| | |  | Unlocked Cell Phones | Home » » zBoost YX-510 Cell Phone Signal Booster Dual-Band Unit for Home or Office | | | | | | | Description: | | Designed for consumers, the zBoost dual band cell phone signal booster extends a zBoost Cell Zone for single or multiple users in homes or offices simulatneously. | | | Features: | |
• Extends cellular coverage for single or multiple users in homes or offices--provides up to 2500 square feet of coverage
• Dual-band device works with 800/1900 MHz frequencies from all major carriers--AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, Alltel, Cricket, and more (not compatible with Nextel)
• Omni-directional signal antenna receives signals from multiple cell towers
• Antenna can be installed outdoors above the roofline or indoors in the attic or near a window
• Extends phone battery life--uses less power when signal is stronger
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 5.0 inches | | Product Width:
| 2.0 inches | | Product Height:
| 7.0 inches | | Product Weight:
| 3.3 pounds | | Package Length:
| 13.8 inches | | Package Width:
| 11.5 inches | | Package Height:
| 2.8 inches | | Package Weight:
| 3.3 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 348 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 348 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
245 of 252 found the following review helpful:
 Does exactly what I needed it toNov 25, 2006
By Ryan Patridge
"Rogue Borg Reviewer"
In a nutshell:
The YX510 is the cheapest dual-band cellular signal repeater I found. It's easy to set up, easy to use, uses standard RG-6 cable and connectors, and it works very well out-of-the-box. Definitely recommended.
Long version:
At my parents' suburban CT home, the location, the terrain, and the aluminum siding all add up to zero indoor cellular reception. Even outdoors, my dual-band Cingular GSM service gives me at most 1 bar...all attempts to place a call immediately fail. My siblings' Verizon service is a bit better, but still not enough for them to place calls. Up on the roof, though, I found I would get 3 bars (up to 4, if I held the phone over my head), quite sufficient for a reliable phone call. Enter the YX510. It's easy to install, though their recommended pre-installation test procedure didn't leave me optimistic--I couldn't get the base unit's "signal" light to flash green when placing a call from nearby it on the roof (which the manual said would represent a successful test). The error code I was getting from it indicated either the signal was too strong or the interior/exterior antennas were interfering with each other. Undeterred, I installed the main signal antenna (zip-tied to the top of a length of PVC pipe strapped to our old TV antenna pole, to keep it away from metallic objects, as the manual recommends). I tried another test with the base unit placed at ground level about 35 feet away, seperated by a good chunk of the house, but I still had trouble getting a reliable signal. When I finished the installation and moved the base station indoors (about 20-25 feet almost directly below the exterior signal antenna, with the roof and two floors in between), that's when its performance started really shining. Installed in the basement, the YX510 base station gives solid reception for most of the dual-level, 2600 sqft house. My cell phone shows a full five bars most of the time, for anywhere within about about 15-20 feet of the interior antenna (the signal strength slowly drops with additional distance). Once I start a call, my phone's signal strength meter immediately drops to the strength of the signal at the roof (usually 3 bars), so it's apparent that the included omnidirectional antenna cannot "amplify" the received signal. Thus, make sure you at least have a usable signal level at the point where you plan to install the exterior signal antenna, or otherwise consider getting the directional antenna upgrade for the YX510. My siblings and I now have reliable cellular service for more than half of the house, and we can all use our phones simultaneously with no problem. Very satisfied! (Note: I installed the exterior antenna using the YX012 grounding kit, but one could easily use store-bought outdoor RG-6 cable and a grounded female-to-female RG-6 connector instead of that kit.)
151 of 154 found the following review helpful:
Helpfull hintMay 18, 2008
By R. White
For those of you having problems with this unit you must remember that the indoor unit uses the same frequency to talk to the cell phone that the outdoor antenna uses to talk to the tower. If the inside unit transmits and the outside unit picks it up the inside unit will lower its power until there is no feedback loop, degrading performance. So, if you can put the inside unit someplace where it will operate at full power and not interfere with the outside antenna then you are set. Try putting the inside unit in the basement or at the opposite end of the house. Also you will never get a better signal inside than what the outside antenna gets so put the outside antenna where it gets the best possible reception. That sounds obvious but I'm sure there are some folks that put the outside unit out a window and the inside unit next to it.
170 of 181 found the following review helpful:
 Works, but not wellNov 07, 2007
By Ash from NH
Recently we decided to do away with our telephone landline and go completely wireless. We had some trouble getting a cellular signal at certain places in the house and this product seemed like it would be a good way to bring better signal to those areas. Unfortunately we quickly found, that though this product does in fact do a fine job of repeating a stronger signal to a weak area, the range of the "Hot Spot" is not even close to what it advertises.
We found that even with the antenna pulling in 4 solid bars from outside, unless you were practically sitting on top of the wireless extender you just wouldn't get any improvement. What's more is it seems that there are certain "Blind spots" around the device that don't get any improvement. To give it a fair shot, we experimented with several different transmitter locations and found that the best we could achieve is about a 10x10 sq foot zone with the transmitter in the middle. And of course this location was about the most intrusive (smack in the middle of the kitchen counter). If you put it near a wall or a corner you lose about half of the possible output. We found no reasonably acceptable solution with this product.
I have a fairly small split level ranch home (1200 sq feet), and had hoped that I could reliably cover at least the upper level, but in reality, I was only able to get an extended signal in about half of my small 10x18 kitchen. This is not even close to the 10,000 square feet of coverage advertised in the product description
If this product were MUCH cheaper I could accept the performance for what it is, but at $300 plus it is not worth the minor improvement it offers to a limited area. We basically felt as if the limitation in range was tying us to an old corded phone, which is hardly a step forward in wireless technology. Personally I wouldn't pay more than $79 for this product. I returned mine for a refund.
45 of 48 found the following review helpful:
Money Well SpentJan 24, 2007
By Dark Wing Duck
"Gravity Rules"
This is my first review but I'm writing it because I was tentative about this product without a clear yes/no about how well it worked. It had one rave review and other lower models had mixed reviews. In my home, I have at best 1 bar on each of the two frequencies (800 & 1900 MHz) inside. Outside above near the roof, I could get 3 bars each if I stood on railing because of the residential density of the area. It took about 30 minutes to setup and now I have 4 bars on both cell phone frequencies. It might take longer if you're not used to doing this sort of thing. I decided to try this model because sometimes you get what you pay for. For a home though, the $1000 units simply aren't necessary.
Some installation required
Parts:
1. Main unit amplifier with power supply. I believe that it's a bidirectional amplifier which is important.
2. Mounting hardware for antenna and base unit.
3. Weather protected antenna.
4. Decent lenth of coax cable to connect the outdoor antenna to the base unit. It reached my roof, ran through bedroom, through a short hall and across kitchen with space length.
It's important to check that you do have a place you can mount the antenna that has a good signal to begin with. It can be another room, attic, roof, etc. and you can always buy a longer piece of coax cable if needed.
26 of 27 found the following review helpful:
Finally on the NetJan 10, 2008
By TekHed
My house is a 2 story 2700sqft house. I am surrounded by 100' tall trees (acres of them) in the middle of a dead zone (travel 1/2 mile in any direction and you get cell signal).
Basically, the way it works is it turns your immediate area into a cell. Since your phone wants to attach to the strongest cell in the area, it latches on and starts working. Pretty simple. Installation, without the details, is put up the antennas - plug in the base station. No software, just mount and go.
Trial 1: Fresh out of the box I put the signal antenna in the basement window and the base station over in the rec area (20' away). I didn't hook the base station antenna up properly, so although we got almost 1 bar (from 0), it wasn't quite right. MAKE SURE THE BASE STATION ANTENNA IS FIRMLY ATTACHED. I was being too gentle and didn't screw it all the way in.
Trial 2: Signal antenna in the attic and base station on the second floor. This worked much better. I had 2 bars on the 1st & 2nd floors, but barely 1 bar in the basement. Certainly an improvement (I made an extended call from my living room and it sounded great), but not ideal. I wanted to cover the whole house, and this wasn't it. 2 bars is better than 0, so that was fine, but I wanted to cover everything. I might have covered the whole house if I put the base station on the first floor, but that would have meant penetrations to run the coax and I really didn't want to do that.
Trial 3: Bigger antennas (http://www.wi-exstore.com/MyCart/ProductListing/52/zBoost_Dual_Band_Accessories.aspx). The tricky part here is that these are directional antennas. Now, Sprint and AT&T post their tower locations online, but Verizon does not. I called them. About 15 minutes later I had my tower location and was ready to set up. Sprint was about 4.5mi due North (there's a Verizon tower there too but it is farther than the one I use). AT&T was 7mi ESE. Verizon was 3.7mi SSE. For being 3.71 miles away, that sure is a crappy signal at my house (damned trees!!! Cut 'em down, their blocking one of the Dish satellites as well).
So, armed with this knowledge I climbed up into the attic, mounted the 2 new antennas (1 for PCS and 1 for Verizon/AT&T). I pointed the Yagi antenna at the Verizon tower, but the AT&T tower is within 30 degrees, so it should pick that signal up as well. Because I'd rather not have any equipment lying around the house, I also put the base station in the attic, attached the new boosted base station antenna (10,000sqft coverage instead of 2500), mounting it to the frame of the roof so it is pointed at an angle down into the house, and began my test.
5 bars on 2nd floor, 4 on the 1st floor, and 2-3 in the basement depending on location. Overall quite a success and I can certainly recommend the technology.
Now, Amazon lists the YX610, from Wireless Extenders, at $541, but this product isn't on the Wi-Ex website. It looks like it is an all-in-one package with the boosted antennas, but if you buy the 510 from Amazon ($306) and the Boosters direct from Wi-Ex ($150) the price isn't all that different and you can try the base unit first to see if it is enough.
Oh, somebody here mentioned 25' of distance between the signal and the base station, but the docs said 15'. I've got mine probably at 25' lateral distance and 4' vertical (both are in the attic) and it works great. When I turn it on, the Signal light doesn't blink (which according to the docs means best signal), so I think I did everything correctly.
I haven't tried it outside yet, but the base station antenna is angled to point at the back yard as well - I imagine 3-4 bars there, which is just fine.
Good Luck. Hope this helps.
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