Do I need a sprint airave if I have airport extreme?

Question

Level 1

0 points

Do I need a sprint airave if I have airport extreme?

I already have the airport extreme, and it works ok at handling wireless calling on my iPhone 6. There is still some breakup during calls, but it's way better than the reception I had before. Someone told me the Sprint Airave will boost my cell signal further, but from what I can figure out, it is just another wireless router. Does anyone else have both, and what are your opinions on the airave? Do you have any issues with it? Thanks!

MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2008), OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Aug 3, 2015 6:52 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

148,811 points

Aug 3, 2015 7:09 PM in response to rizzdj56

The Sprint Airave is basically a personal cell-phone tower for your home. These are also known as Fem-to-Cell devices. It is NOT a wireless router. The Airave works in conjunction with a router as it requires an Internet connection.

I do not have the Airave, but I have the equivalent AT&T device that is made by Cisco. I have this device connected to my AirPort Extreme by Ethernet and, like the Airave, it needs to be near a window in order to gain access to GPS satellites.

With your iPhone you can get "voice" by either a Wi-Fi or cellular connection. However, once outside a wireless network, your iPhone will require a cellular connection for both voice and data communications. If you mainly rely on data or voice apps, like Skype, then your Wi-Fi connection is all you need at home. However, if you live in an area with poor cellular coverage, the Airave could offer you better cellular service. AT&T charges a one-time fee for the device, but no monthly charges. I don't know if that's the same with Sprint's Airave.

Reply