WeBoost Cell Booster Not Working

[Commanche]

Wondering if anyone else has had this problem.

 

We have the the cell phone booster that was installed as after market by the factory about a year and half ago. It has been working fine up to now. Checked it last week and we are getting power to the small outside light, when we turn the toggle switch on, but no lights on the booster itself. It appears it could be a power issue, but we are getting power to the outside light, so maybe the controller itself is bad.

 

Anyway just talked to Jason and he will get back to us later today.

 

Stan

[John E Davies]

Stan:

 

Mine doesn't work. It flashes red/ blue, which indicates reduced power to reduce feedback, (I think)  but it doesn't actually boost. I have set my iPhone to the Field Test Mode, so I can see actual strength numbers, and there is no effect whatsoever. I am wondering if the metal ground plane under the antenna is too small. Have you looked at yours, and does it look like this?

 

 

I asked Jason about this..... and the rust. I'm thinking a 12 inch square stainless plate might help. I did find this info on their FAQ:

 

There are a couple of options that you have. The first option is to create a grounding plane and mount it on your vehicle. You will need a piece of ferrous metal about 4” in diameter and a double stick adhesive. This will create a grounding plane so the signals can bounce into the antenna.

 

Another option would be to mount an antenna that has a grounding plane built into it. We would recommend the 4g Trucker mount antennas (304415 or 304414). These would require you to mount the antenna on a bracket attached to your vehicle.

 

Thanks,

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

 

 

[Overland]

I don't think that a stainless plate would work with the magnetic mount, which is probably their reasoning.   Though they could glue it down of course, which might be a better solution.  Some washers would have prevented the screws from chipping the paint.

 

They sell a marine mount and marine antenna that has a built in ground plane.  Those look like a more 'oliver' solution than the antenna that comes with the kit.

[KarenLukens]

Tonight, I went to move the weboost and looked at the lights for the first time... The top 2 are green and the bottom 2 are blinking red which means according to the manual, that the antennas are to close and that it is reducing the gain... So I pulled the wire and ran it forward more and got the 4 green lights for a short time but everywhere else toward the back gives me the 2 blinking reds on the bottom. I haven't looked at everything yet, so I don't have the answers but...

 

Do you guys have 4 green lights on your booster, which is located inside the cupboard on the forward pantry wall?

 

My signal here in the bush tonight was zero and now for the first time, I've moved the inside antenna and I'm laying in bed with the antenna tucked into my tablet and I have 4bars with really slow 4g. I found out months ago that you really had to be close, but I had never bothered looking to see what the lights meant until tonight. And of course now, I'm right under the outside antenna, so is this part of my problem? Heck, it's working but I really want it working properly with all 4 green lights...

 

Reed

 

[STEVEnBETTY]

Tonight, I went to move the weboost and looked at the lights for the first time… The top 2 are green and the bottom 2 are blinking red which means according to the manual, that the antennas are to close and that it is reducing the gain… So I pulled the wire and ran it forward more and got the 4 green lights for a short time but everywhere else toward the back gives me the 2 blinking reds on the bottom. I haven’t looked at everything yet, so I don’t have the answers but… Do you guys have 4 green lights on your booster, which is located inside the cupboard on the forward pantry wall? My signal here in the bush tonight was zero and now for the first time, I’ve moved the inside antenna and I’m laying in bed with the antenna tucked into my tablet and I have 4bars with really slow 4g. I found out months ago that you really had to be close, but I had never bothered looking to see what the lights meant until tonight. And of course now, I’m right under the outside antenna, so is this part of my problem? Heck, it’s working but I really want it working properly with all 4 green lights… Reed

Reed i had the same issue,  started off with 4 green lights then two of them turned red, seems like the wiring running through the cabinets were causing feedback ( don't ask me to explain, don't know) Richie at oliver moved the antenna to the sidewall right above the window, problem solved!

[ScottyGS]

Stan,  I had the same issue a while back.  Turned out that the power cord went bad.  I called Weboost and they sent one out pretty quickly.  I wired it in and then it worked fine.

 

'Good Luck,

 

Scotty

[Mike and Carol]

We also had ours showing all green then two changing to red.  That’s caused by feedback between the inside and outside antennas. Jason moved the inside antenna to the sidewall which cleared up one. Then he took a piece of metal backed insulation (about 12X12 inches) and we put it under the mat in the overhead storage right above the inside antenna. We’ve had no issues since.  All green. Ours does help when the cell signal is weak. Mike

[STEVEnBETTY]

We also had ours showing all green then two changing to red. That’s caused by feedback between the inside and outside antennas. Jason moved the inside antenna to the sidewall which cleared up one. Then he took a piece of metal backed insulation (about 12X12 inches) and we put it under the mat in the overhead storage right above the inside antenna. We’ve had no issues since. All green. Ours does help when the cell signal is weak. Mike

Much better explanation, thanks Mike!

[sailorashore]

We too had the issue of the lights showing all green on the cell phone amplifier, and then sometimes two of the lights going to red.  When we made our repair trek back to Hohenwald this was one of the items on the “to do” list.   The diagnosis, based on the instruction manual, was that there was feedback between the outside and inside antennas.  The standard cure was applied, i.e. move the inside antennae a few inches and put some aluminum foil on the bottom of the compartment above.

 

This seemed to help, but when I got back to home base the problem reappeared.  So, I called the manufacturer, WeBoost,  at the number in the manual.  I got this from the technician I talked to:

 

First, he had me describe the inside and outside antennae locations, and pronounced them plenty far apart. No need to fool around moving the inside antennae a few inches in any direction.  Then he had me hang up and do a series of phone signal strength tests (different from the bars) with the amplifier on and off, and record the data.  We talked the next day.  Based on the numbers he said that I was in a strong signal area, and the booster was reducing the amplification gain because it wasn’t necessary, and showing two red lights to indicate it was doing so.  The booster, he said, was working as designed, and there was nothing wrong with it.  When the booster sensed a weaker cell signal it would increase the gain and show all green.

 

What the tech told me seems to have been borne out by our experience while traveling.  When we are in the weak signal boonies the amplifier shows all green and we get a stronger signal with the amplifier turned on.  (The cell phone has to be within a few feet of the inside antennae to get the benefit.)   When we are in a strong signal area we get red lights and no boost.  Assuming that what I got from the technician is true and accurate, it would seem many of us have been misled & alarmed by reading an incomplete owners manual.  The “strong signal-reduced gain” phenomenon should have been fully described in the manual.

 

Electrons were never my long suit, so I can’t vouch for what I got from WeBoost.  It might be worthwhile if some of you who are commenting also call WeBoost and see what you can find out.  Be interesting to see if the story comes out the same,  and learn for sure whether we are really having a problem with our cell phone signal amplifier or all is okay.

 

John Shkor

 

SailorsAshore

 

 

[KarenLukens]

I lost my "G"....

 

Wow John, great explanation :) I will be calling them myself just to talk about moving the antenna if needed. I'm not having a problem with it working, once again I was at Zero bars and the small x telling me I have no " g"... lol, then I turn it on and bam 4 bars and 4G, so that's the good news. In fact all I have is good news on this I guess. I was thinking that the booster was limiting the distance that the phone had to be away from it, but that's not the case... It's the same with all of their boosters, they work better if your inside antenna is right against the phone.

 

So, what I've done to get the best signal back by the rear window is, I emptied the cabinet, pulled the weboost cord and inside antenna off the wall, put some Velcro on the back cover of my tablet, and now I'm sitting here hotspotting Karen with the full signal. Since it works best mounted to the tablet, I'm going to drill holes thru the pantry and run the wire thru it and then notch the rear side cabinet door so the wire can be brought down and the antenna attached to my tablet. Then at night or in the morning when we blog, I can turn on the booster and kick back in bed with full power, when we are in a place with no signal. Karen can make or find a pouch for the antenna and the cord, and we can just roll it up and put it away in the rear cabinet when we're not using it.

 

It's a 12vdc booster so I will eventually move everything including the switch to back above the bed, but for today, this solution really works well and being able to connect the booster directly to the tablet really gives you the maximum signal.

 

Reed

[Commanche]

When we had that problem, we stopped at the plant on our way to moving to VA, and they replaced the cell boost power supply. We were not getting any lights, works ok now.

 

Oh, when you turn it on, don't forget to turn it off when you leave the trailer, it is a power hog.

 

Stan

[Adam Williams]

They have a new version that is way more powerful and it works better because it requires less distance between exterior and interior antennas which used to cause more oscillation. There are different versions of it as well - one for car, truck, RV, boat, etc.
 

Edited March 22, 2020 by Overland
removed link to 3rd party retailer