A typical cellular network system for a building is comprised of an outside antenna (usually mast-mounted), a signal booster (also known as an amplifier) unit about the size of a paperback book, an inside antenna or antennas to retransmit the amplified signal within the building (mounted on or inside a wall or ceiling), and coax cable to link the components.

But it is hardly a secret that such standard setups do not always equate to quality reception throughout a building or a campus.

Cellular booster systems take a weak signal — sometimes too faint for a cellular device to detect — and boost it so that strong, reliable signal coverage is available inside a vehicle, home, office, commercial building, warehouse or other structure.

“Much of the demand we see for signal boosters is for large industrial buildings that are so well built that the cell signal can’t penetrate inside,” said Robert Galeano, whose southern California company, Cellular Outlet, has done more than 100 booster installations. “In most situations, we’re able to quickly and easily install these systems with little or no disruption to the daily workflow and without unsightly equipment.”

Boosters work with any cellular-enabled device, including phones, tablets, cellular modems, etc. They support multiple voice and data connections simultaneously. They are bidirectional, amplifying both the downlink (cell tower to device) signal and the uplink (device to tower) signal. By in large, most signal boosters are manufactured to be carrier and device agnostic — they work no matter which operating system and provider network a device employs. Signal boosters are capable of delivering faster data downloads — up to 20 times faster in some 4G service areas. Finally, they extend battery life for cellular devices, which use less power when receiving a strong signal.

Brian Allred is the senior manager at Wilson Electronics