1. bigric70's Avatar
    I am looking into getting one of the AirRaves and want to know a big question...

    Must I have the $10/month subscription thing? It's a signal repeater right?? All I want is a better signal in the house. I don't really care about using my minutes, I never go over. I just want to be able to answer my cell in my house and not have it cut out.

    Whatta ya think???

    bigric70
    01-21-09 10:34 AM
  2. paulg1981#CB's Avatar
    I have an airave that I got through retentions for free (no $99 and no monthly service fee). I just told them I get reception everywhere except my house and they didn't bat an eye just sent it all for free. It works as described and I am very happy with it. Just my 2c
    01-21-09 10:38 AM
  3. halfdriven's Avatar
    Its not a repeater, Sprint does offer those if you need one, the Airave turns your cell signal into voip, when you get in range you use your high speed internet connection instead of the Sprint network to transmit, and when using the airave you talk time does not count against your minutes.
    01-21-09 11:01 AM
  4. wowthatisrandom's Avatar
    I have an airave that I got through retentions for free (no $99 and no monthly service fee). I just told them I get reception everywhere except my house and they didn't bat an eye just sent it all for free. It works as described and I am very happy with it. Just my 2c
    same with me... got it free through retentions and they cover my monthly fee...

    i started with the free minutes for 15 bux while connected to the airave but it didnt seem worth it with my usage... so its back to free.


    call retentions they will hook you up too
    01-21-09 11:19 AM
  5. kd5kdf's Avatar
    I have one and it works great. I have the 4.99 plan

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    01-21-09 11:20 AM
  6. opph20's Avatar
    It does if you don't have the 10 @home plan. Mine works great. Just call retentions and they'll send you one. Or tell them you want to pick it up @ your local store.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    01-21-09 11:22 AM
  7. cody's Avatar
    just get the $4.99 plan. in fact, go through retentions first. explain you fustrations with service at your house and explain how service is great everwhere else in your area. worth a shot. i got mine for free.
    01-21-09 11:27 AM
  8. eve6er69's Avatar
    i have read many bad things about it not staying connected when you travel out of its range?
    has anybody had any problems?
    01-21-09 12:21 PM
  9. halfdriven's Avatar
    i have read many bad things about it not staying connected when you travel out of its range?
    Duh, just stay in range (joking)

    There were hand off issues with early versions, I approach it as, "use it in my house" and I don't have issues. My yard is safe too but never tried to carry a call further than that.
    01-21-09 12:42 PM
  10. papped's Avatar
    I got mine through retentions and they DID NOT cover the monthly fee.

    Not only that they told me there wasn't one, they stated it was free and charged me $5 a month without telling me.
    01-21-09 12:53 PM
  11. eve6er69's Avatar
    i just called retentions and got myself one rite now.
    monthly fee was waived bu i have to pay $18 activation fee.
    yay now i dont have to stand next to a window to talk anymore, or out on my porch in the freezing cold, lol
    01-21-09 01:19 PM
  12. Froghair's Avatar
    I also got an Airave for free, but I am paying $4.99/mo. No activation fee. No ETF. It works great.

    FYI, Verizon has announced it too will have a femtocell available later this month, according to Engadget. The cost will be, gulp, $249!!!
    01-21-09 02:37 PM
  13. tophand576's Avatar
    I live in Huntsville, AL where there is pretty good coverage....except for the small area where my neighborhood is. My wife and I actually Roam at home. If I get an AIRAVE will we no longer be roaming?
    01-21-09 02:37 PM
  14. papped's Avatar
    Roaming isn't really that bad if you have free roaming and still get a good signal though.

    Just something to watch out for, as you can see from the testimonials here some had to pay a monthly fee while others did not, so it's basically a case-by-case basis. I deactivated my Air Rave after learning that there was a monthly charge since I have an issue with paying monthly to have phone signal on top of the plan charges.
    Last edited by papped; 01-21-09 at 05:41 PM.
    01-21-09 05:12 PM
  15. lennyj17's Avatar
    That is correct, it will be like Voip to your cell phones.

    I got one for my mom and mil's house and it works beautiful. Covers both houses wholey.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    01-21-09 05:43 PM
  16. turkpea's Avatar
    We also LOVE Sprint but get absolutely NO coverage in our house so Sprint is also sending us one absolutely free and not charging us a monthly fee!!
    01-22-09 04:02 AM
  17. aerophage's Avatar
    Have they updated the airave for EVDO or is it still just 1X?

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    01-22-09 04:10 AM
  18. eve6er69's Avatar
    i think it is just 1x still.
    i will let you know when i get mine in and set her up
    01-22-09 08:55 AM
  19. wonderer1's Avatar
    I got a replacement Airave unit yesterday.

    I'd gotten one a couple weeks ago, which worked okay, but I tended to have to shut off my phone service and turn it back on in the vicinity of the Airave box to get my phone to use the Airave service. I spent a few hours on the phone with Airave support, verifying that I had good internet service etc. and with Sprint trying some varied settings on my Airave box. (BTW, Sprint can turn up the power on the Airave box, although that didn't help in my case.)

    Sprint sent me out a replacement, and it appears to work substantially better, though I haven't had a chance to test very thoroughly. Like others, I got the Airave box for free and with no monthly charge. (Had to go through retentions to do so though.)
    01-22-09 01:28 PM
  20. halfdriven's Avatar
    Have they updated the airave for EVDO or is it still just 1X?
    still 1x, the new DO hardware will be out soon
    01-22-09 04:44 PM
  21. Bigballer's Avatar
    still 1x, the new DO hardware will be out soon
    can you elaborate? are you saying that in order to get evdo support we must purchase new hardware and thus it cannot simply be done via a firmware update?

    does calling *99 use up minutes?
    Last edited by Bigballer; 01-22-09 at 07:15 PM.
    01-22-09 05:06 PM
  22. tophand576's Avatar
    I'll try to make this short. I roam at home even though AT&T and Verizon both cover this entire area, including where I live (huntsville, AL). I just tried to chat with a CSR and get some info about future coverage, etc. here and she was of no help. I then tried to "Bait" her about the Airave by mentioning the T-MO home hot spot, but she tried to sell me a laptop card! I didn't want to shame her by bringing up the Airave, but she had no clue. I guess I will call next time, but that may not be any better.
    01-22-09 07:25 PM
  23. halfdriven's Avatar
    hey tophand,check your PM's
    01-22-09 07:43 PM
  24. papped's Avatar
    Pretty sure they didn't include evdo capable hardware in the Air Rave (as it would probably cost more and it's generally a voice call solution).

    Using it uses the minutes that are included with your air rave *plan*. $5 a month plan is not unlimited (I forget how many exactly), but if you have the $15 unlimited then it goes towards your unlimited minutes.
    01-22-09 07:45 PM
  25. edubz13's Avatar
    Check their site for the service map for your area. According to their map I should get good service at home but in reality I got 1 bar on average, told them that and they had one sent out next day air. Mine was free and they waived the monthly fees. Works really good, takes a little bit to do its initial set up but that's not a big deal.
    01-22-09 08:21 PM
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