Wireless Extenders zBoost YX055-CEL Outdoor 18 Element Yagi Antenna with 15 dBi of Gain

by Wireless Extender

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 51 x 2.2 x 8.8 inches ; 2.9 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B001CTJIK6
• Item model number: YX055-CEL
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,369 in Cell Phones & Accessories (See Top 100 in Cell Phones & Accessories)
  • #41 in Cell Phones & Accessories > Accessories > Signal Boosters

Product Description

The YX055 is an optional upgrade signal (outdoor) antenna for the YX500-CEL which replaces the omni-directional signal antenna with a higher gain directional antenna. This 18-element Yagi antenna provides enhanced cellular performance with your Wi-Ex product (YX500CEL). Maximum performance is achieved when the antenna is aimed at the strongest signal from your wireless provider. The YX699 is a perfect complement in setting the direction of the YX055 antenna.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 5-10db gain over omnidirectional, mediocre construction, but works, August 17, 2010

By 

John (Michigan USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wireless Extenders zBoost YX055-CEL Outdoor 18 Element Yagi Antenna with 15 dBi of Gain (Wireless Phone Accessory)

You have four options to increase signal strength for your cell phone:

1. Move
hard to move my house

2. Use a femtocell
costs about $200 and you need broadband service

3. Use an amplifier
costs about $200 for just amplifier, and another $150 for the two better antennae I bought

4. Use an external antenna without booster
costs about $80 and some connector for you phone, but rather inconvenient to have a four foot antenna connected to your phone.

We couldn't get cell service in our rural home, so I installed the yx500 booster. The booster with the standard omnidirectional antennae gave me two bars (about -95db) on two ATT phones, but I had to be within about 20ft of the base unit. This was OK for about a year, but I still suffered from dropped calls and annoyance of standing near the base station to talk. Now I am trying the yagi outside and panel antenna inside to see if I can get 3+ bar coverage all over my house.

The yagi gives -85 to -90db of signal via the booster, which is about 3 bars on my phone, and about 10db better than the stock omnidirectional antenna that came with the yx500. It hasn't been installed long enough to tell the difference in call quality or distance from base unit that this increase translates to. The other 11dbi yagi may work just as well, and is definitely smaller.

This yagi is large - almost 4ft long. The construction is all aluminum, with riveted antenna elements. One element was broken and the main bar was bent in shipping, so Amazon sent me a new one via next day air (yeah Amazon!). It uses RG6 coax cable, which is convenient because it's cheap and easy to find, but I noticed the other brand of booster uses the thinner RF-specific cable. The other RF cable may have lower loss, but that cable is harder to find and much more expensive.

If you can't get broadband in your home, you can't use the femtocell, so this antenna is probably a good buy for those who can't use the femtocell. The femtocell is also carrier and phone number specific, so if you want to change carriers or have visitors' phones work in your house, then the booster is your only option when you have a weak signal. Maybe the other booster company gets you a few more db out of the system using lower loss and higher quality components, but it costs you about 50% more, so this option seems to be the best I can do for service at my house at the lowest cost.

I'll update this review in a few weeks to give a better impression of the total system performance using the new antennae, but initial tests show the signal boost is significant, which should translate into much better performance throughout the house.

-1 star for poor construction
-.5 star for high price (relative to materials used)
-.5 star for small improvement over omni antenna

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Failed to boost my low signal, October 22, 2009

By 

Richard B. Brewer - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wireless Extenders zBoost YX055-CEL Outdoor 18 Element Yagi Antenna with 15 dBi of Gain (Wireless Phone Accessory)

I had about one bar of digital signal outside and this antenna with an amplifier attached failed to create any noticable amplification. It is very possible my signal was too low to be amplified. Just a little warning if you dont have a solid 1-2 bars where you are mounting this thing don't expect much return.

Im not an expert in antenna construction but a few of the cross bars were a bit loose and they were attached with a piece of metal and a rivet. It seems like for signal conductance a copper weld would have been superior....

4.0 out of 5 stars Much Better, August 17, 2011

By 

lee smith - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wireless Extenders zBoost YX055-CEL Outdoor 18 Element Yagi Antenna with 15 dBi of Gain (Wireless Phone Accessory)

This directional antenna is much better than the small PVC antenna that comes with the zboost system. You can point it in the direction of the nearest tower and signal will be much improved.