Cell and 4G signal boosters

[TrueNorth]

I know that many people (including me) will say "why would you EVER want Internet and cell on your boat". What I am realizing is that, with a healthy connection, I could work days from the water giving me more boat days. So, I am looking at adding a cell and 4G booster to my boat. Has anyone done this? I am looking at the following:
http://www.ubersignal.com/wilson-mobile-4g-marine-signal-booster-kit-for-voice-3g-4g-lte.html

 

[SeaSkip]

I know that many people (including me) will say "why would you EVER want Internet and cell on your boat". What I am realizing is that, with a healthy connection, I could work days from the water giving me more boat days. So, I am looking at adding a cell and 4G booster to my boat. Has anyone done this? I am looking at the following:
http://www.ubersignal.com/wilson-mobile-4g-marine-signal-booster-kit-for-voice-3g-4g-lte.html

No, but I am skeptical. Cell phone signals are two-way, obviously. You can boost the outgoing signal, but if the incoming signal is weak and/or distorted, your round-trip is going to have major packet loss. If the signal has a good enough antenna that can pick up weak signal, it can amplify it, but you'll still have limited data transmission. The biggest problem is that cell phone towers used to be spread out farther with high amplification. However, that lead to either a lot more overlap (higher cost) or dead spots. So, they started making cell towers spread out with lower amplification. That left the radius smaller. Smaller radius with more antennas leave better ground coverage, but less distance out into the water where there are no more antennas. That's less signal to amplify.

Would be interested in your area, carrier, and experience if you get it.

 

[Formula Tenn]

no info on your question true but i have read some pretty positive results about this company and their products as well as their support. many full time cruisers and loopers have gone with this system. not even sure it would provide what you are looking for but i sent them an email to inquire and the guy was super helpful, a techno genius i am not

 

[SeaSkip]

You will definitely get some benefits some of the time, but once the signal is weak, amplifying it wont be accurate enough to reassemble the transmission. When that happens, TCP applications (most web browsing and many apps) will have extreme packet loss causing major delays, buffering for retransmission, etc. For UDP applications (video calls) you will get so many dropped packets it will be impossible to see/hear. Like I said, the closer to shore you are, the better the amplification. Many land-based signal boosters jack into the wall to get amplified signal, effectively making it a land line. You obviously don't have that benefit on the water, so the linchpin is your antenna, signal quality, and noise in the area.

 

[TrueNorth]

Thanks everyone. I plan on testing the actual signal where I boat with a meter early this season. Then deciding. They have a 30 day return policy so I will duct tape it up to test. If it works or not I will update everyone. I realize the packet loss issues and will be keeping traffic to email and voice mostly. If I need more I work for a networking manufacturer and could load up a solid option but those take power, room, and I really hope I am not online that much...