Sprint Officially Launching Airave Service July 15th

[ace41690]

Sprint Launching Airave Service July 15 - Femtocell service to expand to entire Sprint footprint - dslreports.com


"Last fall, Sprint began offering a new service in select areas of Denver and Indianapolis that delivers customers unlimited mobile minutes while at home. Dubbed Airave, the new femtocell-based system uses your home broadband connection to extend cellular coverage and offer unlimited calling for an additional $15 per month ($30 for multi-cell families). According to employee gossip over at Sprint Users, Sprint is preparing for a market wide launch starting on July 15, and the Samsung device itself should cost $100. Coverage area for the device is said to be about 5,000 square feet, and the service will work with any Sprint phone (see product FAQ)."

[Yankees368]

Ill believe it when I see it in stors.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

same here.....this product has been fading in and out over the past like 6 months

[tmobileman]

This has been on the market for a year with tmobile and works great, it is only 9.99 with tmobile

[spleck]

Originally Posted by tmobileman

This has been on the market for a year with tmobile and works great, it is only 9.99 with tmobile

T-Mobile's unit requires UMA (wi-fi) phones. Sprint's Airave is actually a 1900 MHz PCS CDMA transceiver that works with any Sprint phone.

[djjim]

30 dollars for families is too much. $20 would be worth it, but not $30. It should not be priced higher than Voip.

[spleck]

The true value of the device will be if you can use it without the monthly fee to simply boost reception. $100 for permanent full signal strength in the home will be worth it to a lot of people already using their 6 or 7pm nights.

I have noticed some caveats though:
Coverage area of 5000 sq ft equates to only a 40 ft radius. Earlier reports had suggested a 200 ft range.
According to some sources, it uses a GPS signal to determine spectrum availability (it can travel, but won't work overseas); some other sources suggest it must be registered at a location.
Samsung spec page lists only IS95 A/B & CDMA2000 1X -- No EVDO (I could be interpreting that wrong though)

CDMA spec sheets lists 3 models: 850, 1900, and dual. So we may see usage by other carriers.

WCDMA/HSPA version only lists 2100 MHz support, so either potential AWS or more likely Europe only.

[Eric47]

Originally Posted by tmobileman

This has been on the market for a year with tmobile and works great, it is only 9.99 with tmobile

No. TMOB does not offer a Femto-Cell of any kind, i think you are mistaken. TMOB offers a glorified VoIP. which can be had for 3 bucks a month with Skype, its just most consumers dont know any better.

Originally Posted by spleck

T-Mobile's unit requires UMA (wi-fi) phones. Sprint's Airave is actually a 1900 MHz PCS CDMA transceiver that works with any Sprint phone.

Yes this is correct and a better description. it will be neat to see how many carriers adopt this, i would like ATT to have one also though at my particular home i do not need one, there are many people in rural areas that could use one.

I wonder how long before someone would modify one to be portable...all it takes is an ethernet connection or equivalent and a 110v source correct?

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

Originally Posted by spleck

The true value of the device will be if you can use it without the monthly fee to simply boost reception. $100 for permanent full signal strength in the home will be worth it to a lot of people already using their 6 or 7pm nights.

I have noticed some caveats though:
Coverage area of 5000 sq ft equates to only a 40 ft radius. Earlier reports had suggested a 200 ft range.
According to some sources, it uses a GPS signal to determine spectrum availability (it can travel, but won't work overseas); some other sources suggest it must be registered at a location.
Samsung spec page lists only IS95 A/B & CDMA2000 1X -- No EVDO (I could be interpreting that wrong though)

CDMA spec sheets lists 3 models: 850, 1900, and dual. So we may see usage by other carriers.

WCDMA/HSPA version only lists 2100 MHz support, so either potential AWS or more likely Europe only.

so why wont it work overseas???

[Bill Clinton]

Originally Posted by spleck

The true value of the device will be if you can use it without the monthly fee to simply boost reception. $100 for permanent full signal strength in the home will be worth it to a lot of people already using their 6 or 7pm nights.

Very true. I would just want the device so I don't have to worry about Sprint's marginal coverage at my house. I don't want to pay a monthly fee and I don't need unlimited calling, I just want the device so I would be assured of having better coverage at my house.

I hope Sprint eventually decides to have multiple plans for the Airave, including making it available for no monthly fee and use of the Airave can just count against one's minutes.

[spleck]

Originally Posted by SmArTeStChIlD421

so why wont it work overseas???

The device has to know its location to determine what PCS band to operate in. There are no 1900 MHz bands for Sprint to be licensed for overseas.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

okay.......but how does it determine its location........by the IP address of the modem its attached to?? GPS doesnt seem like a feasible option considering this will be in people's houses

[spleck]

Originally Posted by SmArTeStChIlD421

okay.......but how does it determine its location........by the IP address of the modem its attached to?? GPS doesnt seem like a feasible option considering this will be in people's houses

Two sources had conflicting information. One said it had GPS and was transportable. The other said you had to get it online and register it at a location with the assumption that if it changed IP address, etc, you would have to reregister it and specify a location.

The GPS seems likely because the device needs to ensure that you're operating on the correct FCC licensed bands--important enough that you wouldn't want to rely on a traceroute. Using it in other countries probably has varying repercussions, ranging from having your limbs removed painfully to questions about "what are radio waves?"

Either way, the device queries the provider's configuration server to retrieve operating parameters--probably authorized phones and bands.

PS - A SiRFstarIII will get a GPS lock in a concrete basement. It can track satellites at -159dBm. My Garmin uses it and is awesome.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

yes but a device like that wont have highend GPS chips like that in it.......it just seems all off........i mean yeah its prolli illegal to use in other countries but this device is perfectly hackable i would think.......people will have found a way to get free international roaming whenever they want with this device

[spleck]

It's still an unknown what they're doing to locate the base station.

For consideration though, a "high end" SiRFstarIII was $15 in 2006. Global Locate has a similar performing chip (TomTom is using it in their low end line) that should have similar capability, but should be as cheap as $2 by now.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

hmmmmm well then its a consideration but GPS is no guarantee anywhere with cloud cover and things like that..........basically if there isnt GPS then there isnt service.....this intrigues me

[TelcomJunkie]

The GPS in the Airave device is a very sensitive unit. I've got mine in a closet, inside the house and it is able to lock on to the GPS signal with no problems. The unit will process up to three separate calls at the same time from any Sprint phone but the unit owner is able to restrict use of the Airave to specific phone numbers.

Also, because the unit is a fem-to-cell it needs accurate timing to maintain call processing functions. The GPS is there to facilitate that. The unit also comes with an high-gain external antenna to assist if needed.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

a high-gain GPS antenna?

[TelcomJunkie]

Originally Posted by SmArTeStChIlD421

a high-gain GPS antenna?

Most GPS antennas are high gain, it's not a strong signal to begin with.

[treotosh]

Only about one more week till it comes out we will see it then.

[TelcomJunkie]

Originally Posted by treotosh

Only about one more week till it comes out we will see it then.

I'm hearing around the rumor mill that the launch is being delayed again. The unit I've been playing with does work reliably and never has a problem locking onto the GPS. I looked into it more and found out that Samsung is using a highly-sensitive Trimble unit for the GPS.