You can often find used cell phone amplifiers for sale on eBay and the classified sections of local papers. If you live in an area where you get poor cell phone reception due to hilly terrain, trees, distance from the nearest cell phone tower, etc, you may consider getting yourself one of these handy devices. Some direct connect cell phone booster makers suggest you use a stick on “patch antenna adapter” that creates an indirect RF connection between your cell phone and the booster. These typically do not work very well, since every phone has a different type of internal antenna, and coupling to a direct connect cell phone booster in this manner does not drive the amp to its full potential. You probably won’t see 3 watts of output as claimed, by using a patch type antenna adapter on a direct connect cell phone amplifier.

Two Kinds Of Cell Phone Amplifiers Or Boosters

If your phone is more than a couple of years old, you may be able to find a used Wilson direct connect cell phone amplifier for sale on an auction site that will work with your phone. Direct connect cell phone boosters require a direct connection to an antenna jack on the back of your phone. Most new phones do not have this feature. If you use a GSM carrier, you might consider putting your SIM card in an older flip type phone when in fringe areas and buying a used direct connect cell phone booster such as Wilson for around a hundred dollars. A much better alternative for you may be a used repeater type cell phone booster you find for sale. This way you won’t have to swap phones or worry about whether your phone has the right jack.

The Repeater Type Cell Phone Booster
Below is an illustration from Wilson Electronics showing how a repeater type cell phone booster works.

There are some pretty good models of used repeater type cell phone amplifiers for sale at any given time on eBay.  One model that I have used and been happy with is the DA-4000 by Digital Antenna. Wilson also makes a good repeater type cell phone booster.  These work by picking up your cell phone’s signal from a small antenna you place inside your car, boosting it to the legal wattage, and re-transmitting the signal from a magnetic mount antenna placed outside of the vehicle on the roof or trunk. These repeater type cell phone boosters work well with most any phone or air card and can boost signals from multiple devices at the same time.  In other words, if you have a minivan and have kids in the back with a laptop using a cellular aircard, Dad in the front with a phone, and Mom on the speaker phone on another one, all three signals will be boosted at the same time, on a different frequency. When looking for a used Wilson repeater type cell phone booster, make sure it includes each of the antennas, power supply, manual and works on arrival. Most sellers of used Digital Antenna cell phone boosters on eBay offer you a chance of returning the amp if it is “dead on arrival”.

Tips On How To Use A Repeater Type Cell Phone Booster

Every brand of repeater type cell phone booster will have a “status light”. This indicates whether the inside antenna is too close to the outside transmitting antenna or not. Do not operate any repeater type cellular phone amplifier when the light is yellow or red. Keeping the proper separation between the interior and exterior antennas is critical. A  repeater type booster will not work in some vehicles such as very small cars or convertibles due to a lack of metal shielding and separation between the two antennas.

Note: If there is no cell phone signal at all present, even a repeater type cell phone booster won’t help. However, if you are in a fringe are, and get some intermittent reception, a booster will definitely help your signal.

Below is a photo of a used Digital Antenna cell phone amplifier on eBay. You can click on the image for more listings of used Wilson and Digital Antenna cell phone boosters for sale on eBay.

Click on the photo to see listings of used cell phone amplifiers for sale on eBay

For inside the house you might consider an indoor repeater type cell phone booster as seen below. You can click on the photo for product details.

An indoor repeater type cell phone booster for sale. Click on the image for details.