Indoor Coverage

Indoor Coverage Solution

Indoor Coverage SolutionIndoor coverage solutions will ensure that your wireless mobile connections are strong enough to handle regular phone calls without calls dropping. Or with the conversation becoming garbled are available for business people as well as for consumers.

Most people are just totally frustrated when they find that they cannot make calls within their home or business. Often the carrier will not do anything about it since the business generated from that building or suburban area. They are just unwilling to spend the money since there is not enough return on their investment.

What to do for Indoor Coverage Solution

They can change carriers. But this will usually involved changes in phones as well as cancellation fee’s especially if there is a contract in place. The mobile companies will not let you out of these contracts.  Consumers also have the choice of doing nothing and just living with the situation as frustrating as it is.

There is another solution to the Indoor coverage solution problem. Various vendors sell what are known as wireless repeaters for consumers as well as business situations. They vary a great deal in price as well. These systems must be tuned to the carrier that you are subscribed too.  The wireless repeater must be tuned to the proper frequency for it to provide any improvement to your phone. If you decide to change carriers, this wireless repeater is not going to work for the new phone and improve this Indoor coverage solution problem.

Only Supports One Carrier and Frequencies

The other important message that you need to understand is that this repeater will improve  Indoor coverage for all phones with the same carrier and the same frequency. Sometimes you will have guests, customers or other employees that use other phones from other carriers. Your wireless repeater will not improve the indoor wireless coverage for their phones. However it is quite possible that one carriers signal could be more than strong enough to penetrate the walls of your home or business. This is imply because the transmitting tower is much closer for them that it is for your carrier.

If all of this sounds complicated it can be. We have only discussed in general terms the theory of using repeaters.

Most providers of wireless repeaters that solve indoor coverage solutions will be more than happy to help you through the decision process. They can help figure out which repeater makes sense for you and matches the technical requirements of your carrier. They will gladly do this for you with the expectation that you will make a purchase from them.

We welcome comments from readers on this issue and look forward to your comments. For more details about indoor wireless coverage, click here.

 

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Indoor Signal Coverage Solution

Indoor Signal Coverage SolutionHave you ever noticed that the signal level on your mobile phone is not as strong when you are indoors? Some places are worse than others. Even your home is not immune to this problem. You can be outside on the driveway, walk into your house and find that the signal level has decreased. The person you were talking to can no longer hear you or at the very least the signal is breaking up. There is an indoor signal coverage solution for this problem. However for most people it just is not economic.

Hotels and Big Box Stores – Indoor Signal Coverage Solution

Sometimes it is in a hotel that has the same problem. Or perhaps one of those large box stores that are almost everywhere. These big box stores are in fact the worst places to be as far as cell phone or mobile coverage. They are steel framed and they are clad with steel sheeting in some cases or at least steel re-enforcing bars. This acts as a huge attenuator for the mobile signals. You just cannot get good coverage when you are inside these buildings.

Solutions for Indoor Coverage

Fortunately there are indoor signal coverage solutions to this problem although it does cost money to fix the problem. Essentially the owners of these buildings must install repeaters that will capture the signal outside and then rebroadcast the same signal outside. The same is true in the reverse. This system must pick up the signal indoors from the cell phones and rebroadcast them outdoors to be picked up by the cell towers that dot the landscape.

It is actually a lot more complicated than that, but this is the general idea. Store owners will be willing to do this only if  there is an advantage for them, i.e. it brings them more business, otherwise there is no incentive for them to even consider this kind of expense.

The carriers are the group that might consider installing this equipment. However there has to be an advantage for them as well. In this case they want their customers to have more connectivity which will generate more income for the carrier.  If you carrier does not see a significant increase in increased calls, text messages or data transmission, they will not be interested in developing and installing this type of solution either for indoor signal coverage solutions.

Consumers also must be aware that each carrier must implement this sort of indoor signal coverage solution for their customers, since each carrier uses a different frequency so one system will not support another carriers customers since they operate on a different frequency.

So for the most part, consumers are going to be stuck with this problem until carriers build out their networks further with stronger signals in some cases and more towers as well as small cell sites, including indoor coverage solutions. If you have experienced this problem, leave us a comment. Maybe one of the carriers will take note and focus on this major issue for consumer mobile coverage. For more information about wireless coverage indoors, click here.

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Indoor coverage vs. Outdoor Coverage

indoor-coverageOutdoor Coverage vs. Indoor Coverage

Great wireless  coverage outside doesn’t always mean great wireless  coverage inside homes and offices. Wireless carriers have done a good job on improving outdoor performance. They have added more cell sites spread across cities and even into rural areas. They have also improved dropped call rates in most major cities. In fact I hardly ever lose a call now due to a poor signal. Unless I am in a zone that they just have not figured out yet. But poor in-building coverage continues to be a problem for all carriers. Even for the long term incumbents who have robust networks. It does not matter whether you are serving offices, commercial buildings, condominiums, apartments and homes.

Indoor coverage – Blame the Building

Our cell phone numbers, voice calls, text messages  and email addresses have increasingly become a way of allowing us to stay connected no matter where we are.  We expect that our wireless devices should work inside our homes and offices, in fact we demand it. But building materials like concrete and tinted glass, and building locations in shadowed areas, can frequently degrade the cellular signal or even stop cellular, 3G, 4G, GSM, CDMA and PCS signals from penetrating into your location. Your smart phones don’t work in meeting rooms, home offices, warehouses – the list goes on.

It is usually the building materials that were used to construct the building that is the cause. At the very least the signal is weakened making calls difficult. There is a solution to this problem. However it means that either the building owner or the carrier must spend some money installing a wireless repeater.

Wireless Data Applications

Cell phones and other devices like iPads, iPods, iPhone’s, Blackberry’s, and G1 Android’s are fast becoming a way of mobilizing the workforce. IT shops in most companies are equipping their employees with these devices to improve productivity. Only to be stymied by poor coverage inside buildings. For example you might be willing to put up with two bars of coverage on your cell phone for a voice call. A strong signal is required for a wireless data application to work well.

Improving in-building coverage is a must for ensuring data throughput for wireless devices. Make sure those wireless applications that your organization has invested in, work well in the places where they are being used more and more frequently – indoors.

Solutions

There are many companies that provide indoor repeater solutions. Basically these systems capture the signal outdoors and repeat it indoors after it has been amplified. Find better voice calls and data rates with these solutions. As a result the same process for transmitting voice and data must be applied from indoors. The signal your phone transmits must be captured indoors and retransmitted outdoors so that the carrier can pick up the signal to be processed.

Others are employing a WiFi solution to improve data coverage and reduce data bills as well. With WiFi there is no data charge. Hence the user can connect directly to the companies data network after they have authenticated the users device.

Place sufficient WiFi transmitters and receivers  throughout the building to provide sufficient coverage. For example if your WiFi modem is located in the basement, the signal might not be that strong upstairs in your bedroom for example. Or even outside the home. Locate your WiFi modem upstairs somewhere. Where it can transmit a signal that is much less impeded by interference from your home.

For more indoor coverage topics, click here.

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Wireless Networks Improving

There is hope yet for the wireless networks. As they improve their services and coverage of cities , towns and rural areas. Wireless Networks Improving in many locations.  Many people experience perfectly great service were they live. Yet when they go inside some buildings or into rural areas, their phones do not work as well. They miss calls and drop calls on a regular basis.

The reason for this is really quite simple. The wireless signal is simply not strong enough for the cell phone to operate properly to process calls and maintain them once a call is set up. There are numerous reasons for a weak signal and we will discuss some of them as follows:

Wireless Networks Improving – Insufficient Power, Poor Coverage

The wireless carriers all have cell phone towers spread around the country. You Cell Towerhave probably seen them in cities and across the country side. The one shown on the left is pretty typical of a small site that provides wireless coverage in all directions from the tower. In more densely populated areas you will see towers that are higher as well as with more radio transmitters on them.

The picture to the left is an example of another tower with more radios and much Wireless Networks Improvinghigher than most towers. The power of each of these radio and the number of these towers is governed by strict engineering guidelines. They take into account the power radiated. Also the area covered and the terrain that is within a 30 mile radius of the tower. As well as adjacent towers that are also providing cell phone coverage.

The closer you are to a transmitting tower, the stronger your signal will be and the better your service will be. Someone who is at the extreme distance of 30 miles will not receive a very strong signal. They may drop calls or miss calls. The signal degrades with distance on an Radius squared basis.  The density of cell towers and the number of radios at various power levels is one of the main reasons that cell phone coverage can be very good or very poor.

Signal Blockages or Line of Site Issues

Another factor which can impact the signal you receive is what is between you and the transmitting tower that your phone is connected to by wireless signal. If there is a bridge or building or hill between you and the tower, then your signal will not be as strong.

In cities were demand is stronger, there are more towers and also radios attached to buildings to cover every nook and cranny of the city, so that there are no blockages. As you get further out from the center of the city or were there is a significant demand, there are less towers and this is where this type of blockage occurs.

Signal Blockage by Buildings

Many cellular subscribers or mobile subscribers may notice that the signal illustrated on their hand sets decreases when they go inside a building. You might have 4 bars of signal outside. Only to have it decrease to 2 bars while you are inside or even worse no signal at all.

Many buildings are surrounded in some kind of steel. This acts as a serious attenuater to decrease the signal strength. Even if your building is concrete with re-enforced steel wire inside the wall, this will be enough to lower the signal strength. In really bad cases, users of cell phones will have to step outside to use their phones.

Wireless Service Providers are Improving

As you might appreciate, the wireless service providers are working hard to improve service. Every dropped call or missed call is lost revenue for the wireless service providers. Not to mention a bad reputation that they get.

These towers and radios are quite expensive. The wireless service providers are targeting new installations were they will be able to derive the most revenue. If you happen to live in a low traffic area you may be waiting for a long time before your service is improved.

On the other hand if there is sufficient population density in your area and customers are complaining, there may be a sufficiently good business case for the wireless service providers to spend the money to improve service in your area. There are several ways to improve service.

Increase power to existing radios, however this could be detrimental to other radio systems in the area. The FCC in the US manages this relationship very carefully as do the wireless service providers. Another solution is to divide an area and add a new tower. Permission from local groups must be provided before a tower can even be erected, so it may take some time to add additional radios and towers. Many times the wireless service providers will attach radios to buildings as an alternative to adding a brand new tower and  incurring the wrath of the local citizens.

Large Buildings – Wireless Networks Improving

If you have a large commercial building with lots of wireless customers that work in the building. You may be able to persuade your wireless service provider to add small wireless cellular radios inside the building.  Of course you will end up having to approach all of the carriers since not everyone is with the same wireless service provider.

There are also small repeaters that can be purchased. These are broadband repeaters that will capture the full wireless spectrum that the carriers use . It will mplify it and then rebroadcast the same signal inside the building. Since these repeaters are broadband, they will broadcast all of the signals for all of the carriers. These repeaters must be approved by the carrier. They will have to be installed by the customer at their expense.

For more posts about wireless coverage, click here.

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Indoor Wireless Coverage

Indoor Wireless CoverageThis is our first post about improving indoor wireless coverage for cell phones, smart phones and wireless devices in general. How often have you dropped a call in the middle of conversation? O had to go outside even to make a call with your cellular phone?  Many customers of wireless companies have experienced this from time to time. Simply because the signal is not strong enough for your phone to make and hold a connection. It can happen in homes as well as in retail and commercial areas. It is very frustrating for many people.

Indoor wireless coverage will vary significantly between the outdoors and inside a building. Particularly one that has a steel shell.  The steel shell of the building will act as a barrier to the signal. Some power from the signal will get through. But most will not and your cell phone just cannot deal with such a weak signal. If the signal is already a weak signal because you are a long way from the cellular tower. Then when you go inside you will have a much weaker signal. Your cell phone just will not operate very well.

Coverage

Cellular coverage or wireless coverage is a function of the strength of the signal that the wireless companies are transmitting, the weather conditions, obstructions between you and the transmitting tower and the quality of the cell phone you are carrying.

In terms of obstructions these can be anything from hills, trees, bridges, buildings and interior walls as well as interference from other signals. Many people find that their cell phones work well outside and then fade as they go inside their homes or offices. They either miss calls or find that their established calls are dropped as a result.

Even weather conditions can sometimes impact the signal strength and decrease the power to a level that your cell phone will not work properly. Fortunately there is a solution to this problem.

Indoor Wireless Coverage – Solution

The solution is to install a cellular repeater which picks up the signal outdoors, amplifies and retransmits the signal indoors to improve your cell coverage indoors. Several companies provide products that will help in this regard. These products vary in price as well as performance, so it is important to do your research first before spending in money on these solutions. One area to consider is how much area they will cover to improve the service. Another is to make sure that the device is approved by the cellular carrier that operates in your area.

There are several products on the market that provide this sort of capability to enhance cellular, PCS, 1XRTT and EVDO signals. Consumers can do a simple test to see what happens when they go inside their homes and offices to see if a phone antenna booster might be the answer to your needs.

When you are outside, examine the signal strength displayed on your cell phone. Count the number of bars that are displayed under the cell phone signal strength icon. Now go inside and do the same thing to see if the signal strength has decreased or not. If it has, your signal is being dampened by the building and you probably could use a cell phone antenna booster of some sort to boost your signal. You may want to also try different locations in the building to see if there is a difference. Try the location were you noticed more dropped calls or failure to make a call.

Coverage Map

You can develop a coverage map pretty quickly by checking the signal strength using the number of bars displayed on your phone.  If you decide to purchase an amplifier for your cellular signal, this coverage map inside of your building will help you to figure out which is the best location to place the indoor amplifier and receive the best signal enhancement.

Once you have settled on a solution and arranged to have the repeater installed into your home of office. Recheck the coverage map by again checking the signal level in all of the same locations and note the signal strength on your phone. You should notice an improvement and of course better call service with your cell phone. If you do not notice   a difference, your repeater may not be working or it may be configured for the wrong frequencies. Your supplier can assist you with this issue.

We will have many more posts about this issue and wireless issues in general over the next year. Feel free to post comments about our blog, or to suggest additional topics for us t consider adding to the web site. All constructive comments are welcome. For more posts about wireless coverage, click here.

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