Cell Phone Boosters: Network Extender from Verizon Wireless, Freedom Blade

The only thing worse than a dead zone is when your entire house is one.

Along with other cell phone gift ideas for the holidays, here's a new one: a cell phone signal booster called Network Extender from Verizon Wireless.

Network Extender routes Verizon calls through a high-speed Internet connection at home.

The goal is to improve indoor cell phone coverage in an area of up to 5,000 square feet. The device is especially useful for people in houses with structural barriers or basement rooms.

The booster can also be valuable for houses in remote, mountainous or hilly areas and in locations on the geographical fringes of the Verizon Wireless network.

It's priced on the steep side, though, at $199.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate through Jan. 29, 2009. To use the device, no changes are necessary to a current Verizon Wireless cell phone plan and no additional fees are incurred.

For a cheaper cell phone booster that's not tied to a particular cell phone carrier, the Freedom Blade from Arc Wireless Solutions is another option.