Picked up a 3G MicroCell yesterday for my home. Before I always had to run my phone in edge mode and would at best get 2 bars. Even on edge I'd still have problems maintaining calls in my basement office. After the install, now I get 5 bars of 3G coverage all throughout my house. The signal almost reaches out to my backyard, but its not as big of a deal to get 3G from a "real" tower when walls aren't in the way.
The install was very easy. Originally I had wanted to install it right next to my cable modem and router, but the documentation recommended maintaining distance from the router to reduce interference. Luckily I have a switch in my office, which has a basement window. My only concern is how well the voice quality will be maintained when running an application like bittorrent. I couldn't find anything in the documentation that recommended putting the MicroCell between the cable modem and router, though I had heard recommendations to do so on the internet. If problems occur I'll have to figure something out.
Overall I'm very pleased with the hardware so far. I know some people will complain about the need to buy a $150 piece of hardware to supplement AT&Ts network. For me I look at it as a minimal cost over the life of my AT&T plan (guessing 2+ years min). Unless your next to a cell tower you can usually never guarantee 5 bars of strength throughout your home. Given that I telecommute it is key that I can maintain communication while at home. Its not for everyone, but I know for some it will be a valuable addition to their mobile service.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment