

New spectrum would boost unlicensed Wi-Fi spectrum by a third


I. Towards Faster Wi-Fi


But FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski argues:





II. Spectrum Sharing, Signal Boosting






Sources: InfoWorld, DARPA

Comments     Threshold


Feto cells
By bah12 on 2/21/2013 4:03:44 PM , Rating: 3
Problem with Feto cells is that the ATT one requires a GPS signal for e911. So it needs a window, and thus prevents you from putting it in the middle of a structure.

Also the complete rip off it is.

1. You have to pre-register the phones it doesn't just boost anyone. So onsite vendors/clients don't get a benefit.

2. They cap the number of devices (15 I think)>

3. Most importantly they charge me $199 to subsidize their shIItty network coverage with my hard paid for bandwidth.

I don't mind the concept, but have a program to allow for free cells to people in areas you know the coverage is bad.

RE: Feto cells
By 3DoubleD on 2/21/2013 7:47:00 PM , Rating: 3
I like the idea of Femtocells as well, but it seems to be a silly solution to a problem that should be simple to fix.

In almost every building that has terrible cell signal, you will almost always find a WiFi network, or another way of putting it, anywhere you could put a Femtocell you could install a WiFi AP. So then why can't carriers create market downloadable apps to enable WiFi calling?!?!

Why produce an expensive, useless piece of hardware like a Femtocell when we already have existing infrastructure that already works! The WiFi APs are cheap and in many places are already installed, all mobile products already work with it, it doesn't use up additional spectrum... this lists goes on...

It blows my mind, I absolutely don't understand it. My only thought is that the carriers don't want to do it because it causes them to lose control and/or makes people realize the "service" they provide isn't really worth the $/month.

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Windy has shitty coverage and everyone knows that.

You get what you pay for.

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RE: Feto cells
By kyuuketsuki on 2/21/2013 7:54:59 PM , Rating: 2
AT&T does provide free femtocells for people in bad coverage areas. If you paid for yours, I'm afraid you got hosed. =/

RE: Feto cells
By djdjohnson on 2/22/2013 2:28:38 AM , Rating: 2
AT&T wouldn't cover the cost of mine even though I can't reliably receive, make, or hold onto calls. Since their coverage map says that coverage is good where I live, they wouldn't provide a microcell for free, even if a phone on their network is almost completely useless.

Nevermind what happens in the real world as long as their map says everything is fine. Coverage maps are always right.

RE: Feto cells
By CZroe on 2/21/2013 11:30:22 PM , Rating: 2
I have one exactly like the photo and for the last year I have had a different problem:
Extremely often I come home and my phone hops on the "microcell" and something happens that makes my battery tank. I mean it drops like a rock in water. My previous phone didn't do it and the family's other phones didn't, but my Xperia Play clearly shows an almost flat line for the hours I'm gone and a sharp dive when I come home. When I first got the phone I didn't discover the issue until I noticed that a fully charged phone would sometimes die before a short alarm had the chance to activate a measly 4 hours later (was late for work twice). I need the micro cell to make and receive calls at home so I usually just leave my phone plugged in, but it's something I deal with every day (IOW, hundreds of times per year) so it still has plenty of chances to frustrate me.

It's been a year and a half and I think it had a silent update pushed to it recently. iPhones always report it as "4G" while my Xperia signal indicator would say "3G" on the microcell and always "H+" or "E" on AT&T's cellular network (pretty sure all 3G towers are now HSPA+ "4G"). It recently started saying "H+" on the microcell but the battery-drain situation continues. Yeah, maybe a baseband update could fix it on my phone, but that's never going to happen and I still blame the microcell (clearly, not as well tested for compatibility as actual network hardware).

RE: Feto cells
By DockScience on 2/23/2013 2:18:38 PM , Rating: 2
That's AT&T.

Sprint provides their AirRave femtocell devices FREE to subscribers who have low coverage.

Mine works quite well.

