Do you get poor Sprint cellular reception at home?
The Sprint Airave can be your own personal cell tower.
The Airave is a "Femtocell" about the size of a book that plugs into your home network router using a standard network Ethernet cable. You must have DLS, cable, or other high speed internet landline. Up to 3 phones can use the [Only registered users can view links. ] at a time as they would any cell tower. The [Only registered users can view links. ] supports up to 6 users at once.
Key facts
• [Only registered users can view links. ].
• Get full bars up to 20' away and 25% signal up to 40' away.
• The Airave must be within 20' of a window so that it's GPS can get satellite reception.
• The Airave only works in the US (the reason for the GPS).
• You should still use a wireless router (WiFi) for data.
• The [Only registered users can view links. ] support up to 3 users at a time. The [Only registered users can view links. ] supports up to 6.
• [Only registered users can view links. ] work with the Airave but not Nextel, prepaid or other networks.
• Call automatically transfer to a local tower when you leave Airave coverage.
• WiFi based location services may show your location as the ISP's central office
Save your battery
One other huge benefit to the Airave is that it can greatly improve battery life. Cell phones use much more power if they are constantly searching for signals or switching from Roam to Sprint. With full power, the cell phone can settle back and relax.
Cost
Call Sprint at 888-211-4727 to ask about the Airave. The Airave normally costs $99 plus $4.99 per month for one phone. Up to 3 users is $20 per month. But many users report that if they politely explain that they have had constant issues with poor signal strength at home, they have been given Airave and had their $20 per month fee waived indefinitely. You will have the same cost per minute as you would under your normal plan unless you pay for unlimited Airave minutes.
Post your success stories in this thread!
To get the charges waived, you may need to ask for a supervisor or to have your problem "escalated" or better yet, just call the Sprint Retention Department directly: (877)775-4886. Key things to tell them:
• [Only registered users can view links. ].
• This is an ongoing constant problem for ___ months or ___ years
• You get almost no signal.
• How far you have to go to get signal (down the street or to a neighbors yard?).
• You have multiple phones getting low signal (friends on Sprint at your house have the same issues).
• Friends with other carriers get great reception at your house.
• Ask, If a customer cannot get signal, does the ETF (Early Termination Fee) still apply in {my state}?
Setup
Once you get your Airave, follow the instructions in the [Only registered users can view links. ] to connect it to your router. Call Sprint Customer Service at 1-888-211-4727 for activation. The secret direct line is 866-556-7310. Expect at least 40 minutes on the phone. It may take anywhere from 60 minutes to overnight for the Airave to find the satellites and finish it's setup.
GPS
One tip, not in the manual: Use the external GPS antenna when you first set up and even run it out a window (pointed to the sky) until it can acquire the satellites. The Airave needs good GPS signal to set up. Once you are set up, still consider using the external antenna if the Airave will not be near a window. Even taping the external antenna to the top of the Airave is better than the internal antenna.
Use
• Use your phone as you normally would.
• When you first connect to the Airave you will hear a beep to let you know.
• Dial *99 to confirm coverage.
• Your phone may at first show your location as the phone or Cable company office.
References
• [Only registered users can view links. ] - lots of great links
• [Only registered users can view links. ]
• [Only registered users can view links. ]
• Getting Started
• User Guide
• Troubleshooting
• [Only registered users can view links. ] - Limiting access to others, voicemail, texting
• [Only registered users can view links. ]
• [Only registered users can view links. ]
• [Only registered users can view links. ]
• 6 User [Only registered users can view links. ]
I've had my Airave for about a month, got it free of charge w/no monthly fee by calling the Retentions department... I had actually called regular CS around 6 months ago and they didn't give me any option but to pay the monthly fee for it. Worth noting that it's only a $5/mo. fee if you just want it to improve the signal at home, if you want unlimited minutes on it then it's $10 or $20, I forget.
It improved by reception in the kitchen (where I used to get none, kitchen is parallel from where I've got the Airave) and I now get a full set of bars... Three rooms away (thru thick concrete walls) it wasn't as much of an improvement but it still helps, the higher you place your Airave the better it works... I've got to raise mine off the table where it's currently at and it'll probably give me a good three bars all throughout my house.
Oh and here's some funny facts about the Airave... The way the connection thru it is routed is pretty curious, the latest version even provides a 3G connection for your phone (which the older version lacked) so even if you don't turn WiFi on at home, your data will still be re-reouted thru your broadband connection... In most cases this is a good thing, broadband's almost always faster (unless you live in a prime 4G location and have a pretty average broadband connection) and it helps even more w/battery.
More peculiar is the way the connection is routed after it leaves the Airave... Here in Puerto Rico certain online services are blocked because since we're a US territory we exist in some sort of grey area where a lot of companies don't know where they stand legally so they just skip us over entirely. CBS.com clips don't work when you try to access them from any broadband connection on the island for instance, neither did Netflix's online streaming until recently (this very week actually)...
HOWEVER, those same services have always worked on cell phones (at 'least AT&T and Sprint, dunno about T-Mo or the local carriers), because of the way their 3G connection is routed back thru the US.. Now here's the very peculiar part, when my Sprint phone is connected to an Airave with WiFi off (but 3G being routed thru my broadband) all of that suddenly works... So I get full broadband speeds and the benefit of being able to access a few extra services.
I can even then turn on WiFi tethering on my phone and access the same services from my computer... It's kinda ridiculous if you think about it. Instead of going PC -> WiFi router -> DSL modem -> Internet, the data's going PC -> WiFi/USB tethered Sprint phone -> Airave -> DSL modem -> Internet... It's all in the way the connection is routed between the Airave and the net at large. I imagine a number of proxy services could accomplish the same thing but I never had enough interest to bother with that.
But hey, I can now watch episodes of How I Met Your Mother that I've missed thanks to the Airave.
Will it actually work in a roaming zone? According to a sprint map and my phone's behavior, the 3G/service area is cutoff is like a couple feet from my home.
Usually about five minutes away, that's when I start getting signal strength and such.
If I do get it, it'll only be useful for a month since my college area gets strong Sprint signal.
I callled 1-888-211-4727 and they are sending me my airave free of charge. Also, I am not going to be charged monthly fees. Hopefully this works! I am consistently getting 0-2 bars in my house
Will it actually work in a roaming zone? According to a sprint map and my phone's behavior, the 3G/service area is cutoff is like a couple feet from my home...
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