1.  I've used the 6 dB rfi aerial and patch lead into an old phone (the telstra tough has it still) and it worked great. The next boat will be getting one on the roof for use over the monties 

 well, mostly work well. Of course, if Exmouth is packed out and mobile bandwidth in town goes down the tubes, don't expect much . See if I can find a link I had saved to a proven one.  "later on" Ok, don't have a link, but google Cel-Fi or Powertec (same company) , they sell Tesltra approved stuff, of all kinds for different applications including boosting weak signals on farms, which is the kind you probably want. But not cheap. i've just been using one of those mobile hotspot devices at Winderabandi for years, hooked up to a yagi aerial, whcih usually gives me data of varying quality , would be better if the aerial was higher. But no voice unless the signal is good enough to do VOIP via Whatsapp. The booster setups I mentioned above will give you both.

I just finished installing my Cel-Fi yesterday. I'll keep you posted as to how it goes.

 Thanks fellas... I know its a bit of a touchy subject but makes a lot of sense to have one especially if shit goes bad for some reason....

 Boony thgis is the place I went to to get a booster aerial for my Telstra dongle for Gnaraloo, worked a treat. These guys are all over it https://www.accessantennas.com.au/

Cheers fellas...