New Cell Booster, use it?

[Codeseven]

I have an iPhone (X) and use AT&T (my wife worked for them). My home cell coverage has always been bad so a long time ago AT&T sent me a 3G Microcell to use. Now with 3G being shut down, they just sent me a new 4G LTE Cell Booster. I have Wi Fi, it’s basic, usually 230Mbps down/12Mbps up and started using that for cell service when I first upgraded to the X awhile back.

Question: Even though I now have this shiny new 4G Cell Booster, should’nt I still use my home Wi Fi for cell service? Won’t I just be using up cell data by using the Cell Booster instead of Wi Fi ? Thanks

 

[now i see it]

Cell boosters get their data from the cell tower, so if you use one you’re definitely eating in to your cellular data quota whatever it is.
Think of them as a high gain antenna.

 

[Codeseven]

Thanks.

Recently I had a power outage. No Wi Fi, no Microcell and One bar of reception on the phone. Next phone upgrade might have to include a new carrier that has better home coverage.

 

[chabig]

Yes. With wifi calling there is little need for the cell booster.

Cell boosters get their data from the cell tower, so if you use one you’re definitely eating in to your cellular data quota whatever it is.
Think of them as a high gain antenna.

I had one of these from AT&T and it definitely didn't use cell data. They gave it to me specifically because I was in an area of low signal strength. What it did was connect to home network router via ethernet, and mimic a cell tower for the telephones in my house. All data goes over the home internet connection.

That said, this was before Apple and the carriers implemented wifi calling, so it seems unnecessary to me now. Just use wifi calling.

 

[lclev]

The only issue with a cell booster or calling over wifi is when the power goes out. I would still want my cellphone to be able to have reliable service at my home. I can't even consider AT&T as there is zero coverage in my area. I have to use either T-Mobile or Verizon.

 

[Codeseven]

The only issue with a cell booster or calling over wifi is when the power goes out. I would still want my cellphone to be able to have reliable service at my home. I can't even consider AT&T as there is zero coverage in my area. I have to use either T-Mobile or Verizon.

Yup, I agree. When my power goes out, I’m lucky to get One bar.

 

[dontwalkhand]

Yes. With wifi calling there is little need for the cell booster.

I had one of these from AT&T and it definitely didn't use cell data. They gave it to me specifically because I was in an area of low signal strength. What it did was connect to home network router via ethernet, and mimic a cell tower for the telephones in my house. All data goes over the home internet connection.

That said, this was before Apple and the carriers implemented wifi calling, so it seems unnecessary to me now. Just use wifi calling.

Wi-Fi calling for some reason doesn't always "come up" for my device for some reason & AT&T. The device seems to connect every single time without user intervention. I gotta be doing something wrong.

 

[Boyd01]

I had an AT&T Microcell for a number of years, it's not a "booster", it's a femtocell that uses your wifi connection. However (IIRC) AT&T had some way to track its usage and deduct from my plan regardless. Anyway, when iOS added wifi calling I got rid of the microCell - it no longer made sense to convert cell data to wifi when I could directly use the wifi connection from the phone.

No idea what a "4g Lte Cell Booster" is. Does that also just use wifi or does it actually "boost" the existing cell signal? I have found that wifi calling works perfectly in my home. If I go outside while on a wifi call, when I get a certain distance from my house, the phone will automatically switch to cellular. I'm in a rural area and really couldn't get a usable cell signal in my home 16 years ago when I moved here. The've added another tower somewhere and it's better now, but not as reliable as wifi calling.

Now, I have 400/400 FIOS internet and an 802.11ac router which no doubt helps. However that is new in my area, I started using wifi calling when all I could get was sub-megabit DSL and it still worked.

Not too concerned about power outages. My FIOS interface and router are on a UPS that will run them for quite a while during an outage and I have a generator for longer outages. Of course, if a big storm knocks down the phone poles that carry the fiber cables, then I could be out of luck. But I can go outside and generally get a usable cell connection in that case.