
The strength of those high-frequency electric fields (radio waves) leaving the cell tower is measured in volts. Cell phone radio waves have frequencies that range from around 700 MHz to more than 2100 Mhz (700 million to 2.1 billion cycles each second). Radio transmitters change the current flow much faster hundreds of millions of times per second. While you’ll never be able to manipulate the dial fast enough to create radio waves, the experiment outlined here produces a changing electric field around the wire The length of each sine wave is known as its wavelength, and the number of sine waves per second is the frequency. The faster you change the current from minimum to maximum, the shorter the distance between peaks on the sine waves. When you adjust the dial in a carefully controlled fashion, you’ll be able to create a sine wave like that pictured below. When you adjust the current flowing from the point where no current flows, to another point that delivers the maximum current available from your battery, those changing currents cause the electric field around the wire to change. How could you create such waves yourself? Imagine you have a battery, a copper wire, and a dial to control how much current flows through the wire. They travel through space at the speed of light. The electric field is what we call radio waves. It consists of both an electric field and a magnetic field. He discovered that when electric current passes through a conductor such as a piece of copper wire, the current creates an electromagnetic field around the wire. Michael Faraday (1791-1867), a self-taught English scientist, is recognized as one of the most influential scientists in history. Radio signals - like the AM radio band, the FM band, and even signals from satellites orbiting the planet - are all produced by passing an electric current through a wire. Cell phones, therefore, are transceivers. A cell phone contains a transmitter that sends out radio waves and a receiver that decodes incoming radio waves. Most people know their cell phones use radio signals to communicate, but many don’t understand the basics that make cell phones work.

If you’re already familiar with the basics, feel free to skip to the discussion below. First, we are going to talk about the very basics behind cell phone communication, then get more into signal boosters and how they work.

Curious how cell phone signal boosters work? Well, understanding the answer depends on how much you know about cellular radio communication.
