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 have 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 higher 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.
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