# DOthese cell phone signal boosters really work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 29, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dothese-cell-phone-signal-boosters-really-work/314698 "2005-07-29T03:43:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dothese-cell-phone-signal-boosters-really-work/314698/1 "2005-07-29T03:43:07Z")
My house is in a weak signal area which is more than a bit frustrating. I was wondering if something like [this](http://www.wirelessemporium.com/store/catalog/product/details.asp?itemid=700&refer=froogle) might help a bit. Anyone ever use one before? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dothese-cell-phone-signal-boosters-really-work/314698/2 "2005-07-29T04:46:38Z")
FWIW/AFAIK/ FWIR(From what I’ve read, here I think) they are garbage. If you do a little looking around, you’ll can find external antannaes and signal repeaters that you can use to help boost you’re signal. But not a $3.99 sticker. Also, if you really want to try one out, I belive you can usually find them on ebay for less then that. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dothese-cell-phone-signal-boosters-really-work/314698/3 "2005-07-29T06:36:47Z")
Is there another good way of improving reception? ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dothese-cell-phone-signal-boosters-really-work/314698/4 "2005-07-29T13:57:54Z")
You can install an amplifier type device in your home. I looked into it a few years ago and it would have cost me around $650 if I remember correctly. I moved, so it became moot. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dothese-cell-phone-signal-boosters-really-work/314698/5 "2005-07-29T14:00:45Z")
It’s a sticker. No, it can’t help. or else they’d have stuck one on the phone when they built it. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dothese-cell-phone-signal-boosters-really-work/314698/6 "2005-07-29T14:01:01Z")
If you stick one on an [electronic pest repeller](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_068.html), it will keep away Jehovah’s Witnesses. ---
**Author:** ![Daylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@Daylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylon)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dothese-cell-phone-signal-boosters-really-work/314698/7 "2005-07-29T14:04:37Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > My house is in a weak signal area which is more than a bit frustrating. I was wondering if something like [this](http://www.wirelessemporium.com/store/catalog/product/details.asp?itemid=700&refer=froogle) might help a bit. Anyone ever use one before? Remember, you get what you pay for. You probably need something like this. [http://www.alternativewireless.com/cellular-antennas/cell\_phone\_power\_boosters.html](http://www.alternativewireless.com/cellular-antennas/cell_phone_power_boosters.html) But they run a few hundred bucks… D\> ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dothese-cell-phone-signal-boosters-really-work/314698/8 "2005-07-29T14:37:05Z")
Everything I’ve read on the subject suggests they don’t work; they are priced low so that even people who suspect they _don’t_ work will still buy them on the offchance, and having done so, won’t bother to try to return them if they’re dissatisfied. There’s also a very large subjective element; if I told 100 people that they’d get better reception if they stood on one leg while making a call, it’s a safe bet that quite a few of those that tried it would honestly believe it had worked for them, either because time, chance and location conspired to give them a better signal, or simply because ‘is your signal better’ is really quite a vague question and difficult to objectively judge, even _with_ the little black bars on the phone display. My advice: Stand on one leg when making a call; it will be every bit as effective as one of these stickers, in fact, I guarantee it. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dothese-cell-phone-signal-boosters-really-work/314698/9 "2005-07-29T14:52:32Z")
Iris got one of these for Christmas, we never put it on, but it did say that you had to buy a new one every few months because they stop working. It’s a bit like that web site that I saw yesterday that said for $14.99 they can tell me the sex of my baby. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dothese-cell-phone-signal-boosters-really-work/314698/10 "2005-07-29T14:56:56Z")
> [@Edward The Head](#): > > It’s a bit like that web site that I saw yesterday that said for $14.99 they can tell me the sex of my baby. [sub]Accurate to within approximately 50%[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dothese-cell-phone-signal-boosters-really-work/314698/11 "2005-07-29T15:27:04Z")
> [@Edward The Head](#): > > Iris got one of these for Christmas, we never put it on, but it did say that you had to buy a new one every few months because they stop working. It’s a bit like that web site that I saw yesterday that said for $14.99 they can tell me the sex of my baby. and if they’re wrong, you get your money back? What a racket, a 50% take. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dothese-cell-phone-signal-boosters-really-work/314698/12 "2005-07-29T16:12:21Z")
You know you can get proper external antennas for most cell phones. I once debated installing one in my truck for my handheld phone but coverage is so good in all the areas I travel in it would rarely be of any benefit. A high gain antenna will help, particularly if you can place the antenna high and in an onobstructed place and will cost less than $100. The site **Daylon** linked to has them.