Cell phone signal boosters are powerful devices. Installed in a home or office, they can potentially amplify one signal bar into five. In rural areas with poor cell coverage, or in buildings where signals have trouble penetrating, they can be lifesavers, providing reliable access to communication networks and emergency services.
But boosters also have a dark side: If misconfigured or poorly manufactured, they can knock out service for everyone who happens to be nearby. Thats why the Federal Communications Commission began regulating the devices five years ago. Today, all consumer signal boosters sold and marketed in the United States must meet the agencys strict technical standards. Doing so can get expensive, and many FCC-authorized boosters cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Ecommerce sites like Amazon offer cheaper options. The only problem is, theyre not always compliant.
The FCC requires booster manufacturers to get their products certified as safe, and it publishes each valid certification on its website. WIRED found a number of sellers offering boosters on Amazon that are not listed as certified by the FCC. Their models often cost less than $200, compared to $300 or more for FCC-certified versions. A number of them have been top sellers in the signal booster category, and some are promoted with a badge reading “Amazons Choice.”
“Weve reached out to Amazon multiple times to inform them that these products are not legal for being sold in the US,” says Laine Matthews, the vice president for business at SureCall, an American signal booster manufacturer. “And it hasnt yielded results.” Amazon removed some listings after WIRED reached out for comment this week.
Uncertified signal boosters are sold on other websites, but Amazon is by far the largest ecommerce platform where US consumers can purchase them. The company still dominates online shopping in the US, and it's so successful in part because of the millions of independent merchants who also sell goods on its marketplace. But lawmakers, consumer advocates, and other businesses have raised concerns about Amazons oversight, and problems like counterfeit items. The company has rolled out some programs designed to police third-party vendors, but they don't catch everything. A recent Wall Street Journal investigation found thousands of items for sale that were unsafe or banned by regulators. FCC-noncompliant signal boosters similarly pose risks. They can be an enormous nuisance to wireless carriers who have to track them down, and when they disrupt service, people might not be able to reach 911 in an emergency.
“Selling partners are required to comply with all relevant laws and regulations when listing items for sale in our stores,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. “Those who do not will be subject to action, including potential removal of their account. The products in question have been removed.” WIRED had sent Amazon a list of the vendors it discovered, rather than individual product listings. As of publication time, all six sellers could be found on its website selling signal boosters. When asked about this, Amazon responded with another statement: “We use a variety of methods to ensure that the products sold in our stores are compliant with applicable laws and meet our Amazon polices [sic]. We expand these tools every day, and our dedicated teams constantly review and refine our policies.”
The FCC did not return a request for comment.
Amazon's booster bazaar
Sina Khanifar wasnt surprised when the booster he ordered on Amazon recently turned out to be unauthorized. Hes the cofounder of RepeaterStore, which also sells boosters online, including on Amazon. The model he says he ordered, a 700MHz booster from a company called Anntlent, came with a certification, but for an entirely different product. Still, the item was labeled “Amazons Choice.” (Lawmakers have asked Amazon to explain how it makes this designation.)
If Khanifar tried to register the unauthorized booster with his carrier, it may not have permitted him to use it. The FCC requires everyone register their boosters—including older models purchased before its rules went into effect in 2014 and were grandfathered in. If Khanifar ran the booster anyway and it caused interference, his wireless carrier or the FCC could come to his house and ask him to shut it down. Either way, it would mean he spent nearly $200 on a device he wasnt permitted to actually use.
Khanifar believes Amazon could be doing more to help consumers. “Amazon should at least require people to list the FCC ID on the page very clearly,” he says.
WIRED found six third-party vendors on Amazon selling signal boosters that when cross-referenced with the FCCs database appear to be unauthorized, including KKBSTR, SH·W·CELL, HJCINTL, Phonelex, Subroad, and MingColl. Each one had associated trademarks registered to an individual or company located in China.
Many sellers were appropriating reviews from other Amazon products, a common tactic used by sellers to make their goods appear more popular than they actually are. “This is the second time I purchased these curtains. I love them,” one reviewer supposedly said about a Phonelex booster, for example, that has since been removed. On the Amazon page for a since-deleted HJCINTL device, a number of reviews referenced replacement wheels for rolling suitcases. One five-star review of a SH·W·CELL booster said “I absolutely love my new bling case for my iPhone 7 plus!” The manufacturers themselves are difficult to reach, and dont appear to have company websites.
In reviews that appeared to actually be about signal boosters, some customers noted the boosters had caused interference issues. “ATT service tech knocked on my door and said this unit screwed up three cell towers in my area,” one review for a MingColl device reads. “He said it was not FCC passed and was a bootleg from China.” In a one-star Amazon review of a booster from the company Phonetone, that has since been removed from Amazons site, a man named Scotty Wideman said that a representative from AT&T came to his house and “informed us this booster was interfering with their tower and if we didnt turn it off the FCC would be contacting us.” AT&T declined to comment.
“Improperly configured signal boosters can affect mobile networks, which is why we encourage customers to contact us for help finding a solution that works, like our free Personal CellSpot with unique software that wont interfere with the broader network,” a T-Mobile spokesperson said in a statement. Sprint didnt comment in time for publication.
Legitimate manufacturers say they have tried alerting Amazon to the noncompliant boosters on its marketplace for over a year. “It creates a bad name for our industry and it takes away sales for companies that are doing the right thing,” SureCalls Matthews says. He says he has tried contacting Amazon numerous times, including sending a letter to the companys legal department, but has only received boilerplate reRead More – Source
