Hi Tom C. here. I'm getting ready to relocate to an area in northern ca. zip of 95966 that has no cel. signal on my sprint blackberry. Researching options to utilize cel - satelite phones..expensive, signal booster...need more info. land line...yes but still want cel. Tom
Tom- Welcome to WA! I looked up that zip code an you are correct that Sprint does not have a lot of coverage in that area. Have you considered getting a blackberry on Verizon? I looked up the area on their coverage maps and the network is very well built out. Do you have any signal at all in the location you are moving to? Remember that a cell booster needs an existing signal to "boost" Will you have a broadband connection at the location? Both verizon and sprint have femtocell options.
Hi Tom, I would not even bother with a traditional signal booster... it doesn't really look like there is enough signal to be "boosted" to begin with. And depending on where exactly you are locating within that zip code, you may not have any signal or you might have pretty good coverage. I would look into the Sprint Airave before you consider a booster... AIRAVE ...As long as you have access to broadband in that area this is likely be your best solution with Sprint. Granted, it will cost you $5 a month, but to me, that's better than not having (or barely having) coverage --especially if you have a Blackberry, which I'm assuming you use for more than just calls. But if this is a somewhat permanent relocation, I would consider going with another carrier. I don't generally trust Verizon's maps as they are probably the least accurate out of all of the major carriers. But if you go with Verizon they also have something like the Airave that picks up signal from your wireless router, but it doesn't cost anything per month... Network Extender It looks like T-Mobile has somewhat decent service in that zip code too. And they also have phones (UMA phones, including T-Mobile's BlackBerrys) that link up to your wireless Internet router. This is what I have and it works great on ANY wireless connection you have access to anywhere (not just in your home) unlike with Sprint and Verizon. You don't even need to purchase a device with T-Mobile (other than a UMA enabled phone) if you already have a wireless routed in your home. I have no coverage where I live, but thanks to this option I have full bars at home.... I'm using a BlackBerry Bold 9700. ALL THAT SAID, for those options you need high-speed Internet access in your home. If that's not an option, I would simply go with another carrier. Many carriers have at least 2 weeks during which time if you don't like the service, you can return your phone and cancel your subscription for no cost. If you are under contract with Sprint, it might be worth your while to pay the termination fee and switch carriers as a trade-off for better coverage. Good luck and keep us posted!
...And another note: I'm not sure about how the Airave and Verizon Network Extender work... that is, I'm not sure if they are capable of data (including messages, email, web, etc). They can do calls, but I'm not sure about how they work otherwise. So check into that if you do more just calls. With T-Mobile, everything works... web browsing (even if you don't have a data plan), MMS, SMS, email, calls, VM, etc. Of Course, if you don't have a data plan, you can't use IM apps or download other applications that use data. If you do have such a plan though, everything works. Haha, and maybe I'm pushing T-Mobile a lot here... but they have new plans out now: Unlimited data and messages and 500 min plus free nights and weekends for only $60... you're not going to find that with any of the other major carriers.
