11 replies to this topic

[simpleman]

Thinking of buying an amp in the near or distant future .
I have researched them and found 2 Wilsons, a Cyfree and Maximumsignal. It appears the higher end Wilson is the best one. 
Wilson Item # 801306 receives and transmits at a Freq of only 1850-1990 MHz which is the only freq needed for EVDO.
The Soho amp #801245 (which is $200 cheaper than the #801306) improves signal 50 db
10 db less than the former which improves it by 60db.

Anyone else have amp info? Experience with them? Do they improve ping rates at all?

[granpa]

First of all if you don't have EVDO any amp won't give it to you. I really would wait till EVDO became available and testing it out before going to any amp. Amplification would be needed if your on the signal fringe or need excessive cable length to a external antenna.

You really need to find what your actual signal is and find the best location, you would need to use a laptop or a PC connected directly to the modem to do this since you cannot access the modem through a router that I know of. A signal of -70 is real  good, as I have been told from a tech support source and I have read some have gotten lower than this.

The real thing to remember that with all the speed test comparisons and signal claims no connection will be the same. Too many variables, different modems, towers connected to, different computers and various distances and signal blockages. It all boils down to get the best signal you can for your location.

[simpleman]

Correct me if I'm wrong, hypothetically, if one had a signal of -70db. An amp providing, as claimed, an improvement of  up to 60db would give you a signal of -10db. Give or take for location issues.

Simpleman

[granpa]

Correct me if I'm wrong, hypothetically, if one had a signal of -70db. An amp providing, as claimed, an improvement of  up to 60db would give you a signal of -10db. Give or take for location issues.

Simpleman

Your right, hypothetically speaking  , but unfortunately in the real world it doesn't work that way.

I really don't know the scientific terminology to explain why but I believe there is a point where the signal is ideal or everything is at peak performance.  Maybe this will help to understand. Say you have a funnel your pouring water into (normal signal), add some pressure to the water your pouring (amplifier), only so much will go through the hole at the bottom and the rest will just spill over.

[simpleman]

Signals, max out, at some point.

According to the numbers Sprint has given me for the Vision network. I'm not maxed out. I think an amp will help me.

My problem is trees and hills. The trucker antenna improved my signal tremendously.

A linear amp does wonders for CB radio's. I used one for years. Freq meter also.

FCC regulates CB amps to 3 watts but, I know truckers who have 200w amps. When they get in areas where there is some CB radio traffic. The driver with the amp will walk on everyone else.

Most CB radios come rated at 3w. But most full time drivers get their radios peaked out. A tech goes in and max's out the internal amp above what the fcc allows. This is fact.

When peaking out a radio it needs to be done properly. There is a point where the quality of the signal deteriorates. Just turning up the amp full blast generally the signal will be just as bad if the signal is weak.

Amps can improve the signal whether it be weak or strong. tuning the amp with a freq meter and adjusting the power are going to be tuned differently depending on the original signal.

The point is frequency can be amplified, monitored and controlled. Its just a matter of having the right tools to manipulate the frequency.  At this point the tools are more limited thhan CB's and hams.

CB radios operate in Hz range, Ham radios operate in GHz and EVDO, Vision, The edge operate in MHz.

If you look at Ham radios they have a boat load of controls, meters and amps.

[granpa]

What you need to remember is these are different frequencies and may not act the same. I think the idea for an ideal antenna is to capture the complete wave length. You mentioned hills and trees, it may be best to use a amplifier for more range  but I think getting some height and going to a yagi antenna may work better being a straight shooter.  Keep in mind a clear line of site always works best.

[Maric117]

I normaly get about 3 bars of signal. I purchased the wilson trucker antenna, 3 watt amp, 100' ultra low loss cable and the needed adapters and fittings.  I used a 6' piece of 1" pvc as a mast to get the antenna as high up as possible.  Im now getting the max signal bars but I saw little to no difference in my conection speed. The only upside has been that I have absolutely NO dropped conections. Dunno if it was worth the $500 though.    just my expirience

[dn0]

First, do you have the Sprint Smartview software?
It will give you the exact receive power level (snapshot attached): mine is running -82dBm (in my basement).
And granpa is right, you should try a better antenna before amplifying the RF.
You could very well just amplify your problems along with the signal.
An amp does not correct signal distortions, in fact by the laws of physics, amplifiers introduce distortions.
Also, the 60dB amp will be in dBmV - radio signal level is given in dBm.
60 dBmv = approximately 13dBm @ 50ohm. (this would be the best you would gain with the amplifier).

[tommie gorman]

I also am in my basement. I usually get between -68 to -70 signal. My drawback is traffic. Which can not be helped.

Sounds like many will spend on amps, I almost made the same mistake. I have the yagi on a steel water pipe pole stuck in the ground. Sucker was 20' long. So I just drove it beside the house standing on the roof with a fence post driver. (or T-post driver). I also have the truckers beside it too. I switch back and forth for fun, I think the yagi draws better though. 

[Maric117]

I  just reset the signal amp after complaining to wilsons... apperently you have to be connected before powing up the amp for the 1st time. I just ran a speed test and quite an improvement from my normal 400-600k range.

:::.. testmy.net test results ..:::
Download Connection is:: 1183 Kbps about 1.18 Mbps (tested with 1024 kB)
Download Speed is:: 144 kB/s
Upload Connection is:: 594 Kbps about 0.6 Mbps (tested with 1013 kB)
Upload Speed is:: 73 kB/s
Tested From:: http://testmy.net (Main)
Test Time:: 2008/11/26 - 3:53pm
D-Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/stats/id-83OF2M7KY
U-Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/stats/id-QHYLJ749F
User Agent:: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0; SLCC1; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; Media Center PC 5.0; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 3.0.30618; .NET CLR 3.5.21022; .NET CLR 3.5.30729) [!]

[tommie gorman]

Yes, that is quite an improvement. 

[justinlay]

I  just reset the signal amp after complaining to wilsons... apperently you have to be connected before powing up the amp for the 1st time. I just ran a speed test and quite an improvement from my normal 400-600k range.

::::::::::.. testmy.net test results ..::::::::::
Download Connection is:: 1183 Kbps about 1.18 Mbps (tested with 1024 kB)
Download Speed is:: 144 kB/s
Upload Connection is:: 594 Kbps about 0.6 Mbps (tested with 1013 kB)
Upload Speed is:: 73 kB/s
Tested From:: http://testmy.net (Main)
Test Time:: 2008/11/26 - 3:53pm
D-Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/stats/id-83OF2M7KY
U-Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/stats/id-QHYLJ749F
User Agent:: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0; SLCC1; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; Media Center PC 5.0; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 3.0.30618; .NET CLR 3.5.21022; .NET CLR 3.5.30729)

I say thats a pretty good improvement