FCC Encourages Usage of Signal Boosters

Signal boosters are devices used to improve wireless coverage to areas with poor signal levels.  Signal boosters can be positioned in a home or car to provide increased signal strength for cell phones.  When these devices are properly installed, they can help consumers, wireless service providers, and public safety first responders by extending reliable service to areas that would otherwise have weak signals such as tunnels, subways, inside buildings and in rural and underserved areas.  

Although signal boosters hold great promise to improve wireless coverage, malfunctioning and improperly designed or installed signal boosters can interfere with wireless networks and cause interference to a range of communication services, including emergency and 911 calls.

The FCC recently approved new rules to improve signal booster design so these devices won’t cause interference to wireless networks. The FCC also adopted new rules about what cell phone users need to do before using a signal booster.

Although the Report and Order actually promotes their benefits, many damaging and misleading articles and blogs can be found on the internet which mentions that the signal boosters have been banned and can’t be used anymore. But according to one industry expert, these gloom-and-doom situations are not true.

"It is simply not true that signal boosters have been banned," said David Jones of UnwiredSignal.com, a company that sells Wilson Electronics signal boosters exclusively.

In fact, National Transportation Board (NTSB) asserts that all busses should carry cell phone signal boosters as it is of great help if bus crashes in a fringe area and emergency care for the injured riders can be provided in time. The NTSB has found that cell phones work if a signal booster is available for use.

"Ignore the blogs and articles which claim that signal boosters are outlawed,” Jones says. “Check with the source if you have doubts, which is the FCC. If you are already using a cellular signal booster, you just need register it.  If you need a signal booster to get cell phone or faster internet connections than you already have, get one. Just confirm that it is FCC approved."

Many wireless providers, including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon, have authorized the use of these new signal boosters.