Many newly built buildings show a downside: poor or no cellular signal. What can we do with these reception problems?

Let's see below what can be the cause of poor signal and also an effective solution.

Let's consider a hypothetical 2-storey office, with a total floor area of ​​600sqm, located in the city center.

• Why is there a poor cellular signal?
• What items do we need?
• What else do we need to take into account for installation?
• How can a GSM repeater help me?

Why is there a poor cellular signal?

Poor cellular signal can have several reasons. First of all it may have to do with the distance from the base transceiver stations (BTS) of the operators, as the greater the distance the greater the reception problem, other things being equal. Secondly, a poor cellular signal may be due to morphological obstacles: maybe we are also close as the crow flies to our operator's radio base station, but it is not "in sight", it is on the other side of the mountain.

Finally, a poor cellular signal can be due to structural obstacles, ie related to the materials with which a building has been built and to its level of isolation. 

This is precisely the initial structural disadvantage of our office in the city.

We are very happy with it, it is carefully furnished and well insulated, so well insulated that ... there is no cell phone signal! Unfortunately, concrete, metal and double glazing have as a side effect the weakening of reception inside the house. What can we do about it?

Certainly a GSM repeater can solve the problem of poor cellular signal, but it is a question of understanding what we need. It should be noted that the office already has a fixed internet line, with a WiFi router, so we are good to surf the net.

We just want to improve the calls: the cell phone must always be available, we cannot miss any calls and the cellular signal must be stable in long phone calls.

Very well, we have thus framed the right category: GSM Call Repeaters.

Since each employee in the office uses different operators, our section of interest is GSM Call Repeaters for all operators. As we see on the site, there are 4 models in this section. Let's see below how to proceed with the choice.

What items do we need?

As mentioned above, our building is located in the city center and consists of 2 floors of 300 square meters each. From the square footage and the number of levels we understand how many internal antennas we need and consequently how powerful our cellular signal repeater must be.

As a general rule, in fact, an indoor antenna can cover a maximum area of ​​300 square meters, unless there are large obstacles in the interior furnishings (many shelves, thick partitions, etc.). Fortunately, our office is open space and there are no problems.

So we need two internal antennas. By opting for an expansion set with two internal antennas we are in place, everything is there (splitters, cables of various lengths, connectors) and we can also choose nice slim ceiling antennas, ideal for open spaces like ours.

To connect 2 internal antennas typically at least 13 dBm of power are needed, which narrows the field in the choice of our GSM call repeater: the model that suits us here is the RF-ED13-L, compatible with all operators.

Before making the purchase, it is still worth checking the external part of the repeater kit, which is the source of the cellular signal. This model comes with an external panel antenna, excellent in the city and in general when we are at close range from base stations (<1.5km). So the standard external antenna is sufficient.

What else do we need to take into account for installation?

Small inconvenience: we have calculated that the 10m external cable that goes from the roof to the interior of the office will not be enough. We will need 13-14 meters. 

No problem, even here we can customize the coaxial cable of our kit, bringing it to 15 meters. If there is also the need to remove the connectors to let the cable in, it is advisable to also have a couple of screw connectors.

I would say that we are on the right way and below we summarize everything with a small schematic of the system for our office. Now we get it, it is truly ideal!

How can a GSM repeater help me?

To solve the problem of poor cellular signal we can give you a hand, for example, by evaluating the floor plan together: to understand if the way the interior is organized requires additional antennas or extra power. We can also give you an opinion regarding the external part and the choice of the right antenna: if almost negligible in the city center, in rural areas this aspect is crucial!