weBoost mobile cellular boosters have long been top performers for nomads looking to enhance cellular signals.
A cellular booster works with an exterior antenna, an amplifier unit, and an interior antenna to deliver the boosted signal to cellular devices within wireless range indoors.
Over the years, while weBoost updated their exterior antennas and boosters, they continued to rely on the same classic candy bar (aka "Hershey Bar") style interior antenna for many of their mobile kits.
More recently, the 4G-X RV Kit came with the desktop antenna instead, a different form-factor that has its own challenges.
This month however weBoost has released an upgraded and improved mobile interior antenna to replace the venerable chocolate bar.
Enter the 4G Slim
weBoost's new interior antenna is called the 4G Slim.
It's available as a stand-alone replacement (although at press time out of stock both at weBoost and Amazon) and over the coming months the OTR and vehicle 4G-X and 4G-M kits will begin shipping with the new style antenna.
The 4G-X RV kit will continue to be shipped with the desktop antenna.
Here's a video overview of the new 4G Slim antenna:
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product overviews and guides.
For an overview of Cellular Boosters:
Cellular Boosters for RVs & Boats Overview
Improvements
weBoost promises the new antenna will provide better gain on some higher frequency bands, more indoor coverage area, and easier installation options.
Below, we'll detail the 4G Slim's technical specs in direct comparison to the classic candy bar antenna. We'll also touch on how it stacks up to the desktop antenna included in some kits.
Size, Design & Mounting
The new 4G Slim is decently redesigned from an aesthetic and functional standpoint.
And, possibly a significant improvement is that the new 4G Slim is designed with a lower loss cable. This can result in more of your booster's power being delivered to your cellular devices instead of being lost over the length of the wire.
The improvements over the older candy bar style antenna are great on paper, but what about the desktop antenna that is kitted with the newer 4G-X RV package?
It is a directional antenna that is not designed to be mounted, but rather to sit upright on a flat surface - such as a desktop.
weBoost told us they still recommend this style of antenna for RV applications.
The specs on the desktop antenna, however, show some negative gain on some critical longer range frequency bands. And because of the size and directional pattern, the design is not as ideal for use in a 'tech cabinet' which we recommend.
Frequency Range
The most notable upgrade between the 4G Slim and the classic "Hershey Bar" and Desktop antenna is in terms of frequency range. The 4G Slim is reported to support higher frequency bands than the classic "Hershey Bar" or Desktop antennas, as can be seen in the charts below.
The specs show that the 4G Slim antenna provides more consistent gain across a wider range of frequencies, though some frequency bands are actually slightly diminished.
It will be interesting to see how much difference is actually observable in practice.
Radiation Pattern
The new 4G Slim antenna is designed with a more omnidirectional radiation pattern than the candy bar. This can potentially increase the range of devices boosted - regardless of whether it's mounted horizontally or vertically. weBoost still recommends mounting vertically for the best performance, however.
weBoost just hand delivered us the new 4G Slim antenna at the recent RV Entrepreneur Summit in Texas which we'll be able to integrate into our current round of cellular signal enhancing testing. Our members will have access to our field testing results to determine if obtaining one of these antennas will be a worthwhile upgrade to their current boosters or not.
Mobile Internet Resource Center (dba Two Steps Beyond LLC) is founded by Chris & Cherie of