02/14/2026
I’ve been involved in many conversations lately about cell phone boosters, and there’s a ton of misunderstandings out there.
Gord Fry here from Muskoka Starlink / Muskoka IT. We work with rural and cottage connectivity all across Central Ontario focusing on home and cottage networks, Starlink internet…and in many cases, cell phone boosters..
One thing that surprises many folks is that cell phone boosters are not always the right answer, even when cell signal is horrible. Cell Boosters work well when they are relatively close to a tower (with usable signal quality) and you have a clear or mostly unobstructed path to that tower. If there are hills and trees between you and the closest tower, you’re likely out of luck, so don’t waste your money.
If you have solid internet, you can turn on “Wifi Calling” on your phone, and you will get great signal on your cell phone anywhere within the reach of your home wifi signal. You don’t need a Cell Booster for this, you just need good internet. Wi-Fi Calling often fixes voice calls, but texting reliability varies by carrier, phone, and message type…especially SMS/MMS. I’m not going to bore you with these details, so just accept that it doesn’t help very much. Wifi Calling = Great phone calls, but mostly dropped or incomplete texts…especially SMS texts.
On another front, if you have a Rogers or Bell cell hub for your internet and you have really crappy internet connectivity, a logical thought would be to get a Cell Booster. However, neither Bell nor Rogers will recommend a brand of Cell booster for you to buy because they know that a Cell Booster won’t likely work. The best you can do to improve a Cell hub is get it high in the house, in a window that faces the closest cell Tower. Cell Boosters won’t fix crappy signal on a Cell hub.
In a nutshell, a cell booster can work well if you’re fairly close to a tower and have clear line of sight with minimal trees and no hills. In those cases, it can reduce dropped calls and improve texting. When buying a booster, higher-end systems generally provide better indoor coverage… but boosted cell signal has nothing to do with WiFi, and a cell booster cannot improve your internet connection.
Like all home reception devices, cell boosters are easy to install… until they aren’t. Proper placement, grounding, and tuning matter more than most people expect. A trained professional will warrant his work and eliminate the stresses and doubt that self installation can cause.
If you have any questions feel free to message me.
Cheers
Gord Fry, Owner
Muskoka Starlink / Muskoka IT