Verizon Network Extender

I dont think it is a good idea to have your email address as your user name.

lbentley777@gmail.com said:

Don't waste your money. After 45 minutes on the phone, and 4 different people, i finally found a Verizon tech support guy who admitted that the Samsung Network Extender only extends coverage for 39.5 linear feet (as opposed to the 5000 square foot house they advertive that it covers). I admit that my math isn't good enough to determine if a 39.5 foot sphere equals 5000 square feet, but I think that's irrelevant, it's simply misleading to suggest that this device covers any distance over 40 feet or so. For the record, i got very good performance for the first 30 feet or so, but got virtually no improvement 65 feet away (on the same level) from the device where I really needed it.
As a humerous side note, you should all appreciate this: When I asked the sales girl at Verizon in Chattanooga, TN what the range of the unit was, she said "about 30 feet". When I told her the website said it covered a 5000 square foot house, she said "Oh, I meant 300 feet". I guess her math is even worse than mine !!

Click to expand...

I can understand your frustration, but it's really out of Verizon's hands. Besides environment (buildings, walls, trees, etc.) the range limit is also mandated by the FCC. The reason they limit the range has to do with their requirements on interference.

Say you're living in a neighborhood where houses are around 10' - 20' apart. With a longer operating range, you'd be interfering with your neighbors' cellular service. Even if you have it set up to allow only your numbers to work on it, their phones will see your NE as a tower and try to lock onto it. So while you would have great service, you'd effectively be cutting off anyone within it's operating range. The only way it would work is if you left it open to anyone who wants to use it. But then you can only have around 3-8 simultaneous calls (depending on what generation of NE you have). And then they'd be using your internet connection for those calls, which would limit your broadband speed in your home.

The FCC places limits on devices like this so they don't interfere with other people's electronics. That explains why those FM transmitters that send ipod audio to your car radio over a radio frequency are so weak. It's so they don't interfere with the car next to you. I used to work installing sound systems in buildings (churches, community centers, gyms, etc.) and it's the same for wireless mic and assisted listening systems.

Now the NE's range can be extended by calling into Verizon, but I was told that they can only do that in a case like mine (on a farm) where the nearest home is about a mile away so there would be no chance of interference. Hope that clears things up.

P.S. After having the 2 NEs for a little over a year, I can say it's much better with than without. Before my signal inside was around -98 to -105dBm. With the NEs I get around -70 to -80dBm. The only complaints I have is 1X only for data (I have a 1st gen. NE), and the time it takes for it to be usable after a power outage (around 20-40 minutes). Other than that I'm happy.

I have a Samsung Network Extender installed in my house and it works well in the house and for a short ways down the street.

Have you considered that maybe your home construction is interfering with the signal? If there is a lot of metal or block used in the installation it will more quickly attenuate the signal.

Volume of a sphere = 4/3pi (r^3).

Over 250000 cubic feet of coverage, but other signals / objects can interfere.

However, since you are talking about just square footage of a circle,

pi(r)^2 = 4901 square feet according to your specs of the network extender. Must be other interference on your end.

-Sev

I have the NE and without it I don't get signal at all. I've never really tested the range but I know I can go out in the yard and still get service.