The Complete Cell Phone Signal Booster Buying Guide (2023 Edition)

The Complete Cell Phone Signal Booster Buying Guide (2023 Edition)

Written by Alex Baker
31st Aug 2023

The Best Cell Phone Signal Booster for You

If you have poor cellular signal, a cell phone signal booster is the answer.

Cell phone signal boosters are also called cell phone boosters, repeaters, signal amplifiers, and network extenders. They boost 4G LTE signal across all major American carriers and all phones, and are 5G ready. A cell phone signal booster will end your dropped phone calls, unsent texts, and slow data speeds. You will never have weak signal or dead zones again.

There are many different types of cell phone boosters. So many that it can be hard to choose which one is right for you. That is why we have made this list – to show off the most trusted, ISED approved cell phone boosters in Canada.

All our cell phone signal booster kits:
  • Amplify 4G LTE signal for all cellular devices. This includes iPhones, Android, 5G phones, other smartphones, tablets and iPads, and cellular hotspots.
  • Act as a 4G LTE network extender.
  • Work for all major North American carriers. This includes Rogers, Bell, Telus, and more.
  • Boosts all signal within the 800-2500 mHz bands.
  • Have no monthly fees.
  • Do not need WiFi or a landline connection.
  • Are completely legal ISED-approved cellular extenders.
  • Are compatible with all 5G ready mobile phones, and will work for the next decade and beyond.
  • Come with a two-year warranty and an industry-leading 30-day money back guarantee.

We fix poor cell phone signal! Find the right signal booster for you:

For Home
For Vehicle
For Business
For Commercial

Things to Consider Before Buying a Cell Phone Signal Booster

There are a few pieces of information you will want before buying a cell phone signal booster. Some of you might be interested in the causes of bad signal or how a signal booster works, but these are not really relevant to choosing a booster to buy. What matters the most are the quality of your outside signal, and the area you need to cover.

  1. How many people need to use the cell phone booster? The more people at once, the stronger the booster you'll need.
  2. Do I have any usable outside signal? If the answer is “no,” you’re out of luck. A cell phone booster will not work with no existing signal.
  3. What is my desired coverage? More coverage means a more powerful cellular signal booster – doubly true if you have weak outside signal. You may also need more inside antennas to cover a complicated layout.
  4. What type of installation can I handle? For a do-it-yourself (DIY) kit, you will need to be able to go on your roof and run a bit of cable. The larger the home, the more challenging this becomes. If running cable is too difficult, consider getting a kit with professional installation.

Cell Phone Signal Boosters for Home and Office

Cell phone signal boosters for home is the most popular category of consumer cellular signal booster. Before we give our recommendations, we suggest knowing your outside signal. We’ll wait. It’s an important step.

We’ll be breaking them down boosters by desired coverage, and providing our expert recommendations accordingly.

Cell Phone Signal Boosters for Midsize Homes and Office Spaces

If you have a midsize home or office (roughly 1,000-5,000 sq ft / 93-465 sq m), there are a few cell phone booster options available, depending heavily on your outside signal strength.

With strong-to-decent outside signal, we recommend the weBoost Home MultiRoom as the best cell phone signal booster for midsize homes. It has a nice, clean look. Its indoor panel antenna has a fabric front and looks like a part of the house. With its powerful yagi directional antenna and high downlink, it can reach far away cell towers to provide more powerful signal amplification. Its LCD lights tell you whether it is working properly. This is the least powerful signal booster kit you should buy if you have weak outside signal.

With weak outside signal, we recommend the weBoost Home Complete. It’s significantly stronger than the Home MultiRoom, but that’s necessary if you have a decent-sized home or cabin out in an area with weak signal. Though it can cover 7,500 sq ft / 696 sq m, with weak signal you’re more likely to see 2,000-5,000 sq ft / 185-465 sq m out of it.

weboost home multiroom
weBoost Home MultiRoom - 650144

For midsize homes and offices with strong outside signal

Buy Now at $799.99
weboost home complete
weBoost Home Complete - 650145

For midsize homes and offices with weak outside signal

Buy Now at $1,399.99

Cell Phone Signal Boosters for Large Homes and Office Spaces

If you have a large home or office (roughly 5,000-20,000 sq ft / 465-1,858 sq m), there are a few cell phone booster options available, depending heavily on your outside signal strength.

With strong-to-decent outside signal strength, we recommend the weBoost Home Complete. With a maximum of 7,500 sq ft / 696 sq m of coverage, it will cover most large homes.

With weak outside signal strength, we recommend the weBoost for Business Office 100. It can cover up to 25,000 square feet / 2,322 square meters with perfect outside signal. Most people will get between 10,000 and 15,000 sq ft / 929 and 1,393 sq m square feet though.

Both these cellular signal boosters have different antenna options and are very customizable. They can use omnidirectional antennas in cities as well as dome antennas for drop tile ceilings. In contrast, they can use directional antennas in poor signal environments as well as wall mount panel antennas. They are strong enough to power many indoor antennas. They are also good options if your home or office has several floors or is very complicated.

weboost home complete
weBoost Home Complete - 650145

For large homes and offices with strong outside signal

Buy Now at $1,399.99
weBoost Office 100
weBoost for Business Office 100 – 652060/643060

For large homes and offices with weak outside signal

Buy Now at $1,649.99

Cell Phone Signal Boosters for Small Homes and Office Spaces

If you have a small home or office (under 1,000 sq ft / 93 sq m), there are a few cell phone booster options available, depending heavily on your outside signal strength.

If your outside signal is strong, we recommend the weBoost Home Room. This easy install signal booster can provide up to 1,500 sq ft of coverage under best conditions, but even with strong outside signal, you’re more likely to receive 750-1250 sq ft / 70-116 sq m.

If your outside signal is weak, we recommend the weBoost Home MultiRoom. This signal booster is capable of covering 5,000 sq ft / 465 sq m, which at first glance sounds like overkill. However, with weak outside signal, you will find you need every bit of the increased power of the MultiRoom.

Both the weBoost Home Room and Home MultiRoom boost signal for all major carriers. Should you ever change carrier, these cell phone boosters will still work.

weboost home room
weBoost Home Room - 652120

For small homes and offices with strong outside signal

Buy Now at $599.99
weboost home multiroom
weBoost Home MultiRoom - 650144

For small homes and offices with weak outside signal

Buy Now at $799.99

Cell Phone Signal Boosters for Apartments and Rented Offices

If you live in an apartment or rented office and can’t get onto your building’s roof and install an outside antenna, you’ve got one option: the weBoost Home Room.

Capable of covering 1,500 sq ft / 140 sq m, but you’re much more likely to receive a single room of coverage from it. Place it in the area of your apartment or office you need cell signal the most.

weBoost Home Room - 652120

For apartments and rented offices

Buy Now at $599.99

Budget Cell Phone Signal Boosters

If you’re on a tight budget but still need a great cell phone signal booster, we recommend the factory renewed weBoost Home MultiRoom. It covers up to 5,000 sq ft / 465 sq m under strong signal conditions, but even with weak outside signal you will be able to get around 1,000-3,000 sq ft / 93-279 sq m, so it’s a safe bet for most people.

It has a nice, clean look. Its indoor panel antenna has a fabric front and looks like a part of the house. With its powerful yagi directional antenna and high downlink, it can reach far away cell towers to provide more powerful signal amplification. Its LCD lights tell you whether it is working properly. This is the least powerful signal booster kit you should buy if you have weak outside signal.

At this price, you will not get more bang for your buck.

weBoost Home MultiRoom Renewed - 650144R

For small homes and offices with weak outside signal

Buy Now at $597.99

Cell Phone Signal Boosters for Cars, Pickups, and SUVs

A cell phone signal booster for your car can help you remain connected anywhere on the map. There are countless instances of dead zones and rocky signal patches along our nation’s highways, and a mobile signal booster will eliminate or alleviate nearly all of them.

However, the strength of the booster’s uplink and downlink power, coupled with the measured gain of your outside antenna, will affect the extent to which these dead zones and poor signal areas affect your connectivity. This can be a lifesaver on long drives, or when driving in areas where GPS is a must.

Therefore, we highly recommend the weBoost Drive Reach. It has the highest uplink of a vehicle cell booster, and numerous antenna upgrade options to give you the range you need, just about anywhere in the country you drive.

For those who don’t find themselves in the country too often, or need a more moderate boost, the weBoost Drive X should suffice. It, too, has numerous antenna options. However, its uplink and downlink power is slightly lower than the Drive Reach.

weboost drive x
weBoost Drive X - 655021

For urban and suburban driving

Buy Now at $499.99

Cell Phone Signal Boosters for Trucks and Semis

Cell phones are replacing traditional CB radio in trucks at a rapid rate. Cellular connectivity while running cargo is now the norm.

The weBoost Drive Reach OTR is the most powerful mobile booster packaged with a specially designed over-the-road antenna, which can be hard-mounted to your truck or semi. You’ll be stunned at the difference it makes.

Cell Phone Signal Boosters for RVs, Campers, and Mobile Homes

If you want all the comforts of home on the road, you need a cell phone booster for your RV. Most campsites are plagued with bad cell service, and being able to stay in contact with your sedentary friends and family should not be something you have to sacrifice.

Which type of signal booster to get depends on whether you want better cell signal while driving, or at a campsite.

If you want better signal while driving, get the weBoost Drive Reach RV. It’s the most powerful vehicle cell booster combined with a pair of powerful antennas that should cover the full cabin of all but the largest RVs. As a bonus, it’s a quick, one time installation that never needs repeating.

However, if you live or spend most of your time camped on the fringes, you’ll want the weBoost Destination RV . It’s a home cell signal booster with a telescoping pole that allows for quick setup and take down. It'll easily cover the entire interior of any class RV or camper.

drive reach rv
weBoost Drive Reach RV - 650354

For RVs and campers in motion

Buy Now at $729.99
weBoost Destination RV 65
weBoost Destination RV - 650159

For stationary RVs, campers, and trailers

Buy Now at $899.99

Cell Phone Signal Boosters for Single Devices

If you mostly drive alone, sometimes a single device is all you need. Having a hands-free phone is a luxury few can do without anymore, so why not make your cradle a signal booster and ensure your GPS and calls always function like they should?

For a car, SUV, or any other vehicle, a weBoost Drive Sleek can provide just that. It’s a simple, hands-free cradle with a mobile signal booster built in.

For a truck or semi, get the weBoost Drive Sleek OTR. It’s the sleek but with a more powerful, hard-mounted antenna for the side of your truck. If you do most of your hauling solo and don’t mind reaching forward to fiddle with your phone, this is a great investment.

drive sleek
weBoost Drive Sleek - 470135F

For single devices in a vehicle

Buy Now at $299.99

drive sleek otr
weBoost Drive Sleek OTR - 470235F

For stationary RVs, campers, and trailers

Buy Now at $399.99

Cell Phone Signal Boosters for Marine Vehicles (Boats, Yachts, Schooners, etc.)

Cell signal out at sea is a tricky business. Obviously, if you find yourself miles offshore, maintaining connectivity is very difficult. A cell phone signal booster can greatly extend the range at which you lose all contact with land, allowing for a clear connection in your ship’s interior several miles offshore.

There’s one clear option for marine cell boosters, and that’s the weBoost Drive Reach Marine kit. It has been fitted via SMA-SMB connectors to a powerful, waterproof marine antenna that can extend your range greatly.

Commercial Cell Phone Signal Boosters

Commercial cell phone signal boosters are the most powerful, advanced signal boosters that are approved by the FCC for use. The mightiest among them can cover upwards of 100,000 sq ft, enough for all but the largest of commercial spaces. Several of these systems can cover any building in the world, as long as there is a small amount of outside signal present.

That being said, due to the sheer scope of a commercial installation, it’s best left to the professionals. Installation service is available for any of the following cell phone signal boosters in buildings over 15,000 sq ft in size. Give us a call at 1-800-738-1828 to get started.

Cell Phone Signal Boosters for Small and Medium Enterprise

We define “small and medium enterprise” as any building larger than 15,000 sq ft but smaller than around 50,000. This encompasses a wide range of facilities, including but not limited to:

  • Metal Buildings
  • Schools
  • Small Hospitals
  • Warehouses
  • Apartment Complexes
  • Government Buildings
  • Many More

For these applications, the weBoost for Business Office 200 is our champion. Its next-generation technology gives it even more amplification power than the WilsonPro 1100, the old ruler of the small-medium commercial space

weBoost Office 200
weBoost for Business Office 200 – 652047/651047

Our catch all for small and medium enterprise.

Buy Now for $2,199.99

Cell Phone Signal Boosters for Large Enterprise

We define “large enterprise” as sprawling or multi-story facilities that are larger than around 50,000 sq ft. These include:

  • High Rises
  • Hangars
  • Skyscrapers
  • Much more

For extremely large projects, the WilsonPro Enterprise series by Wilson Electronics is needed. These include ports for several outdoor antennas, remote monitoring, multi-tower targeting – the works. They come in either wall-mount or rack-mount formats to fit in any situation.

“Buying” one of these cell phone boosters is rare unless you have a background in integration, as these are top of the line commercial products. If you are in the market for a cell signal booster covering this amount of area, give us a call (1-800-738-1828) and we’ll give you a recommendation and get you started with the system design and installation process.

Common Questions and Concerns Around Cell Phone Signal Boosters

Do Signal Boosters Work?

Short answer: yes. However, there are a lot of junk boosters out there, which have contributed to general public skepticism around these devices. All our recommended boosters are tested, FCC-certified, and backed by our 90-day guarantee, so if you find it doesn’t work for you, there’s no pressure.

How Do Signal Boosters Work?

Signal boosters work by improving the connectivity between your phone and the nearest cell tower. This means that, without an existing cell signal, a signal booster cannot function. A cell phone booster has three key parts: an outdoor antenna, an amplifier, and an indoor antenna. These are connected via coaxial cable. The strength of the booster and total coverage area vary on how powerful these individual components are.

All our cell phone boosters eschew single-carrier coverage for complete carrier coverage, meaning all of the major carriers are covered by any of our amplifiers.

For more information, read the full article.

Why Do I Have Such Bad Signal?

There are nine main reasons people have bad signal, but the most common are distance from a cell tower and building material.

How Can I Boost My Cell Phone Signal for Free?

There are ways to boost your cell signal that don’t require a cell phone signal booster. Some of them are free, some paid, and many will not work for you – but they are always worth a try.

Find out the twelve best ways to improve your cell signal.

Are Bars the Best Way of Reading My Signal?

No! Bars are nothing more than a subjective reading of cell phone signal that vary by phone, carrier, device, etc. There is no standard for what “one bar” or “full bars” even means.

If you’d like to get a true, mathematical reading of your cell phone signal, you want to look into dB readings. Here is a full guide on how to read signal strength the right way.

I’m Having Trouble Installing My Booster. Help?

Installing a cell phone booster can seem challenging without help. Fortunately, the installation can be done in roughly five steps.

Here are the five easy steps for your home signal booster installation.

How Can I Find My Nearest Cell Tower?

If you’ve got a yagi antenna setup, you’ll need to find your nearest cell tower to get the maximum power out of your system.

There are several ways of doing this, so we recommend picking the one that’s right for you from our simple finding cell tower guide.

Why Do Cell Phone Signal Boosters Only Work Indoors?

Short answer: they need walls to bounce signal off of. They aren’t powerful enough by themselves to boost signal across a large open space – and for good reason. Improper specifications on illegal signal boosters can harm cellular networks.

For more information, check out the full article.

What is a Typical Cable Run for a Cell Phone Signal Booster?

Cable runs vary depending on need. Certain cables are ill equipped for long runs, which is why some boosters come in 50 ohm and 75 ohm variants. For most consumers, the cable included in the kit is sufficient, but for those needing longer runs, check out our coaxial cable guide to make an informed decision as to which type of cable you’ll need.

What Antenna Setup Should I Get For My Cell Signal Booster?

Cell signal boosters are required by law to be sold as a complete kit, which includes an indoor and outdoor antenna. These antennas are generally optimized for the booster with which they come. However, there are situations where you may wonder if you can get a better antenna.

You can. The trouble is, sometimes your booster or outside signal isn't powerful enough to handle more than one antenna. We recommend giving us a call at 1-800-373-2927 for a free consultation about your specific situation.

What Do You Know About Cell Phone Boosters?

Wilson Amplifiers is the leading provider of cell phone signal boosters. Cell phone boosters amplify 5G, 4G, LTE, and more for any phone with any carrier for home, office, or vehicle.

We seriously hate dropped calls and poor coverage, so it's our goal in life to rid the world of spotty signal, one happy customer at a time:

  • Free consultation (ask us anything) with our US-based customer support (sales@wilsonamplifiers.a) or call us at 1-800-373-2927.
  • Free shipping to Ontario & Quebec for orders over $49.99.
  • Better signal or your money back within 30 days.
  • We want everyone to be satisfied, so we provide lifetime technical support and a 2-year warranty for all products.

Ask us anything and we'll be glad to help.

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About The Author of This Article
Alex Baker
Senior Copywriter - Wilson Amplifiers
Alex has been studying all things signal boosters for the past 5 years. His technical knowledge is matched only by his writing prowess. In his spare time, he enjoys long walks, stimulating conversation, collecting video games, and trying unusual recipes.