Cellular Coverage in Hotel Basement

Case Study / Hospitality

Case Study courtesy of SignalBoosters

Summary

Challenges

Hotel staff members were unable to use their phones in the two sub-basement floors (separated by cement).

Solution

CEL-FI QUATRA Cellular Coverage Solution

Results

The cost-effective solution successfully boosted cell signal and satisfied staff members. 

Challenge

An international hotel chain in San Antonio, Texas has two sub-basement floors (separated by cement) that house the human resources, operations, and housekeeping departments. Once staff (specifically AT&T subscribers) entered these areas, they were unable to use their cell phones to communicate due to poor cellular coverage.

The hotel installed a bi-directional amplifier (BDA) passive distributed antenna solution (DAS), but coverage was limited as the coax cables used for this solution did not reach all areas that required coverage. To extend the coverage, the hotel would have to invest in additional coax cabling and costly connectors. But even then, there would be no guarantee of uniform cellular signal throughout the basement floors due to attenuation of signal from the system headend to the antennas – a limitation of this technology.

Solution

Hotel management called on SignalBoosters.com, a leading provider of commercial signal boosting and wireless solutions, to find out about alternative solutions. SignalBoosters.com proposed the CEL-FI QUATRA enterprise in-building cellular solution to address the hotel chain’s cellular coverage needs.

CEL-FI QUATRA is an active DAS hybrid that delivers a cellular signal up to 1000x stronger than other solutions, utilizing category cabling and Power over Ethernet, with no signal attenuation right to the perimeter of the building.

In addition to the cement floors and walls, there were also steel fire doors. “Normally this would present challenges,” says Brandon Davis, vice president of enterprise for SignalBoosters.com. “Most solutions offer signal strength in the 70db to 72db range, but because of the 100db strength of CEL-FI QUATRA, we were able to overcome these obstacles more easily.”

Results

The ability to use category cable compared to traditional coax cable sped up the installation and kept costs down for the hotel. Category cables can be up to five times less expensive than coax cables, can be extended farther, and are also simpler to use.

“CEL-FI QUATRA is a game changer!” says Davis. “We are excited about the opportunities that both the current and future versions of the product will bring to our business and most importantly, our customers.”

Case Study courtesy of
SignalBoosters

  • Founded in 2011, with corporate offices in Houston and San Antonio, Texas
  • Leading provider of commercial signal boosting and wireless solutions
  • Solutions for enterprise and big business, public safety, home, and vehicles
  • Named an Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Company in 2014