Micro Cell VS Signal Booster

[skier150]

Has anyone tried a signal booster solution for home?  I looked at the zboost and wilson setups before I went with the micro cell.  The zboost is cheaper, but gets a lot of complaints about coverage area.

Just wondering if anyone made the switch from MC to SB, or visa versa... and how did it work out?

[MarkZ71]

if you have a land line broadband set up...i would recommend the Microcell if you have a bar or two of signal of 3g.

[Otto Pylot ACE - Czar]

There isn't a definitive answer to that. SBs and the MicroCell both have their reliability and coverage issues so you just have to experiment and see what works best for your phones, geographic location (in relationship to nearby towers), and environmental conditions in your home/apartment. I have very few, if any, issues with the MicroCell using various phones (iPhone 3GS, 4S, Samsung 3G, etc).

[skier150]

MC

- Huge battery drain issues... and it does not look like they are doing much about it

- Potential problems with it competing with external towers 

- When your internet goes down, so does your phone

- Only works on 3G ATT phones

+ The signal is very strong from the unit

+ If you present your case, you can get the unit for just about free

+ $20 ulimited calling plan is convenient

SB

- costs $350 for the setup

- relies upon an external tower signal

- coverage area inside home can vary

+ does not rely on the internet

+ can be expanded to increase coverage area

+ works with all carriers and all phones (not nextel)

[Otto Pylot ACE - Czar]

Very nice pros and cons list. Battery drain hasn't been an issue for us but that depends on usage. Our internet never goes down and if it does, I still have my landline, which I will never give up. It's bundled with my internet but still uses the AT&T copper. The MicroCell is mainly for the kids who live on their cell phones and would never even consider using a landline. Too bad for them.

[skier150]

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Otto Pylot wrote:
Very nice pros and cons list. Battery drain hasn't been an issue for us but that depends on usage. Our internet never goes down and if it does, I still have my landline, which I will never give up. It's bundled with my internet but still uses the AT&T copper. The MicroCell is mainly for the kids who live on their cell phones and would never even consider using a landline. Too bad for them.

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My battery drains about 5x faster, and charges 2x slower when connected to the MC.... unless I turn the data off every time I get home.  I gave up the landline years ago, $60 a month was just too much for a basic line.

[Otto Pylot ACE - Czar]

I had basic land line service which I needed to keep for my DSL line and just kept it after we got cell phones. My ISP has since bundled my basic AT&T land line service (and taken over the maintenance) with my DSL (ADSL2+) and for $40 per month, I keep my land line service and phone number intact, and get 20Mbps down and 1.0Mbps up sustained DSL. So I'm basically saving about $80 per month for call waiting, forwarding, unlimited domestic long distance on my land line and internet service. I don't pay an additional monthly charge for my MicroCell either because we don't need it on our legacy cell phone contract (which covers 3 iPhones and 2 Samsung 3Gs).