UnwiredSignal.com Blog

Cell Phone Reception Booster

October 31st, 2011

The cell phone is an absolute necessity these days, for both business and social reasons. The problem with them is that the power of hand held units is limited by the FCC to a measly six tenths of a watt, so we constantly seem to run into cell phone dead zones, whether in our vehicles or inside buildings.

There is a popular and proven way to eliminate cell phone dead zones. It is called a cell phone signal booster. Most people want the wireless type of signal booster because it works without the cell phone being directly connected to a cable. But what exactly is a wireless cell phone signal booster?

Whether for a vehicle or building, the wireless type generally consists of an outside antenna which picks up the signal and sends it to a cell phone amplifier (which is placed inside and requires a power source). The amplifier boosts the signal many times over then projects it over an area inside through another (inside) antenna. For outgoing calls, the sequence is reversed.

For buildings, there are numerous variations of cellular repeaters. The one you need usually depends upon how big of an area that needs to be covered with a cell phone signal inside the building and the current outside signal strength at the place where the new outside cell phone antenna will be placed.

Cell phone repeater kits for vehicles will normally project a signal few feet, and the main benefit is that it can increase your outside signal coverage area to 25 miles.

There is a more cheaply priced cell phone signal booster: the direct connect type. The cell phone must be connected to the booster for it to work. For more information on these, check out direct-connect amplifiers and repeaters.

Both the wireless type and direct-connect type will also boost the signal for many computer data cards.

Tags: Canada cell phone repeater, cell phone booster, cell phone booster for car, cell phone repeater, cell phone signal booster for home, cell signal booster, cell signal repeater
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Canada Cell Phone Signal Boosters

October 22nd, 2011

Since 2001 we’ve sold and shipped a large number of Wilson Electronics cell phone signal boosters to Canada. Because there are over forty cell phone service providers in Canada, many people who call us don’t know what frequency their service providers operate on.

Here is a tip to make it easier for you to know that information. Even though cell phone service providers in Canada seem to share their towers with smaller carriers more so than do the large American cell phone service providers, Canadian carriers use the same frequency bands that are used in the US.

The three national cell phone service providers in Canada are Bell Mobility, Rogers and Telus (a customer of ours that has purchased numerous mobile cell phone signal booster kits from us). Each of these Canadian cell phone service providers uses what we know as “dual band” frequencies; both the 800 MHz band and the 1900 MHz band for voice and 3G data throughput.

So if you have a cell phone contract with one of the smaller carriers, you’re almost guaranteed that the frequencies you’re operating on are 800 MHz and 1900 MHz. The notable exceptions are the very few carriers that use the IDEN code reading system. This is the same network that Nextel uses for their push-to-talk feature. Those frequencies are 806-866 MHz.

In the US after Nextel merged with Sprint the so-called Nextel phones now use hybrid cell phones, which we won’t go into here. In Canada, to our knowledge, the “Nextel” type cell phone signal carriers frequencies are Airtel and Mike which still use 806-866 MHz.

So If you are in the market for a cell phone signal booster or repeater that will operate in Canada, and you are not contracted with Airtel or Mike it is likely that your cell phone operates on the 800 MHz and 1900 MHz band. To be sure, your cell phone service provider will tell you the frequencies it operates on by simply calling its customer service department. If you prefer, there is what we think is a complete list of Canadian cell phone service providers along with the frequencies they us on this Wikipedia list.

The larger cell phone service providers also use the 1700 MHz frequency band for their LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks, but this is for data only and currently for just a very few smart phones and computer air cards.

Wilson Electronics cell phone signal boosters and repeaters are authorized for use in Canada. Wilson Electronics makes cell phone signal boosters for all of the frequencies used there, including an antenna for 1700 MHz (sorry, no amplifiers or repeaters for 1700 MHz as of this date).

The Wilson Electronics mobile signal booster repeater is the 801201. Our complete list of Wilson Electronics mobile kits is located here, including power supply and the hi-gain Blackcat magnetic mount antenna is the 801201 B.

Canada cell phone signal booster repeaters for homes and buildings under 10,000 square feet are shown here. Canadian cell phone signal booster repeaters for structures from 10,000 square feet to 50,000 square feet can be found here. For buildings to 1,000,000 square feet or more complicated applications, please call us at 888-713-1243.

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LTE for ATT

October 19th, 2011

As of the middle of September, 2011 ATT officially turned on it’s LTE (Long Term Evolution) network on in five cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

Tags: 4G, ATT, LTE
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October 1st, 2011

We’ve sold Wilson Electronics cell phone signal boosters for over a decade. But our job is to be cell phone signal problem solvers.

There are many brands and types of cell phone signal boosters on the market. Many web sites are set up as if they expect you to have the knowledge and experience to choose the one that will cure your personal cell phone signal issue, and they seem to hope you will do so without taking up their time on the telephone.

Often times, even people who have already purchased a signal booster for one application think they can buy the same type to fix a cell signal problem at another location, or for a different type application. Generally, it doesn’t work out to be that easy.

The type and strength of the cell phone signal booster needed to solve the cell signal issue for one application is not necessarily the one that should be used to solve another one.

These are the reasons why we, at UnwiredSignal.com, urge folks to call us on the phone before buying a cell phone signal booster or cell phone repeater kit. It is the reason our telephone number is at the top of every page of our website.

We want to ask you the kind of questions that will lead to your purchasing the cell phone signal booster or repeater that will cureyour cell phone signal problem at the least cost to you.

A cell phone signal booster or repeater can only boost the signal that its outside, or donor, antenna can “see”. Usually this will be a bit stronger of a signal than the one you can get with your cell phone while standing outside on the ground.

The other kinds of components of a cell phone signal booster or repeater are completely dependent upon that signal and the area that needs to be covered with a signal, be it inside or outside. We make those decisions based upon a simple engineering formula and years of experience of designing signal booster and repeater kits.

Sometimes, we can even solve a cell phone signal problem inside a building or over an outside area if you have no cell phone signal at the location now. Not all signal problems of this type can be cured, but don’t assume there is no fix for this problem just because somebody else told you so.

We’ve solved cell phone signal problems for just about any application you can think of; oil and gas drilling rigs, drilling platforms up to thirty miles out, an underground mine, nuclear reactors, campgrounds, and boat marinas. We’ve solved cell phone signal problems for almost all types of buildings from homes to multi-story office buildings, refrigerated warehouses, hospital operating rooms, lake houses, country cabins and other buildings to 915,000 square feet in size.

So whether you have a simple cell phone signal problem, such as needing to have an outside signal repeated in and through your home or business, or one that “they” said couldn’t be cured, give us a call. There’s nothing like a lot of experience and true desire to help get a cell phone signal solved.

And, please remember, you can feel comfortable with our recommendations because we won’t recommend it if we can’t give it a 30 day money-back guarantee.

Tags: cell booster for motor home, cell phone repeater, cell phone signal booster
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September 20th, 2011

9/20/11 update:

Sunday, 9/18/11, ATT officially pressed the “activate” button on its new LTE (long term evolution) network . According to both PCWorld.com and CNET, each of which tested the new network, it is fast squared. However, when comparing the test results to the speeds Verizon users currently get, keep in mind that ATT’s LTE network was virtually empty when the tests were run and Verizon’s LTE has lots of users since it has been in the marketplace for about nine months now.

Rather than give you a recap of the many articles I read about ATT’s LTE network and the comparisons between it and Verizon’s LTE system, let me direct you to the two most succinct ones. The first is a Q & A done by Jessica Dalcourt at CNET which explains what you can and can’t do on ATT’s LTE network. The second Sascha Segan and David Peirce titled “ATT vs. Verizon: LTE, Head-to-Head”.

In the above articles you can review actual speeds of actual uploads and downloads.

Tags: 4th generation
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In 2007, this fast growing church needed a cell phone repeater to cover six cellular carriers…..

September 1st, 2011

Northridge Church, Plymouth MI

They had a 22,700 sq. ft. auditorium in the basement with seats for over 2,000 people plus offices with hardwood doors that ringed its perimeter. Add to that a 40′ high ceiling and the fact that they wanted the cell phone repeater kit to handle all of the cellular carriers in the area: Verizon, Cingular (now ATT), Nextel, Nextwave, Sprint, and T-Mobile all in one large room, this was a semi-complex solution to engineer.

Hundreds of people could be using cellular devices simultaneously and extra high ceilings had to be considered. Also, the fact that Verizon and Nextel were using overlapping frequencies at the time meant large special consideration for the placement both the inside and outside antennas, to prevent oscillation (feedback).

Again, many people will tell you that Nextel and other 850 MHz repeater kits cannot be used in the same area. We, however, learned how to successfully accomplish this years ago.

Within a week the Wilson Electronics cell phone repeaters were delivered to them and one of the church members installed all three of them (Nextel/850 MHz/1900MHz) in a day or two. Of course, we had provided our normal step-by-step instructions, along with a line drawing of their repeaters and, as usual, each end of each coax cable was labeled as to what component it connected to.

He called a couple of weeks later to thank us for how well the systems worked for the church. In 2010 heard from a member of the church concerning another matter and he reported that the systems are still working well.

Tags: cell phone booster, cell phone repeater, cell phone signal booster, cell signal booster, cellular repeater, coax cable
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UnwiredSignal.com saves Kindred Hospital $27,000…..

August 30th, 2011

The Kindred Healthcare Hospital in Dallas, Texas needed cell phone signal coverage in its operating room areas, which were located in the basements of one five and one six story building; they needed cell phone repeaters that would service all service providers, including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Metro PCS, and Nextel.

Many cell phone repeater retailers will tell you that repeater for both Nextel and others operating around 850 MHz cannot be placed in the same building or on the same floor of a building. Through working with a since retired head of Wilson Electronics technical department, we learned how to solve this overlapping signal issue years ago and many of our Nextel/850 MHz kits are still successfully in use today. We still often receive and fill requests for multi-service provider type kits often.

As with all of our cellphone signal boosters, these also boosted the cellular internet signal for those devices, like the Blackberry, the iPhone and data cards.

Kindred Hospital’s building engineer had already obtained bids from two other companies of $37,000 and $40,000. These bids included installation, but he had capable people on his staff that could do the installation in about a day for each one.

UnwiredSignal.com’s bid for engineering the facility, (engineered at no charge, since they bought our products), and providing the Wilson Electronics equipment was approximately $9,700; thus saving Kindred Healthcare over 27,000. They are still in use today.

Tags: cell phone booster, cell phone repeater, cell phone signal booster, cell signal booster, cell signal repeater
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August 13th, 2011

Another axample of cell phone signal issues solved by the fine people at UnwiredSignal.com. More will follow………

In 2007, after building its National Communications Center, Verizon Wireless discovered that it was a cellular dead zone ( no negatives implied, simply fact). They turned to us to design a cell phone repeater system for the 6,000 sq. ft facility. It was a relatively simple design, using standard radio frequency formulas, as far a building size was concerned, but the numerous employees that might have cellular devices in use simultaneously had to be taken into consideration during the process.

The system we designed and sold to Verizon Wireless contained, like all of the cell phone signal boosters and repeaters we design, all Wilson Electronics amplifiers and antennas. We designed and delivered it to them in short order and the Verizon Wireless engineer overseeing the project called back to thank us for how well it worked (truth is, I think he was surprised that such an inexpensive solution would, in fact, solve their cell phone signal dead zone inside of the otherwise high-tech facility).

Of course, the cell phone repeater kit we designed for them also boosted the signals for their other cellular wireless devices, like Blackberries and laptops that used cellular air cards and/or modems.

We have also helped employees of Verizon Wireless retail stores save their clients (and commissions). It is not unusual for any service provider’s store personnel call to explain that a customer has just switched to them from another provider and the customer can’t get cell phone or cellular internet service at a specific location and could we “help”.

The employee then puts their customer on the phone with us, we listen to the issue, then make a recommendation for a signal booster solution. Often, that’s all it takes for a cellular service provider’s retail store to keep a new customer: the Wilson Electronics signal booster for their specific issue explained and sold by UnwiredSignal.com

Tags: 4th generation, cell phone booster, cell phone repeater, cell signal repeater, smart phone data speeds, verizon cell phone repeater
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FCC- Proposal to outlaw existing signal boosters

August 7th, 2011

Remember the good old days, when you had to step outside of almost every building to use your cell phone?

Today, you don’t have to do that because cellular signal boosters are in just about every major office building, shopping mall and sports venue you visit. Plus, they are used in hundreds of thousands of smaller buildings, such as homes, small offices, lake houses and cabins, in addition to vehicles.

The FCC has issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) concerning the manufacture and use of cell phone signal boosters because some manufacturer’s signal boosters cause interference with the carrier’s towers. This forces other people’s calls to be dropped.

One proposal before the FCC would require all existing signal boosters to be shut down and replaced by new ones. Most people, however, believe that the consumer, who is actually paying for the signals they use, should be able to boost the signals inside buildings, etc., so long as they do not cause cell phone tower issues.

To require a blanket replacement of all existing boosters would force consumers to spend tens to hundreds of millions of dollars to replace equipment that functions perfectly and causes no interference. These unnecessary replacement costs would put a financial and logistical burden on the public for no good reason. It would also place those who cannot afford to switch out their boosters in undue jeopardy during emergencies.

This is, in fact, a life or death matter.

A saner, alternative proposal issued by the American signal booster manufacturer, Wilson Electronics and one of the largest US service providers, Verizon Wireless, agree on new technical specifications for consumer cellular boosters. The two companies have joined together to urge FCC commissioners to adopt these specifications.

The other cellular carriers and their industry lobby, CTIA, do not support the Wilson-Verizon joint proposal. They continue their efforts to make any new booster standards expensive to implement and a burden for consumers.

“There is no doubt that signal boosters are a necessity for business, pleasure and, most importantly, safety,” says Sherry Unruh, a seventeen year sales representative with Wilson Electronics. “The only question should be how, not if, they can be made widely available to the public without inference to cellular towers. We’ve proved for years that they can be. Our eleven electrical engineers staff have made sure that our products simply do not interfere with cell phone towers”

Jeff Brackenridge, owner of the only exclusive Wilson Electronics dealership in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, UnwiredSignal.com, says, “For the last ten years we have designed and sold signal booster kits for NASA, the US Border Patrol, most branches of the US Military, the US Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, Fortune 100 companies, and even hospital operating rooms. Wilson Electronics’ signal boosters don’t interfere with cell phone towers and we’ve sold tens of thousands of them, from large, complex applications to home and cabins with no complaints from service providers or the FCC to prove it.

“Also, thousands of seniors depend upon cell phones exclusively, with the help of signal boosters, because they can’t afford both cellular and landline service. These, too, would have to be turned off and new ones purchased. Many seniors just can’t afford that.”

“Even though a law requiring the replacement of existing cellular signal boosters would create a boom for our business, we believe it would be arbitrary, unnecessary, and grossly unfair to current users of cell phone signal boosters,” said David Jones, who has been with UnwiredSignal.com since its inception, in 2001.

“We urge people who currently depend upon cell phone signal boosters for cell phone service inside their buildings and vehicles to go to the FCC website and make their voices heard. The FCC is ready and willing to listen to saner ideas, some of which the FCC, itself, has proposed.”

The FCC continues to accept public comments until Aug. 24. They are accepting comments on the proposal until August 24, 2011 at: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/hotdocket/list?z=gegjf

Tags: cell phone booster, cell phone repeater, cell phone signal booster, cell signal booster, cell signal repeater, cellular repeater, FCC, wilson electronics
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Customer service – the heartbeat of our growth, even in a long term down economy

August 6th, 2011

True customer service is in our DNA. We believe it takes no extra time or effort to show people you, when you call, email, or come into our store to solve their cell phone signal problems, the respect and appreciation you deserve for doing so. Here is partly how we show that respect and appreciation:

In person, by email, or over the phone, our conversation will include calling the you by name, using “Ms” or “Mr”. We may use your first name after we have shown you due respect by calling you by “Ms.” or “Mr”.

Even repeat customers will be shown respect by adhering to this guideline. Of course, when dealing with someone on a regular basis, it would seem patronizing to not use your first name when talking with you.

Our conversations will never end with the words “no problem” or even “you’re welcome.” If, by chance, you thank us first, we will always thank you in return, as opposed to saying “no problem” or “you’re welcome”.

We do not use the word “bud”, or buddy, unless we have known you for a while and only if they can be used in a genuine manner. We will never call you “man”, or “girl”.

When you call, email or come see us in person we realize that you have taken precious time out of your jam-packed day and we truly believe that you deserve respect and gratitude for that.

And, even if you don’t spend a plug nickle with us, we will still give you a sincere “thank you” for giving us the opportunity to solve your cell phone signal problem.

A big part of the respect and appreciation we we owe you entails lots of study to keep up with best way to use the products we sell, to take the time to ask you the right questions before making any product recommendations to you, and running engineering formulas at no extra charge for those large and/or complex applications that require it.

Most importantly, we will never lie or leave an important point out of our explanation of our recommended solution to your cell phone signal problem. We will always tell you the truth, even if it is not what either of us want to hear.

The reason for doing this is partly selfesh: We don’t want hassles any more than you and we don’t want returned products.

For this reason, our return product rate is almost nil and our repeat and referred customer rate has been well over 1/3 of total sales year after year, and many of our customers have done business with us for years.

Tags: Cell phone repeater customer service, cell phone repeater solutions, cell phone signal customer service, cell phone signal solutions, customer service
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