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Cellular data coverage using amplifiers?

Starting Pre sales On Wednesday . You get $50 discount for pre ordering . Your credit card will not get billed till product is shipped to you and pre orders will be the first to go out even before orders to our retail outlets. Pre order Phone number is 413-maximum (413-629-4686)

Mark - Now working on getting pre production units assembled. You , Roger Hill and Steve Miller will be getting them to review for the storm chasing community. It is very costly ( over $1100 each to build pre production units) so sorry everyone else.
 
How long will the pre-sale be active? Want to jump on this, but would like to hear the reviews of the pre-production units before dropping that kind of cash on something.
 
I've found some great dead spots east of town to test in the last month or two for when the time comes. I can't even imagine how so many different components come together to accomplish the end result. I suppose it's akin to a PC mobo and those have always fascinated me. It's good someone knows how to make it happen. I'm getting excited to see how it'll work!
 
Having just chased the TX panhandle I can say I'm impressed with the LTE coverage even in the most rural of areas. We were SW of Lubbock in the oil fields and the coverage was outstanding. The opposite can be said of the OK panhandle, SE and east central CO. Very hit and miss with a lot of 1XRTT signal, and even along Highway 287 it is in fact terrible, or at least it was for me. I suppose it boils down to roaming agreements with the various regional carriers, of which I'm not sure of anymore. I recall SE CO appearing to be a Viaero Wireless area based on the number of signs I saw. These marginal areas are where an amplifier makes all the difference in the world. I can't wait to take it for a test drive to see what you've come up with!
 
Mark Blue said:
Having just chased the TX panhandle I can say I'm impressed with the LTE coverage even in the most rural of areas. We were SW of Lubbock in the oil fields and the coverage was outstanding. The opposite can be said of the OK panhandle, SE and east central CO. Very hit and miss with a lot of 1XRTT signal, and even along Highway 287 it is in fact terrible, or at least it was for me. I suppose it boils down to roaming agreements with the various regional carriers, of which I'm not sure of anymore. I recall SE CO appearing to be a Viaero Wireless area based on the number of signs I saw. These marginal areas are where an amplifier makes all the difference in the world. I can't wait to take it for a test drive to see what you've come up with!
Click to expand...

Last of chips for prototypes is supposed to arrive today . Hope to have your test unit to you shortly Mark!
 
Someone take the latest amp up to Hwy 18/85 north of Lusk, WY and let me know how much coverage you get on Verizon. Also Hwy 71 south of Punkin Center, CO. I've gotten so used to universal LTE coverage I'd forgotten what it was like to lose data when I found a couple fringe areas.
 
Thanks for the input James. I'll be testing in these types of fringe areas when I get the amp from Mr. Gordon. If anyone knows of other dead spots in eastern CO I'd appreciate hearing from you.

This probably sounds crazy, but I think I had better overall coverage in eastern CO when I had Sprint than I do now with Verizon. Granted I'm talking about 5 years ago and 3G only, but I'll take 3G any day when in BFE as it's plenty fast for my needs. Seems to me Verizon has some work to do in the roaming agreements department, or in lieu of that to just build out their network in areas that still lack coverage. It's a tall order but is doable based on the LTE coverage I saw in the TX panhandle the week before last. Five bars of LTE in the most remote locations just blew my mind. I have a feeling the solution to the problem lies deep within the confines of the new amp and all of that silicon it contains. We shall soon find out!
 
I should also note I will be testing mine in my commercial truck as well as some of the trailheads and camping places in Colorado. I will document as much data as possible.
 
Hi Gordon, are we still in the pre-order stage on this, or has the $50 discount expired at this point?
 
Hi everybody,
I didnt wanna start a new thread and thought this might fit in here. We are coming to the US for chasing in May, and are overthinking our equipment right now. We want to upgrade the Verizon 4510 to a 6620, because the 4510 seems to be some kind of broken. We have an older signal booster by Cyfre (CA-819), and it is a dual band amplifier. We are wondering if an actual 4G amplifier would bring a much better signal, last year we suffered some huge signal losses in Texas southwest of DFW. So my question is: is the Mifi 6620 better than the 4510 and are the actual 4G amplifiers significantly better than our Dual band amplifier ? Anyways we will chase with a dual setup using mobile data and a mobile thread net to be on the safe side. Thanks for your comments!

Cheers

Nils
 
4G Amps are SIGNFICANT improvements over the old Cyfre amps. I made this move two seasons ago and have been very pleased. Chasing all last season with a Wilson 4G-V was great with only a few areas in West Nebraska to be challenging.
 
Thanks very much Eric for your opinion, that will make us buy an actual amplifier model.


Sent from my iPad using Stormtrack mobile app
 
And I got another question: This WeBoost Drive 4G-X (already ordered and ready for pickup when we arrive) has a Wireless antenna. So how does it connect to mobile devices ? Is it via WiFi ?

As we will be using a MiFi with a data plan, since we are foreigners and don´t have a cell phone data plan, this does only connect to an amplifier via an antenna cable, is that right ?

We still have the antenna cable from our old MiFi, which sits very loose in the MiFi, but I was wondering if the Verizon 6620 Jetpack can connect to the inside antenna of the amplifier via WiFi ?

Or do we even need a MiFi ? Is it possible to load a data plan to the WeBoost 4G-X ? I saw that you have to register the amplifier at Verizons homepage...

Hope anyone can help on my questions ?
 
Nils Franke said:
And I got another question: This WeBoost Drive 4G-X (already ordered and ready for pickup when we arrive) has a Wireless antenna. So how does it connect to mobile devices ? Is it via WiFi ?

- The wireless antenna for the amp connects to your MiFi via the Verizon wireless cellular signal. The MiFi then blankets your vehicle with Wifi for everyone to use to access the internet.

As we will be using a MiFi with a data plan, since we are foreigners and don´t have a cell phone data plan, this does only connect to an amplifier via an antenna cable, is that right ?

- This will not connect in the same way as your old amp with a special cable between your amp and MiFi, it'll connect using the wireless cellular signal. You'll need to ensure that the internal antenna is in fairly close proximity to your MiFi too, otherwise your connectivity will be hit or miss. If you want a direct connect amp you'd be well advised to shift gears and go that route. You'd have to exchange your wireless amp for a direct connect though, but it'd save you some money. You still need to run an external antenna from the amp to the roof per usual procedure.

We still have the antenna cable from our old MiFi, which sits very loose in the MiFi, but I was wondering if the Verizon 6620 Jetpack can connect to the inside antenna of the amplifier via WiFi ?

- You'd probably need a new adapter cable with a newer model MiFi, but it could be the same in some instances. If you really want to connect your MiFi to the amp via a cable, you'd need a direct connect model (see above).

Or do we even need a MiFi ? Is it possible to load a data plan to the WeBoost 4G-X ? I saw that you have to register the amplifier at Verizons homepage...

- You need one way or the other to connect to Verizon, so it's either a MiFi, a smartphone, or dongle. It isn't possible to load a data plan on the amp. The amplifier is only that, it isn't designed to accept a SIM card or USB dongle. Yes, you do need to register on Verizon before you use a new amp on their network. It's pretty painless.

Hope anyone can help on my questions ?
Click to expand...

Replies are inline above.
 
Thank you very much Mark, that helps a lot. As I understood, the best way is to attach the MiFi directly to the internal antenna, with some velcro tape or so ?
 
I had so many issues with wireless amps and reliable connectivity that when I decided to upgrade to a 4G amp I bought the direct connect model. The other issue as I saw it was the use of the term wireless with these units. You'll still have cables galore to deal with, trust me. You'll have to tinker around with your setup to find what works.

I use a Cradlepoint router, which is similar in form and function to a MiFi. My USB modem/dongle has an external antenna port that allows for the direct connection to the amp, so I decided that was best for my application. There's nothing worse than troubleshooting connection issues during a chase!


Sent from my iPad using Stormtrack mobile app
 
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