beznich wrote:iPhone users...I just looked it up. AT&T sells a MicroCell for $200 that works with the iPhone, data and cell...just figured I'd throw that up there.

zzzzzzz

yup but they only work if your broadband is broad enough (mine's 3mbps and that's too slow)

EBrossette wrote:You need internet service to use the Microcell and with this you don't.

AH yes...I didn't mention that part

Well, I think it's obvious this is going to take a while. Which means there's only one solution - certain folks are going to have to take one for the team.

According to the rules I just made up right now, people who live in the area I pick from this non-existant hat will be forced to buy one so that the WootOff may continue.

*rummages in bin*

Ok, if you live in Montana or *squint* can't read the writing, but I think it says New Guinea, you are hereby required to buy one of these. I hate to break it to you Montanians, but I'm pretty sure most of New Guinea is asleep, so you're going to have to take up the slack. Them's the breaks, right?

Ok, step up!

These things kind of work, but you need to mount it outside or up high where the antenna can get a better signal.

Re: the AT&T Microcell - we ended up getting that instead. Basically, you need to attach it to your router and it acts like a micro-phone tower. However, you can only link like four AT&T phone numbers to it (so your neighbors won't steal the signal).

The Zboost thing works for anybody within range. But it depends on whether or not that antenna gets a good signal (which we didn't have or couldn't get because of trees around us.)

And sometimes brick.

choekstr wrote:No, this is not a GSM booster. It only works for PCS networks.

Actually, the specs provided by Woot say it works with GSM. The product name says otherwise, but the specs say GSM et alia.

reggaemyelitis wrote:Does the signal antenna thingy need to be mounted outside for an effective signal boost?

Mount it in your attic. Be sure to place radiant barrier material between the antenna in the attic and the repeater unit in your house for the best results.

choekstr wrote:No, this is not a GSM booster. It only works for PCS networks.

Umm...Yes, it is a GSM booster and it should work with all of the major carriers in the US.

Frequency: 824 – 896MHz; 1850 – 1990 MHz
Networks: CDMA, GSM, TDMA, AMPS, EVDO, EDGE, 3G and more

choekstr wrote:No, this is not a GSM booster. It only works for PCS networks.

Actually, according to the description:

• Works with all phones and U.S. carriers (Except Nextel)
  
• Networks: CDMA, GSM, TDMA, AMPS, EVDO, EDGE, 3G and more
  

choekstr wrote:No, this is not a GSM booster. It only works for PCS networks.

Lies:

"Networks: CDMA, GSM, TDMA, AMPS, EVDO, EDGE, 3G and more"

I saw this title and my brain autotuned it into "XYZ boost." I had to re-read it to see "wi ex z boost".

Thought I'd share.

Got one of these during WootQuest (albeit misrepresented, since it was supposed to be new). I have zero bars at home; it's so bad I would sometimes get texts 7-10 hours after they were initially sent. Which is not a good thing, especially when your boss sometimes texts you about filling in at shows last minute. But my service is so great everywhere else that I hesitate to drop my current provider. After getting the booster, I still have trouble doing calls at home (the signal improvement is strong but changes minute to minute), but it's up to 2-3 bars, my texts and voicemails always come in exactly when sent, and my outgoing texts no longer require me to walk around several times trying to find a small pocket of service. And that's just with the antenna in my window. I ever decide to mount it outside, it should get better still. So all in all I'm pretty happy with it.

Too bad I'm Amish...

jondaniel wrote:so are teeth

obviously you have never been to West Virginia!

Ozzie2191 wrote:Well, I think it's obvious this is going to take a while. Which means there's only one solution - certain folks are going to have to take one for the team.

According to the rules I just made up right now, people who live in the area I pick from this non-existant hat will be forced to buy one so that the WootOff may continue.

*rummages in bin*

Ok, if you live in Montana or *squint* can't read the writing, but I think it says New Guinea, you are hereby required to buy one of these. I hate to break it to you Montanians, but I'm pretty sure most of New Guinea is asleep, so you're going to have to take up the slack. Them's the breaks, right?

Ok, step up!

We're in trouble...there are more of these left than people in Montanta...I suggest we require North and South Dakota to ante up as well.

A femtocell is not the same as an extender. A femtocell does not need an existing cell phone signal, but DOES need an internet connection. It uses the internet connection to generate a low-powered cell phone signal.

An extender like this doesn't need an internet connection, but DOES need an existing, weak, cell phone radiated signal. It picks up the signal, amplifies it a bit, and rebroadcasts it.

I'm in for one, hope it will improve reception at work. Got a window office but reception still sucks.

Just need one more sucker

Will this work with Sprint, Virgin Mobile, and Boost?

Just so you guys know.. These devices technically fall into the same classification as the jammers.
They are unlicensed transmitters and they do play havok with managed networks. There's a reason our radios and transmitters cost $40K. And a $200 device doesn't cut the mustard. Some aren't active and make it under the radar.. but we ferret out quite a few that do cause problems.

And technically.. to put one of these up on air you need to get written permission from every single carrier and transmitting entity that you could be causing interference with.

Many people operate these without issue. But we have confiscated several and gotten numerous others taken off the air.

Just FYI...

I have one of these and am a bit mixed on the value. it does somewhat improve the signal, but the antenna and the base should be at least 15 vertical feet apart or they interfere with each other. it was not so easy to make that happen, but once I did, I got some improvement in call quality and fewer drops. I have both Verizon and ATT and it worked for both