Even the best cell phone service providers often can’t deliver a consistent signal everywhere. It seems everyone has experienced a time when a network’s signal sometimes simply isn’t strong enough to support voice calls or data services. There are new products becoming available that address the problem.

These cell signal-boosting products fall into one of two categories: femtocells or signal repeaters. Femtocells act as miniature cell phone towers that connect to a home network router and use your wired broadband connection to move voice calls and data services to and from your carrier’s network. Femtocells don’t rely on the carrier’s cell towers at all. Most of these products are sold by the carriers themselves.

Repeaters and boosters, on the other hand, amplify and rebroadcast cell tower signals. Since they don’t require carrier support, they tend to be manufactured and sold by third parties.

While repeaters have been around for several years, femtocells are relatively new. Of the four major U.S. carriers, two—Sprint and Verizon—have been selling femtocells (under the brand names Airave and Network Extender, respectively) for the past year or so. AT&T, which has been conducting trials in several areas, recently announced that it will begin widespread commercial deployment of its 3G MicroCell femtocell this month.

Sprint charges $100 for its Airave hardware plus a $5 a month for service. It also offers a couple of optional unlimited calling plans, ranging from $10 to $20 per month, for calls made via the Airave service—options that might appeal to people who are considering dropping landline voice services. Verizon Wireless charges $250 for its Network Extender, but it imposes no monthly service fee. AT&T sells the MicroCell for $150, also with no mandatory service fee.