Cel-Fi GO Amplifies Cellular Connectivity for Mobile Treatment Vehicles in Remote Locations

The Challenge

A major carrier in the U.S. provides cellular service to a federal government agency and ensures there is a good connection on all agency staffers’ devices across the country. The carrier contracts with Telecommunications Technical Services (TTS), a preferred partner, to implement solutions when there is poor cellular coverage inside a facility. TTS is a full-service telecommunications consulting, engineering, construction, and implementation company specializing in cellular and wireless technologies.

The federal government agency has a fleet of 135 mobile treatment vehicles that are used to tend to the healthcare needs of veterans in remote locations who do not need hospitalization. A Wi-Fi network is needed in each of these vehicles (which are mostly RVs and buses) to ensure staff have internet access when providing medical services. To improve this connectivity, a tiered solution was developed for the vehicles using a Cradlepoint LTE router with a Cel-Fi GO Smart Signal Booster, according to Owen Izevbigie, program manager at Telecommunications Technical Services (TTS).

“We’re using a particular system to increase their speed and connection strength within the vehicles, so that their Wi-Fi access is more stable,” says Izevbigie. “We had to find a way to amplify the cellular signal used by the router.”

The Solution

According to Izevbigie, TTS chose the Cel-Fi GO Smart Signal Booster to improve the cellular signal to the Cradlepoint routers inside the mobile treatment vehicles. Cel-Fi GO is the first carrier-class cellular coverage solution to feature the industry-leading signal gain of up to 100 dB for 3G/4G/5G and can be placed indoors or outdoors. Cel-Fi GO is guaranteed to be unconditionally network safe, does not interfere with other wireless devices, and is NEMA 4 rated so will withstand harsh conditions including dust and water exposure.

When it comes to installing Cel-Fi GO, Izevbigie says, “It’s pretty straightforward and simple. We actually have the Nextivity YouTube clip that’s only six-minutes long showing the install. You can scale that up a little bit for a bigger vehicle, but it doesn’t deviate too much from that particular install video.”

According to Izevbigie, the placement of Cel-Fi GO is dependent on the specific vehicle. “These particular vehicles already have an access hatch to provide cabling from the rooftop to the interior of the vehicle. We install GO near that hatch so that the line that we have going to the donor antenna can reach, but in other vehicles the location may change to somewhere that has good access.”

The Result

Izevbigie says the carrier and the federal agency are very happy with the Cel-Fi GO installations in the emergency treatment vehicles. “They’ve been very impressed with the speeds that they’ve been seeing on their Cradlepoints. They’ve also been very happy with the installations and Cel-Fi GO.”

“Even though our focus is mainly on the internet connection and setting up the Wi-Fi routers, the federal agency employees now also have a cellular signal on their phones since the Cel-Fi GO systems are inside the vehicles,” he adds.

“We find that Cel-Fi GO is the best solution for addressing the universal challenge of poor cellular coverage on the road,” Izevbigie concludes.