Cell Phone Booster Blog

 
The Spotwave Z1900 is a new addition to the range of cell phone amplifiers we stock at the RepeaterStore. The Spotwave Z1900 is a stylish wireless cell phone repeater that operates on the 1900 MHz frequency band. This means it will be able to boost your cell phone reception from a weak signal to a strong and reliable one for Networks operating on the 1900 MHz Frequency band.

News Flash >> Starting Today, August 1st ‘07 the Spotwave Z1900 has taken a permanent price cut to $299 following the success of the temporary $100 discount that has been operating for the past month.

With a system gain of +63 dB the Spotwave Z1900 is one of the stronger amplifiers in its price range. The amplifier also features a modern and attractive design so you won’t want to hide it away in the corner of the room. The Spotwave Z1900 comes as a full repeater kit with everything you need to improve your cell phone recelption, including antennas, cables, power supply, mounting equipment and of course the Z1900 amplifier.

Networks operating on the 1900 MHz frequency band include Sprint and T-mobile. In addition to this, Verizon and Cingular operate the majority of their 3G data services on 1900 MHz, so the Spotwave Z1900 should improve the performance of 3G data cards operating on the Cingular or Verizon network. However, Cingular and Verizon only use the 1900 MHz for voice coverage in a small amount of areas. For more information on Cellular Network Frequency usage visit our cell phone repeater buyer guide, or contact us.

Buy it now or find out more on the Spotwave Z1900 product page - click here.

Over the weekend, hundreds of thousands of users switched over to the AT&T network to take advantage of Apple’s iPhone. Unfortunately, AT&T’s network is often spotty, and EDGE data rates are constrained by the quality of the signal. One way of improving AT&T coverage and ensuring fast EDGE rates is installing a cell phone repeater.

Since AT&T and Cingular merged a few years ago, the joint company has owned licenses for both frequency bands in most areas. In order to ensure an improvement on voice and data coverage, we recommend purchasing a dual band repeater for AT&T customers. Once installed, these repeaters will also improve the cell signal on every other network (except for Nextel). Here are our recommendations:

Medium reception: For users with medium signal quality outside their building (3 bars or more), the zBoost YX-510 kit will improve your cell phone signal to full bars for AT&T voice and data services, even if you currently have no AT&T service at all inside. This unit will usually cover up to 2,500 square feet. The kit is very easy to install, and comes with everything needed to set the system up. You can find our product page here: Wireless Extender zBoost YX-510.

Low reception: For users with low quality outside their building (2 bars or less), the YX-510 kit Premium Kit can be used to amplify the AT&T signal. This repeater will usually cover up to 3,000 square feet (or 5,000 square feet if you currently have 3 bars or more of signal outside). You can find our product page here: Wireless Extender zBoost YX-510 (scroll half way down the page).

Large coverage areas: For users with 2 or more bars of signal outside their building, and who wish to cover up to 10,000 square feet, we recommend : Digital Antenna DA4KSBR-50U 60dB Repeater Kit (scroll half way down the page). This more powerful antenna also comes with a high-gain omni-directional antenna, and is perfect for large-building installations.

If you have any questions about repeaters, or want a custom recommendation, feel free to call us at 1-800-761-3041 or e-mail us at support@repeaterstore.com.

After purchasing and installing our repeaters, a lot of customers ask why repeaters aren’t more commonplace. Almost everyone has experienced cell phone problems, whether it’s a dropped call while you’re driving, or poor reception when you call home from the supermarket to check whether you need to buy milk. Dropped calls and poor reception mean dissatisfied customers and lost revenue, so why aren’t network providers scrambling to install repeaters on every street corner?

To explain why, I’ll have to give a little background on how cell phone networks are licensed to use their frequencies. The FCC (the Federal Communications Commission) is in charge of designating and selling licenses for the frequency spectrum that cell phones use. The FCC has two main frequency ranges that it has licensed networks to use, one is around 850MHz (the “Cellular band”) and another is around 1900MHz (the “PCS band”). Each one of these “bands” is then subdivided into smaller frequency “blocks” and sold to networks. The 800MHz band is usually shared between two networks (usually Cingular and Verizon), and the 1900MHz band is usually shared between six networks (usually T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, Cingular and a couple of regional carriers).

Have a look at the diagram below to see what the FCC licensing scheme looks like.

As part of their licensing rules for these cellular frequencies, the FCC requires that networks only sell and use equipment that works on their specific frequency “blocks”. However for technical reasons it’s very difficult and expensive to create repeaters that only cover these smaller frequency blocks. You’ll notice that all the repeaters we sell on our site cover an entire frequency band, and never just a frequency block. If networks were to start installing repeaters wherever they could, they’d be flouting FCC rules and would probably get slammed with a big fine. Moreover, Sprint would hardly want to install a 1900MHz repeater that would also improve the reception for all the other networks that share the band and with which it competes.

Since networks can’t install these repeaters or even make a little cash selling them to their customers, they don’t promote them at all. By contrast, in Asian countries like South Korea repeaters are installed in every apartment complex, shopping mall, and even on street corners. Unless the FCC makes an exception for repeaters, it’ll be a while before we see similar market penetration here in the States. With no network backing, the repeater market in the US is developing as people learn of the products through word-of-mouth and as manufacturers like Wi-Ex, Wilson, TelecomTek and Spotwave gradually promote their products.

Last month I mentioned how building materials can block cell signal by acting as a Faraday cage. The Faraday cage phenomenon is a pretty interesting one and I thought it deserved a bit more attention.

A Faraday shield consists of a wire mesh which blocks external electric charges from entering the cage. The video below, from a German university, illustrates its purpose pretty vividly.

In addition to stopping the person inside from being electrocuted, the Faraday cage blocks electromagnetic fields and frequency waves – the latter resulting in interrupted radio and cell coverage. When such waves encounter conductive material, they do not pass through the material but rather flow around its surface. For example, when lightning strikes the metal frame of a car or airplane, that frame shields the passengers inside from the electric charge.

Faraday cages, intentional or otherwise, are everywhere in our daily lives. Some auditoriums and exam halls use them to prevent disruption or cheating in tests. Microwave ovens have inbuilt Faraday cages to contain the microwaves within them. In practice, we expect to encounter them regularly, anticipating losing radio signal driving under a bridge, or cell signal when entering an elevator.

Most homes were certainly not deliberately constructed as Faraday cages. For one thing, a true Faraday cage would be exceptionally expensive, and only of interest to sensitive government buildings. Nevertheless, the wire frames and meshes used in building construction have the effect of blocking or severely reducing the quality of cellular signals inside them. This is obviated somewhat by a building’s doors and windows, but the ‘Faraday cage effect’ still results in many, many homes and offices receiving little or no cell phone coverage.

Just came across this article on Cellular-News about strange positions cell phone users have to adopt in order to get better signal at home. Fits quite well with our post below!