How would you change Sprint's AIRAVE?
By Darren Murph 
posted September 12th 2008 6:30PM
posted September 12th 2008 6:30PM
posted September 12th 2008 6:30PM
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I'd always assumed (without anything to back it up whatsoever) that there was likely a per-transmitter fee they had to pay to the FCC, despite the fact the spectrum was already theirs. If not directly, then maybe an indirect cost w/r/t recordkeeping, etc for what is in many ways another tower. Whole different ball game than the T-Mo device which is just a tricked out router.
I like mine so far. The only downside would have been the fees, but Sprint gave me the device for free, and a monthly credit equal to the monthly fee. As long as you can swing that deal (two other guys at work have already) everyone should have one.
EVDO
Q: Are we not men?
A: We are EVDO!
Threadwinner.
Lower both prices: the initial purchase and the monthly subscription. For crying out loud this is making up for their poor network coverage.
Its 5$ a month, how is that unreasonable? Comcast charges me $5 for a router rental so I can use there service. 5$ shouldn't break anyone and its not like Sprints any different that any of the other carriers about the whole nickle and diming you thing. Look at ATT's pricing plans for the I phone. Now thats ridiculous.
Its the pricing scheme for me
I live in California and have had Sprint since 1998. I have been happy and pissed at them thoughout my tenure. I go to upstate NY for two weeks every year where there is no Sprint signal for about 50 miles. They tell me that it won't work in the area code I go to (I have to assume the GPS lock enforces this), so I'm stuck. I'd buy one in a second once someone hacks the GPS interface to make it report to the network it's always someplace to allow access. I've been waiting for 2 years for this; it gets announced, and I can't use it (Even willing to pay the add'l fees too).
Whatever. Sprint sucks. I'm sure they'll tank soon and I'll have to start paying for my service when Verizon buys them anyway...
I'm sure everyone knows there is a company called Spotwave that puts out a product that boosts the cell signal from a one bar to full strength within a 300+ foot radius (Z1900). It's a simple repeater and I picked one up at CompUSA before they went bust and were revived from the dead. Not a bad deal and it works for those in a teetering area. It even does the EVDO.
I install automation systems on homes and we use Z-Boost from Wi-Ex ALOT and they work great but the sprint unit = plug into ethernet and put a small antenna in the window.. For the repeaters to work really well you need to get the antenna up high and aim it towards the cell tower with a meter blah blah blah. Im lazy and only care about Sprint so this is easier :)
OK, lets put the pricing this way:
$300 for spotwave
$100 for airave plus 5$ a month
It will take 40 months to catch up to the cost of the spotwave. It doesn't seem that bad since Wimax will be released before that point making both of these devices worthless.
wow there are alot of Kevins on here...
Well, I've had one since they first came out and it's nice having perfect signal at home. Yes, it would be nice if the GPS lock wasn't necessary, because I can't get one at my work (where the signal is really bad.) But I am probably going to disconnect my landline because of it. I never use it anymore... And yes I got them to waive the cost and the monthly fees.
You know what would be awesome, if you could order it online! I'm in a metropolitan area without a car and the closest Sprint store is like an hour away by subway. Otherwise I'm ok with the pricing. Sprint shouldn't be held responsible for getting a signal in someone's basement.
I've had mine for over a month, yup, bitched enough, got it early and didn't pay for the unit OR a monthly fee.
It needs to be more powerful, it works good as long as you stay inside the house, but if you go outside you're back to poor service.
Does anyone know of a hack for this think to give it MORE POWER?
I see a lot of people bitching about Sprint, but I don't find it so bad, it works everywhere I've needed it EXCEPT my house, which really is not in a main area.
Coverage was weak at my house, now it's 5 bars. Cudos to sprint for bringing to market a device that enables me to use my phone at home, in my basement where I used to have shaky covereage I now can talk and not loose valuable business calls.
$60 a year isn't a big deal compared to the rip offs that go on everyday in terms of monthly charges - to have tip top - full bar cell phone coverage where I need it most.
I'd like to add features like the GE Cell Fusion so I could tie in my wired phones to my cell connection on the same number.
I just switched from Verizon to Sprint, and the only downside to the new Sprint service was the poor coverage in my home. I found out about the Airave from Engadget, so I bought one. It was only $99, and the monthly fee of $4.95 seemed reasonable.
I have had it now for a week, and I have to say that it's awesome! My bars are maxed out, and my wife and I have had nothing but great luck with it. I have wi-fi in my house (I use a treo 800w) so the internet speed is not a big deal. My wife has the instinct, and she gets normal speeds. Unfortunately, EVDO works in my driveway, but not my house :o( We have the $129 plan with 1500 minutes and unlimited everything else, and we rarely combine for even 1000 minutes. That being said, we don't need to pay the extra money for unlimited calling. For our needs it's perfect!
I would say that if you have sprint service and are having reception difficulty indoors, it's well worth the investment.
Right up front I'm going to come clean that I work for a Sprint affiliate wireless carrier. Go ahead an write me off for all I care. I don't understand how people can feel they are owed something free that costs money to operate. Our company spent months and plenty of man hours to get our network setup to properly handle let customer switch between standard cell towers and the Airave. On top of that, there is phone switching that has to take place even though it's using the customers broadband connection. You internet connection is just like the telephone circuits that run to existing cell towers. I can also attest that the Airave is in now way being marketed to relieve traffic on the Sprint network, at least for sure not on our leg of the network. The intention is to be able to extend coverage. And again there is still cost to support those units. This would be like saying that the car companies should give me free gas because I want to drive 50 miles and my car only gets 23 miles/gal.
Ok, so flame on...and btw...whatever it is you do for a living. I'd like you to give me it for free too. I deserve it.
by the way.. the 4000 sq ft range coverage they spec is pathetic.. i have a 4k sq ft livable 1 story home and the coverage near the ends of the home is poor and often times will switch back to the Sprint cell tower ( it makes a beep noise ) they do need to boost the output in the radio on the Airave!!!
I complained about dropped calls at home with Sprint for years. But now that I have the Airave I don't drop calls. Since they gave me the unit and shipping for free and I get the $5 monthly service fee waived I can't complain about the price all that much. I'd like to see all of my calls made and received over the Airave free but I'm not holding my breath on that one.
EVDO data speeds passed through would be nice. I thought I had heard somewhere that future plans for this unit include that but it could have just been something I read on a wish list thread like this one.
Here's something that I don't think has been mentioned yet. When I return home while on a call I still tend to drop calls because the Sprint towers will not hand off a call to these units. On the flip side the Airave can hand off calls to towers. Is this because Sprint wants to continue running the meter on those that have paided for the unlimited calling on the Airave or is there a technical reason why this isn't done?
Overall I am quite happy with my Sprint service. I can't complain about my plan as it is much, much, much better than any SERO plan and was grandfathered in from the early years and has been modified a few times only for the better. I love that I have access to the WHOLE internet. I love that I always have access to some of the newest and cutting edge phones on the market. And tonight I called Sprint and was pleasantly surprised by their customer service...and believe me I know how bad their customer service can be.
I would only charge for the initial hardware fee, and then for each month that my service is active have Sprint provide me with service credits until my net cost for the box is $0. After that, either have no more ongoing fees or (wishful thinking) have them continue to provide the credit to offset the rest of my Sprint services.
Dave,
I would guess that the reason that handoff is not symmetric is by design. If the Airaves took hand offs from regular cells then someone driving by on the street would potentially hand off to the Airave and then immediately need to hand off again to the regular cell. I bet that this could be a real problem. I don't know what the possible penetration of these devices is but you could expect that they would be geographically clustered (places at the edge of regular network coverage). You could imagine a situation where someone walking by or in a car might have a couple bars, but the homes on the street have 1 or less bars coverage. If there were 3 or 4 Airaves on the street it could really mess up coverage if cellphones handed off to these Airaves every time you go by.
What is a Sprint?
Im sorry to say this but all I keep hearing is free free free ok Im 20 years old and I know theres is nothing in life thats completely free. Theres no point in even asking. Why does it matter you spend 5 dollars a month? No one complains when you have to pay 15-20 dollars a month for your cell compnay to give you unlimited texts messaging or the same price for unlimited data. If people dont complain about having to pay that why in the world would you about a 100 dollar device and 5 dollars a month. I mean most of you have probably spent well over 200 dollars for your one cell phone. I have worked with cell phones for 2 years and I have seen people spend well over 500 dollars for a cell phone because they wanted it and it was the newest thing. But you can't pay what around 220 dollars for this helpful device for the 2 years of a contract? Granted it isnt perfect yet but look at all the problems all cell phones have when they come out or even most technology for that matter its gonna happen. In response to these free remarks you would never once go into a bank and say "I want a million dollars but I'm not gonna pay it back" they would look at you like you were an idiot. So why most we keep insisting that Sprint is a horrible cell provider because they ask you pay these fees in order to inprove your cell service? Would you rather pay 20 dollars extra a month so they can put up more towers? Think about it.
I had the Airave and did lot like it at all. It turns out that if you don't have a very stable internet connection the airave will reset it self every 30 min or so. If it does this you are not able to make and receice calls at all. It also seem to have problems when you arive within range and switch over. Some times we where not able to sent text messanges of rlong periods of time.
I spent over 15 hours with support to try and fix this, they have the worst support center ever. I desided to return it with in the 30 day trial period and get my money back.
Other things I don't like: They have the device set to open by default. So I pay a monthly fee but people near my house get the benefits. I know I can lock it from their website but should it not do that by default?
If you want the airave make sure you test it very well before you are at the end of your 30 trial.
At one point they just said I had to pay a new router and that it was my problem. Even tough I connected it directly to the modem with the same results. They said it was a problem with my internet connection because they use VPN. However I am able to connect to VPN with my laptop and it never drops. I also use VOIP and don't have dropped calls on that line either.
So the Airave is not worth the money, it is super unstable. I have no control over de device at all. Always need to call support to see if something is wrong.
Regards,
A very un happy ex airave user.
Our Airave was plug and play. We now have full coverage throughout the house, and we couldn't be happier. We had a fairly good signal at home until we put steel siding on the house. The Airave fixed the problem.
I never cease to be amazed at the people who complain about wireless coverage. This is radio, folks, and no wireless carrier can guarantee coverage in any particular spot. They all provide coverage maps, but read the disclaimer. The maps are estimates based on mathematical formulas. There is no possible way to get a signal into every location. You had 30 days to try the service out when you signed up. If you didn't have signal, why are you still with Sprint/Verizon/AT&T, et. al? Choose another carrier and get on with your life.
The main thing they want to sort out is the price
http://www.business-sale.com
I've used it at home and on travel in the USA. Sprint indicated in the manual that EVDO might be a future feature, so yes I would love it if I could get EVDO from my device. Sometimes I simply don't want to boot up my computer when my phone's email interface works fine.
The price bugs me. I got mine for free, but for other users it can be several dollars a month JUST to use the device at home and have it use up your minutes. Anyone that says otherwise is a fool. It costs even more if you want unlimited voice-over-ip type phone service via the Airave. I agree with the charging for "unlimited" usage type plans, but it isn't really cost effective since Lingo has a plan for less than $17 a month when you pay a year at a time and MagicJack has a $20/year type plan to use your computer.
Since mine is free, I'm happy with it. If it wasn't free or heavily discounted I wouldn't have gotten it.
WOW! I think its pretty ridiculous that every one here is whining about the price. Why don"t you buy one less latte a month and maybe could afford that whopping $5 a month. I mean isnt there more ridiculous pricing in wireless to complain about like AT&T's plans for the I-phone. Oh thats right this is engadget so its full of Apple fanboys. Do you complain this much when your cable company charges you a router rental fee or 15$ for the dvr service? I think everyone here complaining about the price is just further proof that no matter what you do to help people out they will never ever be satisfied. For the record no wireless company guarantees that there coverage will work inside a house. I've had them all at my place and not one of them works that well. At least Sprint has the forethought to come out with this first. 5$ is so worth it.
Awesome technology, but lame... because it's on Sprint (are they still around?) and using EV-DO.
Here's a far better idea- pick up a Sierra Wireless AC881 HSPA aircard from AT&T, then a D-Link DIR-451 mobile router. Establish your happiness with the latest firmware, and undoubtedly better speeds now with even greater potential soon through global standard HSPA upgrades. Y'know, from a carrier that will actually still be around in 2 years. And yes, you can take it abroad, feeding WiFi to your hippy hostelmates that you can charge them beer for. The AIRAVE won't let you do that!
This is a GREAT tool to prevent those pesky people from using their Sprint phones near you premise!!! Just enable the feature to allow only the phones you own to use the femtocell, then, everyone else gets a recorded message to try their call again later... ;-) That's right, their phones do not try to go to the regular cell, instead, they get a recording... Bad idea to implement in a crowed place, apartment, etc..
lol i work for sprint and whenever a customer calls in because of the mrc for the airave i automatically give them a 5$ monthly credit.
it goes like,
"RAWR i can't believe i'm being charged for your bad service! RAWR!"
"well sir actually-"
"i mean this is total crap! this is unnaceptaple!"
"i understand and what i did was--"
"you better fix this now or im cancelling with sprint!"
"of course sir, i'll remove the 5$ monthly charge for you since we value your business"
"well sorry i had to get angry like that, but you sprint people never help me unless i get that way"
"your right sir"
Agree with most everyone else. I have two cells lines and a wireless card with Sprint, and about the only place I don't get good coverage is my house. I was waiting with baited breath for the AIRAVE to come out, and then their fees were so ridiculous I couldn't justify the expense. They want me to pay more to get service at my house?! And more on top of that for the appliance, when I could switch to T-Mobile and save money besides. I'm going to take some suggestions from this post and make a complaint to Sprint - give them an opportunity to fix the problem by allowing me to pay for the appliance and waiving the monthly fees.
I think if your gonna charge someone the monthly fee to use the damn thing, it should be a hell of a lot cheaper then it is. I personally think this device is great... how ever, I'd add two RJ11 phone Jacks, and use those for land line service, such as two different phone numbers, or even a fax machine... and I'd give it a simple web interface for the customer to manage it if needed
I know this is an old post, but has anyone else noticed a time-delay while on their AIRAVE? I love the thing, but lately I've been getting a delay which causes the people in the conversation to sometimes speak over each other accidentally, like a bad speakerphone.