Verizon Network Extender Installation

One solution for improving poor cellphone service in the home. Video covers installing and setting up a Samsung Network Extender on the Verizon network.
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[jeromeboyd]

I recently purchased a network extender and it took almost 3 days for the GPS to find a connection. Now it works fine. I was about to give up but with the network extender cable and placing the GPS Unit in the window I am connected just fine. Be patient as it attempts to connect. Good Luck. JB

[mowguy]

Thank you for your video, YouTube is better than staying at the Holiday Inn. It was pretty easy to set up I am more of a visual learner. I had to use the cable to link the GPS, open the top, it took some doing as it is tight so I used a small screw driver to slide the cover back and lift off and removed the GPS pod and put on the cable and set the pod outside the window. Once the light turned blue I removed the cable and reinstalled the GPS pod into the case and replaced the cover. I went from one speck on my phone standing by a window to 4/5 bars walking around the house. Man Im jacked to be able to do that. Thanks again for your video.

[jws]

Received my extender at no charge only when I threatened to leave and it was no bluff. I was not about to pay for a extender when I have been a loyal customer since my first cell phone. Now with the competition out there it may give others more options when requesting a booster. Its not like I was calling because I had nothing else to do and wanted to scam a extender from Verizon. Hope this helps others.

[julieking]

Thanks for this video! This is my second network extender, as the first only lasted 6 months. Thankfully, it was under warranty and Verizon exchanged for a new one at no charge. If it wasn't under warranty, I would have looked into another cell service.

[madeleinjager]

Do you have to register this with your provider in order for it to work?

[wadehenderson]

This has been the most helpful video I have ever had! Thank you so much.. I don't think the Verizon tech support was able to help me as much as this video did!

[jimmyt]

Thanks for the great video and reply to my question. FYI, three years ago when I moved into my current house both of our Verizon phones worked great with no issues. Now we get 1 or no bars, no notification of missed calls and no notification of phone messages. I now tell everyone to call my land line if I don't answer my phone. I guess I will start looking for another cell service provider that works in this area.

[ryanstratton]

Hi. I bought one of these off eBay and the person said it needs to be configured. Do you know how to do that? Thanks! -Ryan

[chasechavous]

I have a question I live in a rural area and I have a tin roof and have viasat satelite internet but want to switch to a verizon jetpack how would this work if you dont have a outdoor intena?

[carrieedmondson]

We lived in a basement apt so we had to purchase one of these to get service at all. We use the GPS extender and the booster still looses signal. I guess I need to see where we are on the Verizon coverage map. It definitely works great WHEN it's working. I wish I had known about the whole registering the device on our MyVerizon, etc. They don't tell you that when you buy it. Sometimes I have to unplug it 5+ times for all 4 lights to turn solid blue, sigh. I've watched lots of videos on Youtube and gotten some good info there thank goodness. Hopefully, now that I think i've got everything set up correctly, it will work better.

[TSnubPro]

Thank you so much for posting this video! It was well done and informative and really helped me in this age of no printed manuals being supplied with devices.

[deannebreitenbach]

Hi, iscaper1. did you take the network extender to your new house in the Oregon coast with you as well? 😃

[joegarner]

I have the note 3 for Verizon and I just hooked up my network extender. Soon as I start making a call I get all 5 bars and when I hang up they go away. Doesn't seem to be helping me when I text. except when a text failed then it went to 3G then the bars were full... Can't find option to turn off LTE on note 3... Thoughts??

[lanancedar]

Hello iscaper1, I just recieved a network extender from Verizon bec I have a terrible terrible cell signal. The model is: SLS-BU108. It came in the mail with not great instructions...I'm not an IT person, ...It came with this "GPS External Cable" which I have NO IDEA what to do with, or where it even plugs in to the box. The only hole it MIGHT fit, is on the Bottom, of the box...so then the box wouldn't be able to stand up on its base...I have not plugged anything in yet....
I guess my question is, do I have to plug that GPS cable into something??? And where would both ends actually go??? Also...is the box supposed to stand in a window???
Do you have any other videos that would cover this model that I got in the mail???
I get the gist from this video you did do, but I really wonder what you do with this GPS cable.
Thanking you in advance for your help....

[michaelomalley]

I'm at an office building and got one of these extenders to increase my strength which is also around one bar. Due to security they don't want me tying into their router... Is there any other way to use this network extender without having to directly hook up to a router? Can you just use wifi connection instead?

[zakberrie]

Thanks for the video. The #48 trick and the access control page were both very helpful. I had no idea if mine was working or not.

I found that I could switch my phone to LTE "Data Only" and voice runs over the network extender. This is nice because I still get LTE data service when out of the house without having to change a setting.

I also was able to get my network extender for free. Regular tech support wouldn't do it but when I called in and started to cancel my account the nice folks in the Retention Dept were willing to refund me the cost of the extender.

[mars]

Do you notice any delay or lag when you are connected through the extender?
Does the GPS antenna have to remain hooked up even after you have established service. I don't like the idea of the long cable being draped across the room forever.

[bobvanwagner]

Audio level is in the mud, otherwise most excellent video and video editing.

I also want to note that Verizon's support of the Network Extender(s) has changed considerably over the longer period I have used the device. After many years of poor 0-1 bar service for cellular, with my and my wife's complaints, VZ finally offered the unit, first at $50 and then, strangely enough, gratis. But I had already bought a unit from a Colorado nurse for just less than $50 days priot to VZ's second offere -- for free! Such a bumbkin I am! Anyway after a 15 or so minute call to VZ we got the unit working and it worked very well for years. We would get reception out at the garage: about 100 foot from the house.

Make sure to check whether your router is currently compatible with the Network Extender, see the VZ support pages for the list. Mine used to be (a TPLINK), yet at some point in the last year or so it stopped so being. Also the era of 3G for Verizon is ending. It's going to be 5G or LTE in the coming future.

[KeithChinmisterluh]

when you turned off the LTE on the iphone do you have to change it back say when you leave the house and you want LTE coverage? is there a way to make this automatic or do verizon phones automatically search for LTE first then 3G, etc.

[wookinpanub]

Excellent product, but with two catches you need to know about...

I live in the suburbs of Seattle, WA, I am in a condo surrounded by other condos so my signal at home isn't the greatest. I purchased this unit for $249.99 plus tax and it was shipped to my home. I installed the device but couldn't get it to work because I couldn't get a GPS signal. I called customer support and they informed me that I had to have a GPS signal to 'activate' the device and then I could place it where it was convenient. So I relocated it to the other side of my condo and ran a 25' ethernet cable to the box to 'activate' it. I was able to get it 'activated' and then relocated it back to my living room next to my WiFi router for conenience, it wouldn't work without the GPS signal at all. So, I bought a WiFi/Ethernet extender to plug in on the other side of the condo to allow the device to work. To be somewhat fair, having a GPS signal is a necessity because the device is in essense a small cell phone tower in terms of the FCC rules/guidelines so it isn't entirely Verizon Wireless' fault, but they didn't entirely represent the product in the manner that I thought was completely forthcoming, either that or they are just ignorant about their own product offerings, I'm not sure which but they need to educate their sales staff and technical support personnel to these things to better educate consumers prior to offering such a product for sale.

I thought that would have been the solution. However, then I tried to go into the device to put in the phone numbers I wanted to 'white list' as the Verizon Wireless Technical Support person called it and I couldn't find out where to do that in the settings. I read over the downloaded manual (it doesn't come with the device which I think is silly) and no mention of 'white list' was mentioned anywhere. I called technical support back and they said it would take 24 hours for the network to 'refresh' and then I could change the 'white list' settings on the 'Network Extender' page on the 'MyVerizon' homepage. I waited a day and a half and it still hadn't 'refreshed'. I called technical support again and I was informed that the 'white list' feature is not yet enabled, they contacted their data team and called me back and informed me that the 'white list' feature is not yet available and they do not have an estimated date of availability for that feature either.

I was told prior to purchase that all I had to do was plug it into my network and it would just work. I was also told that I could limit who used the device. Both of these things proved to be incorrect. I talked to both sales people in a Verizon Wireless retail store as well as through calling customer service to ask questions about the device.

The bottom line is this... If you don't mind spending $249.99 + tax, placing the device in a location where it can get a constant GPS signal (facing south and near a window), potentially purchasing additional hardware (WiFi Ethernet Extender) to allow for the proper placement of the device, allowing the device to use a significant portion of your purchased internet data bandwidth, not being able to limit who uses the network extender device, and allowing Verizon Wireless to benefit but allowing additional customers to use your device at your expense then by all means buy it, but if you don't want to pay to allow persons other than you and your friends/family to use the device and potentially allow a security opening through the device to your home network via the network extender device then I would suggesting saving your money and finding an alternate solution.

I truly hope that my review will help others to save some time, money, and headaches with regards to what this device can and cannot do and how it does and does not do what it should.

Lastly, if you are in an area with absolutely no signal and you're desperate this may be your only option (assuming you have adequate internet bandwith which is required for the device to function as it is designed 10mbps up & 5mbps up) in which case you have to weight the pros and cons of purchasing, setting up, and dealing with the potential internet/intranet security risks to your personal home/office network as well as the potential ongoing cost of owning the device at the expense of potentially having your internet bandwith used by others not paying for it to ultimately benefit Verizon Wireless and their other customers at no cost to them. You're basically buying a small cell phone tower governed by FCC rules for Verizon Wireless.