See the Palm Pre Tips and Tricks for many other tips.
Do you get poor Sprint cellular reception at home?
The Sprint Airave is your own personal cell tower. Check to see if Airave is available in your area.
The Airave is a "Femtocell" about the size of a book that plugs into your home network router using a standard network Ethernet cable. Up to 6 phones can use the Airave at a time seeing it as they would any normal tower.
Key facts
• At up to 20' away you should get full bars and 50% signal up to 40' away.
• The maximum range is 50' so put it near where you will be.
• The Airave must be within 20' of a window so that it's GPS can get satellite reception.
• The Airave only works in the US (the reason for the GPS).
• You should still use a wireless router (WiFi) for data.
• Up to 3 calls can use the Airave at one time.
• Most Sprint cellphones work with the Airave but not Nextel, prepaid or other networks.
• Call automatically transfer to a local tower when you leave Airave coverage.
Save your battery
One other huge benefit to the Airave is that it can greatly improve battery life. Cell phones use much more power if they are constantly searching for signals or switching from Roam to Sprint. With full power, the cell phone can settle back and relax.
Setup
Once you get your Airave, follow the instructions in the Quick Start to connect it to your router. Call Sprint Customer Service at 1-888-211-4727 for activation. The secret direct line is 866-556-7310. Expect at least 40 minutes on the phone. It may take anywhere from 60 minutes to overnight for the Airave to find the satellites and finish it's setup.
GPS
One tip, not in the manual: Use the external GPS antenna when you first set up and even run it out a window (pointed to the sky) until it can acquire the satellites. The Airave needs good GPS signal to set up. Once you are set up, still consider using the external antenna if the Airave will not be near a window. Even taping the external antenna to the top of the Airave is better than the internal antenna.
Cost
Call Sprint at 888-211-4727 to ask about the Airave. The Airave costs $99 plus $4.99 per month for one phone. Up to 3 users is $20 per month. But many users report that if they politely explain that they have had constant issues with poor signal strength at home, they have been given Airave and had their $20 per month fee waived indefinitely. You will have the same cost per minute as you would under your normal plan unless you pay for unlimited Airave minutes.
To get the charges waived, you may need to ask for a supervisor or to have your problem "escalated." Key things to tell them:
• Airave service is verified in your area.
• This is an ongoing constant problem for ___ months or ___ years
• You get almost no signal
• How far you have to go to get signal (down the street or to a neighbors yard?)
• You have multiple phones getting low signal (friends on Sprint at your house have the same issues).
Use
• Use your phone as you normally would.
• When you first connect to the Airave you will hear a beep to let you know.
• Dial *99 to confirm coverage.
• Your phone may at first show your location as the phone or Cable company office.
References
• Sprint Airave main page - lots of great links
• Check to see if Airave is available in your area
• Quick Start
• Getting Started
• User Guide
• Troubleshooting
• Sprint Airave FAQ
• Sprint Airave Forums
Originally Posted by ToyMan
