How Cellular Reception Works

Cell phone reception is the strength of the connection the cell phone has to its network.  There are a variety of factors that impact cellular signal, such as proximity to a tower.  Most mobile devices use a set of bars of varying heights to display the strength of the signal where the device is located. 

Our engineers custom design wireless solutions for our clients to suit specific needs.  

This application is a cost-effective means of connecting multiple remote locations back to a central location to alleviate the need for expensive T1 or Fiber installations.

A signal booster an interchangeable term for cellular repeater, cell phone repeater, or wireless cellular signal booster, a type of bi-directional amplifier (BDA) as commonly named in the wireless telecommunications industry.

A Wi-Fi enabled device such as a personal computer, mobile phone, MP3 player orvideo console can connect to the Internet when within range of a wireless network connected to the Internet. The coverage of one or more interconnected access points — called a hotspot — can comprise an area as small as a few rooms or as large as many square miles covered by a group of access points with overlapping coverage. Wi-Fi technology has been used in wireless mech networks as well.

As defined by PCIA, The Wireless Infastructure Association:

A Distributed Antenna Solution, or DAS, is a network of spatially separated antenna nodes connected to a common source via a transport medium that provides wireless service within a geographic area or structure. DAS antenna elevations are generally at or below the clutter level and installations are compact.

A distributed antenna system can be implemented using passive splitters and feeders, or active repeater amplifiers can be included to overcome the feeder losses. In systems where equalization is applied, it may be desirable to introduce delays between the antenna elements. This artificially increases delay spread in areas of overlapped coverage, permitting quality improvements via time diversity.  DAS are customized for individual installations and designed to suit each facility.

Cellular Repeater Solutions can be designed to suit any size facility and repeat as few or as many carriers that the building owner desires.  The outline below details how they work:

It is more and more common for first-responders, (Police/Fire/EMS), to demand reliable ubiquitous radio coverage to ensure the safety of the public, as well as their own.  In many instances poor in-building radio coverage has a negative impact on first responders ability to communicate effectively in a crisis situation.  The prevailing thought today is that “Mission-critical” coverage can no longer end at the hospital doorway, basement, or stairwell. 

DAS is the acronym we use in the wireless industry for DISTRIBUTIVE ANTENNA SYSTEM (DAS).

A Distributive Antenna Solutions can connect to a variety of wireless services and then rebroadcast those signals throughout the areas in which the system is installed. The applications can include cellular service from multiple wireless carriers, public safety radio frequencies, and Wi-Fi. Campus style environments can benefit greatly from DAS systems. In a medical clinic or hospital the special medical wireless systems it uses also can be supported with a DAS solution as well as cellular e, Wi-Fi and public safety.

To understand how a DAS operates, it helps to know some of the methods by which wireless signals are propagated. Nearly all of us know what a cell tower looks like; well, each of those towers carries antennas for one or more macrocells (multiple carriers when there are “layers” of antenna arrays). Wireless carriers use microcells to add capacity in areas with a high density of mobile wireless device users. In a DAS setup, any or all of these technologies may come into play.

Now that we know we’re “inserting” signals, the next logical step is to think about what we’re doing with them. Every DAS has a “head end” into which these source signals are combined for distribution. The signals are amplified and carefully “combed” together as needed, in the electronic equipment and filters at the head end. Intermediate amplifiers (usually referred to as bi-directional amplifiers or BDAs) are added to make up for signal losses due to the physical limitations in how far a cable can carry the signal. Cables then carry the signal out to passive antennas placed where more signal strength or coverage is needed. A DAS might use fiber from the head end to the remote BDAs, plus coaxial or shielded Category 5/6 cable from there. One of the selling points of a DAS is that a properly designed and installed system is able to support all your wireless traffic: Wi-Fi, cellular, PCS, paging, maintenance, and public safety. Just be aware that each of these technology types uses different radio frequencies, which directly affects the DAS design and the type of antennas to be installed in the buildings. It is best to decide in advance which wireless systems the DAS needs to support.

A microcell is a cell in a mobile phone network served by a low power cellular base station (tower), covering a limited area such as a mall, a hotel, or a transportation hub.  A microcell is usually larger than a picocell, though the distinction is not always clear.  Microcell’s use power control to limit the radius of its coverage area; typically the range of a microcell is less than a mile wide.  A micro cellular network is a radio network comprising of microcells.