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.

 

[Kopsis]

Cell "boosters" come in two flavors. "Passive" boosters are snake oil and generally do nothing. "Active" boosters in the $150 price range act as relays between an external antenna and an internal antenna. They aren't meant for automotive use since the two antennas need to be about 40 feet apart for proper operation. They're good for home use in remote locations where you can get the external antenna up high on the roof.

Active boosters in the $500 price range are actually 4G hotspots. They work just like your Pixel phone to make a cellular data connection available over WiFi but typically have a large amplified antenna that you can mount outside the vehicle. They will typically increase cellular range by about 25%. In urban and mountainous areas, cellular range is limited to 1 - 3 miles, so one of these systems would typically get you an additional half mile of range. Depending on where the towers are, that might solve your problem, or it might do almost nothing. But even if it works, it's a pretty costly solution.

It would be a lot cheaper/easier to use an app like Audacity to record several hours of streaming music on your laptop/PC and then just put that audio file on your tablet for offline listening when you're out of cell range. Audiophile's heads will explode at the thought of how much "quality" this sacrifices, but as a substitute for FM radio, it's perfectly adequate.

 

[YDR37]

Active boosters in the $500 price range are actually 4G hotspots. They work just like your Pixel phone to make a cellular data connection available over WiFi but typically have a large amplified antenna that you can mount outside the vehicle.

I see those antennas sometimes on RVs, and on oilfield work trucks. One manufacturer is here.

Many newer vehicles have built-in wireless modems that can be used as hotspots, and they may have larger antennas with better reception than your phone. I was camping recently at a lake where my phone had no cell reception, but I noticed that my Ford truck did have cell reception. I can use the truck modem as a hotspot if I get a data plan from AT&T, so have been meaning to try that. They have a short-term non-renewable plan that's $15 for 7 days of unlimited data.

 

[KevinRS]

I haven't looked at automotive cell phone boosters in a while, good ones do extend range, but they run $300-500 from what I can see, and the whole market and brands have changed since my knowledge of them. The phone will need to be in the cradle that comes with the booster for it to work.
Probably want to check into off-roading and similar forums to see which are recommended.

 

[metroshot]

Yes, I use the WeBoost cell booster while in car.

Good price for what you get.

You have to run a shark antenna outside for best performance.

 

[Johnologue]

It would be a lot cheaper/easier to use an app like Audacity to record several hours of streaming music on your laptop/PC and then just put that audio file on your tablet for offline listening when you're out of cell range. Audiophile's heads will explode at the thought of how much "quality" this sacrifices, but as a substitute for FM radio, it's perfectly adequate.

I hadn't thought of that variation on the "just store your music locally" solution and I find it very amusing. 😆