Decreasing Dropped Calls in Your Car

We’ve all been there.  We’re having an involved conversation on the phone while driving (using the speakerphone, of course!) and the call drops.  Ugh!  You’re driving, so it’s hard to dial the person back…and who knows how long you’ll be in the dead zone before your signal picks up again.

Sometimes the dead zones you drive through that are notorious for dropped calls.  You often see people pulled over to the side of the road to finish their conversation so it won’t get dropped.  I see that all the time, especially on the way to my home.

Sometimes the newer phones connect to signals better than older phones, but who can afford to keep upgrading? Wilson Electronics, the leader in cellular boosting technology, has just come out with the weBoost Drive Sleek to minimize this problem of dropped calls and slow data.

The weBoost Drive Sleek is a single-phone cradle that uses coupling technology to improve 4G LTE and 3G cellular signals in cars, vans, RV’s, and boats.  In some cases, it can boost signals up the 32 times.

Decreasing Dropped Calls

The weBoost Drive Sleek is more than a cradle, there are a number of pieces to it.  The aerodynamic antennae (pictured below with the circular bottom) anchors on top of your car, it has an extremely strong magnetic base.

The cord from the antennae goes into your car to attach to the Drive Sleek booster.  This can be kept in the back of your car or under a seat.  The cabling from here goes to both the cigarette lighter vent clip and the cradle.

The power to the cradle is provided by the power generated from the cigarette port.  I put this device in my backseat cigarette outlet so I  could keep my front one free for my other devices. 

The cradle than then be snapped onto one of your vents (magnetic vent holder included) and the cradle magnetically attaches to the vent holder.

The whole system can look like this in your truck or car…

The weBoost Drive Sleek acquires signals (including voice, text, and data) from cellphone towers from its antennae, sends the signal to the booster (under the seat in this diagram) and the booster sends it to the cradle so your cellphone can get boosted cellphone coverage and less dropped calls.

The booster can amplify each of the 5 frequency bands it supports up to 32x through a series of sophisticated low-noise amplifiers and filters.  This boost makes its way to your phone in the cradle as well as sends back signals you send from your phone back to the cellphone tower.

The cradle also receives an outgoing signal from the cell phone and transmits a stronger signal back to the tower through the same process.  The result is clearer call quality, fewer chances of dead spots, and faster data services.

Sounds pretty cool, huh? 

But How Do You Know it Really Works?

1.  Signal bars on your cellphone – though this might be a good indication of the signal, it’s not the best measure.  Mobile phone companies use different algorithms to figure out signal strength and what might show 3 bars on one phone might be equivalent to 2 bars on another.
2. Check your phone – Under Settings, go to About Phone and you may see something about Status or Sim card status.  Click on that and you will see the signal strength your phone is currently receiving.  Look at this number before you place your phone in the cradle.  You should see a difference.  Learn more about how to do this on your Android/iPhone.
3. Personal Experience – you know the dead spots you painfully experience dropped calls in each day.  Test it out and see if you can talk successfully through them.

Checking Signal Strength

Here’s what my signal was, as stated on my cellphone.  Once I put my cellphone in the cradle, my signal strength improved by almost 20 dBm.

I used my cellphone and an app called SignalCheck Lite (Google Play) to assess my signal.  I found the SignalCheck Lite app was easier to see signal strength as I traveled about. 

I found it interesting how my signal changed from HSPA to HSPA+ to LTE dependent upon where I was driving.  LTE is the fastest.  HSPA+ apparently is a 3G network that bridges the gap between 3G and 4G.

Using the SignalCheck Lite app, you can see my signal was better with the cradle at -91 dBm and depreciated to -103 dBm after removing it from the cradle. 

Here’s a chart I found online to give you an idea of the type of speeds each of these signals are capable of.  Different carriers use different standards, although they all are progressing towards LTE:

source: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/edge-3g-h-etc-mobile-networks/

To evaluate the cell strength, there is one standard, through the use of decibels or dB.  Basically, anything under -85dB is what you hope for to have a good conversation and receive data.  Anything under -85dB is icing on the cake.

source: https://multi-link.net/products/cellular-m2m-gateways/rf-signal-meter/

To test out the weBoost Drive Sleek, I checked my cellphone SIM card signal to see how strong the signal was.  As signals are sent through the air in waves, you can expect the dBm strength to vary, even second to second. 

Decibels are expressed as a negative number, so, as you can see from the above chart, -50dBm is a better signal than -110dBm.

I found that when I got close to -100 dBm, I was more likely to have dropped calls.  In general, I averaged about a 10dBm to 18 dBm improvement in signal strength.

Features:

• Boosts cellular and data signals in your car
• Reliable cell signal and more consistent data speeds (less dropped calls)
• Faster data downloads and uploads
• More frequent data delivery (texts/emails, etc.)
• 2-year warranty and 30-day money back guarantee
• Works for all phones and carriers
• The 5V/2.1 Amp charging port in the cigarette lighter is faster than most
• Easy set-up
• The cigarette lighter houses a USB port so you can charge devices while it powers the weBoost Drive Sleek

Pros:

• Less dropped calls in dead zones
• Service available where I couldn’t get it before
• Clearer calls
• Data uploads and downloads were faster
• Cradle can accommodate most phones, including my large Samsung Note 8
• A cheaper way to get better coverage without having to buy a newer phone
• Works with all mobile signals & companies in the US & Canada
• A great help when camping and you need a better signal
• The cigarette plug still allows you to plug in a cord to charge your phone

Cons:

• The cradle doesn’t charge your phone at the same time
• It takes up one of your cigarette lighter ports
• Vent clip sometimes falls off (my larger phone is a bit heavy)

The weBoost Drive Sleek is available for purchase now in-store at Best Buy and online retailers for $199.99 MSRP with free shipping. All boosters come with a two-year warranty.

A Mom’s Perspective

If you commute a distance to work each day, you will find the Wilson weBoost Drive Sleek invaluable.  Dropped calls can be so frustrating and the commute is already tough enough!

Even if you work at home, most of our driving is within 10 miles of our home.  If you have good cellphone coverage, you may not need a device that helps with dropped calls.  But if there are trees, hills, or even your town gets a lot of cloud coverage throughout the year, the weBoost Drive Sleek will definitely come in handy.

You don’t want dropped calls when talking with a doctor, your boss, your child’s school, or spouse during an important conversation.  Or even when scheduling an orthodontist appointment.  Here you are trying your best to multi-task while driving and then find you have to call the ortho when you get home if you get disconnected.  Ugh.

And because it’s easy to install, I can see taking the weBoost Drive Sleek on the road with me either on road trips, camping trips, or flying across the United States and using it in a rental car.  It gives you peace of mind when traveling in unfamiliar territory so you can still likely get a signal to help connect with maps, apps, and family and friends.

Wish you could have something like this in your home too?  Wilson also makes signal boosters for the home!

*I was given a weBoost Drive Sleek in exchange for my honest opinion.  All thoughts and screenshots are my own.