Customer Reviews

Wireless Extenders YX500-Cel zBoost Cell Phone Signal Booster up to 2500 Square Feet of Coverage for Home or Office (800 MHz Phones)

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

Yes, this item works well. But yes, it takes some RF and electronics knowledge to make it work right. For me, I have verizon cell phones operating in the 800MHZ cell band in my area. In my house we had zero to 1 bar and could make calls but they were frequently dropped or cut in and out. We could walk down the block and the signal was better. Our house sits in a depression and most of the cell signal was going over the top of our house.

To really make this thing work well I would recommend the following tips:
1) Get cell phone for which you know how to enable DEBUG mode and get an actual NUMBER for the signal strength it is receiving.
2) Go ahead and purchase the optional YAGI directional antenna for this unit.
3) Buy an approximately 4 x 8 ft. piece of radiant barrier ( a type of insulation available at home depot made of aluminum).
4) Mount YAGI antenna in rafters of house or outside on roof.
5) Mount cell extender about 3 feet from the floor in the top living level of your house in a center location of the house.
6) Place radiant barrier in attick directly between the 2 antennas. This will help improve the signal separation a lot and will make this thing work.
7) Power up cell extender. If when you power it up you get ANY flashing amber lights, then your signal isolation between the two antennas isn't good enough and you must do something about it (move antennas, get YAGI with higher gain, etc.) If you get no amber lights on startup then the device is operating at max or almost max amplification and power output (only 1/2 watt but plenty for a single house).

We now have 3-5 bars all over our house, deck, porch, and even garage! Calls are clear and there is no breaking up or dropping of calls.

We have 2700 sq ft. house with 2 stories plus a basement. I am using a 10dbi antenna from some guys out of New York I found on the internet. I paid $99 for this antenna because they told me it was a 17dbi antenna, but they lied. However, it works and I am happy with what works...

Running continously for 2 months now without a single glitch. Zero maintenance when installed correctly.

There are 2 different models for the 800MHZ and 1900MHZ cell bands. BE SURE TO BUY THE CORRECT ONE FOR THE PHONE CARRIER YOU HAVE.

I had 1-2 bars of coverage on verizon outside my house, and 0 inside previously. I placed the extender in my attic, and now I can, indeed, make and receive calls from inside the house. The coverage is pretty weak (1 bar or less) and calls drop from time to time, but it is much better than no service at all. My advice for those of you like me (with 1-2 bars at best outside your home) is to consider this as a way to get minimal indoor coverage, but don't expect miracles. It doesn't replace a land line!

I reluctantly bought this product after all but giving up on trying to use my cell phone at my house. I would typically get anywhere from no reception to 2 bars at best, and I typically could not hold a call for more than a minute before I got dropped. I was using Verizon 800mhz service.

I knew it had a good chance of it working because I do get very good reception in my attic, so I figured I could place the antenna in the attic and then transfer a strong signal to the rest of the house.

It took me half a day to play with various locations for the antenna and base unit, but I finally got to the point where I could count on at least 3 bars almost anywhere in the house, and even five bars in my kitchen. I have not dropped a call yet since I purchased this.

The down side to this unit is the need to drape a cable from the attic to my bedroom, almost 20 feet away. I did not want to get into lifting up the carpet and trying to hide it, so I just have it running along the baseboards and across the stair case. It looks pretty ugly and it creates a serious tripping hazard. I will eventually have to figure out a way to better hide the cable. It became clear that to get the best reception, the base unit needed to be as far away from the antenna as possible, which forced me to have an exposed cable visible across three different rooms in the house. If you are not willing or able to do this, you may not get the best results from the unit.

All in all, I'm happy that I purchased the unit because I count on my cell phone heavily for business use, and without this unit I was completely unable to count on my cell phone and did not even want to give out my number. It is not for everyone, but if you have a strong signal somewhere in the house and can deal with the cabling issues, it can definitely make a big difference.

I was a bit hesitant to order the Wireless Extenders Cell Phone Booster, thinking that too many products like it were useless gadgets, but I have just moved to a hilly area of Los Angeles County and reception here -- for all services -- tends to be in the "two bar" range. So, I took the risk, and I am DELIGHTED with the results. My home/office is in the center of the boosted zone created by the device, and my signal here is 4 or 5 bars on my Blackberry. The other phones (three different models) my family has are also boosted within the covered zone. We have a long ranch-style house and I'm considering getting a second booster, because the zone doesn't cover all of our 2,600 sq ft property. But since the primary reason I got it was my dependence on my Blackberry for work purposes, and because the zone covers our heavy traffic areas (living room, kitchen) as well, we're in good shape. No question it's worth the money. Was easy to install.

My company switched service from Nextel to Verizon. I have been on Nextel for 9 years with very strong signal in my home and work area. I am a salesperson that works out of home frequently so it is critical that phone works well at the house.

My wife has Verizon and signal is very poor, usually 1 bar, sometimes 2 so I was very reluctant. I told the boss I did not want to switch. When he told me I had no choice, I went to Verizon to find out why signal was weak in my neighborhood. Turns out there are no towers close to me due to a military base closeby. I did some searching for something that might help and found this booster. Asked some verizon people and they all said that these things are a waste of money. After reading some of the reviews, I decided to take the plunge. My work reimbursed me for it but it works so well, I would have paid for it myself if I had to.

Walked around the house to find best signal and that's the side of the house I installed the antenna on in the attic. Ran the coax towards the center of the house and connected the base above the area of the house I would need the phone the most. I kept everything in the attic. Play around with the positioning of base antenna and keep testing for best signal.

Now I have 4-5 bars. An incredible improvement over what I started with. I was quite surprised. Hope everyone has the same result I did.

I don't put much faith in these gadgets. They rarely fulfill the promises made by the people who sell them. This one actually works! I have always had problems using cell phones, all cell phones, inside of my house. While I could usually start or receive a call, I could never finish it without stepping outside to get a better signal. CDMA (Verizon) phones worked the best but GSM (Cingular, T-Mobile, AT&T) rarely worked at all. My CDMA phone now works perfectly with no disconnections and even a relative's GSM (AT&T lowband) worked great. She actually got 4 bars inside the house. That's something I've never seen before.

I have bad signal with T-Mobile (and Cingular 1900) in the basement
then I gave a try
under a draft test (just put an upgraded panel antenna on the window in the bathroom)
lo and behold! I have signal now, I can make and receive call, and use internet (GPRS), and I can use 2 phones at a time (both use T-Mobile)
T-Mobile users: make sure you pick PCS (1900) version, this can help your indoor reception if you have decent signal outdoors (100%), but just have problem indoors
another suggestion, upgrade the outdoor antenna to panel, which helps more, even can avoid positive feedback, the panel gain can offset the cable loss, that you can get the most of this
I highly recommend this (1900 version) for T-Mobile users

I went from no signal in my (basement) office, to 5 bars just like that, with the antenna mounted inside my attic. Wireless Extenders' tech support was helpful, it turns out VZW is using 1900 MHz in my area so I did have to exchange the unit, but they were helpful and efficient and sent the new unit to me right away.

I saw a news segment on this product and they used it and said it worked so I ordered one and installed it in my house. I usually had to go outside to get one bar on my cell phone but with this unit installed I get 4 bars inside! I read the first review here and couldn't DISagree more. This thing works and it works good, it's very simple to install. I give it two thumbs up, it works so well my Brother is ordering one for his house.

Application: One level single family residence [no basement] approx 2900 sq. ft. Before installation I got 2-3 bars in my driveway but 1-2 in the house, could not reliably use my phone. Note: Bars indicating signal strength are a rough approximation. According to the YX500-CEL manual each additional bar indicates between 4x - 10x signal increase but call quality is the ultimate test. Also, the phone's signal indicator updates every 6-10 seconds. When testing strength from room to room wait a few moments for the signal strength to refresh. Antenna and base unit location is the most important part. I stood on a tall ladder and determined my phone registered 4 bars about 15-17 feet above the ground. I installed the receiving antenna at a high point in the rafters of my garage. Before permanently running the cable I tested various locations for the base unit by running the cable from the garage into the house through open doors. Ultimately I installed the base unit in the attic [using an existing 110v. outlet up there] and permanently routed the cable. I now get 2-4 bars in the house and even 2 bars gives consistent, clear call quality. Observations: Physically connecting the unit is quick. The time consuming part is experimenting with both the antenna and base unit until you find a location that creates a good signal. I set the base unit on a 6' stepladder and moved it around the house ultimately settling in the middle. The unit is stated to cover "up to 2500 sq. ft" which accounts for fewer bars at the perimeter of my house. The YX 500-CEL comes with 50' of RG6 coaxial cable and the YX 500-PCS states it comes with 35'. Verizon was useless. They don't support nor endorse this type of unit. They would not even confirm the frequency saying it was "proprietary" information. While waiting on hold w/Verizon I found my phone had that under the "infomation" menu, not "settings". Within a frequency they use bands, but don't worry about that. All in all it solved my problem and my wife is pleased. When my wife is happy I am happy.