It's been a long time since there has been a new entrant into the mobile boosting landscape, primarily due to the intensive 2014 FCC certification process. Since last May, when the new regulations went into effect, there have been few mobile 4G boosters to choose from - mostly only options from Wilson Electronics (now rebranded as weBoost).
But today, that changes.
Top Signal has released its brand new Cobra 4G Mobile Booster, and it's available immediately at the price point of $389.95.
Like the weBoost Drive 4G-M (and it's Wilson Electronics equivalent the Mobile 4G), it is designed as an automotive mounted device and comes with a magnetic exterior stubby antenna that will require most RVers to provide a suitable grounding plane. A 5-8" piece of metal is generally sufficient.
Some of the features that make this booster stand out is that is has 5 separate amplifiers built in, each targeted at narrower frequencies bands that should provide better performance overall. The Cobra 4G Mobile covers 800MHz, 1900Mhz, 1710-1755/2110-2155MHz, 776-787/746-757MHz, 728-746/698-716MHz - which is suitable for most LTE frequencies on all of the major 4 carriers.
But, like other boosters, it does not cover all three Spark bands for Sprint LTE.
Courtesy of the folks at PowerfulSignal, we have a review unit inbound for extensive testing.
We'll release some general first impressions as soon as we have some hands-on time with the Cobra, followed by an extensive review with head to head comparisons to other boosters for our Mobile Internet Aficionados. Prior to the 2014 FCC certified boosters, we relied on a Top Signal 55 3G booster as our personal top choice - and we are very excited to get our hands on this unit.
In other news, rumor has it that the new weBoost Drive 4G-X has been pushed back to a June 2015 launch date and the Drive 4G-XR (specific for RVs) has been pushed back until 2016. We have not gotten any recent updates on the Maximum Signal Max-Amp, which has also been going through the certification process, and which will be a RV-specific offering.
Meanwhile, older Wilson Electronics mobile boosters are still able to be obtained at close-out pricing if you prefer to save money on the tried and trued options.
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