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We all need a little boost sometimes. When your cell signal feels out of reach, we’ve got the perfect solution to save the day.

We’re more dependent on mobile phone technology than ever before. At last count, according to Statista, 36.45 million South Africans accessed the Internet via smartphone. That number is expected to grow to 43 million by 2026.

In 2019, there were 53.4 million smartphone subscriptions in South Africa, according to ICASA, and 100.6 million mobile connections made in 2021. Over 62% of the population uses the Internet, while 94.6% of that group access the Internet using their phones.

We rely on our smartphones for everything from calls to video chat, email, banking and search, not to mention streaming music, GPS navigation and scrolling social media. Without our phones, most of us truly feel lost. In fact, when we find ourselves without signal, most of us truly are…

While there are myriad reasons you could be experiencing crummy cell signal – including everything from your distance from a cell tower to cell tower congestion, the types of building materials you’re surrounded by and, yup, the weather, there’s very little your network provider can do to help.

But, here’s the good news: you’re not completely powerless.

Cell Boosters – What Are They, Really?

While they won’t create a cell signal for you, where there is one available, you can rely on a cell booster to amplify it.

Basically, there are three main components to a cell booster – an outside antenna draws the weak signal in, where an internal device cleans and amplifies it (there are no prizes for guessing, it’s called an amplifier) before sending it to an internal antenna for rebroadcasting, with all three elements connected by coaxial cable.

It sounds simple enough, right? But it can be tricky to find the right components that’ll work best for you, not to mention ones that are ICASA-approved and won’t mess up the cell signal for everyone else around you.

Once you do, you’ll be able to enjoy the benefits of a boosted 2G, 3G, 4G LTE and even 5G signal on your connected devices as those bars go up.

A Boost for You

Before you get started on your cell signal booster journey, it’s important to understand what you’re working with in terms of signal strength to begin with.

The cell booster antenna you choose will depend on the signal strength outside your home.

If the signal is strong outside, but for some reason there’s nothing but dead zones everywhere you go inside, you might want to opt for an omni-directional antenna to pull signal from multiple carriers.

If your outdoor signal is weak to begin with, a uni-directional or Yagi antenna is usually your best bet as they’re designed to pull signal from the nearest tower for a more focused signal strength and reach further than an omni-directional antenna.

With a strong, steady cell signal, not only will you be able to enjoy crystal clear call quality with no dropped connections, but you’ll also be able to make the most of your LTE data speeds with lightning fast 3G, 4G and even 5G connections.

A Boost for Business

As mentioned above – we’re all reliant on our phones for pretty much every decision-making process these days and this is especially true when it comes time to make a purchase.

If you’re in retail, it’s worth considering improving the quality of your cell reception for those who wish to Google information about your products as they’re adding them to their shopping trolley.

The more customers you have in store, the more likely you’ll find yourself having to deal with signal congestion and the right cell booster solution could result in making more sales and creating happier customer experience overall.