Review: Samsung Airave
The Airave is small and compact. You'll have no problem finding a spot for it in your office. The review unit I used came pre-configured, so that means I didn't have to set it up at a Sprint store. Every other aspect of my time with it was as any normal consumer would experience.
First, I tested Sprint's signal without the Airave. Using a Samsung Upstage, a Motorola VE20 and a Sanyo Katana Eclipse, I determined that the average amount of coverage provided in my test area (aka, my house) is two bars of service. This is consistent with the findings of every Sprint phone I've ever tested in Morris Country, NJ.
First I tested the signal in every room in my house, including the attic and basement. This chart shows you what I recorded.
After I determined these baseline levels, I conducted some more tests. Standing in my office, I made a voice call with each phone, waited for it to connect, and then walked down stairs, outside and down the street. Once outside, Sprint's signal improved to three bars. It didn't go any higher than that on any of the three test phones. These phones use a mix of EVDO and 1X for data. During this test we noted that call quality of all three calls was about even, though the Motorola VE20 sounded a bit better than the Katana Eclipse and Upstage.
I then performed a similar test surfing the Web. I opened a data connection in my office, and then continued to surf the Web while walking outside and down the street. Though the coverage improved, there was no noticeable improvement in surfing speeds.
After determining our controls, we then went ahead and set up the Airave.
Setting up the Airave really couldn't be any simpler. Take it out of the box, plug it into a power outlet, plug it into your Internet router, and the Airave takes care of the rest...eventually.
Don't expect to get the Airave up and running in several minutes. That just isn't going to happen. The user manual says that initial configuration may take as long as an hour. For me, it took closer to 90 minutes.
Once the Airave detects a WAN Ethernet signal, it starts communicating with Sprint's network. It also has an internal GPS unit to help locate where on earth it is. It uses all this information to figure out where the closest cell towers are. The Airave regulates itself so that it won't interfere with the existing wireless network that may or may not be surrounding your house.
The Airave I tested took a long time to find the GPS signal, and even longer to go through the configuration process. It's best that you plug it in, and then walk away for a while. At least you don't have to tie it to your computer, or install software or anything else. Just plug it in, and wait. Once all the lights on the front are blue, you're good to go.
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