How The DB Gain Of A Cell Phone Antenna Increases Range

If you work or travel in a remote area, you may already know about how well cell phone antennas work to help boost your signal. Emergency responders such as police and EMS even use cell phone boosters to help transmit the signals from patient monitors ahead to the hospital, since they not only boost phones but cellular modems as well.

A crucial part of a cell phone booster system is the cell phone antenna. High dB gain antennas for cell phone boosters can do two things to help your reception. The first is that they get the signal outside of the metal cage which is your car's frame, and secondly, if the dB gain is high enough, to amplify it as well.

Using High dB Gain Antennas With Cell Phone Boosters

As a former oilfield worker, I've had to use cell phone boosters in places such as the Eagle Ford shale of South Texas, where cell phone reception is poor. Most of the small antennas that come with cell phone boosters such as those made by Wilson and Engenius, do not have very large dB gain antennas. (Note: You may exceed FCC power limits if you use too high a dB gain cell phone antenna.)

What is dB gain:

The dictionary defines it as "a logarithmic unit that indicates the ratio of a physical quantity (usually power or intensity) relative to a specified or implied reference level. A ratio in decibels is ten times the logarithm to base 10 of the ratio of two power quantities

For high gain cell phone antennas used in remote areas, roughly, every 3 DB gain gives you a doubling in the strength of the signal.

You may see a magnetic mount cell phone antennas sold on sites such as cellantennas.com, with a gain up to 5 db or more and a fixed, yagi beam antenna (which you aim in the direction of the cell tower) with a gain of 12 db or more. These work well in the oilfield on rig locations far out in the boondocks, more than 20 miles from a cell tower.

If you are in a fringe area where cell phone coverage is very poor then you should most likely choose the highest db gain antenna possible.

Choices, Directional or Omnidirectional Long Range Cell Phone Antennas For Boosters

An omnidirectional cell phone antenna boosts your signal by sending it out in a narrower band toward the horizon instead of into all 360 directions. You can use one of these to hit an tower in any direction. The higher the db gain of an omnidirectional antenna, the narrower the band of radio energy that is beamed toward the horizon.

Directional type cell phone antennas can be used with boosters in areas which may be miles from the nearest tower. Directional antennas have the highest dB gain of any cell phone antenna, but are only practical for fixed locations, since they have to be aimed at the nearest tower. Also, using a directional antenna is not always the best in areas with multiple towers, since one may be jammed with calls and the other free.