Supercell brings reliable signal to agency

CEL-FI QUATRA Supercell brings reliable signal to a rural agency

Summary

Challenge

Federal law enforcement agency with a 60,000 square foot canine training facility
Rural location with very weak signal from the macro network outside the building
External roof-top antenna did not improve the donor signal sufficiently

Solution

CEL-FI QUATRA Supercell

Results

Quick install and turnaround time
The Supercell lit up the building with the cellular coverage they needed

The Challenge

A federal law enforcement agency was experiencing cellular coverage challenges in its 60,000 sq. ft. canine training facility located in a rural area in Virginia, about 60 miles outside of Washington, DC. There are approximately 30 employees working in the facility who rely on their cell phones to be in constant communications with colleagues, but a weak cellular signal outside the kennel meant they were disconnected inside the building.

The agency enlisted Atlantic Technology Group (ATG), an AT&T Solution Provider based in Rockville, MD that provides cellular solutions for the middleprise, to create a reliable solution that would bring a signal into the facility. ATG decided to install a CEL-FI QUATRA Supercell.

“Originally, we tried to install QUATRA at the facility where we relied on the macro network and used a roof-top antenna to try to pick up the donor signal from there, but we just weren’t able to get enough donor signal to create a reliable solution,” says Connelly. “ This ended up being one of the scenarios when using a Supercell makes the most sense.”

The Solution

The facility has two floors, approximately 60,000 square feet in combined size. Initially, two CEL-FI QUATRA Network Units (NUs), the head ends of the QUATRA system, were installed, one for each floor. The NUs were connected with category cable to remote internal antennas (called Coverage Units or CUs) – three were installed on the first floor and two on the second. As QUATRA leverages Power-over-Ethernet (PoE), CUs were conveniently placed at the optimum locations without the need to add power outlets.

As there was zero donor signal coming into the building, ATG ordered a small cell from the carrier to provide the donor signal capacity needed. Once the small cell was received and installed, the two NUs were simply connected to it with a small cell interface. CEL-FI QUATRA utilizes RF-over-Ethernet (RFoE) to extend the capacity provided by the small cells throughout the building to the CUs. As soon as the small cell was connected, the Supercell lit up the building with the cellular coverage needed.

The Results

“We like the QUATRA technology. It’s cost effective, and the turnaround time to install a system is relatively short,” says Dan Connelly, president of ATG. “It gives us the diagnostic tools we need to confirm it is working well, or if there is a shortcoming, to rapidly understand where the shortcoming is.”

To ensure the installation provided good cellular coverage throughout the venue where needed, ATG always uses the CEL-FI WAVE application, according to Connelly. “It’s the kind of tool that validates that everything looks good, and we’ve got enough signal coming in. That’s definitely a part of the installation process. We were able to get this location from zero bars to five bars pretty quickly.”

High-quality solution for the middleprise
Supports multi-carrier 3G/4G/LTE voice and data
Carrier-approved and unconditionally network safe
Can be monitored and managed using CEL-FI WAVE

Contact us today to help with your Cellular Coverage Problems

This CEL-FI installation was undertaken by our partners, in which CEL-FI has a global footprint in almost 100 countries. For a referral to a local expert in your area, please contact us via phone or email.

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