Best Cellular Antennas: Buying Guide 2023

Best For:

• Rural areas where receiving a consistent cellular signal feels impossible.
• Urban areas plagued with lots of radio frequency noise for consistently crisp signal.

The Long Ranger is one of the big boys, large in size and power. Being a parabolic, it’s extremely directional. Its radiation cone is about 10°. This can make installation a bit difficult. The feedhorn needs to be pointed EXACTLY at your closest cell tower for optimal results, which might take some time. Laser focus beam allows for a crisper cellular signal even in areas with tons of noise pollution.

Featuring max gain of +28 dBi, Long Ranger has an insane range of up to 20 miles. This makes it a phenomenal performer in rural areas with an exceptionally weak signal. If you don’t get any signal after installing this baby correctly, then you’re probably in a large dead zone.

t's compatible with all cell signal boosters, mobile hotspots, and cellular WiFi routers. They are also capable of being used for MIMO applications if you buy two. Terminated with an N-Female connector, an adapter may be needed in some situations. As a cherry on top, it covers all 5G bandwidths.

Best For:

• Amplifying multiple carriers simultaneously.
• Areas with decent cell signal and some rural areas.
• Areas with multiple cellular towers nearby.

The Poynting Omni-293 is more powerful than other omnidirectional cellular antennas on the market. Ultra-wideband, it captures 5G, 4G, and LTE frequencies, including Band 71. With 9 dBi of gain, it can deliver significantly stronger signals from multiple carriers to your cellular booster or cellular router.

Installation is easy-peasy. All you have to do is find the area on your roof with the strongest signal, set it, and forget it. Built with an N-Female connector, it pairs best with N-Male coax cable. Once installed, it’ll capture cellular signals from every direction from all cellular towers within range. Since it does not point at a particular tower, the Omni-293 is not as powerful as its directional counterparts. Thus, it works best in areas with decent outside cellular reception but will also work in some rural areas.

Best For:

• Hallways, small rooms, spaces with high ceilings, & anywhere you need stronger signal.
• Maximizing indoor coverage in areas with strong and weak outside signal.

The Indoor Board is an ultra-high quality and good-looking directional panel antenna. The design is simple, compact, and will camouflage wherever you decide to mount it.

Improved cellular signals radiate in a 60-75° directional beam. Indoor Board can be installed on ceiling or wall. The front of the antenna needs to point in the direction that you want better signal. It’s great for long hallways and small rooms. If installed on the ceiling, it can blanket a large room and possibly cover multiple floors.

With up to 8 dBi of gain, it broadcasts the strongest cellular signal possible across all supported frequency bands. A stronger signal allows for greater coverage, even in weak signal environments.

It’s available with an N-Female connector for 50 Ohm systems or a F-Female connector for 75 Ohm systems.

Best For:

• Homes and offices with low ceilings.
• Homes and offices with open-concept layouts.
• Homes and offices with minimal indoor building material interference.
• Equal signal distribution in all directions.

For those wanting an aesthetically pleasing omnidirectional antenna with great gain, then the Wilson Low-Profile Dome is a no-brainer.

As the name suggests, this antenna is very low-profile and unassuming. Most dome antennas need access to a crawl space or attic for proper installation. With the hard ceiling mounting hardware, you’re able to easily install it in a lot more places.

There are two versions of this Low-Profile Dome antenna. One includes a reflector while the other one does not. The Low-Profile Dome antenna without a reflector offers up to 6 dBi of gain. Adding the reflector gives you a max gain of 7 dBi. With the reflector, more signals can be pushed down toward the floor where your cellular devices are located. It’s only available with N-Female connectors.

To get the most coverage out of this antenna, it works best in buildings with low ceilings, open-concept layouts, and minimal indoor interferences. They do not offer the best coverage in weak signal areas. For those situations, we recommend panel antennas.

Best For:

• Urban, suburban, and rural driving.
• IoT and M2M signal boosting applications.
• In-Vehicle signal bootstring applications.
• Continuous telematics connectivity.

The Poynting PUCK is an all-purpose mighty omnidirectional antenna. It fits any vehicle (from cars, to RVs, to fleets) and even IoT machines. Small and sleek design ensures antenna does not stand out. With gains up to 7.5 dBi, it works where many other vehicle omnidirectional antennas can’t. It can be magnet-mounted, hard-mounted, or pole mounted.

There are multiple PUCK antenna options available, all with SMA-Male connectors. They’re compatible with vehicle cell phone boosters, IoT cell phone signal boosters, MIMO cellular routers, cellular hotspots, and telematics gateways.

Best For:

• Camping in urban or remote campgrounds.
• Driving through rural, suburban, and urban roads.
• Getting the best cellular signal in difficult environments.

The Bolton Blade is a unique, heavy-duty, cellular antenna for semis, RVs, and overlanders with the right antenna mount. It’s terminated with an SMA-Female connector.

Almost two feet tall, the Bolton Blade can rise above surrounding obstructions, allowing it to capture the best cellular signal possible. Sturdy mast ensures antenna remains vertical even when driving at high speeds to minimize swaying and improve performance. That coupled with up to 4.4 dBi gain, which is higher than most, it’s able to send and receive the strongest cell signal. While zooming down the highway, the exclusive whistle-free wrap eliminates annoying whistling that is common among other OTR antennas.

While on or off the road, vehicle cell phone signal boosters paired with the Bolton Blade deliver great amplification relatively anywhere work or life takes you.

Best For:

• Enhancing coverage inside cars, trucks, and SUVs.
• RVs who only want coverage in the cockpit.

The Wilson Low-Profile Antenna is a discreet, compact, and effective antenna for vehicle signal boosters. It’s terminated with an SMA-Male connector. With up to 3.4 dBi, it can broadcast enhanced cellular reception throughout most of a car's cabin when connected to a weBoost unit.

Installation is very simple. It can be velcroed to a seat or dash. For optimal results, make sure the front of the antenna faces your cellular devices.

Since it’s a vehicle antenna, its broadcasting zone is much smaller than a home unit. In areas with cell reception on the weaker end, you may need to position your cellular devices closer to receive a consistent connection.

Best For:

• Enhancing coverage inside any RV.
• Improving reception while stationary or camping.

The weBoost Desktop Antenna is an indoor wideband antenna best suited for RVs. Rather than getting the most reliable reception in the cockpit, like with the Low-Profile antenna, this antenna offers more flexible coverage. It can cover the mid-cabin and/or the rear living area with improved cellular signal. The 13 ft coax cable with an SMA-Male connector allows you to easily move the antenna as needed.

Its sleek design makes it so that you can install it anywhere inside your RV without compromising your décor. Simply place it on any flat surface and ensure it faces the area where most cellular activity takes place.

Best For:

• Improving cellular broadband connections when WiFi or wired internet isn’t available.
• Improving cellular broadband connections when building material blocks incoming signals.

The Crossbow 5G is a cross-polarized MIMO antenna designed for cellular broadband routers, modems, and hotspots.

This antenna features up to 11 dBi of gain and can communicate with cellular towers located up to 5 miles away. This makes the Crossbow perfect for rural areas where cell towers are far and signal is weak. When tested, we saw significant improvements in upload and download speeds in an area with non-existent outside signals. If you have RF noise or building material issues, the antenna's coaxial cables and 45° cross-polarized directional beam will solve them.

The Crossbow is available in two versions. The most popular version includes a 16 ft Twin HDF-195 cable with SMA-Male connectors. Great for SMA-Female cellular routers or hotspots, as well as TS-9 routers or hotpots with the use of an adapter. The second version comes with twin N-Female ports without cables, allowing you to choose a longer cable for long cable runs.

Both versions are 5G capable and are backward compatible with 4G/LTE/3G/2G signals.

Best For:

• Increasing cellular router performance.
• Directly connecting to cellular routers.
• Less coaxial cable use.

The Poynting Omni-85 is an upgrade to the standard whip antennas included with cellular routers, cellular hotspots, and cellular modems. Featuring up to 3.5 dBi, which is more than the standard, your unit will receive and deliver a stronger connection.

Direct connect, you won’t need to mount it or run cable. Just set it and forget it. Though, if building material is the culprit behind poor performance, this antenna will not help. We’d recommend an outdoor MIMO antenna for those situations.

Whip antennas are designed for cellular routers with an SMA-Female connector. Though, with an SMA to TS9 adapter, it can also fit TS-9 cellular routers.