It doesn’t boost signal. It even says, on that page you had pulled up, that the device doesn’t require signal. Just needs to be where coverage is offered but maybe not the best.
I have the note 3 and I had no signal at home. Wifi calling does not work, att uverse. I could not even sent a simple ( Ok ) message, it would fail to send. Now that I installed that cellspot, everything works very well. No more problems.
@@MonsterReview One gotcha with these units is that the coordinates sometimes get stuck in the non-volatile memory and the new values coming from the GPS antenna are ignored. The clocks on our phones kept getting set to an hour off (and not for Daylight Savings Time). Turned out that the CellSpot was stuck with GPS coordinates from somewhere in Texas even though we live on the East Coast. We had to do the old paper clip reset to clear it out.
Do you have any idea how much stronger the cellar antennae is than a modern iphone or Samsung device? Your phone will show -91 because it's near the repeater however the quality of that is still relative to how well the box you mounted is receiving - like is that receiver getting -91 also'.
Nothing about this test is scientific. But compared to other videos that review this cellspot and conclude with "It just works, take it from me" I think I was able to back up my claim a little better.
They don't run THAT hot lol. Mine is in a 5'x5' closet and even in Summer has never overheated. The only thing that's cause this is if you out it in a drawer or something which no intelligent person would do
i have one of these and my next door neighbors DID happen to have tmobile and i also happened to have an internet cap at 500Gig per month. after 2 months WELL over 900Gig i found out why my usage went up so much lol. I wish i could lockout other users but i cannot so people should be aware. I switched to unlimited usage becuase its not my neighbors fault their phones pick up my AMAZING signal. my phone literally didnt work at home prior to getting one of these (which was free to me) so all and all they do work well BUT they are not for everyone for sure.
Okay Sir , can you tell me if your phone has band 71 ? Band 71 is a GSM band used to go into buildings with thick walls or poor signal areas. My Motorola phone did not come with band 71 and I made a huge mistake buying a unlocked phone. Now have bought a Google pixel 3a XL that's from T-Mobile and has band 71 and a bit better signal at home. Perfect at work. So T-Mobile is send me a box like this today. Anyway my point being if using TMobile or buying unlocked phones make sure it has band 71.
Has anyone tried plugging this into their cars? How much wattage does this thing take? My 4Runner has multiple power ports that serve up to 600 wats. Will this work plugged into the trunk?
It needs to be connected to your internet via an ethernet connection, it's not like a mini cell tower as they claim. It just makes your cell phone an internet based phone.
No lmao! Unless you have a mom/router or separate modem and router.in your car. This is NOT like this exportable hotspots. You need cable Ethernet for this to plug into and work which you wouldn't in a car.
Thx for posting this...Im trying to decide if I should go with the booster or cellspot and its just an overall annoying issue......I dumped Verizon to save $40 a month and daughter also rec a new iphone but service is terrible for my old galaxy note.....no bars at all at work or subway, cant make phone calls or send texts.....a booster or a cellspot will only help me (if anything) at home....but what happens when I go outside? dead ...Tmobile sucks for me.
Yah, despite what they say, their service still sucks. But this cellspot works great. I would recommend it. The range isn't that great, but if it could penetrate your walls, you might get better reception outside. I'm about to ditch tmobile and try out Google Fi
No. It basically grabs some data from TMobile through your router then it broadcast a TMobile LTE signal for you. Wifi calling works by using your wifi.
He's right. There is no point using this device when we have wifi at home. My city does not have a single bar of Tmob and I can still call anyone through wifi. Wifi calling has the same function as normal calling so there are no extra perks if we already have wifi/internet at home
I can attest to the fact that wifi calling is not always reliable. When I use wifi calling the person on the other end has trouble hearing me (and yes, I have a good router with full wifi strength). Some of my calls have even dropped during a conference call, which is why I need the cellspot.
WiFi calling is much more taxing on your battery and if you have a very slow internet plan 4G could be faster than say CenturyLink's base cheapest plan.
Sort of worries me that it's connected to your Internet provider at home and that it's open to all T-Mobile customers - what if someone you don't know around the house is performing illegal activities on their phone using this signal, that's connected to your ISP? ...not that I care what people are doing if my family, friends, or neighbors aren't impacted; but, I could be enabling a break-in, drug deal, etc... through a service that I'm paying for without knowing. Sort of wish they did what AT&T used to do with their discontinued booster, where you can set it to only work with your pre-configured phones.
I asked the rep about that. They say your signal booster will work as a cell tower. It will not be linked to you or your ISP in any way. Not sure how true that is, but yes, I wish I could lock it to my phones.
well it doesn't really matter because they can just use tmobile tower connection, does it? BTW The traffic that is going through your isp is actually ported through tmobile... so if someone is connected to your tower their isp is still tmobile. This is kind of what comcast does with xfinity wifi when it enables business routers to broadcast free xfinity wifi to their customers.
Every device has a separate MAC address so 8f they accused you of something ask them the MAC address if the device they're saying was downloading illegal stuff or whatever, then show them it's not your device as you'll have a different MAC address (and IP address for that matter). This is VERY rare to even happen anyway.
@@MonsterReview How long did your Power light keep blinking green? I know I maybe should wait longer to see, but it's been over two hours, and my Power light just keeps blinking green. All other lights are solid green, and judging by my phone, it's working. I even received a text from T-Mo that it finished setup. Shouldn't all the lights be solid green?
I connected it directly to my router. Tmobile has stated that some ISP routers block their cellspot. In the event yours does, they recommend contacting your ISP to open a port for you. What I did, was I bought another router, turned off the wifi for the ISP router, and connected my personal Asus router to it via Ethernet. Try that and see if it works.
@@MonsterReview Oh, and regardless of what the instructions say, once the GPS signal has been acquired, it no longer needs GPS signal. I have had mine for over a year with the antenna wound up around the units spool after initial set up. I have never needed to move it to the window or anything else.
I just got one of these for Free from T-mobile. I have 2 bars of signal strength, sometimes 3, on my phone before the Cell spot and speeds of 4 Mbps download and .5 to 1.5 upload. I spent about 30 minutes trying to optimize the position in the house for the window unit and the coverage unit. It did not make any difference what the combination was (1 bar on window unit and a numeric 1 on the coverage unit or 4 bars on the window unit and a numeric 8 on the coverage unit) my upload and download speeds did not improve over my speeds without this gadgetry. Don't waste the electricity on these things. I think they are just supposed to make you feel good...like they are actually doing something for you...they are worth exactly what I paid for them. I'll be sending this junk back to them.
@@MonsterReview and old style flip phones (non smart phones) don't have wifi calling at all.. so this item would be best marketed to our parents and g-parents (that would probably never see this review)
1) comcast has a data limit with charges for overages... will tmobile pay for my neighbors internet usage when they cause me to go over? 2) if the data traffic is on the internet, is the data still metered by tmobile (essentially and potentially being charged by both tmobile and comcast???) 3) does this affect GPS location services or impact 911 calls in any way? 4) is it possible to turn off the cell radio in a smart phone and FORCE wifi calling so tmobile doesn't charge me for streaming hundreds of gigs of youtube, netflix, hulu, numerous other services, etc... 5) is it possible to limit data usage going through this device onto my home network so my wifi devices don't lag? 6) since this device puts data on my home network and cannot be blocked, how can i guarantee this doesn't become a hackable portal into my home networked devices? seems to me this device helps tmobile way more than it helps their customers... maybe tmobile should pay US to set it up on our homes!
I have the old cellspot router by Asus but I have tio give it up since im going under my mom's account. Tmobile rep tried telling me that its the same. I was like dude I'm not stupid if this connects to my router it's using my data from Xfinity so I asked him who will pay for overage when my neighbors cause me to go over my cap. He said well you. I was naw tmobile will. He transfers me to his manager. Tmobile is screwing many people that don't know this and if you live in an apartment its even worse.
It won't affect your service or plan. Everything has a separate MAC address. Also it states specifically in the terms and conditions if you're worried about 911 call ability you have to take it on yourself to have an e911 setup or you MIGHT not get through to 911 in rare cases.
@@soulja4187 not true. I dont believe this every device has a separate MAC address. Show them yours and let them compare. You're instantly not liable for overage. Simple.
I've used it for the last 6 years.........for some reason,.. the places that have lived ...the signal is Shit....and I don't always want to be on wifi...but it has to be connected to wifi to your router to work......it's worked out great for me....!
This is not a signal booster. The gps antenna is only accessed for setup, in order to verify your location for 911 service and to confirm where this customer has deployed this device. It is a wired ethernet device which sends and receives a 4g tmobile signal locally. It is a cross network bridge. It will only be as reliable as your broadband network. This device permits you to deploy a local tmobile 4g network without any measurable signal from a tmobile tower at all, provided you have an ethernet connection with broadband.
Problem with doing that is that wifi calling drains your battery fast, because your phone is still always looking for a cell signal. Your idea is what I originally thought, but ended up getting a 4G LTE Cellspot instead.
Got this because LTE data is horrible in my house. Got this so I could use my phone when my wireless home internet goes down. This requires my home internet to work. I really don’t understand the purpose.
I went to t mobile store to get booster. They gave this to me instead of a booster without telling me. Apparently, booster is out of stock and nobody want this thing which is worse than a piece of junk. It is a mini t mobile tower in you house and any t mobile phone close enough will be able to connect this mini tower. Any data though this mini tower will count against your t mobile data and your internet data as well. Any harmful activity though this mini tower in your house has potential to get you in a stressful situation. Avoid it like a plaque.
Great video! Extremely helpful! Thanks a lot man!!
.
Good demo, thank you!
Thank you for watching!
It doesn’t boost signal. It even says, on that page you had pulled up, that the device doesn’t require signal. Just needs to be where coverage is offered but maybe not the best.
I was just going to say that haha
LoL, was about to write the same comment.
I have the note 3 and I had no signal at home. Wifi calling does not work, att uverse. I could not even sent a simple ( Ok ) message, it would fail to send. Now that I installed that cellspot, everything works very well. No more problems.
That's not a reception antenna it's a GPS. This just uses your internet connection to mimic a tower
Good to know. Thanks
@@MonsterReview One gotcha with these units is that the coordinates sometimes get stuck in the non-volatile memory and the new values coming from the GPS antenna are ignored. The clocks on our phones kept getting set to an hour off (and not for Daylight Savings Time). Turned out that the CellSpot was stuck with GPS coordinates from somewhere in Texas even though we live on the East Coast. We had to do the old paper clip reset to clear it out.
Do you have any idea how much stronger the cellar antennae is than a modern iphone or Samsung device? Your phone will show -91 because it's near the repeater however the quality of that is still relative to how well the box you mounted is receiving - like is that receiver getting -91 also'.
Nothing about this test is scientific. But compared to other videos that review this cellspot and conclude with "It just works, take it from me" I think I was able to back up my claim a little better.
Make sure your cell spot is in a well ventilated area so it does not overheat.
I actually bought a USB fan to blow on mine full time after my first one died.
They don't run THAT hot lol. Mine is in a 5'x5' closet and even in Summer has never overheated. The only thing that's cause this is if you out it in a drawer or something which no intelligent person would do
i have one of these and my next door neighbors DID happen to have tmobile and i also happened to have an internet cap at 500Gig per month. after 2 months WELL over 900Gig i found out why my usage went up so much lol. I wish i could lockout other users but i cannot so people should be aware. I switched to unlimited usage becuase its not my neighbors fault their phones pick up my AMAZING signal. my phone literally didnt work at home prior to getting one of these (which was free to me) so all and all they do work well BUT they are not for everyone for sure.
none of the other lights are active on the device. only the top green led is illuminated//// that's odd
it takes 2 hrs to setup/ update etc? I was wondering what was taking so long considering that I thought it was easily plug and play
Okay Sir , can you tell me if your phone has band 71 ? Band 71 is a GSM band used to go into buildings with thick walls or poor signal areas. My Motorola phone did not come with band 71 and I made a huge mistake buying a unlocked phone. Now have bought a Google pixel 3a XL that's from T-Mobile and has band 71 and a bit better signal at home. Perfect at work. So T-Mobile is send me a box like this today.
Anyway my point being if using TMobile or buying unlocked phones make sure it has band 71.
Band 71 is device dependant.
Does it have to be connected to a router?
Yes it does
Has anyone tried plugging this into their cars? How much wattage does this thing take? My 4Runner has multiple power ports that serve up to 600 wats. Will this work plugged into the trunk?
It needs to be connected to your internet via an ethernet connection, it's not like a mini cell tower as they claim. It just makes your cell phone an internet based phone.
No lmao! Unless you have a mom/router or separate modem and router.in your car. This is NOT like this exportable hotspots. You need cable Ethernet for this to plug into and work which you wouldn't in a car.
Thx for posting this...Im trying to decide if I should go with the booster or cellspot and its just an overall annoying issue......I dumped Verizon to save $40 a month and daughter also rec a new iphone but service is terrible for my old galaxy note.....no bars at all at work or subway, cant make phone calls or send texts.....a booster or a cellspot will only help me (if anything) at home....but what happens when I go outside? dead ...Tmobile sucks for me.
Yah, despite what they say, their service still sucks. But this cellspot works great. I would recommend it. The range isn't that great, but if it could penetrate your walls, you might get better reception outside. I'm about to ditch tmobile and try out Google Fi
If it has to be connected to an Internet source what is the point? Isn’t that what Wi-Fi calling is for?
No. It basically grabs some data from TMobile through your router then it broadcast a TMobile LTE signal for you. Wifi calling works by using your wifi.
He's right. There is no point using this device when we have wifi at home. My city does not have a single bar of Tmob and I can still call anyone through wifi. Wifi calling has the same function as normal calling so there are no extra perks if we already have wifi/internet at home
@@MonsterReview But it still goes through your network regardless lol.
Joey Crysel but you can get faster internet if you have slow wifi at home!
I can attest to the fact that wifi calling is not always reliable. When I use wifi calling the person on the other end has trouble hearing me (and yes, I have a good router with full wifi strength). Some of my calls have even dropped during a conference call, which is why I need the cellspot.
So if it does the exact same thing as having your phone connected to wifi what's the purpose?
Wifi calling depends on your device. Some do a good job, some handle it Terribly.
Wifi calling drains your battery like crazy.
WiFi calling is much more taxing on your battery and if you have a very slow internet plan 4G could be faster than say CenturyLink's base cheapest plan.
Sort of worries me that it's connected to your Internet provider at home and that it's open to all T-Mobile customers - what if someone you don't know around the house is performing illegal activities on their phone using this signal, that's connected to your ISP? ...not that I care what people are doing if my family, friends, or neighbors aren't impacted; but, I could be enabling a break-in, drug deal, etc... through a service that I'm paying for without knowing. Sort of wish they did what AT&T used to do with their discontinued booster, where you can set it to only work with your pre-configured phones.
I asked the rep about that. They say your signal booster will work as a cell tower. It will not be linked to you or your ISP in any way. Not sure how true that is, but yes, I wish I could lock it to my phones.
well it doesn't really matter because they can just use tmobile tower connection, does it? BTW The traffic that is going through your isp is actually ported through tmobile... so if someone is connected to your tower their isp is still tmobile. This is kind of what comcast does with xfinity wifi when it enables business routers to broadcast free xfinity wifi to their customers.
Every device has a separate MAC address so 8f they accused you of something ask them the MAC address if the device they're saying was downloading illegal stuff or whatever, then show them it's not your device as you'll have a different MAC address (and IP address for that matter). This is VERY rare to even happen anyway.
how long did it take to power up???
About 2 hours.
@@MonsterReview How long did your Power light keep blinking green? I know I maybe should wait longer to see, but it's been over two hours, and my Power light just keeps blinking green. All other lights are solid green, and judging by my phone, it's working. I even received a text from T-Mo that it finished setup. Shouldn't all the lights be solid green?
No idea why his took TWO HOURS!?? Mine took maybe 10 minutes for full usage.
soooooo why not just use wifi calling on ur phone?
Not always reliable. Cellspot signal goes farther than my router's signal
Because it's only on android
Yeah
Why do you have to plug this thing into our own networks if it's a cell booster? This makes no sense. What is this thing?
Does this provide a WiFi connection so other devices can be connected like a laptop or tv for internet access?
No wifi connection. It only broadcast a cell signal for your TMobile phone.
Where did you connect it from? Coz im trying to connect it to my spectrum modem and it doesnt seem to work.
I connected it directly to my router. Tmobile has stated that some ISP routers block their cellspot. In the event yours does, they recommend contacting your ISP to open a port for you. What I did, was I bought another router, turned off the wifi for the ISP router, and connected my personal Asus router to it via Ethernet. Try that and see if it works.
@@MonsterReview The T-Mobile 4G LTE Cellspot does not use WiFi, it only works with a physical network cable. WiFi does not matter.
@@MonsterReview Oh, and regardless of what the instructions say, once the GPS signal has been acquired, it no longer needs GPS signal. I have had mine for over a year with the antenna wound up around the units spool after initial set up. I have never needed to move it to the window or anything else.
I just got one of these for Free from T-mobile. I have 2 bars of signal strength, sometimes 3, on my phone before the Cell spot and speeds of 4 Mbps download and .5 to 1.5 upload. I spent about 30 minutes trying to optimize the position in the house for the window unit and the coverage unit. It did not make any difference what the combination was (1 bar on window unit and a numeric 1 on the coverage unit or 4 bars on the window unit and a numeric 8 on the coverage unit) my upload and download speeds did not improve over my speeds without this gadgetry. Don't waste the electricity on these things. I think they are just supposed to make you feel good...like they are actually doing something for you...they are worth exactly what I paid for them. I'll be sending this junk back to them.
Does it need Ethernet Cable to connect with another wifi?
Yes of course. You connect it to your current modem/router.
Why bother with this if you already have high speed internet? Wifi calling.....doesnt that solve any signal problem? Seems useless.
Depends on the phone. Some handle wifi calling terribly, and some do a decent job.
@@MonsterReview and old style flip phones (non smart phones) don't have wifi calling at all..
so this item would be best marketed to our parents and g-parents (that would probably never see this review)
1) comcast has a data limit with charges for overages... will tmobile pay for my neighbors internet usage when they cause me to go over?
2) if the data traffic is on the internet, is the data still metered by tmobile (essentially and potentially being charged by both tmobile and comcast???)
3) does this affect GPS location services or impact 911 calls in any way?
4) is it possible to turn off the cell radio in a smart phone and FORCE wifi calling so tmobile doesn't charge me for streaming hundreds of gigs of youtube, netflix, hulu, numerous other services, etc...
5) is it possible to limit data usage going through this device onto my home network so my wifi devices don't lag?
6) since this device puts data on my home network and cannot be blocked, how can i guarantee this doesn't become a hackable portal into my home networked devices?
seems to me this device helps tmobile way more than it helps their customers... maybe tmobile should pay US to set it up on our homes!
I have the old cellspot router by Asus but I have tio give it up since im going under my mom's account. Tmobile rep tried telling me that its the same. I was like dude I'm not stupid if this connects to my router it's using my data from Xfinity so I asked him who will pay for overage when my neighbors cause me to go over my cap. He said well you. I was naw tmobile will. He transfers me to his manager. Tmobile is screwing many people that don't know this and if you live in an apartment its even worse.
It won't affect your service or plan. Everything has a separate MAC address. Also it states specifically in the terms and conditions if you're worried about 911 call ability you have to take it on yourself to have an e911 setup or you MIGHT not get through to 911 in rare cases.
@@soulja4187 not true. I dont believe this every device has a separate MAC address. Show them yours and let them compare. You're instantly not liable for overage. Simple.
I do not get it .... really. Every one has a WiFi connection at there office and home 🏠 Why I should use it this ?
I've used it for the last 6 years.........for some reason,.. the places that have lived ...the signal is Shit....and I don't always want to be on wifi...but it has to be connected to wifi to your router to work......it's worked out great for me....!
What is the model # of this unit? Thx much.
There's only one like this. All the same. They don't sell the Asus router one anymore.
doesn't do squat here
This is not a signal booster. The gps antenna is only accessed for setup, in order to verify your location for 911 service and to confirm where this customer has deployed this device.
It is a wired ethernet device which sends and receives a 4g tmobile signal locally. It is a cross network bridge. It will only be as reliable as your broadband network.
This device permits you to deploy a local tmobile 4g network without any measurable signal from a tmobile tower at all, provided you have an ethernet connection with broadband.
ALL I WANT TO KNOW ..." DOES THIS STOP THE WIFI 5G '?
Huh??? This doesn't affect your WiFi speed at all.
I'd just use wifi calling over this.
Problem with doing that is that wifi calling drains your battery fast, because your phone is still always looking for a cell signal. Your idea is what I originally thought, but ended up getting a 4G LTE Cellspot instead.
And kill the battery 30% faster if not more. Have fun :-)
Got this because LTE data is horrible in my house. Got this so I could use my phone when my wireless home internet goes down. This requires my home internet to work. I really don’t understand the purpose.
I went to t mobile store to get booster. They gave this to me instead of a booster without telling me. Apparently, booster is out of stock and nobody want this thing which is worse than a piece of junk. It is a mini t mobile tower in you house and any t mobile phone close enough will be able to connect this mini tower. Any data though this mini tower will count against your t mobile data and your internet data as well. Any harmful activity though this mini tower in your house has potential to get you in a stressful situation. Avoid it like a plaque.