Unboxing and hands-on with Sprint's AIRAVE femtocell

Sprint's AIRAVE signal booster isn't officially on sale nationwide just yet (August 17th, for those curious), but for those anxious to pull the trigger (or merely mulling the decision), we've got a few hands-on shots to whet your appetite. So, where are they? Why, over at Engadget Mobile, that's where! Keep an eye out for a review to pop shortly.

[avester @ Aug 12th 2008 11:05AM]

Oh man, why I have to live in Finland, where there is full coverage even in the middle of nowhere.

Too bad I can't get this device.

[Grant @ Aug 12th 2008 11:07AM]

This isn't a signal booster, It connects to the internet and basically turns you phone into a wifi VOIP phone.

[youarewrongsir @ Aug 12th 2008 12:22PM]

You are wrong sir. It is a signal booster. My friend has it at his house. He had no bars in his basement and now he has full bars - works amazingly well.

[Hold McGroin @ Aug 12th 2008 12:45PM]

A signal booster repeats the signal from a tower like a relay. This is a full CDMA cell site that uses your Internet connection to carry your call to the phone network. A booster requires a signal to boost, this creates it's own signal so you can literally be anywhere in the US and get full bars with this.

It is NOT a signal booster, it's better, it's a full cell site. It also works with any CDMA phone, not just special phones.

[yoyo @ Aug 12th 2008 1:45PM]

Fair enough from a technical perspective. To the average consumer though - its a signal booster.

[Grant @ Aug 12th 2008 2:32PM]

i find it funny that when you click on yoyo's profile it shows that he posted two contradicting comments right here, one telling me i'm wrong, and then one saying that i'm technically right.

anyways, believe what you want people, think i'm an idiot, but learn how the technology works before your quick to think "OMG title says signal booster, MUST BE A SIGNAL BOOSTER". It's not, it's a CDMA broadcaster/reciever that connects to sprint over the internet. sure, it "boosts" your signal, just because you can put other fuels in your car to run it, should you still call them gasoline(and of course the obvious response from the idiot general public would be a resounding yes)?

[Josh @ Aug 12th 2008 4:19PM]

@Grant: You're right

@the-guys/gals-who-low-ranked-him: You're wrong

This relies COMPLETELY on your broadband internet connection.

http://www.sprintenterprise.com/airave/faq.html

[John @ Aug 12th 2008 11:19AM]

I think i'll just keep using the network I already paid for.

[Hold McGroin @ Aug 12th 2008 12:45PM]

The network you paid for doesn't cover anything past your mailbox (read the fine print), as long as you get a usable signal at your mailbox, your wireless carrier will not assist you with poor coverage. If you happen to have aluminum underneath your shingles on your house, you won't get a signal indoors, that's what this is for.

Give it a shot sometime, call your carrier and tell them you get no signal in your basement, see what they say. ESPECIALLY if it's AT&T since their commercials make it look like they really do cover you anywhere when they absolutely do not cover you indoors.

[Chris @ Aug 12th 2008 11:20AM]

Any chance Verizon will launch something similar?

[Frankenstein Black @ Aug 12th 2008 2:59PM]

Sprint = Yes
T-Mobile = Yes
AT&T = Yes
Verizon = No

[MadMike @ Aug 12th 2008 11:25AM]

Actually, something like an internet-based personal "cell tower" would be great. Especially for inside buildings where people have trouble getting cell service. Of course I would want a AT&T 3G one.

It's never going to happen though. Not because of technology either, but some stupid lawyer & politician would cause trouble.

[Craig @ Aug 12th 2008 11:43AM]

If there was some way for that lawyer and politician to make money off of it, you'd have your AT&T personal tower by tomorrow.

[Aaron @ Aug 14th 2008 11:18PM]

Um, that's exactly what this is...

?

[Yankees368 @ Aug 12th 2008 11:58AM]

This device IS actually avaliable nationwide, through the proper channels. Check out my review:

http://howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1413526

[Dave @ Aug 12th 2008 12:59PM]

Sprint already sent me one because my service inside and outside of my home is really bad and their coverage maps have me surrounded with their service for many, many, many miles in every direction. Kudos to Sprint since they waived the cost of the unit and the $5 monthly fee for me. I've been using it for two weekes and initially I found that when setting it up you might need to give it an hour our two to actually get up and running correctly after plugging it in. It also did not play nice with one of the Linksys switches I had in my home network so I just shuffled around my connections and bypassed the problematic switch. Additionally I found that the distance this device reaches is very limited. I believe they say it will cover up to 5,000 sq ft which is an interesting way to represent that it will reach up to 39.9 ft. Do the math...the area of a circle is (pie)r(squared). 3.14 * 39.9 * 39.9 = 4,998.9. Finally, I think it is a joke that Sprint has it setup so this unit will allow transfers to an actual Sprint tower from the device but not vice versa. Do they think that they'll actually make money still charging people on a call after they return home? Hello McFly, my calls will end up dropping anyways. Outside of all those issues I will say that when you're actually within range this device actually works just like it's suppose to. On a final note, while it will also work with your text messaging since they transmit over the voice network don't expect this thing to serve up EVDO.

[Ellen Hart @ Aug 12th 2008 1:00PM]

I wouldn't mind a signal booster for those occasional drop zones in L.A., as long as it's small and lightweight.

[krizoitz @ Aug 12th 2008 2:38PM]

Does it cost you extra for the limited edition PacMan version?

[w4rh34rt @ Aug 12th 2008 5:55PM]

I've never been anywhere where I haven't had good signal! Unless, it's because UK small haha!

[ivanotter @ Aug 13th 2008 2:54AM]

Crap honestly. Have one sitting dormant in my house, Denver was a test market. Incoming sound was great, but noone could hear me, and i have a 10MB Comcast connection.

Nice Idea, but I would just take a Signal amplifier/booster over this. plus you have to pay 15/month for it