Before I buy the Sleek 4G

V-Smart II wilson sleek for verizon

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J3U3ASW?redirect=true&ref_=s9_im_co_g236_i3

on the box from mine, bought on Amazon in Dec 2012

model 815125
sleek 4G 700MHZ band 13
band 13 is verizon *LTE
700MHZ-band 13/800/1900 MHZ cradle

this is verbatim from the box

apparently still available from one vendor on amazon

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B003NQ7RZY/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=all

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was the Wilson trucker, your old one. or a new one for the dual band sleek

that 1.35mb dl speed is a big increase almost 4 times the speed of the nexus
that would be a big deal for me

if your phone shopping i will suggest the ThunderBolt
look around nd you will see they still command a good price
the reason is they have (2) radio chips, One for for each band
newer phones use ONE radio chip for all bands
the TB uses more power...shorter battery life, but IMO it is a better phone, with better performance
i have galaxy nexus, not sure S3/S4 , i bought it after i spilled coffee all over my thunderbolt and scrambled it

Update:

I received the sleek 4G from Amazon and completed some basic testing yesterday at home. I found out after the fact that there are two different kinds of 4G sleeks. This is the one used for the testing.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I9I67Z2?keywords=wilson%20sleek%204g%2023db%20amplifier%20kit%20-%20460107&qid=1437680654&ref_=nav_ya_signin&sr=8-1-fkmr0

Testing consisted of the new 4G sleek, the 3G sleek, the magnetic antennas for the aforementioned sleeks, the Wilson truckers antenna on a makeshift pole outside the window with the Wilson slightly above the gutter. And the following phones – my HTC Incredible version #1 3G, wife’s Google Nexus 4G, and sons Samsung galaxy S4 4G. Cases were removed from all phones.

I realize that the number of bars is not necessarily the only or best way to judge signal strength but that’s what I used for this quick test. Verizon coverage map indicates Verizon 4G LTE is available here. Of course the real test is at the locations we camp at but I wanted to test them before we leave.

The old HTC 3G circa 2010 had 2-3 bars unboosted and jumped to a solid, sustained 4 bars when boosted.

The S4 was 2 bars unboosted and increased to 3 bars when boosted. The nexus was 1 bar unboosted and went to 3 bars when boosted.

I also found that it made no difference using the 3G sleek vs the 4G sleek. I tried all combinations of phones/cradle/antenna, including both the little magnetic antennas and of course the trucker’s antenna. For example the two 4G phones performed exactly the same when using either the 4G or 3G sleek.

Also tested the two 4G phones for hotspot speed when boosted. The Nexus was using foxfi and the S4 was rooted. The S4 was 1.78 UL, 1.35DL. Nexus was 2.81UL, .38DL.

My initial thought was if the 4G sleek and S4 phone proved capable I might purchase one off ebay. I’m not so sure about that anymore. I’m still satisfied with my HTC except for two areas, the camera quality (especially for close-up shots) and the poor hotspot performance over the last couple years at our favorite camp-spots.

The thing that is supremely frustrating about this situation for my wife and I is either of our HTC 3G phones + the 3G sleek and wilson antenna worked very well for boosting the signal at our favorite camp spot. It work well for several years but the last couple years it has slowly but surely become near useless.

Then after reading some more I find there is a sleek 4G-V booster which of course is more expensive than the regular 4G sleek but is supposedly keyed toward the Verizon 4G LTE. Anybody have any intel on this unit?
http://www.amazon.com/Wilson-Electronics-815125-Technology-Frequencies/dp/B003NQ7RZY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1437681156&sr=8-2&keywords=wilson+sleek+4g-v

Hmm,3G store says it's discontinued.
http://3gstore.com/product/3547_wilson_sleek_4g-v_lte_amplifier-815126.html

Wrace wrote:

Wrace wrote:
Similarly my son purchased his Samsung S5 used, and he reports that the reception is good and speeds are very fast.

Well I guess this family is even more behind the tech curve than I thought. I talked with my son and he has the Samsung S4, not the S5. And he says the signal strength is actually pretty poor at our house (as compared to his girlfriends house apparently).

Does anybody know if the S4 and S5 have the same radio/antenna thingy? Ebay has the S4 for $130
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-i545-Galaxy-S4-16GB-Verizon-Wireless-13MP-Camera-WiFi-Cell-Phone-/361102650526

I went ahead and purchased the sleek 4G and when it arrives we will put the wilson truckers antenna on the roof temporarily and put the nexus and the S4 in the sleek and see if makes any practical improvement. If not I can always return it to Amazon.

My Wilson trucker antenna is mounted to the top of my ladder with the mount that came with the antenna kit. Cable runs thru the slide out and right to the Wilson Sleek. Where we are now I was getting dropped calls and very slow internet with the 12" mag mount antenna until I switched to the trucker antenna. And we get mostly 3G service here on the coast.

Wrace wrote:
Similarly my son purchased his Samsung S5 used, and he reports that the reception is good and speeds are very fast.

Well I guess this family is even more behind the tech curve than I thought. I talked with my son and he has the Samsung S4, not the S5. And he says the signal strength is actually pretty poor at our house (as compared to his girlfriends house apparently).

Does anybody know if the S4 and S5 have the same radio/antenna thingy? Ebay has the S4 for $130
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-i545-Galaxy-S4-16GB-Verizon-Wireless-13MP-Camera-WiFi-Cell-Phone-/361102650526

I went ahead and purchased the sleek 4G and when it arrives we will put the wilson truckers antenna on the roof temporarily and put the nexus and the S4 in the sleek and see if makes any practical improvement. If not I can always return it to Amazon.

rjsurfer wrote:
Be careful with that older phone, many of the older ones have lousy radios, and don't cover all the frequencies used today. So, even going to a sleek 4G still might give you a problem.

Im on Verizon unlimited so I don't get free phones so I used my Galaxy Nexus on the Sleek 4G and didn't have much increase in speed if any. I put my wife's Samsung S5 in it and it flies with the Sleek, more bars and much higher speed.

As others have said buy a new antenna that covers all the 4G frequencies.
On edit, what's the version of your wife's phone?
Ron W.

Thanks for the heads-up.
We don't get new contract phones either and don't upgrade very often.(I'm still using an old HTC Incredible ver.1) When we do upgrade we purchase older used phones and stay with our old verizon plan.

My wife purchased her Galaxy Nexus used off ebay last year. Similarly my son purchased his Samsung S5 used, and he reports that the reception is good and speeds are very fast. (never tried it in the sleek)He uses a ridiculous amount of data every month and would be squawking if it was not fast.

It doesn't sound promising for using the nexus with the sleek. Ah, the joys of upgrading technology.

I use the Wilson Trucker antenna with my Wilson Sleek Verizon 4G with my Jetpack in the cradle. Works very well.

Be careful with that older phone, many of the older ones have lousy radios, and don't cover all the frequencies used today. So, even going to a sleek 4G still might give you a problem.

Im on Verizon unlimited so I don't get free phones so I used my Galaxy Nexus on the Sleek 4G and didn't have much increase in speed if any. I put my wife's Samsung S5 in it and it flies with the Sleek, more bars and much higher speed.

As others have said buy a new antenna that covers all the 4G frequencies.

On edit, what's the version of your wife's phone?

Ron W.

I have a Wilson Trucker antenna hooked to a Sleek 4G. Works very well with my iPhone 5c when we are in a weak signal area.

you need an antenna that is DUAL band
one that is tuned to 4G and 3G bands
the old rubber antenna is NOT 4G capable, it will work with any sleek to increase 3G signal
the antenna in your link should work with the new sleek
it is listed as 4G