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Verizon Network Extender experience

Hi everyone,

I've had VZW forever and been in our current home for nearly four years. We're in south Nashville, and have pretty good coverage everywhere we go.

However, I work from home, and often use my cell phone at home for business calls. I've had a Blackberry 8800, Blackberry 8330, and now have the Motorola Droid. All three seem to have an echo or delay in voice calls, but only in or near our home. I figured since all three phones have done this over the time we've lived here, I should try something else. Signal bar on the Droid is 3G wth ne or two bars 90% of the time.

I see the Verizon Network Extender on their site and purchase it. Get it all set up real easy and the phones (wife has an Eris, and had a Razor V3C, both of which have the same issue) recognize it just fine.

The thing I notice now is the signal bar reads 1x with two or three bars. Am I confused, or is that actually a worse signal than we had before. Our phone calls now are pretty clear, so there seems to be a improvement, but the data on the devices crawls at a snail's pace now.

Is this normalnd is the 1x a default mode to focus more on voice than data, or is somthing wrong her? If 1x is a worse signal, I feel pretty crappy about spendign that cash. Can someone give me a bit of guidance on what I should be expecting?

Thanks in advance!
Kris
 
The Verizon femtocell does not support EVDO (3G). Sorry. But since you clearly have broadband in your home, why aren't you just using your wi-fi connection on your Droid and Eris?

I've had the Verizon Network Extender at my house for 6 months or so now. I originally bought it when i had my Curve 8330 because i work from home alot and i would constantly drop calls. After i got it, I never dropped a single call and call quality was great (4-5 bars at all times vs 0-2 bars before).

I was told that it didnt help with the data service, and that's true, my data service on my Curve 8330 did not improve after the NE was installed. However, i WAS still able to get internet access, even though it was slow).

What you're saying is that the NE doesnt support EVDO (3G). I have 2 questions:

1. Wasnt my Curve 8330 using 3G to access the internet, even when connected to the NE?

2. If so, how do you explain your statement, and why can't the Eris get the same Internet Access the Berry did when connected to the NE?
 
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How is the WiFi compared to 3G? Downtown, my 3G isn't very impressive, but near my house, it is pretty good. I haven't put it on the WiFi network because I've been running out of MAC Address slots for my cheap router. If it makes a significant difference, I'm just going to have to boot some things off the network.

Well, simply put, WiFi peaks at 54Mbps for the wireless G standard which most phones support. That's theoretical max and single strength/distance from the access point makes a difference. EVDO rev A peaks at 3.1Mbps but, again, that's theoretical, and same wireless limitations apply. Most get somewhere in the ballpark of 700kbps to 1.5Mbps. Figure you're pushing over 10Mbps typical on WiFi so that should be MUCH faster. It's definitely a preferred conneciton wherever available.
 
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I've had the Verizon Network Extender at my house for 6 months or so now. I originally bought it when i had my Curve 8330 because i work from home alot and i would constantly drop calls. After i got it, I never dropped a single call and call quality was great (4-5 bars at all times vs 0-2 bars before).

I was told that it didnt help with the data service, and that's true, my data service on my Curve 8330 did not improve after the NE was installed. However, i WAS still able to get internet access, even though it was slow).

What you're saying is that the NE doesnt support EVDO (3G). I have 2 questions:

1. Wasnt my Curve 8330 using 3G to access the internet, even when connected to the NE?

2. If so, how do you explain your statement, and why can't the Eris get the same Internet Access the Berry did when connected to the NE?

All Verizon's 3G phones drop back to 1xRTT, even for data, when an EVDO signal is not present or very weak. If your Blackberry seemed a little more quicker on the extender, it could be because it's a bit more efficient, handling all data requests through the Blackberrry Internet Server or Blackbery Exchange Servers (for business). You said your Droid and Eris do get data on the extender, just really slow, right? If so, I don't understand question 2. Bottom line, your Curve wasn't getting a 3G signal from the extender.
 
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Hi, thanks for the replies.

Yes, we could turn on wifi I guess, but it drains the crap out of the battery. And although I would be able to quickly turn it off when I leave home, I know my wife will forget 90% of the time and she'll stat complaining abotu the battery life. I'm disappointed though - I didn't realize the data was par of the network 'extension'. Guess I'll read the details closer next time. Just seems like there is always a trade off I have decide on with VZW and it gets old.

Fo those of you using one of these extenders, do you have to use the gps? I have it strung across my office now to make it work, but my server closet is dead center in the house (never expected to need a view of the sky in there).

Kris
 
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Hi, thanks for the replies.

Yes, we could turn on wifi I guess, but it drains the crap out of the battery. And although I would be able to quickly turn it off when I leave home, I know my wife will forget 90% of the time and she'll stat complaining abotu the battery life. I'm disappointed though - I didn't realize the data was par of the network 'extension'. Guess I'll read the details closer next time. Just seems like there is always a trade off I have decide on with VZW and it gets old.

I'm sure mileage varies from user to user, but wifi should be easier on your battery than 3g, unless the faster wifi speeds simply prompt you to use it more. If you have Android phones, there's a free app that allows you to change settings based on your GPS location. I've heard of this where you can set your ringer on/off/vibrate based on location (I plan to use this to make sure my ringer is silent at work). I think you can toggle radio settings, too.

Edit: Here it is...

Locale for Android

Here's a top ten list that has a quick video review...

Top 10 Google Android Apps With GPS For T-Mobile G1
 
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It's definitely a preferred conneciton wherever available.

Hmmmm, since we're on FiOS at home, I am definitely doing WiFi for data from now on. I just wasn't too impressed with my laptop's performance over the network, but that is because I've been so spoiled by the machines on CAT 5. Time to steal a MAC address entry. Thanks Kyler!
 
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No man, I had to register for this site when I saw your question! I know exactly what you mean. This is what's going on. I had a Blackberry Curve, then Storm. Both showed full bars with network extender (without network extender I had 0-1 bars). When I switched to android for some reason androids operating system doesn't understand the network extender so it will only show what bar's your getting from towers not your network extender, even though you are connected to it. If you dial a number look at your phone it will simply go to FULL BARS while your on the phone hence while your calls are clear. I hope oneday android fix's this. I know you posted this awhile back but post back to see if you understand.
 
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No man, I had to register for this site when I saw your question! I know exactly what you mean. This is what's going on. I had a Blackberry Curve, then Storm. Both showed full bars with network extender (without network extender I had 0-1 bars). When I switched to android for some reason androids operating system doesn't understand the network extender so it will only show what bar's your getting from towers not your network extender, even though you are connected to it. If you dial a number look at your phone it will simply go to FULL BARS while your on the phone hence while your calls are clear. I hope oneday android fix's this. I know you posted this awhile back but post back to see if you understand.

Just curious, which android phone do you have? If it's the Incredible, it's radio goes into a kind of power save mode when not in use. It did that on the towers as well. When you'd dial a number, the bars would go up to what they actually are while on the call, then go low again after the call ends.

I have had the NE for about a month now, and it's been great. As far as data, all of the previous posters are right, 1X is all you get if you have mobile data on. I use wifi, but have not had the issue the OP had with notifications and dropped calls. They only thing I can think of that could cause his issue is if your home's internet upload/download speed is not enough. They recommend at least 1M up and down. I was at 1M down and 275K up. I upped my connection speed to 2M down and 1M up and have not had any issues. That maybe something you overlooked.

Codeyh is right, about 2 months ago a new Verizon NE passed through FCC testing. It will support 3G (EVDO) and supports around 8-11 callers. I'm thinking that's why the price dropped on the original NE to $100 after rebate.
 
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