Customer Reviews

Wireless Extenders zBoost YX300-PCS-CEL zPersonal Dual Band Cell Phone Signal Booster

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(73)

 

 

I was skeptical but it did improve the signal strength of my Sierra 595U through Sprint going from 1 bar to as many as 5. But some of that depends on weather conditions, yet at a minimum so far regardless of other variables at the same location it has increased signal by 1-2 bars at least, sometimes more. What this has meant for my wireless reception is my connection speed is fairly consistent from 300kbs-580kbs. Still not stellar, but better than dial up and better than the sporadic switching from 1x to EVDo that was going on prior to obtaining the booster. Like it says, if you have NO signal now, it will not pull in one. But if you have at least one bar it's supposed to work, and with me it did.

once i figured out the black antenna goes near the phone and the white receiver box goes in the window it was working perfectly. If there were some better instructions i should have known that, but the picture on the manufacturer web pages confused me.

Red light means the antenna is to close to the receiver. Green light means is sitting idle and ready for a call. Flashing green light means you are on a call and it is handling the connection. If you move away the light goes solid green and cell signal drops, moving closer again the signal comes back and the light begins flashing again. This is what i have experienced and hopefully it helps...

I work from home and recently moved to a new house. I could get cell phone reception in my basement office but would consistently drop calls after about 3 minutes. Aftet installing the YX300 booster, I can now keep connected and no longer have to worry about drops.

The YX300 consistently boosted my signal from 0-1 bars to a steady 2 bars. It's not as strong a signal as I get upstairs, but it is certainly usable.

The range on the antenna is about 6 feet, which is just what the manufacturer advertises. I can't roam about the office with my cell, but it does give a nice steady signal in the area around my desk, which is where I spend all of my time.

I would recommend this to anyone who needs a boost in their cell phone signal and remains in a fixed area such as a desk. If you're looking to improve cell coverage for a house or even a large room, this is not the device for you.

Recommended.

The YX300 is a mini wireless repeater designed to bring cellular coverage to a poorly covered area, for instance a workspace, garage, basement...
It won't perform miracles: you need to have a location that does have some degree of coverage, and it will extend this coverage to a nearby area that does not have it.
It is comprised of a main box (white and green, the size of half a paperback, with two suction cups on the back) and a remote antenna (a black bar, with two suction cups on it). You setup the main box in the area that gets coverage (for instance the main floor of your house), and the remote antenna in the nearby area that does not (basement, garage). The remote antenna attaches to the main box with a thin 20' antenna wire. The manufacturer recommends that both devices be separated by at least 10'.
Plug the antenna into the main box, plug in the power, you're done: you're now getting cell coverage in your basement.

At least, that's the theory; when I initially received my YX300, I couldn't make any sense out of it, and it just didn't work. A red light was always blinking on it no matter what I did. The "manual" (a few lines of instructions printed on the back of the box) was completely unhelpful.
The YX300 I received had other problems: one of the suction cups on the main box was damaged, and one of the suction cups on the remote antenna was broken right out of the box. I contacted customer support and requested a replacement (a painless process, they were very responsive).

Now that I have received the replacement, I understand why the reviews are either 5-stars or 1-star: the device I initially received was completely defective. The replacement worked flawlessly right out of the box.

The YX300 is inexpensive, easy to setup and works well. Unfortunately, its reputation is marred by bad reviews because of serious quality control issues. Don't hesitate to request a replacement if yours doesn't work as expected. It's well worth the hassle.

The YX300 does boost my signal, but only up to 1 foot away from the antenna. If I leave my phone on the same level surface (my desk) next to the antenna in combination with a bluetooth headset it works great!
I get six bars consistently now instead of 1 bar.
You can tell if the zBoost is working to boost your signal if it blinks while you're on a call. The moment I take the phone off my desk the green light stops blinking on the zBoost.
I also noticed simply touching my phone takes the zBoost from a blinking green to a solid green. May be because my phone has an internal antenna.
If you don't own a bluetooth phone this product is useless, and if you do then I suggest buying the non-wireless version zBoost YX110 zPocket Cell Phone Repeater.
My service is T-Mobile, and my phone is the Samsung Blast.

Just to be very clear so you dont potentially waste your money. This device will NOT boost or increase your signal in any way, what ever signal you receive at the window where you install the device is exactly the signal it will deliver to your phone further away (max ~15 feet) from the window. To decide if this device will work for you just take your phone to the window closest to where you use it most, open the window and see how many bars you get. Now walk up to 15 feet away to your couch or where ever and see how many bars you have. If the signal at the window was significantly stronger, then this device will work wonders for you, if like me and I expect most people you have the same signal both places then this device will make absolutely no difference at all. This is a quote from the manfactures site "They are designed to take the same signal you receive outside and bring it inside".

My area has from 2 to 3 bars that periodically drop one bar and rarely is 4 bars. I tried this unit while a steady 2 bars were present and properly set up this signal booster, but it did absolutely nothing. Likely the booster's non-disclosed frequency is not what my area uses. FYI - My Samsung T-429 is a GSM 850/1800/1900 and I my carrier (T-Mobile) says they use both 800&1900 in my area w/1900 at the closest tower to me, so I have to conclude (with 20-20 hindsight) that the booster isn't 1900. Nevertheless, "if: the freq. is the issue, then marketing 'pigs in a poke' absolutely wastes everyone's time and energy. Wonder how much I'm out for the return shipping, non-refundable state tax, etc.

This item sounded like the perfect fix. Not that expensive, easy set up and if it worked, I would no longer have to run outside my home office to answer my cell phone. It is very frustrating. I set it up according to what little directions there were. This item seemed to work off and on. I did get it to work for about 10 min. and it did increase my bars from 1 to 3-4, but then the "Red Light" would come on and I could not get it to connect. I moved the receiver around the window and moved the internal antenna around the room only to have it works sometimes and then immediately disconnect. I tried to call support for help, only to get a voice mail stating that they would call me back. 2 days, no call. After being frustrated long enough, I am returning the product. Don't waste your time.

Note that, as of this writing, the ratings are split between those giving this product 4 or 5 stars, and those giving the product 1 star. It is a serious question as to whether the product will work for you - make sure you can get a refund.

NOTE: the product does not amplify the cellular signal! As is pointed out, you must have some cellular signal for the device to work - it can't magically create a signal where none exists. What I believe is not pointed out is that the product does not amplify the cellular signal. Whatever signal strength you receive at your window is what will get passed along to the device's inside antenna - no amplification.

If you get a strong signal at the window (or wherever you place the device) and a weak signal further inside, then the device might pass the strong signal into the room. If you get a weak signal at the window, it will either pass that weak signal into the room or, as in my case, do nothing - I never got a blinking green light to indicate it was handling a call, even though my cell phone received 2 bars in the room and 3 (out of 7) at the window. I give it one star because we aren't allowed to award zero stars. However, I was able to send it back to Amazon for a full refund. I'm generally quite happy with Amazon and my expectations for this device were low, so I'm not too disappointed. Still looking for a solution, however.

Purchased the Personal Booster YX300 for my office at work and an AT&T Blackberry Curve that was getting only 2 bars. The booster increased strength to about 4 bars within 4-5 feet of the remote antenna. Only problem is that the signal light goes red and has to be unplugged and plugged back in to reset at least once a day. Still, it's better than no signal and works better than the Spotwave Z1900 that I tried previously, which didn't boost the signal at all.