| What's the Difference between all of these amplifiers? How do I know which
one to get? Cingular/ US Wireless:
Can be on 2 different
frequencies. For the regular cellular service which is GSM/AMPS, this is
mostly the 824-896 MHz regular cellular band. This signal is throughout the
country. In places where Cingular is not the main provider, they have agreements
with the other carriers to bridge the area, A single band amplifier will
work. However, the Cingular GSM service can be on both the regular cellular band and the
PCS band. In fact, in most urban areas, the PCS signal is used. For areas
where the PCS single is prevalent go with the
CA-PCSRX. In areas where there is dual service buy
either dual band amplifiers DA4000
or CA-DuoRX.
Verizon / Alltel
These services use a system called CDMA,
which operates similar to the way the internet operates. These high speed
systems require greater quality in the amplifiers. Alltel is only in the Cellular
Band range (824-896 MHz). Verizon is in both the Cellular band (824-896 MHz) and
the PCS band (1850-1990 MHz). Verizon is mostly PCS in Florida (CA-PCSRX
) and Cellular
everywhere else in the United States. They are in Both the Cellular and the PCS
band in most major cities as well. Generally speaking, if you are in a rural
area, you are in the cellular band. They also have agreements with other
cellular carriers to bridge any areas that they do not have a tower. The
DA4000 or
CA-DuoRX
are used for the Dual Band. The
CA-PCSRX
is for the single PCS Band.
Sprint
The Sprint service
uses another form of CDMA similar in nature to the Verizon system. Sprint
has 2 bands that they use, the Cellular band (824-896 MHz) and the PCS band
(1850-1990 MHz). On the cellular band, in the rural areas of the country, the
Sprint system operates on Analog (AMPS) system. In almost all cities in the
country, Sprint is on PCS. As well Sprint recently aquired NEXTEL but do
not get confused. Nextel operates at a different band compared to every other
carrier. For Sprint PCS , you can use the
CA-PCSRX , a single band PCS amplifier. You can also
use the
DA4000 or CA-DuoRX.
T-Mobile GSM
This service is GSM, which is the standard used mostly in Europe
and Asia. They use the PCS band (1850-1990 MHz). Overseas, these systems
uses other frequencies not found here in North America. The
CA-PCSRX is a single band PCS amplifier. You can also
use the
DA4000.
Others: Incude MetroPCS
or Cricket which operate on the PCS band The
CA-PCSRX is a single band PCS amplifier. You can also
use the
DA4000 or CA-DuoRX.
.
Sierra Wireless Air Card:
We have used the
DA4000
and the
CA-PCSRX in PCS mode.
Can I use the Boosters as a Wireless Building
Repeater system?
No. The boosters are made to connect directly to a cell phone and therefore
are not sensitive enough to pick up a wireless transmission from your cell
phone.
How are boosters different than that
'Booster Patch' that is selling for $20 or less and sticks on between your
battery and the cell phone?
Simply put, the 'Patch' is a gimmick that is not FCC approved and does
nothing besides gives the owner the false sense that it really is doing
something. The Cellular Powered Booster operates at 12 volts and changes
your .6 watt cell phone to a 3 Watt cell phone, increasing the actual power
output by 500%. The patch might as well be a 'Happy Face' sticker.
My phone shows some signal but I can't get through or my
calls are dropped. Will the booster help me?
If your phone does not indicate "no service" then the booster will increase
the signal strength in both the reception and in the transmission ability.
Many times you can receive the 'Towers' signal but you don't have enough power
for the 'Tower' to hear you. The booster helps increase the strength of the
transmitting signal from your phone 20 dB.
Will the Booster guarantee that no
calls will ever be dropped?
No. Cellular communication is highly directional. Cellular towers have
antennas that point in a certain direction. If the tower is not pointed where
you are, and no signal is present there is nothing that can be done to invent
the signal. Cellular communication is dependant on the Cellular Phone company.
Many calls that are dropped are as a result of 'Full Towers' that cannot
accept a handoff from another tower. There are also software problems and
failures of the actual Cellular broadcasting equipment. Cellular phone
transmission can be 'Shadowed' by buildings in the line of sight path between
your phone and the Tower. However, you should notice a big difference in
the quality of the calls that you receive as well as the frequency of dropped
calls.
I have a PCS Sprint phone. Will the
booster help?
The
DA4000 or CA-DuoRX amplifies the PCS band as well as the Cellular Band and will
work with Sprint, T-Mobile, and any other service provider operating in the
1850 -1990 MHz, which is the frequency that PCS operates.
My Cellular phone is not listed with
your Cable Adapter. What do I do?
Please email us and we will find out if an adapter exists for your phone.
We do have coupling adapters that fit around the antenna or are placed behind
the antenna on the cell phone, but they are not as
good as a direct connect. Several phones do not have an external antenna port
at all. This passive adapter will work with most of them.
I use my Cell phone on my boat. Will
the booster work for me and what will be the range that I can expect?
Yes the booster will work, [provided that the signal is pointed in your
direction from the land based towers]. Several users of our booster have
reported good results as far as 50 -60 miles offshore. However, they are also
using a quality Marine Cellular antenna such as those supplied by
www.BoatAntenna.com our
associated company. You can purchase the entire assembly from them if you
require a marine antenna.
I have an existing car kit and cradle
that I use for my phone. It already has an antenna installed on my car. Can I
use the Booster?
Yes. You will need to attach the booster in between the external antenna
connection of the car kit and the antenna.. Please have a proper car electrician attach the
system. |