is Network Externder worth buying?

[paulrickmakita]

I have seen a number of people having problems with the Network Extender. I'm wondering if at $250 this is worth buying? Is it mature yet? or still needs some work?

[lisagriff]

for me it has been the best money ever spent.  i have had no problems with it at all.  we plugged it in and within 15 minutes it was working.  we have never had service at my home ever.  the most i get is extended network and it isn't even enough to send or receive a text.  now i have 4 bars and can use my phone whenever i want.  the area that i can call from is much broader than verizon said it would be, it say 5000 sq feet which would have been about 70 feet from the unit in all directions and i can use from about 250 feet away.  i use to have to drive 10 minutes away from my home just to receive a text if i needed to and now i can sit on the couch.  so anyway to me it has been fabulous, works better than i could have hoped!!!

[crdlsp]

I could not be happier with my purchase of the Extender. Mine also worked within 15 minutes of being plugged in and required no network settings to be altered. I was worried because it was not near a window but it was in a room with lots of window, it had no problem getting a GPS signal. I had a terrible cell situation in my house. I would get OK service in the winter but when the leaves came on the trees forget it. If you did not turn your phone off when you got home it would kill the battery in under an hour trying to connect.

My other problem was sometimes when it did connect I was roaming internationally across Lake Erie! I have phone bills for a tower that is in excess of 60 miles over the water!

This unit grabs our phone signal as soon as we enter the house. It even continues to hold when I am working outside. This is evident because of the strength and the tones it gives out when placing or receiving a call.

I highly recommend this unit.

[bkllc]

They work best when there is virtually no coverage at your house otherwise they get confused (rather your phone does) with the conflicting signals. Sometimes they require adjustment by the verizion backend technical people (adjust output)

[dmpotter]

It's a shame I needed one, but do not regret getting it. Wish it didn't cost so much initially.

However, with the other versions out there (monthly rental with other providers), in the long run it would be cheaper.

[bkllc]

If you meet certain qualifications (according to there charts you have a bad home signal) you can get it for $199

[upnorth]

Can you elaborate on how to get the extender for $199? Can you do it at a VZW store? What questions do you need to ask to get them to check charts?

[crdlsp]

I even got another $50 off for being a VIP customer. I have a family plan with five phones. I got it for around $150.

[bkllc]

talk to them over the phone... they can put a note on your account then you can buy it in the store for less...

Just tell them your in a very marginal coverage area based on the topology and the location of your house... they can check it out

[sciphydude]

I have had my network extender for about four days now.  It works great.  I live in a remote area where I can get a marginal signal outside and even less inside.  My phone battery usually drains quicker because it has to work harder to look for a signal.  With the network extender I have 4 bars throughout my home and two to three bars in my yard.  The box does have to be placed near a window to get a good GPS signal or you can use the mini-coaxial cable to place the GPS antenna in a window.  The one issue that I am have is that for the past couple nights the system light has turned red like it is trying to connect to the Verizon network but it cannot.  All the other lights remain blue.  It has done this for the past couple nights and goes down about the same time.  Has anyone else experienced this?

I called tech support he assured me that there was nothing wrong and that they were possibly doing maintenance on the sytem at that time. That is a bit of an inconvenience as that is when the free night minutes kick in. 

Over all I am pleased with the performance of the network extender, except for those two nights.  I am going to continue to monitor it and see if it is truly a re-occurring issue.  I have already dumped my home phone line because I have Vonage.  If this continues to work out, my plan is get rid of Vonage also and just keep the cell phones to save even more money.  The $250.00 is a pretty good chunk of change to put out to begin with but I think the saving will be well worth it in the long term.