I live in an apartment with incredibly shitty cell reception, and use a mobile as my primary phone. That’s why I fell in lust with Samsung’s new Ubicell CDMA base station the moment I saw it. Just plug it into your modem and you can now bypass your local service. The great part is that all the (CDMA)cell phones in the household can use it.
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What carrier support it, Verizon? Sprint?
Why would you want a CDMA device when GSM is so much better.
This is similar/same to Femtocell technology. The next generation home routers and DSL modems will have this built in, which could become part of cheaper cell phone plans.
Smartalix, I was over at the new Time Warner building at Columbus Circle yesterday. Besides leaning over the top ledge in the magnificent atrium getting great unobstuctive views of cleavage down below I spent a fair amount of time in the Samsung store. Samsung has got the most awesome cellphones in the market. Unfortunately, the one i fell in lust with was only available for service in Korea and another flag that was blue with several stars in a circle on it (?). The sign said it was the thinnest cellphone in the world. Surely looked like it. Plus there H U G E plasma (?) HD tvs were amazing! And if you have the money, the lobby has a cast iron statue of a 15 foot man selling for a million dollars. (Hasn’t sold since the building opened)
Seems to me that carriers would not like this, puts too much choice in customer’s hands.
Anyone know of one that handles GSM signals? The signals around here suck.
#6, I couldn’t find anything like the Samsung that hooks up to a modem, but there are some repeaters available that boast up to a 50dB signal increase using a single window antenna. You can them by searching for “gsm home repeater”.
This one is a little pricey ($400 US) and works like a charm with all but Nextel: http://tinyurl.com/3xt86c
4,
Yes, the new Time Warner Center is nice. I’ve attended a few functions at the Samsung showcase and it always has the latest in their tech. I like their MP3 players’ form factor and functionality.
I REALLY need something like this, but with GSM. My cell tower is on the opposite side of a mountain, so my reception in my house really sucks. Thanks #7 for the search suggestion!
I REALLY need something like this, but with GSM. My cell tower is on the opposite side of a mountain, so my reception in my house really sucks. Thanks #7 for the search suggestion! My iPhone also thanks you!
Seems to me that carriers would not like this, puts too much choice in customer’s hands.
Not really, your still paying air time. It just uses your internet connection to connect to their network just like a cell site does. Think mini cell site that only you can use in your living room. I think its a great idea.
#2 – “GSM is so much better”… Yeah, because we know in the USA, the GSM carriers have widespread 3G, and no dead spots…. oh yeah,
gquaglia: Seems to me that once that signal hits the Internet you could hook up with just about anyone anywhere. They’ll sue, you watch.
I am not sure if this is meant to be a cell phone repeater for your current cell phone carrier that utilizes CDMA or if it’s meant to replace your cell carrier by allowing you the capability to set up a home CDMA station (ala Long Range Cordless Telephone).
Maybe I didn’t dig deep enough. My impression is this is meant for industrial applications for corporations that have the ability to coordinate for RF spectrum allocations from their governing authority.
If it’s meant to bypass a cell phone carrier I am not even sure you can legally use these systems in the US. The cell phone carriers purchase spectrum from the FCC for licensed usage. Any cell phone that utilizes CDMA is going to operate on someone’s licensed spectrum. Playing devil’s advocate, even if they were to operate in the 2.4 GHz or 5.4 GHz range I would suspect the transmitters exceed the EIRP dBm/watts transmitting power in accordance to FCC Part 15 guidelines.
CDMA is a form of spread spectrum multiplexing and is technically a waveform. As such the waveform can be used on a number of RF ranges. I went to the Samsung website to try and determine what frequency range it operates on.
Of interesting note is that Samsung also offer a WCDMA terminal. The WCDMA air interface is used in the global 3G standard UMTS and the Japanese 3G standard FOMA, by NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone; however, the CDMA family of US national standards (including cdmaOne and CDMA2000) are not compatible with the WCDMA family of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) standards.
14,
It’s meant for the home.
I think these things are a few years away from being available on all carriers. I’m in love with my iphone and couldn’t wait to for crappy at@t to get their act together so I got a repeater. Doesn’t use an internet connection, but acts more like a cell tower, boosting current cell signal:
Works well, although for preference I would rather a femtocell. Here’s hoping ATT get them sooon!