The Belfair Boost, or how our mobile network booster works

Actually I have no idea how it works. I just know that it does.

I have to work, and we have to surf, and sometimes we want to stream audio or video, because what would the wilderness be without them? So we have the booster.

Yeah, a little messy. Here, the booster and its rat’s nest of cords and wires lies seductively on our stove cover. My phone is in its grasp, and is also plugged into its USB port. Sooz’s phone cowers nearby. And the antenna wire snakes its way out the kitchen window.

It’s a Wilson Electronics “Sleek” model, consisting of (1) a cradle into which you can slide your phone or mobile network hotspot; (2) a magnetic-mount antenna with a long wire that plugs in to the cradle; (3) a 12-volt power cord that brings power to the cord from a 12-volt outlet in a car or RV; and (4), a USB outlet (on the cradle) into which you can plug your phone or hotspot so it won’t lose its battery’s charge.

When you plug everything and find a good spot to mount the antenna, it turns a weak signal into a stronger one; say, from two bars to four. The improvement varies depending on factors to boring to list here. I’m getting sleepy enough as it is.

Fellow trailerists have installed these devices in handy but out-of-the-way places, and added a different kind of antenna that can be permanently mounted high on a trailer’s outside side wall, or on the roof. This is my plan as well. However, the project is not at the top of my list yet, so, for now, we’re experiencing an absence of elegance.

We’ve extended the inelegance to the out-of-doors, to keep passersby entertained and perhaps comforted in knowing that at least someone’s campsite looks hokier than theirs.

The antenna wire drops outside to…

Well, to the kayak. The thing is, this type of antenna needs something called a Ground Plane, which is to say a flat, horizontal hunk of metal. And because it’s a magnetically mounted antenna, that metal needs to have some iron in it, the kind you find in a cheap camp stove. Voila.

… of course! The ideal antenna location.

Ugly as it is, this setup enabled us to stream two full episodes of Justified, which I recommend you watch at your earliest convenience, from Amazon Prime. Life is good. Cluttered, yes, but good.