Manage updates with the Download AppSprint Airave
Manufacturer: Samsung Part number: CNETSPRINTAIRAV
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The Sprint Airave is an easy way to boost your Sprint cell coverage at home, and possibly replace your landline in the process.
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CNET editors' review
Sprint Airave price range: $239.99
- Reviewed by: Nicole Lee
- Reviewed on: 08/21/2008
The good: The Sprint Airave is both a device and a service that helps boost your Sprint phone's wireless signal via your home broadband network. It supports up to three active calls, and improves signal strength and call quality considerably. The Airave works with all Sprint phones and comes preactivated.
The bad: The Sprint Airave takes about an hour to properly find a GPS signal and find coverage during setup. There's also a monthly fee.
The bottom line: The Sprint Airave is an easy way to boost your Sprint cell coverage at home, and possibly replace your landline in the process.
User reviews
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Great Product
by kennettville on December 20, 2009
Pros: We can now receive 5 or 6 bars all the time, even n my basement.
Cons: This unit does take an hour or so to set up, but worth the wait.
Summary: We live in a dead zone, so Sprint gave me the unit, plus no monthly fees. Sprint told me they no longer sell these to anyone, instead are sending them ...
Summary: We live in a dead zone, so Sprint gave me the unit, plus no monthly fees. Sprint told me they no longer sell these to anyone, instead are sending them to customers that are in dead zones. Because this worked so well, we went from a basic plan, to an Everything plan.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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horrible product and worse customer service.
by Chris_Otto on January 31, 2013
Pros: None that I can think of
Cons: It does not work and they will bill you for it long after you return it.
Summary: Sprint changed towers in my area and ended up dropping coverage at my house. They sent us a "Free" airave to make up for no service. It never worked and ...
Summary: Sprint changed towers in my area and ended up dropping coverage at my house. They sent us a "Free" airave to make up for no service. It never worked and we sent it back in their supplied shipping. A year later they say they never got it and want us to pay for it or be reported to credit agency. Bad product, bad call quality, horrible customer service...Stay far, far away from Sprint and the joke of an airave.
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Terrible product!
by Soadnirvana on April 28, 2011
Pros: Works well, when it works...
Cons: Frequently loses connection/gps signal
Summary: We live in an older place that is sort of isolated, so it does not receive Sprint's signal. We called and complained to Sprint so many times that they ...
Summary: We live in an older place that is sort of isolated, so it does not receive Sprint's signal. We called and complained to Sprint so many times that they sent us the Airvana Airave device (ours looks nothing like the one in the photo and is completely white). At first we were happy to have 4 bars (not 5 because this thing is not capable of giving us 5 it seems). For no reason, the device will drop the signal and the gps light will be off. It takes a few days (not an hour, not 24 hours) but a few DAYS to regain a signal. If you walk into the kitchen, the signal is lost. If you walk to your car, the signal is lost, if you drive off, the signal is lost. If you are NOT in the confines of your bedroom or living room, your signal is lost. I absolutely hate this product because when it works, its great, but 8/10 its not working! We thought we could rely on our cell phones only, but it seems we will have to get a landline after all due to family and friends complaining that they can't carry on a decent conversation with us because of this piece of junk!
We are glad Sprint waived the rental fee for a year because I wouldn't pay 10 cents for this thing. When they decide to start charging us for it, hopefully we will have a landline OR we will change providers.
Updated on Apr 28, 2011 -
Works great, but getting there is the hard part
by jordinhman on December 26, 2010
Pros: Works great. I get 5 bars now compared to dropped calls. I'd say thats a big step up. Great tecnical support. They have a direct line to AirRave support in the instructions without getting transfered all day.
Cons: Lots of variables that can create problems. Took me many hours and changing my service provider. Need better instructions. Will not work unless it gets a GPS signal for 911 purposes. Would be nice if we could bypass it, but I can understand having it
Summary: Does not work well with Clear ISP (or any ISP with 1mbps upload). Lots of delay and talking over each other because it was not in near real time conversation. ...
Summary: Does not work well with Clear ISP (or any ISP with 1mbps upload). Lots of delay and talking over each other because it was not in near real time conversation. We did a count test where one person on one end of the line counts even and the other person counting odd numbers. It was as bad as 20 seconds at times, but around 3 seconds delay on average. I actually switched to Timewarner which had about 2mbps upload and it works great. I could not tell the difference.
Poor instruction manual, but great technical support when you dail in (866-556-7310).
You must pass the GPS signal or it wont work (for 911 purposes). However, you just need to pass it on the initial startup. They give you a 50 ft cable with GPS module, so you can throw that line out the window and should be able to find signal easy.
Do not have to go from IPS Modem --> AirAve --> Router like the manual tells you. You can do ISP Modem --> Router --> AirAve. *goes back to poor instructions.
Can take a long time to initailize, like 40 mins.
Definitely better than a cell phone booster (or repeater as they are called). I bought one at Best Buy for $300 and it was a royal pain to set up. Once I did this, it only worked within 6 feet, even that was choppy. I got the AirAve for free by threatening to cancel service. They offered this as a solution and its is fantastic once I complete setup.
Once set up its great. I would have given 5 stars, but for reasons stated above, getting there is so hard so I gave 3 stars. -
Warning- if Airave is not working, you can't call 911!!
by kindigo28 on October 20, 2010
Pros: Definitely better reception, most of the time.
Cons: Had to return the first one, then reinstall the 2nd (which is working much better). Twice the device blocked us from making any phone calls, even to sprint, and more importantly to 911!!!
Summary: The first time our phones didn't work, we were leaving the house. It wasn't until we were several blocks away that we could call anyone on the phone....
Summary: The first time our phones didn't work, we were leaving the house. It wasn't until we were several blocks away that we could call anyone on the phone.
The second time that they didn't work, I called 911, just to see if that (as sprint said it would) would work. It did not. I received a message saying "You are not authorized to make this call" and then when I reported this, an account specialist called me a liar, saying you can always call 911. It wasn't until we unplugged the airave that our phones would work again.
Dangerous when not working properly, but much better reception when it works! Also, the "entire system" goes down from time to time (so they said, and then denied saying days later, after several calls). -
Works great
by Old_Computer_Dude on September 30, 2010
Pros: This is the easiest thing to install ever. I plugged it in. (OK, had to wait an hour) Done
Cons: I have to leave it out in the open. No big deal, but had thought it would just go in the wiring closet.
Summary: My employer gives us cell phones but I had poor service at my house. And my employer expects us to work from home. Problem solved. This thing works great and ...
Summary: My employer gives us cell phones but I had poor service at my house. And my employer expects us to work from home. Problem solved. This thing works great and in my case I don't have to pay anything for it. I used to have to leave my basement office and walk out in the street to make calls. No more!
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A little tough to get going but overall a great product
by Daneslord on July 23, 2010
Pros: I love the call quality. Now, I get 5 clear bars and don't have any connection trouble. Just a really fantastic device...Sprint made me a very happy customer.
Cons: It was a little hard to install. When you plug it into a router, it can't be a switch router...I had to get a new wireless router in order to be able to use it. Once I had the right technology, it was set up in about 45 minutes.
Summary: Don't pay for it...call Sprint and say "I'm having connection troubles at home, and I'm wondering if you're building any new towers". They'll offer ...
Summary: Don't pay for it...call Sprint and say "I'm having connection troubles at home, and I'm wondering if you're building any new towers". They'll offer you one for free, and it'll be good. Totally makes me a very satisfied customer.
I have great Sprint coverage everywhere except the new apartment where I live (it's because of the way the walls were constructed, they used heavy plaster) and because of that I used to have to step outside to make a call. -
Works, much better than nothing, but has some problems
by Tommy3141 on June 5, 2010
Pros: Now have phone and EV1 coverage at home - Sprint offered at no cost because my home signals are almost zero
Cons: Takes forever to get GPS lock, an hour when antenna placed where Nuvi gets best lock in 3 minutes. Looses GPS lock in bad weather and then unit stops working. Reports location 75 miles east of where it is installed.
Summary: Was contacted by Sprit to see if this would help my home phone use, and because it would, they sent for free with no monthly charge. The idea is very ...
Summary: Was contacted by Sprit to see if this would help my home phone use, and because it would, they sent for free with no monthly charge. The idea is very good. I was quite displeased with the totally inadequate GPS system, even with the remote antenna. Where did they get such a brain-dead deaf GPS?
Anyway, much fiddling needed by moving my Nuvi GPS around to find the very strongest location, put the Airwave GPS antenna there, and after a LONG time, it finally locks. Any bad weather, and it looses it. AND - ONCE LOST I usually have to unplug power, wait, replug and WAIT the hour for it to find GPS and do its restart thing.
Next problem is that even though it has a GPS fix, it doesn't report its location !!!!!!! When it first started working it had my location spot on. After a month or so, it began to report it 75 miles east of where I live, and has continued to do that. Wont be much help for a 911 call, or any location based services. When my friends on Lattitude check my position, they see me on the other end of the state. Good grief.
The next problem is that they implemented EV1 - thats right RTT1 data speed. I think its a dozen or two kilobytes per second. Dark ages in terms of data speed. If you have an Android based phone (I do) its a waste. Your phone discharges while communication over such a slow link.
So.. Bottom line.. Yes it works. Its quite a bit better having it than not having it. That said, it very much needs three improvements:
1) Better GPS chip, antenna and LNA for better coverage and faster lock
2) Correct location reporting - will help GPS and other location reporting applications
3) Put real EVO on this thing - the network connections will support it, but its probably more expensive to support it inside the box. It needs to be there.
Have fun! -
Wouldn't operate.
by dabunting on May 3, 2010
Pros: Cell tower right in your house would be nice to have.
Cons: On telephone co. DSL-connected network actively serving computer etc. Even put the GPS ext. antenna temporarily where it had unobstructed view of over half the sky. Phoned Sprint and wasted a half hour with them but we never got it going.
Summary: Obviously other feedback shows it works for users, and it's a neat technology to make a cell tower right in your house, but I couldn't make it work ...
Summary: Obviously other feedback shows it works for users, and it's a neat technology to make a cell tower right in your house, but I couldn't make it work in my house. Tried three days on DSL broadband actively serving computer etc., and with external GPS anntenna temporarily even out on my deck railing where it had unobstructed view of over half the sky, spent half hour with Spring by phone but never got System or GPS led's to show blue. Also I'd mention I tried it on my alternative broadband HughesNet satellite service, but it wouldn't work and the Sprint person said it requires constant-on internet so can't work on satellite broadband because satellite broadband is constantly switching very rapidly on and off, a fact I didn't know. Almost certainly will work for you but didn't work for me.
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Must have for weak signal and dropped calls
by juanayala on November 18, 2009
Pros: Easy to install.
Boosts signal strength to allow you to make calls.Cons: If your internet signal goes down or you lose power, device does not work (obviously)
Monthly $5 fee (can have fee waived by calling airave cust service)
High cost of device.Summary: The airave WORKS! I was amazed to see the difference in signal strength throut the house. I no longer have to go near the door to get a good signal.
Summary: The airave WORKS! I was amazed to see the difference in signal strength throut the house. I no longer have to go near the door to get a good signal.
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
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- Manufacturer:Samsung
- Address:
105 Challenger Road, Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660 - Phone: 1-800-726-7864
- Fax: 1-973-601-6001
