weBoost 470166 Home Studio Signal Booster Kit

The 1,500 square foot number is the best case, reached only with a strong five-bar signal outside, so for most homes the honest figure is lower. At three to four bars, around -90 dBm, plan on up to 1,000 square feet, and at one to two bars, about -100 dBm, up to 250. Coverage tracks your outside signal because the booster amplifies what is already there rather than creating it. It also has a shape. The Home Studio broadcasts from a whip antenna on the booster itself, so your coverage is a footprint around wherever the booster sits, strong in that room and the space around it rather than an even layer across a floor plan. The only way to know your own number is a soft install, setting it in place to test before you mount it for good.

One bar outside is enough to work with, because a booster amplifies the signal you already have rather than creating it from nothing. At one to two bars, about -100 dBm, plan on up to 250 square feet, which is the room the booster sits in and the space just around it, not a floor of the house. Placement decides your result at this level, so put the booster in the room you need fixed, mount the outside antenna where the bars are best, and keep at least 50 feet horizontally or 20 feet vertically between the two. What looks like no bars is trickier. If you can find even one bar somewhere outside, that is something we can boost. If there is truly nothing out there, the outside antenna has nothing to receive, and we will tell you that straight.

The Home Studio is the right call when the problem is one room, and the Home MultiRoom is the right call when the problem is the whole house. Because the Home Studio broadcasts from a whip antenna attached to the booster, everything it does happens around the booster, which suits a home office, a bedroom, an apartment, or the one desk where calls keep dropping. The larger system uses a separate inside antenna on its own cable, so the amplifier can sit in one place while the broadcast point goes somewhere more central, and it reaches up to 5,000 square feet with a strong signal outside. If your trouble spots sit at opposite ends of the house, the Home Studio will not stretch that far. If you can name the one room that needs fixing, it does that job.

Often yes, and it comes down to where the outside antenna can mount and how much distance you can put between it and the booster. The outside antenna mounts with an L-bracket and U-bolts that clamp onto an existing pole, roof vent or exhaust pipe, and a pole is preferred. It can also side-mount on the building if the signal there is strong, which is often the answer in an apartment. No pole is included, so if there is nothing to clamp to you would need to supply one. The outside antenna and the booster also need at least 50 feet between them horizontally or 20 feet vertically, or they interfere and the booster turns itself down. The second included 30 foot cable extends the run if you need the distance. Plan the cable's route into the building and clear the install with your landlord before you commit.

It comes from a whip antenna that attaches directly to the booster, so the booster itself is what broadcasts indoors and it belongs in the room you actually need fixed. There is no separate inside antenna to run a cable to, so the booster's placement shapes your whole result. Set it out in the open on a desk, shelf or table rather than in a closet or a cabinet. Keep it away from the outside antenna as well, at least 50 feet apart horizontally or 20 feet vertically, because too little separation makes the two ends interfere and the booster reduces its gain or shuts a band off. The status light settling on green tells you it is working. Do a soft install first, testing the rooms you care about before you mount the outside antenna for good.

It boosts your cellular data, not just your calls, because everything it amplifies rides on the same cellular signal. Your phone's data, a hotspot, and a cellular home internet modem all get the stronger signal the same way your calls do. What it cannot touch is wired internet like cable or DSL, and it does not extend your wifi, since it works on cellular signal alone. Because the Home Studio broadcasts from the whip antenna on the booster, put the booster right next to whatever needs the data most, the hotspot, the modem, or the desk you work from, rather than somewhere central. Like any booster it still needs a bar or two outside to amplify, because it strengthens what is already there rather than creating it.

One booster covers everyone at once, so you never need one per carrier. It boosts every major US carrier at the same time, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and the regional carriers that ride their networks, for every phone and device in range of the booster, with nothing to pair, no SIM to buy, and no changes to your account. It is an FCC certified consumer device, and registering it is a short form on your carrier's website, with AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and more than 90 regional carriers already giving blanket consent. The one carrier limitation is the 600 MHz band, the frequency T-Mobile leans on for a lot of rural coverage, which is not FCC approved for consumer boosting, so only commercial systems reach it. If you are on T-Mobile out in the country, call 1-888-974-8237 and we will check before you buy.

Certified Refurbished means weBoost, the manufacturer, certified the unit to perform like new rather than reselling it as it came in. The hardware is the same either way, the same 60 dB amplifier, the same outside antenna and cables, the same coverage figures, and the same carriers and frequencies. The difference is the warranty term. The new Home Studio carries a 2-year manufacturer warranty and the Certified Refurbished carries a 1-year manufacturer warranty, both from weBoost. Our 90-day return window applies to both, so either way you have 90 days to prove it in your own home. The choice comes down to how much that longer warranty term is worth to you, because performance is identical either way.

You pay once and that is the whole cost, with no subscription, no contract, and no monthly fee. There is no SIM card to buy, no data plan to add, and nothing changes with your carrier account. It plugs into a standard wall outlet and runs on its own, so you do not need wifi or internet for it to work. If it turns out not to be right for your home, the 90-day return window has you covered, so the one payment is the only commitment you are making.

You send it back, and our return window is 90 days, which is long enough to install it, live with it, and judge it in real conditions. The one case where no booster helps is a home with no usable signal outside at all, because then the outside antenna has nothing to receive and the amplifier has nothing to boost, and we would rather tell you that up front than sell you a return. Short of that, most disappointing results trace to an outside antenna aimed away from the tower or too little separation between that antenna and the booster. Aim it toward the nearest tower, rotating about an eighth of a turn at a time and power cycling the booster between turns, and watch the bars in the room the booster sits in. If it still is not right, call 1-888-974-8237 and we will work through it with you or start the return.