One of the more common indoor coverage issues in high-rise buildings is elevator shafts. No matter how close and plentiful cell towers might be, once those elevator doors close, signal strength weakens and calls could drop.
That was a challenge for a high–rise property customer of CellTeks, a Cel-Fi reseller. As Duane Roundtree, Senior VP of Business Development at CellTeks, explains, “Indoor coverage for the most part was very, very good. But elevators are metal boxes inside concrete shafts. As soon as you step in one, the signal drops up to 40%.”
Cel-Fi boosting signals in elevators
Property management asked CellTeks to come up with a solution to make sure it could sustain coverage in its elevators. However, traditional BDAs (bi-directional amplifiers) weren’t able to generate enough power.
The answer? Cel-Fi smart signal boosters in elevator lobbies.
That meant only three Cel-Fi systems were needed for each carrier (Cel-Fi PROs for AT&T and Cel-Fi DUOs for T-Mobile), or a total of six, to boost signal strength to eight floors.
Winning results
The best part says Roundtree is that the two Cel-Fi systems on each floor played nicely together. “I’ve never seen two units work in such close proximity and not interfere with each other.”
When they checked in with the customer a few months after installation, he says, “They confirmed they were able to maintain calls in their elevators from the first to the eighth floors without dropping a signal.”