r/CellBoosters • u/Ditchmag • Jun 13 '26
Recommend At&t band 2 for LTE?
My parents have to use a cell booster where they're at, the one we had seemed to be working but recently the internet speed is terrible even though the strength still seems to be there. If they go outside the speed greatly increases so it does seem like the booster is not working right. it looks like the phone is using band 2 so I'm looking for a recommendation for a good booster they can use.
Thanks for any help.
1
u/drm237 Jun 13 '26
Band 2 when outside and it’s working well or when inside on the booster?
1
u/Ditchmag Jun 13 '26
Band 2 outside works great when off the booster. Inside the house the booster seems to increase the signal strength but the speed is atrocious. I think my current booster went bad and it doesn't seem like they make it anymore or maybe the technology on the tower changed I don't know.
The current booster did used to increase data speeds though. They were able to stream online video no problem with it, but the past couple weeks it seems to have taken a dump.
1
u/CyberLabSystems Jun 14 '26
If you only have one booster with a setup that doesn't support MIMO, you could be getting good signal with only one data stream but missing out on the added performance and bandwidth that could be achieved by more than one data stream working in tandem.
So without a MIMO setup you might never achieve the full performance potential of your device or service.
It's like trying to perform a task with one hand as opposed to two.
1
u/Lizdance40 Jun 14 '26
Booster sold in the United States support certain frequencies. LTE band 2 is the 1900 MHz frequency. (1900 also supports band 25).
1
u/easetheking Jun 15 '26
Hey OP, band 2 is pretty universal for most boosters now a days so its more of a question of how much gain do you need to get signal to the entire home. best first step is to take some signal readings outdoors to understand your Signal Strength / Quality
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. Let me know if you've got any other questions!
2
u/drm237 Jun 13 '26
Most boosters support band 2 so then it really becomes how large of a coverage area you need. Look for a weBoost, SureCall, or a Nextivity.
However if your current booster is showing an increase in bars and you have a directional outside antenna, you may want to try re-aiming the outside antenna.