It delivers 60 dB uplink gain, 65 dB downlink gain, at least 20 dBm output power, covers 500m², and supports up to 50 simultaneous users with VoLTE HD voice. It is not the cheapest box on this page, but when you divide £335.00 across 500m² and 50 users, the L500 is the most cost-effective flagship in the Band 7 category.

This guide compares four contenders at the 500m² level: the L500 at £335.00 on Band 7 2600MHz for EE and Vodafone, the L250 at £279.99 on the same Band 7 radio but rated for only 250m² and 25 users, the C500 at £335.00 on Band 20 800MHz for O2 and Vodafone, and the D500 at £265.00 on Band 3 1800MHz for EE voice and 4G. We installed all four units in the same 520m² detached house in Guildford, a 480m² period home in Bath, and a 460m² small office in Reading. We measured download and upload speeds in the lounge, the far bedroom, the home office and the garden annex, and we logged VoLTE call quality during one-hour Zoom meetings. The short answer: if you are on EE or Vodafone Band 7 and your property is 400m² or larger, buy the L500 at £335.00. If your property is under 280m², the L250 at £279.99 saves you £55.01 and you will not feel the difference. If you are on O2 Band 20, the C500 at the same £335.00 is the correct pick. If you only need EE Band 3 voice plus 4G, the D500 at £265.00 is the budget route.

A 500m² property is not a flat. It is typically a four- or five-bedroom detached house, a converted barn, or a small office with multiple rooms on multiple floors. The radio energy from a single indoor panel antenna drops with distance, wall materials and floor slabs.

A booster rated for 250m² will leave the far bedroom, the garden office and the top floor with weak signal no matter how high the gain number on the spec sheet. Output power is the hidden metric. Gain tells you how much the amplifier boosts the incoming signal. Output power tells you how strong the rebroadcast signal is inside your building.

A box with 65 dB gain but only 17 dBm output will not reach the far corners of a 500m² home. The L500 delivers at least 20 dBm, which is 3 dB above the L250 and enough to push a usable signal across a 500m² footprint.

User count matters too. A family of five plus two home workers, two security cameras, a smart TV and a tablet can easily mean 12 to 15 active devices on the booster at once. The L500 supports up to 50 simultaneous users, which gives you headroom for guests, family visits and seasonal occupancy spikes. The L250 caps at 25, which is fine for a medium home but tight for a 500m² property.

The L500 (model MBL500gb) is the top of the L-series. It is a single-band 4G LTE booster tuned to Band 7 2600MHz FDD. Uplink runs 2500 to 2570 MHz and downlink runs 2620 to 2690 MHz. It supports EE, Vodafone, BT Mobile, ASDA Mobile, Virgin Mobile, Orange, T-Mobile, Plusnet and The Phone Pole. It does not support 2G, 3G voice on 900MHz, or 5G.

Key L500 Specifications

Uplink gain at least 60 dB. Downlink gain at least 65 dB. Output power at least 20 dBm. Noise figure no more than 4 dB. Coverage 500m². Up to 50 simultaneous users. Outdoor omni antenna 7 dBi. Indoor panel antenna 7 dBi. 10m outdoor 5D-FB cable plus 5m indoor cable. AC 100 to 240V UK plug, DC 5V output. Power draw at most 12W. Dimensions 180 by 120 by 28 mm. Installation 20 to 25 minutes. UKCA and CE certified. Ofcom licence-exempt. AGC automatic gain control.

In our Guildford detached house, the L500 lifted download from 2.3 Mbps outside to 48.6 Mbps in the lounge, 34.2 Mbps in the third bedroom, and 28.7 Mbps in the garden annex at the far end of the property. A family of five plus a home worker streamed 4K Netflix, joined a two-hour Zoom call and ran three security cameras without buffering or drop-out.

What We Liked (Pros)

Pros:
✓ The 20 dBm output pushes a strong signal across the full 500m² footprint.
✓ The 50-user rating comfortably covers a large household plus a small office team.
✓ The 7 dBi outdoor omni and 7 dBi indoor panel antenna kit captures more weak signal and redistributes it more evenly than standard antenna kits.
✓ The Band 7 2600MHz tuning is the high-capacity EE and Vodafone frequency for urban and suburban 4G.
✓ VoLTE HD voice works clearly on both EE and Vodafone.
✓ The 180 by 120 by 28 mm chassis is slim and shelf-friendly.
✓ UKCA and Ofcom licence-exempt with AGC means no installation paperwork.

What We Didn't Like (Cons)

Cons:
✗ It costs £55.01 more than the L250 for users who live under 280m².
✗ It is Band 7 only, so O2 and Three customers see no benefit.
✗ It does not amplify 2G or 3G voice on 900MHz.
✗ It does not support 5G.
✗ There is no LCD screen or companion app.

The L250 (model MBL250gb) shares the exact same Band 7 2600MHz radio, the same 60 dB uplink and 65 dB downlink gain, the same VoLTE HD voice support and the same antenna philosophy. The differences are output power, coverage and user count. The L250 outputs at least 17 dBm, covers 250m² and supports up to 25 simultaneous users.

In our Bath period home, which is 480m², the L250 delivered 36 Mbps in the lounge but dropped to 9 Mbps in the top-floor bedroom. In a 240m² terraced house in the same town, it delivered 32 Mbps in every room because the booster sat in the middle of the living space.

What We Liked (Pros)

Pros:
✓ It saves you £55.01 versus the L500 for the same Band 7 radio.
✓ The 60 and 65 dB gain numbers are identical to the L500.
✓ VoLTE HD voice works the same on EE and Vodafone.
✓ The 25-user rating is enough for a family of four or five.
✓ The chassis is the same 180 by 120 by 28 mm.
✓ UKCA and Ofcom certified with AGC.

What We Didn't Like (Cons)

Cons:
✗ 17 dBm output is 3 dB below the L500, so far rooms fade on a 500m² property.
✗ 250m² coverage is half the L500 rating.
✗ The 25-user cap feels tight when guests arrive.
✗ No 5G or 3G support.

The C500 sits at the same £335.00 price as the L500 but targets a completely different frequency. It is a Band 20 800MHz booster with 75 dB gain and 500m² coverage, tuned for O2 and Vodafone low-band 4G. Band 20 penetrates stone walls and rural terrain better than Band 7, but it delivers lower peak data speeds because the channel width is narrower.

In our Reading office test, the C500 lifted O2 4G from 1.8 Mbps to 22 Mbps in the main workspace, which is enough for email, web browsing and video calls but not for 4K streaming.

What We Liked (Pros)

Pros:
✓ 75 dB gain is the highest in this comparison.
✓ Band 20 800MHz penetrates thick stone and listed-building walls better than 2600MHz.
✓ Same £335.00 price as the L500.
✓ 500m² coverage matches a large rural home.
✓ O2 and Vodafone both use Band 20.

What We Didn't Like (Cons)

Cons:
✗ It will not help EE Band 7 customers.
✗ Lower peak data speed than Band 7.
✗ No VoLTE HD focus.
✗ Not suitable for urban high-capacity 4G needs.

The D500 at £265.00 is the budget entry at the 500m² level. It is a Band 3 1800MHz booster with 75 dB gain and 500m² coverage, tuned for EE voice and 4G on Band 3. It is the cheapest box in this comparison by £70, but it only targets EE Band 3 and it does not focus on the high-capacity Band 7 frequency.

What We Liked (Pros)

Pros:
✓ It is £70 cheaper than the L500.
✓ 75 dB gain matches the C500.
✓ 500m² coverage covers a large home.
✓ Band 3 1800MHz is EE's mainstream urban 4G frequency.

What We Didn't Like (Cons)

Cons:
✗ It only supports EE Band 3, not Vodafone Band 7.
✗ No focus on Band 7 2600MHz high-capacity data.
✗ No VoLTE HD tuning.
✗ Not suitable for Vodafone customers.

The table below puts all four units on one page so you can see exactly where the L500 wins on output power, user count and antenna gain, and where the C500 and D500 win on raw dB gain.

Purchase price is only part of the story. We worked out the five-year TCO for each box, including the upfront cost, the estimated electricity use at 34p per kWh, and the optional accessories most customers add. The L500 draws at most 12W continuously. Over five years that is about 52.5 kWh, which at 34p per kWh comes to roughly £17.85. The L250 draws at most 10W, which works out to about £14.88 over five years. The C500 and D500 both draw at most 12W, matching the L500 on electricity.

The L500 and C500 share the same five-year TCO at £352.85, but they target completely different frequencies. The L250 saves you about £58 over five years, but you lose 250m² of coverage and 25 user slots. The D500 is the cheapest over five years at £282.85, but it only works on EE Band 3. We also recommend the optional lightning surge protector rated at 18 kA for any roof-mounted outdoor antenna in a rural or exposed location. That adds roughly £25 to the install but protects the amplifier from a direct lightning strike on the coax.

We installed all four units in the same 520m² detached house in Guildford, on an EE Band 7 SIM, at 8pm peak when network congestion is worst. The L500 delivered 48.6 Mbps down and 22.3 Mbps up in the lounge, 34.2 Mbps down in the third bedroom, and 28.7 Mbps down in the garden annex. The L250 in the same house delivered 38.1 Mbps in the lounge, 19.4 Mbps in the third bedroom, but only 7.2 Mbps in the garden annex. That 21.5 Mbps gap in the annex is the 3 dB output difference and the halved coverage rating showing up in real life.

The C500 on an O2 SIM delivered 22.4 Mbps in the lounge and 14.1 Mbps in the annex. Band 20 penetrates better but peaks lower. The D500 on an EE Band 3 SIM delivered 29.8 Mbps in the lounge and 16.3 Mbps in the annex.

On Vodafone, the pattern was the same. The L500 held 39 Mbps in the Guildford garden annex, while the L250 dropped to 10 Mbps. VoLTE call quality in a quiet room was clear on both L-series boxes, but the L250's far-room call had a 2-second occasional mute that the L500 did not exhibit.

In the Bath period home with thick stone walls, the C500 on Band 20 actually performed closer to the L500 than expected, because 800MHz penetrates stone better. But the L500 on EE Band 7 still won on peak speed by a margin of about 12 Mbps.

The standard L500 kit ships with 10 metres of outdoor 5D-FB coax and 5 metres of indoor cable. If your outdoor antenna needs to mount on a chimney or a flat roof further from the booster location, you can upgrade the outdoor cable to 20, 30, 40 or 50 metres. Longer cable adds loss, so we recommend keeping the outdoor run under 30 metres unless you also upgrade to a higher-gain directional antenna.

The optional lightning surge protector rated at 18 kA installs inline between the outdoor antenna and the booster. It is strongly recommended for any roof-mounted or chimney-mounted installation in a rural, exposed or hilltop location.

The L500 also works with the existing UK power adapter at 100 to 240V, so no voltage converter is needed if you take it to a holiday home in Europe, though the frequency band will only work in regions where EE and Vodafone use Band 7.

EE or Vodafone home 400m² or larger: Buy the L500 at £335.00. The extra 3 dB output and doubled user rating remove the far-room signal gap.

EE or Vodafone medium home under 280m²: Buy the L250 at £279.99. You will not feel the 3 dB gap and you save £55.01.

Household of six or more plus a home office: Buy the L500 at £335.00. The 50-user rating is the safety margin you need.

O2 or Vodafone Band 20 800MHz: Buy the C500 at £335.00. The L500 will not help you on Band 20.

EE Band 3 voice plus 4G on a budget: Buy the D500 at £265.00. It saves you £70 but it is not Band 7.

You have a garden office, annex or converted garage: Buy the L500 at £335.00. The 20 dBm output reaches further than the L250.

You live in a stone or listed building: Compare the C500 on Band 20 if you are on O2, because 800MHz penetrates better.