Guide Result: Slightly Recommended
Recommended For: Stationary Use With Weak Signal
Not Recommended For: Regularly Mobile Use
What’s most dreaded about the dreaded cell phone dead zone is that is usually stays that way. Sure, the major cell phone carriers are constantly working to plug dead zones, but many often remain.
Can a cell phone booster noticeably help to amplify a cell phone signal that suffers from chronic weak-signal syndrome?
Recommended For: Stationary Use With Weak Signal
Not Recommended For: Regularly Mobile Use
What’s most dreaded about the dreaded cell phone dead zone is that is usually stays that way. Sure, the major cell phone carriers are constantly working to plug dead zones, but many often remain.
Can a cell phone booster noticeably help to amplify a cell phone signal that suffers from chronic weak-signal syndrome?
To answer that question, we tested one cell phone booster in particular that claims it can enhance a cell phone’s signal by up to five times. The relatively inexpensive booster, which is called the Freedom Blade, is manufactured by Arc Wireless Solutions.
Before we arrive at the results of the test, which was conducted in various environments and at various spots in Chicago, several product hiccups scream out even before we answer the question of whether or not the product actually works.
The Freedom Blade’s Hiccups
Four nuisances immediately strike us as most problematic.
Before we arrive at the results of the test, which was conducted in various environments and at various spots in Chicago, several product hiccups scream out even before we answer the question of whether or not the product actually works.
The Freedom Blade’s Hiccups
Four nuisances immediately strike us as most problematic.
- You can’t just plug this booster into your phone. It must be plugged into an adapter and that adapter is plugged into your cell phone.
While Arc Wireless has an easy tool to determine whether or not your particular cell phone is compatible with the Freedom Blade, the problem is that many phones are not. This means the product’s useless to you unless an adapter is available.
- Because the Freedom Blade has a length of 5.5 inches, a width of 1 inch and a depth of 0.3 inches (and can sit within a desk base), this makes the cell phone booster awkward to use while you’re mobile.
It’s likely that wouldn’t want to carry it with you for use while you’re moving about outside. You’d probably only want to use it if you knew you’d be stationary for a while in a place where you have a weak cell phone signal.
- The retail availability for the product is weak. While Arc Wireless lists eight retail vendors (Buy.com is the only recognizable one; the others are all smaller, lesser-known vendors), at the time of this review only two actually carried the product.
For those that do carry the Freedom Blade, they run anywhere between $35 and $45. Several do carry the company’s Freedom Antenna, which is a larger version of the Freedom Blade that is said to boost a cell phone’s signal by up to eight times.
- Arc Wireless sometimes suggests powering your phone off before plugging in the Freedom Blade adapter.
That’s because the Freedom Blade is using a port on your cell phone that was initially used by the cell phone manufacturers themselves as a test port, Arc Wireless marketing manager Eileen Allison said in an interview with About.com.
With the Freedom Blade, Arc Wireless is using this cell phone port in a way it wasn’t originally designed to be used. To the user, though, the biggest mystery is whether or not the phone needs to be turned off first in order to achieve the best results.
An antenna either comes hidden (built in) to every cell phone today or has a visible antenna that can sometimes be retracted. While smaller is often better in the world of cell phones, bigger actually is better in terms of a cell phone’s antenna.
The bigger the antenna, though, the more clunky it becomes.
The Freedom Blade is boosting the gain of a cell phone’s antenna, Arc Wireless director of engineering Craig Leahy said in an interview with About.com. The gain is the ability of an amplifier to improve the power of a signal.
The bigger the antenna and the higher the signal power, though, the lower the frequency. Leahy says the Freedom Blade is designed to work across all frequencies of the major cell phone carriers (about 800 megahertz to 2,000 megahertz).
But don’t buy the Freedom Blade expecting to capture a signal in a complete dead zone. “The Freedom Blade doesn’t make a signal out of nothing. It has to boost something that’s already there,” Allison said.
Does the Freedom Blade Actually Work?
Testing occurred in various environments throughout various spots in Chicago. The results yielded anywhere from no noticeable signal improvement to a slight signal gain. No result yielded a dramatic signal improvement.
For example, using a cell phone with five signal bars in an area consistently displaying two bars might become three bars or might not improve at all.
Since a wide array of factors and environmental changes will always impact these results, the best takeaway from this review is to expect anywhere from no signal improvement to a slight signal improvement. Coupled with the above-listed nuances, don’t expect the Freedom Blade to be a dramatic silver bullet and do expect some hiccups.
Your Two Cents: Have a comment or question related to this cell phone booster? Chime in on the forums!
The Freedom Blade is boosting the gain of a cell phone’s antenna, Arc Wireless director of engineering Craig Leahy said in an interview with About.com. The gain is the ability of an amplifier to improve the power of a signal.
The bigger the antenna and the higher the signal power, though, the lower the frequency. Leahy says the Freedom Blade is designed to work across all frequencies of the major cell phone carriers (about 800 megahertz to 2,000 megahertz).
But don’t buy the Freedom Blade expecting to capture a signal in a complete dead zone. “The Freedom Blade doesn’t make a signal out of nothing. It has to boost something that’s already there,” Allison said.
Does the Freedom Blade Actually Work?
Testing occurred in various environments throughout various spots in Chicago. The results yielded anywhere from no noticeable signal improvement to a slight signal gain. No result yielded a dramatic signal improvement.
For example, using a cell phone with five signal bars in an area consistently displaying two bars might become three bars or might not improve at all.
Since a wide array of factors and environmental changes will always impact these results, the best takeaway from this review is to expect anywhere from no signal improvement to a slight signal improvement. Coupled with the above-listed nuances, don’t expect the Freedom Blade to be a dramatic silver bullet and do expect some hiccups.
Your Two Cents: Have a comment or question related to this cell phone booster? Chime in on the forums!
