A “radio” receives a signal from another radio through the airwaves.  WiFi, Bluetooth cordless phones & cell phones are all radios. In the case of a cell phone, the signal is coming from a ‘tower’ that can be up to 10 miles away. When our cell phones transmit/receive a signal back & forth to these towers, a call is completed. A wireless broadband card (also known as a USB modem / mobile broadband or aircard) operates the same way a cell phone does; it receives and sends a signal to a tower. Both cell phones & broadband internet cards are totally dependent on the carriers signal (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile etc).

Each carrier tries to provide a good usable signal, but unfortunately, many obstacles exist that the carrier cannot overcome: trees, valleys, hills, cement or brick buildings and buildings with metal roofs or metal siding or basements.  These obstacles block or hinder the normally adequate signal which results in broken or dropped voice calls and very slow or non-existent internet service.

Dropped phone calls and slow internet service can be remedied with a cellular booster or repeater kit.  A repeater kit helps this communication by ‘re-transmitting’  the callers signal using:

1. An internal antenna to receive the cell phone signal inside the building, home, car or boat,
2. A cellular amplifier,
3. An external antenna to send a signal to the cell tower. These components are joined together by coaxial cables.

Home or building kits can be customized using different lengths of cable for multiple interior antennas. These antennas can be on a single floor or on multiple floors. The cost of these kits can range from $250 for a small home or RV to $2500 for a large home with multiple floors.  Commercial buildings may require a couple of repeater kits to supply signal to areas from 20,000 to 100,000 square feet.

Whether it’s mobile, home or office that leaves your phone or data card silent, we can tailor a repeater kit for you to bring those essential tools back to life!

zBoost Active Antenna Amplifier

The Wi-Ex company has added a new zBoost CI Active Antenna Amplifier for maximum indoor cell signal. The Active Antenna Amplifier greatly improves the performance of an external zBoost CI cell phone signal booster antenna. This coupling optimizes the strong signal reaching the indoor space your trying to cover and maximizes the phone reception, speed of your aircard and Edge and 3g signals including smart phones.

• Your installer can now extend the external cable from the previous 75′ maximum to over 250′ of RG6 cable with the zBoost CI Active Antenna Amplifier
• You can use 4 zBoost base units with 1 zBoost CI external antenna with an Active Antenna Amplifier attached, perfect for multi-unit buildings
• A large home solution at a lower total cost than other manufacturers while offering greater installation flexibility with longer cable runs

Using the zBoost Active Antenna Amplifier with our favorite Wi-Ex zBoost system should greatly enhance the signal strength, offer far better flexibility for the installer and we’ll be able to recommend systems where we couldn’t reach an outside signal before. We look forward to seeing the zBoost Active Antenna Amplifier in the next few months!

Wi-Ex has upgraded their popular YX029 Premium Antenna, to the dual panel YX039 Premium Antenna System. The gain of the antennas has increased, boosting the signal strength and coverage area of your RepeaterStore cellular amplifier. The updated YX039 uses the YX021 800 MHz panel antenna in place of the 800 MHz yagi antenna that was in the YX029 System. This change gives better performance and is easier to install.

The zBoost YX039 Premium Antenna consists of two directional panel antennas, each with a 18″ jumper cable to connect them to an antenna combiner. The antenna combiner then attaches to a single coaxial cable for connection to the Wi-Ex Base Unit. The new YX039 System is to be used with the zBoost YX510-CEL-PCS dual band repeater kit.

The new and improved accessory antenna system, Wi-Ex zBoost YX039, offers an improved look and better overall signal gain!

Specifications:
This directional antenna system captures signals in both 800 MHz Cellular &1900 MHz PCS bands for the use with zBoost dual-band amplifier systems.
Gain: 8dBi (824-896 MHz) 13dBi (1850-1990 MHz)
Impedance: 75ohms
UPC: 1866390006
Connectors: The two antennas are inputted to the signal combiner, which has an F/Female connector

Kit Contents:
YX021-CEL Cellular Panel Antenna (824-896 MHz)
YX023-PCS Panel Antenna (1850-1990 MHz)
2x 18″ coaxial jumper cablesAntenna combiner
2x U-Bolt and mounting brackets for pole mounting (pole not included)
Instruction manual

A Recreational Vehicle on the move can have significant cell reception problems depending on the location its traveling in. A good way to minimize dropped calls & increase reception to cellular phones / broadband data cards is to install a Cellular Repeater Kit in the coach.

A Cellular Repeater Kit will allow you to make calls when very little cell phone signal exists. This booster will also reduce dropped calls and increase internet speeds. We have had good success with Wilson Electronics Repeater kits customized for use in Motorhomes & RVs.

Wilson Electronics is well regarded in the industry because of their high quality.

Cell Phone Boosters or Repeaters are very simple to setup and they do not require expert installation. A Repeater kit consists of 3 major components; an external antenna, an amplifier or booster and an internal antenna that gives cellular coverage inside the RV.

Kits can range from $300 for a single-phone style amp to $600 for a more powerful amp that can support multiple cell phones and/or broadband data cards. A few of these kits are listed below.

Single Cell phone use:

http://www.repeaterstore.com/products/Wilson-841233-Wilson-841233-Mini-SignalBoost-RV-Kit

Multiple Cell  Phones or Data Cards:

http://www.repeaterstore.com/products/Wilson-841295-Wilson-841295-Ambulance-and-RV-Repeater-Kit

Using the iPhone’s Field Test Mode allows you to easily find out which frequency your cell phone is using to access your cell phone carrier (usually AT&T). The instructions differ depending on whether your iPhone is using the 3G or non-3G network.

If your phone shows a 3G icon in the top left of the screen:

1. Dial *3001#12345#* on the keypad and press call.
2. Select “UMTS Cell Environment”
3. Select “UMTS RR Info
4. If the uplink frequency is a number between 4132 and 4233, your phone is using the 800/850MHz Band. If the uplink frequency is a number between 9262 and 9538, your phone is using the 1900MHz band.

If your phone shows no 3G icon in the top left of the screen:

1. Dial *3001#12345#* on the keypad and press call.
2. Select “GSM Cell Environment”
3. Select “UMTS Network Information
4. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and find the ARFCN
5. If your ARFCN is between 128 and 251, then your phone is using the 800/850MHz band. If your ARFCN is between 512 and 810, then your phone is using the 1900MHz band.