Sprint's Magic Box Takes Advantage of LTE-Advanced Technology, Company Says
Sprint is taking advantage of new technology to offer customers the Magic Box, a plug-and-play unit the carrier said will improve the average LTE connection in a home or small business by 200 percent. The unit uses an LTE-Advanced technology…
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called LTE user equipment (UE) relay, otherwise used for wireless backhaul, Chief Technology Officer John Saw said in a Wednesday blog post. UE relay allows the Sprint Magic Box “to create an ultra-efficient connection to our macro network “ and operates on 2.5 GHz or 1.9 GHz spectrum, Saw said. “Conceived by our Chairman, Masayoshi Son, Sprint Magic Box is a revolutionary, plug-and-play unit designed to dramatically improve data service for Sprint’s business and consumer customers while accelerating the nationwide densification of our network.” Saw said. “This indoor, self-configuring LTE small cell is free to qualifying customers and requires zero implementation, labor, or rental costs. The customer simply places the unit near a window and plugs it into a power outlet -- no router, wired backhaul, or Wi-Fi required.” Saw emphasized that the box is more than a repeater. A repeater also amplifies the signals of macro towers, “along with all the noise and imperfections, and runs the risk of degrading the overall user experience,” he said. “The Sprint Magic Box, on the other hand, uses dedicated 2.5 GHz channels to reduce noise and interference, and thereby improves the efficiency of the Sprint network.”