Comments on: The Real Reasons Cell Phone Boosters Are Suddenly Taboo

By: Infographic: The Ultimate Cell Phone Plan Picker: Mobile Technology News «

Infographic: The Ultimate Cell Phone Plan Picker: Mobile Technology News « — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 22:24:06 +0000

[...] such as consumer satisfaction, rate plans and dropped call data, Wilson Electronics, the folks that make cell phone signal boosters, created this chart of current plan options from the four largest cellular operators in the U.S. [...]

By: Martin B.

Martin B. — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 04:45:03 +0000

MarkZ: It depends on the type of amplifier. Wilson sells amplifiers that connect directly to the external antenna port on the back of the phone. All the Wilson box is doing is amplifying the outbound signal with a PA. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were using a LNA to increase the RX signal as well. The cell towers use uplink power control. So, the phone will only put out as much power as is needed to close the link, with some margin. The tower will tell the phone to decrease power, which will in turn make the amplifier reduce power. It will still maintain the same margin. No extra interference or too hot of a signal. These types systems are mission critical to Emergency Services users in rural areas. You can’t put a femtocell in an Ambulance easily (no backhaul).

Other boosters “repeat” the received cell signals, which can cause issues if improperly setup. Usually those are used in buildings, and some in-vehicle systems. Femto/Micro cells can benefit those users.

Most Femtocells are a CDMA/3G (WCDMA) variant anyways, so they can all co-exist on the same channel and not have interference issues. You don’t see many 2G (GSM) femtocells, as this would require a large amount of frequency planning to not interfere with existing towers ARFCN’s.

By: MysterX

MysterX — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 07:51:19 +0000

I have the T-Mobile MT3G. I would love to be able to make calls over my WiFi. Could you direct me to a site showing how to configure it?

By: john

john — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 18:23:17 +0000

I applaud your conviction; I wish more people dedicated to themselves to fighting injustice. lol

By: Richard

Richard — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 02:19:32 +0000

Why bother with all the other carriers schemes. T-Mobil phones can be configured to connect through any open wifi, home, starbucks or office. Bad service area? No problem

By: Clay

Clay — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 22:18:34 +0000

One thing to consider is that the carriers don’t have an in-car option.

Femtocells work great for in-building use IF that person has broadband service since that is required for using it. In rural areas where they don’t have affordable broadband Internet or any broadband at all, boosters are a great option for those consumers.

One drawback with a femtocell (from what I know) is that if you have a Verizon femto only a certain amount of phones can be connected to it and they have to authenticate to an extent to use them. So your friend comes over with a Verizon phone, he needs to authenticate.

Also, most boosters are carrier agnostic so anyone can use them. What would the price be if you had to buy a femto for every carrier in your house?

Regarding interference, there are certain technologies that can be embedded into the booster to ensure there isn’t interference with the towers. I work with Wilson Electronics, and they have successfully worked with Canadian carriers to make sure that everything “plays” well together.

By: Kevin C. Tofel

Kevin C. Tofel — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 21:49:50 +0000

MarkZ, femtos aren’t “hooking into your wifi” – they require a wired connection to a user’s home broadband; there’s no Wi-Fi needed nor used with a femtocell. And the radio chips inside them are based on cellular network technology, not unlicensed spectrum used for Wi-Fi.

If they used Wi-Fi, they’d be UMA or Unlicensed Mobile Access devices. I’ve spoken to the Femto forum about this very topic and they tout femtos instead of Wi-Fi because Wi-Fi doesn’t guarantee any quality of service. Hope that helps clarify.

By: MarkZ

MarkZ — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 21:01:44 +0000

Hi,

No Femtocells are hooking into your wifi, not acting like a booster. Totally different and benign technology.

By: Roberto

Roberto — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 20:59:33 +0000

You are right: I didn’t realize that. My apologies.

How about “of the 20+ cellular operators around the world offering femtocells, only two (Sprint and optionally, AT&T) charge a monthly fee, while Verizon seems to charge quite the highest upfront charge”

OK, once again, US consumers seem to be gouged for cellular.

I still think it is a good thing, and boosters cause trouble, but I can’t defend those charges.

By: Femtocell market update for the weeks of 8 & 15 Nov 2010 « 3G In The Home

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 20:59:06 +0000

[...] and highlights competition from the operators’ own femtocell offerings. GigaOM suggests it’s hypocritical of CTIA to take repeater manufacturers’ money for exhibiting at its trade shows. Meanwhile, one Twitter post suggests the FCC itself is [...]