If you’re looking to improve your mobile signal performance either for your commercial building or for a small space or home office, Mobile Signal Solutions can help you determine what the best signal booster brand is for your needs and keeps you fully compliant. Mobile Signal Solutions is a UK approved, safe contractor and installation service that operates across the country, primarily focusing on commercial installations for businesses, offices spaces, warehouses, factories and large installation projects.
Which is the Best Signal Booster Solution
To start with, the best type of commercial signal boosters available in the UK are digital amplifiers. These include both the Cel-fi Quatra and the Multiboost units. Both of these mobile signal repeaters boost all networks, and are digital amplifiers, which are designed to meet the legal requirements of the UK wireless act. They both meet the technical specifications required to be Ofcom compliant in the UK and are the main repeaters we use here at Mobile Signal Solutions for commercial installations.
The best domestic self-install brand available in the UK is Huaptec, for anyone needing to boost any of the UK networks. It is important to note that they must have a good existing outdoor signal, to be able to use it as the input signal, in order for the device to work. Huaptec boosters start at £590 including vat and can be purchased from any certifier distributor for Huaptec, including mobile signal solutions through our self install page.
The best one network only self-install mobile phone booster for the UK is the Cel-Fi range of boosters, which start at £1,100 per network and work in areas with both a good and bad outdoor signal, as they have a stronger built-in transmitter.
When considering a mobile signal booster for commercial use, it is important to consider that commercial amplifiers typically require certified installers to complete a full survey and system design. This is due to the high powered nature of the equipment. In order to ensure safety and compliance they must be installed by experienced certified technicians, self-installation should not be considered for commercial projects.
The poorest option for a signal booster for any project in the UK are the illegal broadband amplifiers. Even though these amplifiers work well, they do not meet UK Ofcom compliant guidelines. It is important to note that the seller is legally allowed to sell the booster to you, as they meet electrical regulations, but the buyer is at risk of huge fines and in some cases prison time as soon as they turn it on and broadcast from it.
Of the compliant amps, we have found that the least popular is the Stella Doradus amplifier range, which relies on older analog technology, is a clunky mechanism with none of the cutting edge design, and fewer remote monitoring capabilities that you can see with the leading providers. It sits in the upper to mid price range, making it much more expensive then the equivalent Huaptec approved amplifiers but offers similar results. It has options for all networks and is analog.
When given the choice between Stella Doradus 10db and the Huaptec Hi-10 range, we would always recommend Huaptec.
3 Areas to Consider When Choosing the Best Booster for You
When considering the best booster available, it is important to understand what the problems with your signal are. We’ve provided a list of questions to work through based on the three most important aspects to consider when purchasing a mobile signal booster or discussing an installation project for a large commercial signal solution.
- Building Size & Management
- What’s the total square meters to be covered? Self-install amps, realistically, will only cover small bungalows or one floor of a home and require good signal outdoors. If there is only 1-2 bars of outdoor coverage, they will only be able to boost 1-2 rooms.
- How many & which floors does the area to be covered occupy? For multiple floors always consider a commercial solution. Commercial installations start at approx. £3,500 and give guaranteed coverage across multiple floors.
- How many floors in the entire building? Keep in mind you may need landlord permission to access the roof.
- Signal Outside
- What is the signal like outside, bars on phone or dB reading? The stronger the input signal the more coverage you can receive from a booster.
- Does it show 3G or 4G on the handset when you’re outside? You can only boost what’s available so it’s important the signal exists outdoors.
- Main Cost Factors
- Do you need all 4 main networks or just 1 network in particular? This is important as amplifiers per network are the main cost involved when determining the right signal solution for you.
- Do you want a high end professional installation with remote diagnostics or the self install options with the lowest cost available?
Depending on your answers to the above questions, we’ll explore what options are available for the different scenarios you may face when choosing the best mobile signal booster for you.
What is The Best Signal Solution For Me
Now that we’ve looked at some of the best solutions on the market and what to consider, let’s take a deeper look at some of the scenario’s you might encounter and how to choose the right mobile signal repeater for your commercial or domestic needs.
If you are unsure of how to determine whether you need a domestic or commercial solutions a good rule of thumb is if your outdoor signal is 1 bar or below, you will need a commercial solution and should contact the Mobile Signal Solutions team for the best option for you. In addition if you need an office covered with more than one room, you will also need a commercial solution.
Domestic self-install boosters are ideal for small home offices which have a low number of users on it, in areas with strong outdoor signal.
Best Booster Based on the Size of the Area Needing Signal
For a domestic solution with only one room or a small area needing coverage, then a low powered amplifier like the Huaptec Hi10 is perfect, it boosts at 10dB, which is sufficient for small areas with low demand on the network.
For the best large commercial booster, which needs to cover large areas and will have high volumes of people using it, you should carry out a consultation with an accredited professional who can give you advice on mobile boosters for commercial properties. These options include Multiboost, Cel-fi, Nokia & Erickson options. The best signal booster installation process for commercial properties is to use a professional installer.
Best Booster based on the number of networks needed
If you require a domestic solution for all voice networks the Huaptec Hi10 3s is the ideal mobile signal booster. For customers who need the signal booster to cover all UK networks for voice calls this is the booster we would recommend.
For commercial installations that require all networks the Cel-fi Quatra and the Multiboost Repeater are the best solutions. The Quatra broadcasts 4 networks over 8 channels, while the Multiboost broadcasts all networks over 15 channels, it also broadcasts the 2600MHz frequency in the EU.
Best Booster dependant on Voice or data needed
For a self-install domestic solution, if data and voice is important, then the Huaptec 5s is the ideal signal booster, as it covers both 4G and 5G across all networks and includes the 700MHz and 800MHz frequencies, both used for 4G and 5G by most of the networks in the UK.
The best self-install booster with all frequency bands is the Huaptec 5s mobile booster, which is the best all bands option as this covers the following frequency bands; 700Mhz (5G), 800 MHz (4G), 900MHz (Voice), 1800 MHz (EE) and 2100 MHz (3G), which is all bands legally allowed to be boosted in the UK as of June 2024. These repeaters start at £1175 inc vat.
For Commercial mobile signal solutions the best amplifier for voice and data that will cover all networks is the Multiboost amplifier. Where only one network is needed for voice and data the best would be the Cel-fi G41 digital network amplifier that supports voice and data on 3G and 4G, but it is limited to one network at a time.
Cheapest Mobile Signal Booster
The cheapest small powered self-install unit for all networks mobile signal booster is the Huaptec 3s, which is the cheapest option signal booster that covers Vodafone, EE, o2 and Three, as well as all MVNOs like Tesco & Virgin mobile.
The cheapest one network self-install signal booster is also the Huaptec 3s, even though it has the capability to do all UK networks, it’s still much cheaper than the single operator units available. Please be mindful that this type of repeater will only work where the outside signal is reasonable. It will not work where you have under 10dB signal or 1 bar This simply means that you will need to upgrade to a 17dB unit, like the Cel-fi Gox which will be double the price, if the signal is not strong enough outside.
The cheapest commercial mobile signal boosters are the Cel-fi one network amplifiers, which operate at 17dBm. The cheapest all network 17dBm commercial amplifier is the Multiboost available from Mobile Signal Solutions.
Best Future Proofed amplifier for self installs
The best future proof signal booster should be able to boost both 700MHz and 2600Mhz. Currently the only self-install option with this capability is the Huaptec 5s.
For a future proofed commercial amplifier the Multiboost unit includes the 2600MHz frequency, and is our recommended commercial signal booster.
How to Book an Installation for a Mobile Signal Solution
The best installers for commercial boosters is Mobile Signal Solutions, with 30 years experience in the telecommunications industry, fair pricing and excellent Trust pilot reviews, we have a nationwide team of installers ready to help and support you.
We also offer remote Monitoring for commercial solutions. If this is important for you, you will need a system that will always be live and allows the provider to see what the problems are, if any arise, and can fix them immediately without the need for a site visit. In this case we always recommend the Multiboost signal booster, which has automatic update functionality, it has an independent connection to the cloud using a built-in antenna that transmits via the copper core from the amplifier to the outside aerial. The Multiboost amplifier is the most reliable digital amplifier with remote access, and hence the best amplifier for anyone needing 24/7 mobile signal booster reliability.
If you need a commercial signal booster solution don’t hesitate to contact the Mobile Signal Solutions team today, we can help find the perfect solution for you. Call us on +44 1442 780741 or email us [email protected] and we’ll have you connect in no time.
