Deltenna, a UK start-up that designs and manufactures wireless networking kit, has finally completed the first full production run of its new Wireless Broadband Enabler Mobile Broadband booster device and put it on sale. The WiBE claims to deliver a dramatic 3G signal quality improvement, especially in some rural areas where reception is often none existent, and can thus boost mobile internet speeds too.

Regular readers will recall that we first reported on the WiBE back in June 2010 (here), since then the early prototype design has been refined and even managed to win the UKTI 'Best of British Mobile Technology’ competition in October. It works by automatically identifying the mobile cell with the fastest available download speed and then configures its 4 aerials to achieve the best possible connection.

The WiBE itself is Plug and Play (PnP): Users plug in the device, drop their 3G SIM card in the top-slot, place it on a windowsill (or in the attic) and connect their devices (laptops and Smartphone's etc.) from anywhere in the home or office via Wi-Fi or the included LAN (Ethernet) port on the back.

Needless to say that Deltenna has made some bold claims, with testing apparently having already demonstrated a typical download speed of 2.8Mbps in rural areas. The WiBE's connection range is also apparently 3 to 5 times greater than a traditional Mobile Broadband USB Modem (Dongle).

At its original announcement in June the firm claimed that it could even deliver a data throughput 30-times greater than a 3G USB Modem (Dongle) in areas of weak signal. We are expecting to receive a review unit within the next week and will do our own independent tests to find out whether it really can perform such miracles.

We recommend that anybody interested in the WiBE hold off on purchasing until we've had a chance to test it, not least because Deltenna has stuck an almost otherworldly price tag of around £425 on the device. It really will need to perform miracles to justify that but then you always expect a high price from the first run of something new, especially one with such significant promise.

However if you know someone in Ireland then it's possible to buy it for €275.00 (£240). That's a far cry from the £50 or so we expected when Deltenna suggested it would cost less than Vodafone's Sure Signal femtocell based reception booster.

We expect to be testing the WiBE through November and into early December, with a review likely to surface either just before or just after Christmas, depending on how much time we have to spare. If it really does live up to the hype then we might also post some preliminary testing results. Needless to say that we have tried other mobile boosters before ('Top Tips for Improving Mobile-Broadband Performance') and came away feeling somewhat less than impressed.