A Review Of TheDigital Antenna DA4000 Cell Phone Booster

As someone who frequently works and travels in areas where there is little cell phone coverage I needed a way to boost my signal. For years I have relied on cell phones with an external antenna port on the back, hooked up to a Wilson cellular booster and an outside antenna. These have worked very well for me, however about five years ago cell phones began appearing without an antenna jack on the rear.

I kept buying older phones off of eBay as long as I could, but eventually needed a phone with full internet and e-mail capability. I upgraded to an iPhone but could not get a signal in many of the places I go. I began to do some research on cell phone amplifers that did not require a physical connection. What I decided to purchase was the Digital Antenna DA4000 3 watt repeater type cell phone booster system.

What the DA4000 cell phone amplifier consists of is a cast aluminum housing that fits under the seat or in the glove box of the car, a small, unobtrusive magnetic mount antenna that you place on the roof, and a small interior antenna that is about six inches long and ruler shaped.

My Review Of The Digital Antenna DA4000 Cell phone Amplifer

The instructions are fairly easy to understand and I had the DA4000 up and running in about ten minutes. I tucked the antenna wire under the edge of the molding around the window and ran it unseen below the dash. I decided to mount the cell phone amplifier in plain sight, just below the dash, so I could view the operational lights. A single LED shows the status of the unit. If the light glows green, all is good, if it is yellow it means that there needs to be more separation between the inside and outside antennas. A feedback loop can begin if the antennas are too close and this can damage the amplifier.

Road Testing The DA4000 Dual Band Cell Phone Amplifier

I decided to drive a stretch of road where I always had phone signal problems. The terrain is hilly my signal usually drops out where the road dips down toward a creek or valley. I watched my iPhone until the signal went down to zero bars, and finally read "no service". I pulled safely over to the side of the road and plugged the DA4000 into the cigarette lighter plug. Within about a minute my iPhone read two bars. 611 is the number most carriers use for customer service and I dialed that number and had a good connection, no static. Unplugging the amp I watched the signal go back to "no service". Hot dog, the thing works, as it should for the nearly three hundred dollars I paid.

I have since tried the Digital Antenna DA4000 in similar fringe areas with my Novatel USB air card for laptop internet (AT&T), my iPhone (AT&T) and my backup Verizon phone. All see a dramatic improvement once the unit is switched on.  My co-workers, who also work in rural areas for my company, have purchased Wilson repeater type cell phone boosters costing over $500 but working in the same areas I have just as good luck with the Digital Antenna booster that I paid less than $300 for.

Modifications

In the worst coverage area I have traveled in, in far West Texas, I have used a higher gain magnetic mount antenna which I purchased in a truck stop. This helped pull in another bar or two, but you have to be careful and watch the status light and move it farther away from the inside antenna if you see a yellow light. I have found the center of the truck cab's roof is the best spot. I have also put the DA4000 on a power supply and used a 14 element high gain Yagi antenna on the outside of my mobile office. Digital Antenna sells the same amplifier with a different indoor pickup antenna for RV and home use.

Considerations

The indoor antenna that picks up your cell phone's signal is supposed to work for a radius of about three feet. I have found that I get the best results by placing my iPhone directly on top of the interior bar style antenna and using my Bluetooth speaker.

I am about 98% satisfied with the Digital Antenna DA4000 cell phone booster and the only negative thing I can say in this review is that I was a little annoyed when the nice looking label peeled off of the amp. This was probably due to the cab of my truck getting very hot, but I think on something this expensive a permanent product label would be much better. I can live with that however, and knowing that my cell phone booster does just as good a job as my co-worker's $500 Wilson units.