Wireless Extenders YX500-Cel zBoost Cell Phone Signal Booster up to 2500 Square Feet of Coverage for Home or Office
March 12th, 2010 Posted in Cell Phones
- Extends cellular coverage for single or multiple users in homes or offices–provides up to 2500 square feet of coverage
- Works with AT&T, Verizon and Alltel cellular wireless phones in the frequency range of 824-894 MHz
- Omni-directional signal antenna receives signals from multiple cell towers
- Antenna can be installed outdoors above the roofline or indoors in the attic or near a window
- Extends phone battery life–uses less power when signal is stronger
Product Description
Works with Cingular, Verizon and Alltel cellular wireless phones in the frequency range of 824 – 894 MHz.Amazon.com Product Description
Designed as a whole-house/office solution for improving your cellular ph… More >>
Tags: 2500, Booster., Cell, Coverage, Extenders, Feet, Home, Office, Phone, Signal, Square, Wireless, YX500Cel, zBoost
March 12th, 2010 at 8:47 am
Yes, this item works well. But yes, it takes some RF and electronics knowledge to make it work right. For me, I have verizon cell phones operating in the 800MHZ cell band in my area. In my house we had zero to 1 bar and could make calls but they were frequently dropped or cut in and out. We could walk down the block and the signal was better. Our house sits in a depression and most of the cell signal was going over the top of our house.
To really make this thing work well I would recommend the following tips:
1) Get cell phone for which you know how to enable DEBUG mode and get an actual NUMBER for the signal strength it is receiving.
2) Go ahead and purchase the optional YAGI directional antenna for this unit.
3) Buy an approximately 4 x 8 ft. piece of radiant barrier ( a type of insulation available at home depot made of aluminum).
4) Mount YAGI antenna in rafters of house or outside on roof.
5) Mount cell extender about 3 feet from the floor in the top living level of your house in a center location of the house.
6) Place radiant barrier in attick directly between the 2 antennas. This will help improve the signal separation a lot and will make this thing work.
7) Power up cell extender. If when you power it up you get ANY flashing amber lights, then your signal isolation between the two antennas isn’t good enough and you must do something about it (move antennas, get YAGI with higher gain, etc.) If you get no amber lights on startup then the device is operating at max or almost max amplification and power output (only 1/2 watt but plenty for a single house).
We now have 3-5 bars all over our house, deck, porch, and even garage! Calls are clear and there is no breaking up or dropping of calls.
We have 2700 sq ft. house with 2 stories plus a basement. I am using a 10dbi antenna from some guys out of New York I found on the internet. I paid $99 for this antenna because they told me it was a 17dbi antenna, but they lied. However, it works and I am happy with what works…
Running continously for 2 months now without a single glitch. Zero maintenance when installed correctly.
There are 2 different models for the 800MHZ and 1900MHZ cell bands. BE SURE TO BUY THE CORRECT ONE FOR THE PHONE CARRIER YOU HAVE.
Rating: 4 / 5
March 12th, 2010 at 10:13 am
I reluctantly bought this product after all but giving up on trying to use my cell phone at my house. I would typically get anywhere from no reception to 2 bars at best, and I typically could not hold a call for more than a minute before I got dropped. I was using Verizon 800mhz service.
I knew it had a good chance of it working because I do get very good reception in my attic, so I figured I could place the antenna in the attic and then transfer a strong signal to the rest of the house.
It took me half a day to play with various locations for the antenna and base unit, but I finally got to the point where I could count on at least 3 bars almost anywhere in the house, and even five bars in my kitchen. I have not dropped a call yet since I purchased this.
The down side to this unit is the need to drape a cable from the attic to my bedroom, almost 20 feet away. I did not want to get into lifting up the carpet and trying to hide it, so I just have it running along the baseboards and across the stair case. It looks pretty ugly and it creates a serious tripping hazard. I will eventually have to figure out a way to better hide the cable. It became clear that to get the best reception, the base unit needed to be as far away from the antenna as possible, which forced me to have an exposed cable visible across three different rooms in the house. If you are not willing or able to do this, you may not get the best results from the unit.
All in all, I’m happy that I purchased the unit because I count on my cell phone heavily for business use, and without this unit I was completely unable to count on my cell phone and did not even want to give out my number. It is not for everyone, but if you have a strong signal somewhere in the house and can deal with the cabling issues, it can definitely make a big difference.
Rating: 4 / 5
March 12th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
I had 1-2 bars of coverage on verizon outside my house, and 0 inside previously. I placed the extender in my attic, and now I can, indeed, make and receive calls from inside the house. The coverage is pretty weak (1 bar or less) and calls drop from time to time, but it is much better than no service at all. My advice for those of you like me (with 1-2 bars at best outside your home) is to consider this as a way to get minimal indoor coverage, but don’t expect miracles. It doesn’t replace a land line!
Rating: 3 / 5
March 12th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
I was a bit hesitant to order the Wireless Extenders Cell Phone Booster, thinking that too many products like it were useless gadgets, but I have just moved to a hilly area of Los Angeles County and reception here — for all services — tends to be in the “two bar” range. So, I took the risk, and I am DELIGHTED with the results. My home/office is in the center of the boosted zone created by the device, and my signal here is 4 or 5 bars on my Blackberry. The other phones (three different models) my family has are also boosted within the covered zone. We have a long ranch-style house and I’m considering getting a second booster, because the zone doesn’t cover all of our 2,600 sq ft property. But since the primary reason I got it was my dependence on my Blackberry for work purposes, and because the zone covers our heavy traffic areas (living room, kitchen) as well, we’re in good shape. No question it’s worth the money. Was easy to install.
Rating: 5 / 5
March 12th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
I don’t put much faith in these gadgets. They rarely fulfill the promises made by the people who sell them. This one actually works! I have always had problems using cell phones, all cell phones, inside of my house. While I could usually start or receive a call, I could never finish it without stepping outside to get a better signal. CDMA (Verizon) phones worked the best but GSM (Cingular, T-Mobile, AT&T) rarely worked at all. My CDMA phone now works perfectly with no disconnections and even a relative’s GSM (AT&T lowband) worked great. She actually got 4 bars inside the house. That’s something I’ve never seen before.
Rating: 5 / 5