Also called a cellular repeater.  “It is a type of bi-directional amplifier used to improve cell phone reception. A cellular repeater system commonly consists of a donor antenna that receives and transmits signal from nearby cell towers, coaxial cables, a signal amplifier, and an indoor rebroadcast antenna.”

A home or office without internet or a cell phone signal seems nearly impossible in our world of smartphones, mobile tablets, and wireless computers. But homes & offices across Kenya constantly face coverage problems. Stop “just living with it” and start connecting with those you love.

A cell phone signal booster amplifies your weak signal in homes, offices and vehicles. It comes handy especially in environments where there are challenges receiving cellular service indoors, say if you live in a remote area or are in basements or have metal roofing.

Cellular services in the said locations above are a common issue across Kenya. Have you been to hotels or offices where there is no network at all especially in the basements or lower ground floors? Fortunately, there is a solution.

Your indoor signal strength is determined by your wall material, surrounding topography, and proximity to a cell tower. This means that the only way to improve your voice and data services are to change one of these factors.

The most logical solution is to install a cellphone signal repeater in your premises. These signal boosters are mounted to a roof or window like a satellite TV dish, and use powerful antennas to amplify your cell signal. It basically acts as your premises’ personal cell tower. Note that repeater devices technically occupy CAK-controlled broadcast space, so CAK requires you to register any signal booster devices with your wireless provider (Say Safaricom, Airtel, Telkom, etc.). It is however necessary to contact your service provider to make sure that a signal booster will benefit you based on your location.

Reasons for weak signal

In many rural areas the housing density is often too low to make construction of a new base station commercially viable. In such circumstances it is unlikely that the service provider will do anything to improve reception. This is due to the high cost of erecting a new tower.

1.Building size

Large buildings, such as warehouses, hospitals, and factories, often lack cellular reception. Low signal strength also tends to occur in underground areas (such as basements, and in shops and restaurants located towards the center of shopping malls).In these cases, an external antenna is usually used.

2.Building construction material

Certain construction materials can attenuate cell phone signal strength. Older buildings, such as churches, often block cellular signals. Any building that has a significant thickness of concrete, or a large amount of metal used in its construction, will attenuate the signal. Concrete floors are often poured onto a metal pan, which completely blocks most radio signals. Some solid foam insulation and some fiberglass insulation used in roofs or exterior walls have foil backing, which can reduce transmittance

3.Multipath interference

Even in urban areas (which usually have strong cellular signals throughout), there are often dead zones caused by destructive interference of waves. These usually have an area of a few blocks and will usually only affect one of the two frequency ranges used by cell phones.

4.Diffraction and general attenuation

The longer wavelengths have the advantage of being able to diffract to a greater degree, so are less reliant on line of sight to obtain a good signal, but still attenuate significantly.

How a Signal Booster Works

4.Cell Phone
Gets Boosted Signal

References:

1. Cellular Repeater, Wikipedia.
2. What is a Signal Booster? Wilson Amplifiers.

If you need any consultation on how to go about the installation of the cell phone signal boosters in your building , reach out to Brendatt Engineering Services at eng@brendattservices.com or visit their website  http://eng.brendattservices.com/

To have the phone signal boosters installed directly by a contractor, reach out to:

Intelvision Technologies:
info@intelvision.co.ke
sales@intelvision.co.ke
+254(0)722 850008
+254(0)734 850008

http://www.intelvision.co.ke/index.php/our-products-and-services/network-booster-in-kenya