I used to love watching late night commercials. You know the ones where the product was too good to be true at a too low to believe price.
“It dices, it slices and it will stay sharp for one thousand years or your money back! Order now and we’ll throw in five more sets at no additional cost. All this for the low price of just $7.99”
or
“The Weblo Cooker makes a five course meal in just three minutes! That’s right, from freezer to table in minutes AND the meal will rival the finest restaurant. Best of all is it yours for just 3 easy payments of $9! But wait… there’s more…”
Yeah! Right! I’m overstating it but not by much and, after getting burned a few times (I never said I was a quick study) I realized- if it is too good to be true… it isn’t true.
So each time I have seen advertisements for cellphone reception boosters I passed. The problem is- I really need one.
A few years ago we moved. It was a good trade- more land, nicer house but unfortunately in the process we went from great to marginal (at best) reception. It is a problem since I live and work off my cell phone. As a result, for the past few years I have stopped down the street as I came home each night and forwarded my cell to the home number. (Can you say “annoying”?)
So when Wayne asked is any of us might be interested in a CellRanger Signal booster he had just reviewed I figured, “Why not?” The promises are lofty- increased data speeds and “over 200% increase in signal stregnth”! I was skeptical.
It came two days later. (Thanks Wayne!!) I plugged it into my iMac (it uses the usb for power) and I turned it on. My expectation were rather low.
Set up was a breeze but did it work? Take a look–
Without CellRanger
With CellRanger
As you can see the difference is HUGE. Two bars vs full bars- WOW! While it isn’t always this good, especially when the phone isn’t right next to it, it DOES boost the signal significantly. Since I started using it I have not lost a call while working in my home study once! The CellRanger is a keeper. In fact, I may just have to go buy a second one so my cell will get a signal at night.
What I Like: It actually works!!!
What Needs Improvement: Not inexpensive
CellRanger retails for $149 and can be purchased here.
After reading his review and yours, I’m wondering: why did Wayne not keep it?
I have full signal coverage in my area (Glastonbury CT) so I didn’t need something like the Cellranger.
It was already all out of the box and the original packaging had some things missing or I would have offered it to a reader.
I also tend to like to get rid of any item which doesn’t get returned that I’ve reviewed with a positive review — my thinking is that I should put my money where my mouth is and buy the item if I’m positive on it and it’s something that I would keep using.
With the PureBuds earphones review I did just that. Earphones are personal (nobody wants to share my earwax). My sister is not too fussy — and since we’re in the same family I sent those over to her. I bought my own pair because I found myself recommending them a lot via Twitter and other online sites (Amazon Review).
Most of the other items submitted for review go back to the company providing them, or if they aren’t returnable tend to gather space in my dining room before I gift them to someone who needs them.
BTW – to answer the question of “if you had full coverage how did you test” — I have a trucking client who has only 1 bar of signal. I did most of my testing in that area. I also tested near my office which has a slightly lower signal.
Overall for the price you can’t go wrong with this.
Gotcha, makes sense. Just curious why you’d give away a product that seemed so awesome from your review. 🙂