Updated Verizon Network Extender gets FCC blessing
By Chris Ziegler 
posted July 7th 2010 2:38PM
posted July 7th 2010 2:38PM
posted July 7th 2010 2:38PM
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Awesome...can we touch the corner and still get service?
@bandsaw
Bravo sir....
@bandsaw
That's an over used joke. Try something else!
@The Dark Knight Apparently his ranking is telling you that you're wrong.
Does it double as a space heater?
@ToddFSU
It IS ugly.
@ToddFSU It's the latest in NYC radiator chic.
"Femtocell" aka. We're too cheap to actually make our network so it's your responsibility to get one of these things.
@Aguiluz
Yeah, but this is Verizon, they actually have the biggest network in the USA...so....
@DoctarPeppar
And this new unit will be out just before the LTE network layer goes live... Sheesh.
@Aguiluz
I know some businesses that have their offices in metal buildings where cell phone signals can't get in. It's like a damn Faraday cage.
Creepy reflection!
Does it still need a pain in the butt GPS signal?
@YellowDucati
These things need to broadcast E911 for routed calls. So, yes.
could they make it any uglier??
@zephxiii
Yes. See the 3G Microcell...
@bonesb
The MicroCell has a very unique design which you could either like or dislike but at least they tried. This femtocell is just plain fugly. Not to mention it is $250. I paid $150 - a $50 rebate for the Microcell.
God damnit! I just bought one of these damn things like 2.5 months ago and now they come out with a 3G model? Guess I'll have to buy a phone with WiFi from now on.
@agreenbhm
What made you buy one of these instead of switching networks? I'm just curious, not trying to start a flame war or anything.
When a buddy of mine moved he got no service from Verizon where he lived. One bar if he was lucky and they tried to sell him one of these. After a few days of arguing they released him from his contract and he switched to T-mobile.
@Certifiedfryguy For starters, I get fantastic VZW service everywhere except for the apartment I moved to a few months back. No one that has been to my apartment yet (with T-Mobile, Spring or AT&T) has had good service, so switching likely would do nothing.
Also, I'm on a family-shareplan with my parents, so getting my own plan on another provider would be a huge financial loss for me vs the $250 I spent buying the Network Extender, which works perfectly.
@agreenbhm *Sprint, not Spring
@agreenbhm I'm in the EXACT same boat. I like VZ's coverage, everywhere except at home. We dropped $250 on their 1X femtocell repeater just a few months ago, and now they upshift to 3G.
Maybe they'll offer existing customers a discounted upgrade price?
@ViperGeek I wouldn't hold my breath, but it would be very nice. Like I said above though, as long as my phone has wifi, I'll be OK (and after switching to a phone WITH wifi from one that didn't, I don't think I'll ever go back).
@Certifiedfryguy
I'm in a similar situation. I bought one of old ones last year and its currently in my basement. Might put buy this new one and put it upstairs, I'll have some of the best coverage in the country
@agreenbhm I'll second that. My entire family (me, my wife, siblings, parents, in-laws, even my grandmother) have Verizon and we get excellent coverage and free mobile-to-mobile calling almost everywhere except at my grandmother's country house in the boonies and at my parents' newly built hurricane-proof house, both of which are more or less dead zones for all carriers.
I just installed the 1x version of this at grandma's over the holiday weekend and it works great. I also tried to install one at my parents' house a couple months ago, but we had a really hard time getting a GPS lock because the walls and hurricane-proof windows are so thick. I'll be back there next week, though, and am going to give it another try.
As for EVDO, it would be nice to have, but since almost all of us ether have wifi-capable smartphones or basic phones that don't need 3G, it doesn't matter all that much to me (I'd rather take the $100 rebate on the 1x model than spend $200+ on a 3G-capable one).
Is this a femtocell that plugs into router or a booster that you put next to a window and gives you a better signal around your house or office?
@majorcovert
a femtocell is actually broadcasting the signal. it connects to VZW servers over the internet. Its not a repeater
Do you need to pay a monthly fee for this on top of your normal bill?
@laxer3n7
No, I think you just have to buy the device. No monthly fee.
@laxer3n7 Since Verizon still offers unlimited 3G service no.
3G on the Network Extender would have been usefull a year and a half ago. Now that most of the new smartphones come with wi-fi...meh
When the hell are the Sprint ones going to be available? I called just a few weeks ago and they told me they aren't available.
great!! hope this one works in canada!! its so anonying having to do a *228 update while working in canada or swtiching phones, theres no verizon store in calgary (highest amount of AMERICANS living in a non US city)
but i wouldnt mind spending 1000 dollars on a gps signal generator or short the pins to by pass gps somehow