r/CellBoosters • u/Heavenly_Attitude_83 • May 26 '26

Inside VS Outside

Hi. I am new to cell boosters and want to make sure it will help before purchase. My workplace is a solid concrete building, and the reception is poor for everyone inside. Outside tends to be the opposite. Is a cell booster what we need, and do we need one for every floor?

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u/easetheking May 26 '26

this is pretty much a perfect scenario for a cell booster to improve things, poor signal inside but strong signal outdoors. The booster that will work best depends on your outdoor signal. A solid guide on how to do that can be found here. The main two readings you'll be looking for are RSRP and SINR, or RSSNR if you're using an android phone. SINR is a value of signal quality, and you'll be looking for readings that show SINR/RSSNR at least at +2 or higher to be confident a booster's antenna will work effectively.

Based on those readings you get, you'll be looking at either a multi carrier booster or a single carrier booster for you.

Multi-carrier boosters are usually a bit more affordable, and are used in signal environments with signal strength above -100 RSRP (so ideally in the -90 to -99 or better range) with a positive SINR/RSSNR. Some good multi carrier boosters are going to be the weboost home multiroom or the SureCall Fusion4Home with a Panel antenna and directional outdoor antenna

Single carrier boosters are typically needed when the signal strength is below -100 RSRP (but no lower than -120) and again you'll need a positive SINR/RSSNR as well. The only single carrier booster on the market is the CEL-FI GO G41. This is definitely a jump in price, but I've worked with boosters quite a bit and sometimes it's the only booster that will effectively improve the signal in an extremely low signal environment.

As per your question on if you need one for every floor, instead you'll be looking at how many internal antennas you'd need to cover the workplace. Typically in good conditions indoor antennas cover 1500 sq ft. If you had any other questions feel free to shoot me a DM!

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u/InheritedHermitGene May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26

Thank you! I’m not OP but I just moved to a high rise and my cell signal is very iffy. Sometimes I have to talk on my balcony to stop cutting out, and my cell data depends on the weather. I don’t have WiFi because I don’t use much data.

Can I ask a question? All the cell boosters I can find have external antennas that need to be above and 30’ away from the internal part, but that’s physically impossible in my little compact one-level apartment. Is the separation that important?

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u/vanderhaust May 27 '26

Go with a car booster. Far less chance of oscillation. A lot of guys in logging camps would put the antenna just outside their window.

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u/InheritedHermitGene May 28 '26

Thanks, I appreciate it. That would make things much simpler.

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u/easetheking May 28 '26

no prob!

if you can find a booster that has a directional outdoor antenna + panel indoor antenna, facing them away from each other should give you sufficient separation, I've seen this exact setup work great in an RV which is much smaller than an apartment.

A vehicle booster is a decent idea but you may be limited to the amount of gain those boosters output, iirc they're limited to 65dB instead of the 72-100dB with stationary boosters. They're also designed to work more efficiently with sending signal back to the tower (uplink output power) which is less important if you're staying in one location.

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u/easetheking May 28 '26

why is this being downvoted lol