Poor indoor cell coverage - a growing problem. Indoor DAS is the answer. (Try CMS69273)
My name is Mike Crudele, owner and General Manager of Arcadian Inc. My company is a leading US based dealer / distributor of wireless networking gear, with a particular interest in In-Buildling Wireless (IBW) antennas used in the installation of indoor cellular distributed antenna systems (DAS) In this article, i will attempt to explain, in very basic terms, the problems i see emerging in terms of indoor cellular coverage with relation to the growing use of "smart" mobile devices vs. traditional mobile phones. Ultimately, i would like to suggest that system integrators involved in the growing indoor DAS market explore the use of our antennas, specifically the Laird Technologies CMS69273 omnidirectional DAS antenna for in-building cellular & LTE.
The demand for in-building cellular coverage is booming as the demand for digital bandwidth grows. I-Phones, I-Pads, Blackberries, Tablets, and of-course, the traditional cell phone are eating up bandwidth at a rate that no carrier could have foreseen 10 years ago. That demand is driving the need for anytime / anywhere cellular coverage.
We all know that the large carriers: AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint/Nextel have spend huge money on buidling outdoor cell towers, and for many years that coverage worked well. But now that most of us use our cell phones more than our land-line phones, and with the explosive growth of text, mobile email, and most importantly mobile web browsing, these outdoor towers simply cannot provide enough wireless coverage IN-BUILDING.
You need to understand the physics of this situation. Simply stated, most of the digital content that we are communicating via our smart phones, tablets, and laptops with "air cards" is being transmitted at higher frequencies. These higher frequncies have trouble penetrating through buidling materials. Relatively small, wood frame structures (ie: your home) have minimal isses IF they are close to a cell tower. However, cement, stone and steel pose MAJOR issues when it comes to cellular coverage. Unfortunately, just about every place outside of your home is constructed of steel and cement. Shopping malls, schools, supermarkets, office buildings, sports venues are all very difficult places to get a good cellular signal.
For many years, the major carriers have know how to combat this situation...you can either put up more outdoor towers and hope you can penetrate the local buildings, or you can install IN BUILDING distributed antenna systems (DAS.) The prospect of putting up more outdoor towers is negative for the carriers becuase it is SO costly and communities simply do not want the towers being erected in their midst...they are understandably seen as an eyesore. So, the alternative is to install indoor DAS systems...essentially a repeater system for celluar coverage. Typically, this involves wiring a buidling with a series of antnennas that are all interconnected, wired to the roof where a hi-power antenna makes a wireless link directly to the closest cell tower.
In the past, the only carrier that took the indoor DAS approach to any significant degree was Sprint. However, moving forward, i belive that all carriers will have to investigate this approach for the foreseeable future. The problem is that most carriers don't want to get into the business of building out indoor infrastructure. The task of wiring up hundreds of thousands of buildings is just too daunting. For large installations, we have seen the large, traditional 3rd parties like Crown Castle and American Tower getting into the business of indoor DAS installation, maintenance and management. They are install the system, they own it, and lease it out on a "carrier neutral" basis to Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, etc.
Lately, i see a very interesting trend emerging. Smaller, more entrepreneurial companies are entering the in-buidling wireless arena. They are ready, willing and able to install smaller scale indoor DAS deployments quickly and economically. We are working with companies like Tri Power, Connectivity Wireless and Computer Services Corp who are all succeeding in this space. We are working with these very agile companies to support them with wireless gear for their DAS installations, and i'd like to encourage you to do the same.
In conclusion, i'd again like to reiterate that indoor DAS looks to be on a path to highly accelerated growth...parallel to the growth curve of wireless badwith usage. If you are in need of a system such as this, i'd recommend the system integrators above who are highly competent at mapping out a DAS system that will work for you.
For my company, Arcadian Inc. I'd like any system integrator out there that happens to be involved in the indoor DAS market to call me, Mike Crudele, to discuss what Arcadian Inc can do for you, and specifically how the newest Laird Technologies antenna, CMS69273, can help in these installations. This antenna has wide band coverage or 698 mhz (public safety) up through 2700 mhz (LTE)
The Laird CMS69273 is a great alternative to the Andrew / Commscope CELLMAX-O-CPUSE. Why? Becuaswe the construction is much better, thus providing higher performance with less antennas, ultimately resulting in lower overall installation cost with better coverage for your users.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Mike Crudele, GM at Arcadian Inc.
1-888-925-5967, mikec@arcadianinc.com
