Whether it’s the carrier, the hardware or the environment you’re in, there are plenty of reasons why using your iPhone can be an exercise in frustration. Poor signal strength impacts everything from making and receiving calls to your data connection; that’s why Wilson Electronics‘ iBooster is so tempting. Promised to reduce dropped calls, increase data rates and open up what previously were “dead spots”, we picked up the iBooster at CES this past week and have been testing it out.

In the box you get the iBooster unit itself, built into a docking cradle, together with a magnetic vehicle antenna, cigarette lighter power adapter and printed installation guide. It’s compatible with both the original iPhone 2G and latest iPhone 3G, and Wilson also produce a model intended for the BlackBerry range of smartphones. Each will go on sale in Spring 2009.

Installation is straightforward: the iPhone drops into the cradle, then you plug in the antenna and stick it, via the magnetic pad, to the outside of your vehicle. The power adapter hooks up to another port, and that automatically powers the iBooster on. No settings or tweaking necessary.  If you’re using a case for your iPhone that means it won’t fit into the cradle, the amplification will work wirelessly up to 2.5ft away from the iBooster, so you can leave it on a seat or in a different mount.

While most of the design decisions make sense, it’s not all quite so straightforward. The strangest aspect of the iBooster is its inability to natively recharge the iPhone; you need to add a separate charger, that plugs into a third port on the cradle. Why it can’t split the supply from the cigarette lighter is unclear; we’re waiting to hear back from Wilson about why this is the case, as those with only one suitable power socket in their car will have to choose between boosting or recharging.  We’re also hoping they can confirm which bands the iBooster supports, and as such whether it’s only currently of use with US-spec 3G or will handle Euro 3G too.

Wilson aren’t aiming the iBooster at your everyday iPhone user – the $350 price underscores that – but at the mobile professional for whom ensuring a few extra bars, and therefore a few extra calls and a successful data connection, is worth the hassle.  In fact they promise to increase the transmission power to the cell site by up to 20x over the iPhone alone.  Every iBooster is apparently manufactured within a room with zero cellular signals, connected to a central server that monitors quality actually during the build process.

Of course, ease of setup and convenience is all pointless if the device doesn’t actually do what it’s supposed to: boost iPhone signal strength. Initial impressions suggest greater call stability and improved sound quality, but we’ll be testing the iBooster out over the next week to see if it’s really worth that premium price-tag.  Keep reading iPhone Buzz to find out the results!