Hi Jim,
From all the customers that I have come across that do use those devices, i t appears that they are just routing your calls thru the internet and in es sence, somewhat like a VoIP line.
The devices used to be freely given to customers who were access challenged . Now, they are charging customers close to $200 for the device. The custom ers went from being 'access challenged' to 'squeezed victims'. Usually, the cellular company is the only one in the area, and knows that they have a m onopoly. Therefore, they can charge and know that most customers will end u p paying.
Unlike a VoIP device that allows you to call anyone from any internet conne ction in the country, the booster device has to be tagged to your cellular service account. Therefore, trying to use a booster for an alarm cellular r adio would not be unabled for that commercial unit. It is somewhat related to how your cellphone works. All cellular radios for consumers use access p oint names, which route your calls, text, and pictures in different ways th ru the internet. I learned about 4 years ago to have different access point names/parameters in my cellphone. Depending on what area I may be in, I ca n quickly switch my access point name and get better service for my cellpho ne calls. It does take time to know what works where, thru trial and error. I have been with GSM phones for quite a while now, and this is what works best for me. Since I am using Sim Cards in my phones, I would not know if t his would work on the CDMA systems.
Cell phone connections thru the towers can be routed any which way they wan t. It is all internet connections, whether thru wires or tower waves. In em ergencies, they have the ability to route calls from one area to any other area. The towers throughout the USA are basically electrical connection 'wi res' that can be made to connect to any other connection. Picture the old s witchboard operators who used to pull one wire out and connect it to anothe r jack to make a phone connection.
Earlier in the year, we did have a customer who had sporadic telco service way up on a mountain. The Lodge was for the residents of the area, and the homeowners association had an ATT commercial modem, basically creating an i nternet connection in a special cellular box with about 20' of cable length and antenna at the end. That unit put out an internet connection that was then hooked up to a router. The router put out wifi for the guests as well as wired ports. One port was then hooked up to an Ip card for the security system to communicate with.
It was a clean and ideal connection with little cost to the customer. In es sence, it was a cellular radio allowing any internet connection to it. We use both ATT and Verizon radios for alarm system connections depending o n which service is better or preferable.
Perhaps others have more relevant information to come.
Have a great day.