend I'm loading my old CD changer when I pick my playlists for those trips.

 

[KevinRS]

It seems the easiest solution being recommended is to make your in-car entertainment not rely on a constant internet connection.

Caching from the streaming service, downloading/owning your music. I imagine that will be a popular opinion from Slate fans.

"Internet booster" sounds like a scam/junk, but I can't speak from expertise.

"If there is no cell signal, your booster won't do anything."
I take that to mean the limitation is with the transmitters, and not the receiver.
The towers put out a signal that only goes so far, and there's nothing for a bigger antenna to "amplify" past that?

"Boosters" work where the signal is marginal, at the edge of service. Particularly they work where signal doesn't get to the phone inside the car, but you could step outside for a minute and get some level of service.
All this does not apply to those cheap "booster" stickers that were sold to apply to the back of the phone, those were pure snake oil. A real booster is powered, and isn't cheap.