The long rumored high gain Wilson amplifier has just been announced. The Wilson 801265 DB PRO Adjustable Gain amplifier has a massive 75dB of gain, which makes it the most powerful consumer cellular repeater by a large margin. With that kind of gain, we expect the Wilson 801265 to cover 20,000-30,000 sq ft of coverage. It should therefore be ideal for huge office spaces, warehouses and outdoor areas such as campgrounds or ranches.

It looks like the displays on the front of the 801265 have small dials on, which show the gain that the amplifier is currently supplying. It is unclear whether this is the automatic gain control seen in other Wilson kits, or whether there is also a user-defined gain level on top of that. The display will certainly make installation easier, as any reduced power output due to feedback can be seen immediately. This will allow installers to adjust the antenna location and direction, to get the most out of the DB PRO amp.

As they have with previous kits, Wilson Electronics may package a kit together with a standard set of antennas and cables. This will almost certainly be called the Wilson 841265 DB PRO kit and will probably have 2 exterior yagi antennas and a number of internal antennas. However, as the Wilson 801265 is so powerful we expect that most customers will prefer a kit customized to their exact situation. If you have an area over 10,000 sq ft to cover, then we recommend you contact us using this form.

The Wilson 801265 DB Pro Adjustable Gain cellular amplifier kit significantly improves the performance of your cell phone or cellular data card in small office/home office applications. Its advanced technology is designed to significantly improve voice and data signal quality and reduce disconnects and drop-outs. It features the same patented Wilson Smart-Tech technology found in all Wilson amplifiers. This technology automatically reduces gain, preventing oscillation and keeping your kit working.

Wilson 801265 Image

Specifications

Wilson 801265 Installation

Click here for the Wilson 801265 Installation Guide (PDF)

We’ve received more information on the update to the YX510 – the most popular home/office repeater kit in the US. The update is going to be called the zBoost SOHO YX545. We covered the announcement previously in this post, but we now know a few more details.

The Name

The old kit was called the ‘zboost YX510′. The new kit will be called the ‘zBoost SOHO YX545‘. This follows a recent trend with Wi-Ex for giving their products more than a manufacturer part number. This started with the kit recently released for the small apartment buildings – the ‘zBoost Metro YX540‘. We imagine this will be come started practice for Wi-Ex going forward. The YX*** codes that they give their products are pretty meaningless, and it’s good to see a more easily identifiable naming structure.

The Kit

The new zBoost SOHO YX545 lists a system gain of 60dB, a good increase from the 53/54dB of the YX510. Gain is a logarithmic scale where an increase of 6dB doubles the coverage area. It’s interesting to note in the PDF overview that Wi-Ex still list the coverage area as up to 2,500 sq ft – identical to the YX510. This is probably Wi-Ex moving to a more realistic expectation of coverage area. With the YX510 2,500 sq ft was only possibly with a strong input signal from the external antenna. Hopefully with the SOHO YX545 a few bars will get the unit up to the max.
Another big change is the coaxial cable included in the standard kit. The YX510 had 35ft of RG6; the SOHO YX545 will have 50ft of RG-59. The extra cable length will help with installations, allowing more flexibility in the antenna placement. Running the cable discretely through the home will also be easier as RG-59 cable is thinner and more flexible than RG-6.
The standard omni-directional external antenna also looks different from the one included in the YX510. It’s unclear if the antenna is more powerful, or just has a different form.

Full Kit Contents

The Wi-Ex zBoost YX545 is an update to the massively successful zBoost YX510.

It has not yet been released, so details are scarce. However we know that the Wi-Ex YX 545 will have higher gain, lower loss cable and an easier installation method. It is a completely new design from the ground up, and we expect it to be the perfect repeater kit for homes and offices up to 3,000 sq ft.

Release Date: Q3 2010
Product Page: Wi-Ex zBoost YX545

RepeaterStore.com has had many successful installations where the building size has exceeded 10,000 sq feet and  up to 40,000 square feet! By starting with the Wilson Dual-Band Ultimate II Repeater kit,  which uses two 65dB amplifiers (Cellular band #801165,  PCS band #801365),  this kit provides an internally amplified signal through one, ceiling mounted Panel antenna (#301135). The coverage given by this Panel antenna is usually limited to the floor it is mounted on because it is a directional antenna that shoots a signal down like a sprinkler.  When mounted on the 1st floor for example, the ceiling- mounted Panel antenna would not push signal back up to the 2nd & 3rd floors.

So what about the 2nd or 3rd floors?
A splitter (859957) is connected right past the two 65dB amplifiers but before the internal Panel antenna. One side of the splitter continues to the Panel mounted on the 1st floor and the other port of the splitter is run up to the 2nd floor for additional coverage needed there.  At this time, however, the signal on the 1st floor is decreased, which means the coverage area on the 1st floor now has gone down.  What a dilemma !

A more efficient way to direct the internal signal is to use a “Tap” which is a type of ‘directional’ splitter. A Tap funnels a certain amount of signal through a specific port.  A common tap we use in multiple-floor installations is a 6dB/1.5dB Tap (#859906) which directs only 25% of the signal to the 6dB port and the remaining 75% signal through the 1.5dB port. This allows 75% of the remaining signal to be sent on to the 2nd & 3rd floors where it is split evenly using the standard 50/50 splitter (#859957).

At some point, after multiple splits/taps, the signal is degraded and will need to be boosted back up so it can continue down the cable. This is when a Pre-amp (811201 or 812201) should be installed to cover more square footage, for instance, on a 4th or 5th floor.  In this example, we would install the pre-amp directly in-line to the cable running up to the 4th & 5th floors. The pre-amp would need AC power, as it is an active amplifier, so plan this installation accordingly. The key to extending the inside coverage to a multi-story building as in this example, is to use Taps (#859906), Splitters (#859957)  and Pre-amps (#811201, 812201) as described

Hopefully this description is helpful;  please give us a call with your custom installation requirement!

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We’ve previously listed causes of bad cell signal on our blog, but cellphones.org have put the info into a great graphic. Nice to see repeaters listed first in ways to improve reception!

A summary of the causes of bad cell reception:

• Large distance from the nearest cell towers, found in rural areas and offshore
• Signal blocked by large structures – large buildings, mountains, tunnels, trees etc
• Construction materials which block cell phone signal
• High density urban areas have many low powered towers which emit weak signal that cannot penetrate buildings
• Network congestion – poor signal during times of unexpected network load such as large conferences, music festivals, local emergency situations etc.