Cel-Fi Prime – OFCOM Licence Exempt 4G Booster Review
This is my look at a Cel-Fi Prime 4G Booster. It improves and boosts 3G and 4G cellular coverage. Not only that but it will also reduce your cell phone’s power requirements and extend its battery life by providing a stronger signal.
Design
Basically what you do here is put the antenna (Smart Signal Booster) near your strongest signal, a window sill for example, and place the ‘repeater’ (coverage unit), which is physically connected to the antenna, plugged into a socket, in the weakest spot in your room/floor. The signal gets amplified and boosted to weaker spots in your room or space. I have read you can specify EE or Vodaphone as your spec but I was offered both in the App and there is nothing to suggest in my packaging I have an EE spec with my Cel-Fi Prime.
The Cel-Fi Prime is CE-certified, and available wherever Bands 1 (2100 MHz) and Band 3 (1800 MHz) are used (obviously I have no idea about the banding thing, I’m afraid).
The window antenna (Smart Signal Booster) unit weighs 420g and is 505x82x33mm. The repeater (Coverage Unit) unit that is plugged in needs to ‘feel’ a little more robust in my view, it is a fraction plasticky for my liking and tends to hang off the plug socket as it is over heavy for the continental adaptor, though there is a UK fitting provided. It is small and weighs 113g.
My Set-up and Optimisation
My set-up has been pretty simple. My listening room has poor signal quality generally so I was able to put the antenna near the window. I downloaded the App and then registered in it that I had the Cel-Fi Prime. Once I had figured out that BT is carried by EE it was a simple matter to set-up the Cel-Fi Prime with the App, choose EE, and move it around the room to get the best boost number.
The App
The App, on Google Play (there is an iOS version), is called ‘Wave’ and it takes you through the set-up process pretty well. I basically set it up without reading the instructions which is always a plus. I had a repeating blue flash which is the setup signal and thereafter registration and optimisation is simple.
The Troubleshooting bit on the App is really good and easy. There is a Windows desktop App too.
Performance
The Cel-Fi Prime been good for me. I’m getting a boosted signal of between 4-7 depending on how it feels. I am very rural (250 houses in this village). On my Pixel 2xl with the BT Mobile service, a 4 boost gives me a single bar. In fairness to Cel-Fi I have had a Boost of 7, this translates to a three/four-bar signal out of five. I usually hope for just 1 bar on a single day, if I’m lucky, so this is a marked improvement that I am confident of a signal in my listening space.
I’m not sure I would spend £300 or so on this for private use but I can see in an office, warehouse or shop front the advantage of boosting the mobile coverage in commercial situations, the spec says the coverage unit supports approximately 1,000 ft2 (100 m2).
The Cel-Fi Prime is priced near £300 online and is available online in the UK.
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