While at a press event (Pepcom) last week I ran into Wi-Ex and was just dumbfounded by their upcoming device. I have terrible reception in my Manhattan apartment and have tried 3 different repeaters to solve the problem. The problem is that all of them required an external antenna and the antenna had to be over 40 feet away from the base station. My apartment is not even 40 feet wide or long so this was impossible and rendered these repeaters useless.
Wi-Ex just announced a new product called zBoost ONE that will remove the need for an external antenna. When this device is launched on Amazon soon it will be super simple to setup. You just put the device by a window and it will strengthen your 1900Mhz regular PCS signal and supposedly also works with 3G and will cover a 1200 sq foot area. They claim it will work on all carriers except for Nextel but I think that is dependant on if your carrier is using 1900Mhz in your neighborhood. I will DEFINITELY be trying this out when it is released.
Wi-Ex also has three products that are already released that require much shorter distances from their antennas than other solutions I have tried in the past. They have their flagship zBoost YX510 which does both 800Mhz and 1900Mhz and covers 2500 sq ft area. Also available is the zBoost YX500 which only does 800Mhz. They also have the zBoost YX230 for your car which does 800Mhz and 1900Mhz along with a device for your dorm room called the zBoost YX300 which also works on the same bands and covers 6 feet. You can find them at the links below:
- zBoost YX510 Home & Office Repeater (Dual band 800Mhz & 1900Mhz)
- zBoost YX500 Home & Office Repeater (800Mhz only)
- zBoost YX230 Car Repeater
- zBoost YX300 Dorm room repeater
All of these are available from Amazon which has a pretty liberal return policy in case they do not work along with free shipping. Personally I am waiting for the zBoost ONE.
Ed Not Registered
Posted: July 1, 2009 at 11:41 PM EST from my BlackBerry 8330
Looks good but pricey. I hope it follows the tech price curve cause I need this but not this bad.