One of the big complaints lodged against wireless phone companies is poor signal quality inside buildings, especially homes. Sprint is trying to overcome that obstacle with a device that boosts wireless signals indoors and directs the calls over the Internet.

Photo: Sprint to Introduce the Airave for Enhanced In-Home Coverage Photo 1

The Sprint Airave is the first commercially available femtocell, a compact base station that works with any Sprint phone and a broadband Internet connection to provide enhanced in-home wireless coverage plus unlimited calling.

"With the Airave, Sprint is delivering an enhanced in-home coverage solution that's simple to access, low in cost and compatible with any Sprint phone," said Ajit Bhatia, director of product management for Sprint. "In addition, with unlimited in-home wireless calling, the Airave makes it even more convenient for customers to rely on their Sprint phones at home."

With the Sprint Airave by Samsung, Sprint customers can:

- Get enhanced coverage in their homes
- Talk all they want while in their homes, without worrying about using their wireless minutes. Unlimited incoming and outgoing calls and nationwide long distance are included while using a Sprint phone at home
- Take advantage of enhanced coverage and unlimited home calling without having to purchase a new phone. All Sprint phones are compatible with the Airave
- Reduce their monthly communication expenses. Airave service is priced at just $15 per month for individuals and $30 per month for families, in addition to the customer's regular wireless voice plan
- Easily install the device using their existing broadband Internet service and a power outlet
- Have their calls automatically transferred back to the Nationwide Sprint PCS Network when they leave home

Starting today, Sprint customers in select areas of Denver and Indianapolis will be able to purchase the Airave at area Sprint stores for $49.99. Sprint plans to make the Airave available later this year to customers in the remainder of Denver and Indianapolis, along with Nashville, and to customers nationwide in 2008.

1. Posted by IOWA	Sun Mar 02, 2008 2:45 am
Now you can purchase airave just for signal boost. all you have to do is activate it, then go online to your account. unlimited calling is set as a feature. uncheck it. then your all good. you'll still have to pay like 2 bucks a month in taxes but it's better than 15 or 30
2. Posted by McGirk	Mon Mar 03, 2008 12:28 pm
Where available. How much is the device? Because you can purchase signal boosters for around $350 and some of them are getting easier and easier to install.
3. Posted by IOWA	Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:00 am
It's Not A Signal Booster Though, It's An Actual CDMA Tower In Your House. They Retail For 50 Bucks, But They Give A 50 Dollar Rebate, This May Be Just Because They Are Testing, It Is Only Available In 3 Cities Until April 16, They Are Chicago, Denver, And Indianapolis.
4. Posted by McGirk	Wed Mar 05, 2008 10:26 am
I'd have to do a lot more research before I believe that. I know about Air Rave, and I know it's functionality will not be added to SNAP or FDT until the next Unified Billing Release, but it's much more likely a signal booster or repeater then it is a 'tower'.
5. Posted by IOWA	Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:46 am
Nope It's Called A Femtocell, and essentially it is a cdma mini tower in your house or office. it can handle up to 3 simultanious calls. it runs off your broadband internet connection. and to prevent other people from hijacking your in home signal, air rave is programmable to allow only certain numbers to access the device.
6. Posted by McGirk	Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:32 am
Yay, that's exactly what I want to do, use up all of my bandwidth to have a slightly better phone call.
7. Posted by IOWA	Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:43 am
Yay, that's exactly what I want to do, use up all of my bandwidth to have a slightly better phone call. Actually The Estimations They Came Up With Even If All 3 Users Were On The Phone It Would Only Use 260KBS Max. On A Decent Connection That Wouldn't Phase It At All. And Don't Forget The Option Of Unlimited Calling From Home For 15 For A Single Line And 30 For The Family. And Those Prices May Even Drop As The Competition Pumps These Things Out. TMobile Is Already Looking Into Building A GSM Version.
8. Posted by McGirk	Fri Mar 07, 2008 11:06 am
I only have DSL, I don't have a good connection.
9. Posted by IOWA	Sun Mar 09, 2008 4:19 pm
I only have DSL, I don't have a good connection. DSL isn't necessicarily bad. my dsl reaches up to 8 megs at the office. of coarse my cable at home is better, but soon cable will be the way of the dodo.
10. Posted by McGirk	Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:38 am
Cable will be around longer then DSL, my DSL doesn't even come close to those speeds. Average download is in the seventies, and that is k.
11. Posted by IOWA	Wed Mar 12, 2008 2:11 pm
Cable will be around longer then DSL, my DSL doesn't even come close to those speeds. Average download is in the seventies, and that is k. ADSL2 and FIOS will replace cable and regular dsl
12. Posted by McGirk	Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:09 pm
I live in the boonies, I don't expect to see anything like, any time soon.
13. Posted by Barciur	Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:26 pm
I'm really wondering how does that work that in Europe they don't have that problem. at least where I've been/used to live.
14. Posted by McGirk	Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:59 am
Europe doesn't have the geographical roadblocks that the US does. Larger countries have a lot more rural areas, and it's harder and less profitable to get services out to those areas. Major market areas will not usually have a problem with deployment, and since there are more customers in those markets, they will get any newer technology first. There are still a lot of people who don't have access to broadband except through the exhorbitant satelite versions. Even I pay more for slower services then others that live in larger markets.
15. Posted by tonfifty	Thu Jun 26, 2008 9:16 am
Live in Indy and have Sprint Air Rave. My wife runs a non-profit from home which is 80% working out of home and 20% outside work. She wants all her volunteers and clients to have a single number to contact her. So here, Air Rave makes sense. If she's on the cell phone all day at home, she busts her minute limit, so she'd like to use the home phone, but that ties up the home phone, ties up the fax line and leaves home caller id on peoples phones unless she uses blocking. Air Rave is a femtocell, not a booster. It basically places a CDMA tower on your entertainment center. When you use a Sprint tower, you log minute usage. When you use your own tower (Air Rave), then it's unlimited use, you provide the Internet backhaul.but that's ok, we already have hi speed internet. $15 a month unlimited. It ALSO has the effect of improving quality if you're in a weak area. So far, it's worked great with one exception. Recently, Air Rave calls have required the area code be entered. She didn't place the 317 in her phone book cuz she only travels locally, so that may have to be changed to make things more convenient. It's a bit of a nuisance right now. To the blogger that said.I live in the Boonies, I'll never get this. In theory, that's an ideal application as well. Since you already pay for your internet out there (if you have it).then you are essentially buying your own cell tower and it should be $15 / mo. Since it's all internet backhaul, Sprint should not care where the femtocell is.you are paying them $50 for the box to help them extend their network on demand. If they could roll this out nationwide successfully, then it might revive their company somewhat. Bad news is.even though this is a terrific idea.how well Sprint can support this moving forward is questionable in their current financial situation. I'd love to see somebody else grab this technology, we'd jump in a minute.
16. Posted by McGirk	Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:32 am
Other companies have been working on the femtocell idea for there service, most notably TeamMobile with their @home service. My internet connection sucks, I'm not interested in making it suck more so I can have an extra bar of service. I leave my phone where it works good, and use my Bluetooth so that I can continue to do what I want to do. Works well, costs less, no monthly fees, and I'm not sacrificing my already weak internet signal.
17. Posted by YSC	Fri Aug 01, 2008 10:04 am
What good is this in the real boonies? To me, boonies is off grid, no phone, and no DSL or cable. I would want a solution just to get cell signal, and with it, Internet access, even if I have to live with EDGE/GPRS speeds, or EVDO if I'm so blessed. If I had DSL, that would imply I have a phone line. I suppose there are plenty of places that have DSL or cable but poor cell signal, but you're still living within civilization. It sounds like this is not for the boonies?
18. Posted by Sarkis0656	Wed Oct 29, 2008 3:27 pm
What happens if I originate a call from my home using the Air Rave and try to leave while still on the call? Do I drop the call? Does the Sprint tower pick it up? Will I start roaming?

Post a comment and discuss this story with other readers.