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Vodafone Sure Signal booster handles eight calls, costs £100

Vodafone's got a new toy for those who suffer from shonky signal.

Luke Westaway Senior editor
Luke Westaway is a senior editor at CNET and writer/ presenter of Adventures in Tech, a thrilling gadget show produced in our London office. Luke's focus is on keeping you in the loop with a mix of video, features, expert opinion and analysis.
Luke Westaway
2 min read

How's the signal round your end? Vodafone has crafted a new version of its Sure Signal 3G booster, granting its customers who live in mobile black spots the chance to natter away on the phone or download the odd app without dodgy signal spoiling their fun.

As you can see in the snap above, the new model is considerably smaller than the old version, which resembled a broadband router. This newer gadget reclaims precious square centimetres of space by plugging directly into the wall, which also reduces the number of wires in your house, office or volcano lair.

There's a plug socket stamped on the back of the new Sure Signal too, which means it won't reduce the total number of outlets in the room. Plug something else into the back of it and both gadgets should draw power from the wall. To trigger its signal-boosting properties, you'll need to run an Ethernet cable from your router to a socket at the bottom.

Vodafone's taken the opportunity to beef up the stuff inside the Sure Signal, meaning up to eight people can use the device to make calls at the same time. You can register a total of 32 numbers to the new device, which should cater to you if you run a small business or have an especially large family.

Boosting your signal juice using this device will cost you though -- £100 to be exact. That's quite a lot to pay, but if you've got rubbish signal in your home or office, you may not have much of a choice.

Vodafone claims its new toy can boost 3G in buildings with thick walls or basement flats, or if you live out in the countryside. A list of compatible phones can be found here -- most popular smart phones like the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S3 are represented, but there's no mention of the elderly iPhone 3GS.

If you have a phone that's not listed as compatible, I'd recommend calling Vodafone to see whether it'll work or not. Oh, and you may have guessed, but this wall-mounted marvel will only work with Vodafone 3G-enabled mobiles.

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