WiMax Booster

[Setite]

Does this exist? I am hoping so. The flaw of Sprint, and more so with 4G WiMax, is it's high frequency. Sprint phones, as I understand it, run at 1900mhz(1.9ghz) and WiMax at 2500mhz(2.5ghz). As I understand it, the lower the better. Lower frequencies travel better through solid masses due to lower absorption or increased propagation or both, I don't fully remember.

My problem is that I want to buy the Wilson Electronics Sleek, which reviews incredibly well. The links below are just reviews and such. It is a great product. Dual band amplifier for only 100$. But that is the rub, WiMax is out of the the bands that all the passive amplifiers I can find. I was hoping for something passive that is designed for wifi boosting. What products do you guys know of to boost WiMax.

Cell Phone Antennas and Cell Phone Boosters at Wilson Electronics
Sleek Car Cell Phone Signal Booster Review | Dead Zones
Cell Phone Antennas and Cell Phone Boosters at Wilson Electronics

 

[Setite]

Bump. I would love to have help on this. I have sent an e-mail to Wilson to inquire as to any solutions present or future. I am also continuing to research the problem.

 

[Auzo]

In general a "WiMax Booster" would constitute some kind of repeater. A repeater is simply a device that takes the WiMax signal (presumably a weak signal) amplifies it and retransmits it. These devices do exist but as to whether they are available (as of today) to consumers is another story. I can't say one way or another if they are as I don't have that info.

On the other hand wimax band amplifiers are readily available. here is an example of one: Products - Hittite Microwave Corporation. Now this alone won't get the job done, but maybe toss in a duplexer and an antenna and slap them together and you may have something (obviously easier said than done, High frequencies make building a circuit properly tougher).

This device that you linked is a little more involved than that. It seems to be designed as a external transceiver for your particular device that is cradled. Where a stand alone repeater would amplify and retransmit any and every signal that it sees this unit seems to be taking the place of the transceiver internal to your cellphone. It allows you to position the antenna in a better location as well as taking advantage of the unlimited power from the car. A solution like that will likely come eventually but it will take some time for the demand to justify the R&D that say Wilson will need to do to develop one.

On a side note, there is no such thing as a passive amplifier as that would break the laws of physics. You cant amplify a signal without putting in some power. if you figure out how to do it, congratulations you have just become a billionaire .

 

[Setite]

Sorry, I was mistaken in my terminology. By passive I simply meant to say that it does not need to be directly connected to my phone whether that be with a sticker, or through an antenna port. Something that needs to be in proximity. The Wilson Sleek is my idea of passive. Most of the amplifiers I have seen require you to hook them between a device and and external antenna it already has. I need to learn more about the Wilson sleek, as there are antennas that do what I want, but I have yet to determine what devices it is good for.

Amazon.com: Wide Band Directional Antenna 700-2500 MHz: Cell…

 

[Auzo]

I see. After my initial look of the Wilson dock I assumed it connected to the external ant port of the cell phone but in fact the connection to the phone was only being used to charge it. So this device is pure and simple a standard repeater. It boosts the power of the Rx and Tx signals of your cell phone so that you effectively increase the coverage area of a tower.

With that said, as I hinted at before, there doesn't appear to be a consumer friendly version ($$$) like the Sleek out yet. I found this post on Clear's (operators of the wimax network for sprint) website that seems to corroborate that.
Answer to Wimax repeater/amp question -

The antenna that you linked probably wouldnt work well for this application for two reasons, 1) it is directional which is bad for mobility because you would have to constantly keep it pointed it at the tower while you're moving. 2) You would ideally want the operating frequency of the antenna to envelope that of the Wimax band (ie 2.4-2.6 GHz or 2-3 GHz).

If you want a detailed explanation of what the Sleek is doing I can give you one, but I don't want to bore you with the details otherwise.

 

[Alchematron]

You might find the answer here

4G Info - 4G News, Reviews, Products for CLEAR, Sprint 4G, WiMAX & LTE

 

[Alchematron]

You might find the answer here

4G Info - 4G News, Reviews, Products for CLEAR, Sprint 4G, WiMAX & LTE

From the above link

"Does the EVO have an antenna port to boost the signal?

We will not know for sure until the phone launches, but it is unlikely that the EVO will have an antenna port. However, other signal boosting options (like the Wilson Sleek) are available to improve the 2G and 3G signal (no amplifiers are currently available to boost 4G signal)."

 

[Setite]

Thanks Alchematron. Yea I found that page when I was doing research. I appreciate them trying to help. Even if the evo had an antenna port, I want something like the sleek, because if i plug something in.. I will break it eventually .

Auzo, thanks. That, unfortunately, is exactly what i though the situation was. I still probably will get a sleek, but I suppose I'll have to give up on getting a better connection from within my car