Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Trying the cell booster at the cottage again

I got a Wilson 50 db cell booster at Costco last year.  It was built like crap, all plastic, but it lasted for most of the summer.  Then we had a lightning bolt strike in the air, but real close, and the unit was gone.  I got my refund at Costco -- yeah!

This year I'm taking a chance.  I went to Aliexpress, which is link at the bottom (gets me money).  I just got it, a 65 db beauty built like a tank.  It's got 30 feet of that super-heavy coax, with fat N connectors.  It has a big, solid outdoor antenna.  This thing could fight off a direct hit, but I got an APC lightning protector from Costco with coax protection.  The good thing is that this is sacrificial and can melt.  I'll still turn everything off when I'm not there.

Checking all the prices, I feel that I have a 4x deal here over buying local.  I checked it out in the backyard, and it boosts by 2 bars in the city (to max).  I'm sure it will go up 4 bars at the cottage.

I went back to Aliexpress and bought another 10 m of super coax, and the necessary adapters for the extension and the conversion to standard coax for the lightning protector.  You generally pay $20 duty for the large items and nothing for the $2 things.

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