Will a Phone Booster work in your home?

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Not all phone towers are the same. Telstra, Optus and Vodafone sometimes have their own towers and sometimes share towers. The towers also have different combinations of 3G, 4G and 5G infrastructure installed on them. Sometimes it is better to use a tower that is further away rather than one that is closer. All this can only be determined by testing the signal and towers at your site.

Tomahawk Communications has access a national register that shows which carriers and which infrastructure is installed on every mobile phone tower in Australia. When we test at your site, we can use this knowledge, along with the site testing data, to determine the services in your area that are the best for boosting.  You can instantly experience the increased phone signal strength and quality through our testing equipment.

If by chance the mobile phone booster will not work at your place (or have a minimal impact), we let you know, without you having spent a cent!

You cannot just put an antenna on your roof and expect it to increase your phone signal. It needs to be the correct antenna for the tower(s) we are trying to target, and it needs to be pointed in the right direction. 

Our testing equipment is targeted at all the relevant towers in your area and the tower with the best signal is determined. We can then calculate whether we use an omni-directional antenna or a “directional” yagi or log-periodic antenna.

Indoor antennas broadcast the amplified signal inside the building. As you probably already know, cell signals don’t transmit well through building materials. So, if you need to cover a large area, you’ll need to use multiple indoor antennas. But picking the right antenna is also important. 

The two most common types of indoor antennas are Panel and Dome antennas: 

 • Dome antennas must be installed in a ceiling and transmit signal in all directions. However, they require that you run cable above the ceiling – which in some situations isn’t possible. 

• Panel antennas can be installed on a wall and transmit mostly in one direction. The cables for panel antennas can be installed on the wall surface, minimizing the need for making penetrations in the wall.  

During our Site Survey we will determine the best Indoor Antenna to suit your requirements.

The two mobile phone booster specifications that matter the most are ‘gain’ and ‘downlink output power’:

• Gain is measured in decibels (dB) and is a measure of the maximum amplification of the booster.

 • Downlink output power, measured in decibel-milliwatts (dBm), is a measure of the maximum signal strength that the device can rebroadcast inside the building.  

If you have a strong outdoor signal you need less gain to reach the maximum booster output power. Often you can use a lower gain outdoor antenna because you have that strong outdoor signal and can still reach the maximum output power of the device. When you have low outdoor signal, in order to achieve maximum output power, you need to boost the signal as much as possible using a high gain outdoor antenna and run high gain in the booster itself. If you aren't able to boost the signal enough through both the outdoor antenna gain and the available booster gain, then you may not be able to reach the maximum output power capability of the booster, in which case your coverage footprint is reduced as a result.  

To tell which specifications you need to focus on, it’s critical we test these signal measurements before installing a booster system.

You must have written permission from either Telstra, Optus or Vodafone to operate a mobile phone booster in Australia, and this permission will only be granted if the booster meets the rules for operating radiocommunications devices in Australia. Illegal use of mobile boosters carries heavy fines. 

Tomahawk Communications only use products that have been approved by Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. We also look after all aspects of the registration of your product with your relevant carrier to meet their stringent requirements.