The external antenna connects to the amplifier via a long cable that measures 11 feet. Although that should accommodate almost any vehicle, keep in mind that you'll need to run the cord through a door or window. Wilson recommends tucking it under the door seal. While that certainly gets it out of the way ,and it protects the wire from wear and tear, the arrangement is still a tad cumbersome.
The next step is to install the cradle using one of the methods discussed above and connect it to the amplifier. The cord is long enough (7.5 feet) that it shouldn't be a problem for most drivers, truckers included. Finally, connect the power cord to the amplifier, and insert the adapter into your car's cigarette lighter. The cord should be long enough for any vehicle, but it can be tricky to get the wire out of sight and away from the driving pedals. The wire also includes a small DC converter that you'll need to secure, as well.
Although the Cradle Kit's setup is easy, it's worth mentioning again that the whole arrangement can be somewhat clunky. We had to work to arrange the various wires so that they didn't get tangled with each other and they weren't in the way. Also, Wilson clearly states that the antenna must be installed at least 12 inches away from other antennas (like a radio) and at least 20 inches from "any of the vehicle's occupants and nearby persons." Hopefully, your car will give you enough space to follow those guidelines. We don't know what happens if you don't follow the company's instructions, but we weren't about to find out.
We tested the Cradle Kit on the same stretch of Bay Area freeway where we tested the SignalBoost, and again, we were pleased with the results. Where we normally received one or two bars, the Cradle Kit boosted our signal up to four bars. Other times, we received five bars, but, like before, four seemed to be the norm. The results were about the same for all phones we tested--an AT&T Sony Ericsson W580i, a T-Mobile Nokia 6133, and a Verizon Wireless Samsung FlipShot SCH-U900--but there were some slight variations. The Sony Ericsson and Samsung handsets seemed to get the biggest assist form the Cradle Kit, while the Nokia was patchier. That could be because of the phone itself, however. Keep in mind that the Cradle Kit won't magically create a signal where one barely exists. In a location with very poor reception (one bar or fewer), it didn't have much of an effect. Of course, your individual results will vary.
On their end, callers also noticed a difference in call quality. They still reported some static and fade-outs, but ultimately, we were able to understand each other without major interruptions. We also experienced fewer dropped calls than normal, except in one particularly bad spot on Twin Peaks in San Francisco, where every carrier has a dead spot.
The Cradle Kit supports CDMA, GSM, TDMA, and AMPS cellular bands, in addition to EV-DO, UMTS, and HSDPA 3G bands. Nextel iDEN users are still shut out (Wilson does offer products that support iDEN), but that's not such a big issue for most users.
As was the case before, we didn't notice that Cradle Kit interfered with other electronic signals. Wilson promises that the device can boost cell phone signal strength up to 10 times, but we had no way of verifying that claim accurately.
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