This 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.