I am not getting a good performance as I expected. What should I do?

While there are many different issues that can arise when boosting cell signal, the below checklist would help you troubleshoot your antenna:

• Connect your cradle. To ensure that antenna boosting will work, you must connect your Strike Alpha Cradle to an external antenna. Your external antenna must be of excellent quality. See below.
• Pair your cradle with a reputable antenna. For optimum signal boosting experience, especially in rural fringe or low signal areas, it is recommended to pair the Strike Alpha Cradle with a Strike Antenna. Currently, the best Antenna in our range for coverage is the Strike B3 7dBi Heavy Duty Bullbar Mount Antenna. If it is not a Strike antenna, we can't guarantee performance as we don't know the quality of the antenna or the real frequencies other antennas are tuned to.
• Position your antenna properly. Positioning your external antenna as high as you can on your vehicle is what we usually recommend. We would recommend the highest point of a vehicle which is often a roof rack or roll bar. Once your antenna is positioned essentially, you have a bigger antenna than what's on your mobile phone. With a properly tuned quality antenna, you will then be capturing the signal from a large antenna in a good location. From there the signal travels down the line of a high-efficiency low-loss cable.
• Do a performance test. You can do a performance test by simply using a cell network app. To make the performance test accurate, we recommend you use the Network Cell Info app to monitor and measure cell network in almost real-time. This app can get a look at the tower you are using and keep a log of live data. The app also features a map with network cellular info and signal-meter gauges. Doing a field test on most mobile phones is not an accurate way of measuring signal boost. In test mode, they can display “potential” power delivered to the phone antenna that is measured in negative dBi. The real figure can be different. Note that in many cases, especially when the signal is relatively strong, the phone cradle will not provide any visual antenna boost, this is considered normal. The best test for a cradle is to correctly set it up and use it for a few weeks. See the quality of the calls compared to when you are not using a cradle.

Some Strike customers, especially those in rural areas experience difficulties with their phone reception. Rural areas often have a significantly better 3G network. 3G and 4G are two different types of networks. G stands for generation, so the 4th generation offers a faster connection compared to the 3rd. However, the 4th generation, since it is the newer one, is not yet available in some areas.

The reason why some people get low reception in these areas might be because their phones are set to capture 4G signals. An easy solution for this is to set the phone to capture a 3G network only.

Once set, the phone will automatically connect to 3G networks only, which we believe are the best coverage when it comes to rural areas.

1. To set your network to 3G, open your phone’s settings. It should be a little clog icon. It is where you can customize your phone.
2. Then choose Connection > Mobile Networks. Here you will find your connection settings when it comes to mobile internet.
   
   
   
3. Click on the sim card you are currently using for your mobile connection, then choose 3G Only. After that, your phone will be set to automatically connect to 3G networks and ignore 4G signals.
   
   
   

1. Go to your device settings. It should be a little clog icon and Cellular. Here you will find your connection settings when it comes to mobile internet.
2. Next, go to Cellular Data Options to manage your mobile internet settings.
   
   
   
3. Click on Voice & Data then choose the network you wish to connect to. When you choose 3G, your Apple device will automatically disconnect from and existing LTE or 4G connection and search for a 3G network.
   
   
   

Please note that a mobile phone cradle and antenna will not boost a signal that is not there. A phone must be within the transmission and reception range of a tower to successfully carry on a good reception. An external antenna captures a mobile phone signal from a better location and translates it into your phone. If there's no mobile phone signal where the antenna is, then it's not going to be able to do anything.

For further assistance, please feel free to call us at 1300 792 044 or email sales@strike.com.au