There are three major performance specifications that form the basis for a performance comparison:  The first performance specification is receiver sensitivity, which is the ability of the Wilson repeater or receiver to pick up a weak signal from a Carrier’s cell site. Testing must be done with the correct criteria and methodology using equipment specifically made for testing cell phones.  Wilson Electronics has the ability to do this type of testing in our engineering facility where we have a cell site simulator and a double electrically insulated radio frequency (RF) enclosure.

Once we test internally, then we have our testing results independently verified by an outside testing laboratory that performs tests for the major carriers and cellular manufacturers.

The performance standard we test against is the CDMA performance standard. This is the most complete and preferred testing standard because it tests for the weakest signal that will still give a usable, quality voice and data output from the test device with a 0.5% frame error rate (FER) or less.  In other words, an amplifier with better receiver sensitivity can detect a weaker signal, which allows the cell site to communicate with the cell phone at a greater distance.  The Wilson amplifier outperforms all the competition on the CDMA performance standard.

By using the CDMA performance standard as a baseline, a true comparison can be made between cell phone and amplifier performance.  A typical cell phone must have a sensitivity of -104 dBm or better.  The higher the dBm number a tested device gets, the weaker a signal that it can receive and pass the test.  (For example, a -110 dBm level can pick up a signal 6 dB weaker than -104 dBm.)  A 6 dB improvement in receiver sensitivity will allow an amplifier to pick up the same signal at twice the distance from the cell site.

Misleading sensitivity claims are used by our competition, which is why we test their products against ours.  Digital Antenna claims their direct connect amplifier’s receiver has a sensitivity of -123 dBm.  This higher number is meaningless because it gets higher and higher by reducing the received bandwidth during testing.  The measurement must be done at the cell system bandwidth as the established benchmark and then be compared with other amplifiers using the same comparison criteria on the same CDMA cell site test set.  This is the methodology we use at Wilson and the standard used by all other accredited comparison tests.  That is Wilson quality in action.

2. The second performance specification is the Transmit Test, which includes open loop power, closed loop power, minimum and maximum power tests for CDMA to assure the amplifier meets CDMA specifications and will not harm the Carrier’s cell site.  Some amplifiers such as the Richardson Electronics B800-1900-1 do not even meet the minimum power requirements for the cell phone being tested (see test results, click here).

3. The third performance specification is to test for quality control and assurance.  Wilson Electronics uses sophisticated automatic computer testing stations that run as many as 40 different operational tests on each amplifier before it is shipped out to our product dealers.  This assures consistency that each Wilson amplifier and Wilson repeater system has been tested for performance and meets our quality control criteria before it is shipped out.

Our approach at Wilson Electronics is to follow these three performance specifications in determining the performance of our amplifiers.  We publish the test results and make the comparisons against our competition available for product dealers and customers to make an informed decision about what product to purchase.  We stand by the testing results that show Wilson amplifier products outperform the competition!