How I finally got cell service in my metal building

[strantor]

I had my 30x30 metal workshop built with no windows because of cost, better security, and so it would be cheaper to keep climate controlled. In other words I had a Faraday cage built. Now that I'm working from home, I have to be able to answer the phone when it rings or else I'm "not at work." My phone used to work reliably over my WiFi in shop using WiFi calling, but for the past 2 years our internet has been spotty and the lone service provider does not seem interested in fixing it. I missed a few important calls a couple months ago so I started cracking the roll-up door and setting my phone under it, so that I could get cell signal without leaving the shop. That got old fast, as my A/C was running full tilt trying to cool the outdoors. I made one last ditch effort to get my ISP to fix the internet, that didn't pan out, so I bought and installed this thing. It works. It takes cell signal (including 4G/5G) from outside and re-broadcasts it inside. There were cheaper ones making the same claims but the reviews weren't as good and I didn't want to screw around with a $150 unit, be disappointed, and then end up paying an additional $400 for this one.

This isn't a paid review; I'm just a happy customer and I thought I would share this here as I suspect I'm not the only one working inside a Faraday cage with no cell signal. Hopefully this helps someone.

I was worried when the manual said the antenna needs clear line of sight to a cell tower and my nearest tower is 1.5 miles away across a dozen tree lines, but I just pointed the outdoor antenna in that direction and got good signal anyway.



I was surprised to find that this thing actually increases 4G internet speed. I guess I shouldn't be surprised as it has "booster" in the name after all, but I was only expecting it to boost the signal strength (5 bars vs 1 or 0 bars), not actually boost the speed (75 Mbps vs 25 or 35 Mbps). I guess that reveals my ignorance of how cellular networks work. Here are some speed tests I did inside the shop at a few locations and outside at a few locations.



Speed inside is consistently higher than outside, except for the top right corner, which suffers a double-whammy of being behind a steel wall and also at the very fringe of the indoor antenna's radiation pattern because I installed the indoor antenna flat against the back wall instead of at a 45 degree angle which would have been better.

According to the manual my antenna placement (indoor vs outdoor) is not ideal because if the two antennas are near each other they can interfere with one another, but since there is a steel wall between them I figured it would be fine, and it was.

 

[extropic]

I also have a Faraday cage and appreciate your post. It gives confidence that the product will actually work for me too.

 

[MrWhoopee]

I'm stumped as to how it could actually provide more speed than it is receiving. I regularly field questions regarding wi-fi boosters. Everyone expects to get better speed than our ISP (Frontier) can provide. I explain that it's just like having a long run of 1/2 in. pipe from the pump to the house. Nothing you can do at the house will deliver more water. Maybe cell is different.

Speaking of Faraday cages, 15 or so years ago I went out to work on a computer for a new client. When I got to the house I saw a crew installing new windows. As I walked to the door I noticed that the roof was metal that looked like terra cotta tile and the siding was aluminum. While working on the computer I found that I had no internet. I asked the client where the modem was and he told me it was on the window sill. They had one of those radio frequency providers with land based antennas. The modem showed no signal. The client told me they always got signal in that window. Curious, I opened the window and got 5 bars. The new windows had low E glass, which apparently blocks radio waves. They had completed the Faraday cage. The ISP wouldn't cancel their contract until they came out and did a survey.

 

[strantor]

I'm stumped as to how it could actually provide more speed than it is receiving. I regularly field questions regarding wi-fi boosters. Everyone expects to get better speed than our ISP (Frontier) can provide. I explain that it's just like having a long run of 1/2 in. pipe from the pump to the house. Nothing you can do at the house will deliver more water. Maybe cell is different.

I was likewise.

I was only expecting it to boost the signal strength (5 bars vs 1 or 0 bars), not actually boost the speed (75 Mbps vs 25 or 35 Mbps). I guess that reveals my ignorance of how cellular networks work.

Curious about it, I did a bit of research. Here is an explanation of signal strength vs signal quality.

From the article, this I already knew:

You could have 5 bars of service, but with poor signal quality, you may still experience slow data and dropped calls. In areas with good quality signal, some users don’t experience connectivity issues even with weak signal strength.

And this I expected:

Does Increasing Signal Strength Increase Signal Quality?​

Not necessarily. Soley improving signal strength does not eliminate or lessen the noise degrading signal quality. If your cell signal quality is poor, only increasing signal strength won't improve voice quality or data speeds.

But this is what I learned:

In most cases, to improve signal quality, we recommend pairing the amplifier with a directional donor antenna. Since their radiation beam is directional and narrower, they can help fine-tune the quality of the signal you receive.

The outdoor antenna provided in the kit I bought is indeed a directional antenna. The instructions have you download an app that checks your connection to nearby cell towers and choose the best one, then point the antenna directly at it. From what all I have read, I think that this enables the antenna to have a more "exclusive conversation" with that tower and that tower only, with no "distraction" from competing radio signals in the area. Your phone on the other hand, not having a directional antenna, must filter out noise from all sides, and this apparently slows internet speed or decreases signal quality as the article puts it.

To this I'll add my own conjecture: being inside this faraday cage with my only accessible signal coming from this device is now a benefit. My phone is shielded from competing signals and allowed only this "distilled" connection to the tower, so my signal quality is very good, and internet is fast. If I opened the rolling door and allowed in the ambient RF, my speed would probably go down. I will test this later.

 

[Advil]

Cell boosters are very incredibly finicky and next time your cell tower gets upgraded it may not work anymore but if you are getting good results from one, that's Great!

Another option that is more what is intended from cellular providers is to enable wifi calling and have a good access point and internet in your home and make sure that internet signal is also good in your shop either with wireless between buildings or an Ethernet cable. My current house and shop are just about 100 feet from usable cell service so we made sure all the phones we bought last time and our cell provider support wifi calling. This works well well as it handles all calls and text.

 

[rwdenney]

I'm stumped as to how it could actually provide more speed than it is receiving. I regularly field questions regarding wi-fi boosters. Everyone expects to get better speed than our ISP (Frontier) can provide. I explain that it's just like having a long run of 1/2 in. pipe from the pump to the house. Nothing you can do at the house will deliver more water. Maybe cell is different....

Cell is different. The error-correction protocol over cell service repeats packets until they are received without error. When the signal strength is low, you get a lot of repeats and lower overall data rate. But the outside antenna has to get a strong enough signal from the tower to have something worth repeating. The indoor antenna will provide lots of bars but it's the outdoor antenna that needs the good connection with the network. I use a device like this in the house and have for about ten years, but find that it really only covers the basement room where I put the indoor antenna, and maybe a 10-foot radius around that spot on the first floor. But on the second floor, the primary cell coverage is usually enough to make calls because the repeater won't help up there.

I had to experiment to even figure out where the towers were. They don't publish that sort of information, and asking AT&T where there towers were got zero response.

Now I see I need to do the same in my shop, but cell service in the shop really sucks. I was able to pipe internet out to the shop using a couple of Ubiquiti Nanostations, and that will take care of some of it, but it doesn't work for texting or for calls to non-iphones.

Rick "we don't need no steeenking Internet" Denney

 

[strantor]

Cell boosters are very incredibly finicky and next time your cell tower gets upgraded it may not work anymore but if you are getting good results from one, that's Great!

So far no issues but if I do start having them I will post an update.

Another option that is more what is intended from cellular providers is to enable wifi calling and have a good access point and internet in your home and make sure that internet signal is also good in your shop either with wireless between buildings or an Ethernet cable. My current house and shop are just about 100 feet from usable cell service so we made sure all the phones we bought last time and our cell provider support wifi calling. This works well well as it handles all calls and text.

I mentioned it in post #1 but this is what I have been doing for years, and yeah, back when it worked, it worked just fine. Even now, when the internet is working, I get excellent up/down speed. But something changed a couple of years ago and now the internet is constantly going down. Like every 2-3 minutes, it goes out for 30s or so.

The tech support at my ISP says I have aweful packet loss and everyone on my street does too. So they sent a tech out. Tech checked all my equipment, said the problem was upstream of the connection point on the power pole and they would send a tech in a bucket truck to investigate further. That was 2 years ago. Repeat 5 times. Still in the same situation.

I can stream 4K video on several devices simultaneously over my home internet, no problem, because streaming video has a buffer so it "rides through" these persistent "micro-outages." But a call over Zoom, Skype, WiFi calling, being real-time, is absolutely horrible. If I get a call during the time when there is no internet, the phone never rings. Downloads have to baby-sat and keep clicking "resume" every couple minutes. Using TeamViewer or VNC to remotely troubleshoot, my efforts are cut off at the knees every couple minutes.

 

[strantor]

the outside antenna has to get a strong enough signal from the tower to have something worth repeating. The indoor antenna will provide lots of bars but it's the outdoor antenna that needs the good connection with the network.

I have been curious how well this thing would work for actually boosting a weak signal. Out at my dad's place it's a cellular black hole, you might get one bar if the planets are aligned right, but if you plan on actually making a call from a cell phone, plan on walking or driving a half mile to the top of the nearest hill. I thought about recommending this thing to him but wasn't sure it would work, and after reading your post I think I won't mention it to him. I would hate for him to spend $400 on something that won't work.

I use a device like this in the house and have for about ten years, but find that it really only covers the basement room where I put the indoor antenna, and maybe a 10-foot radius around that spot on the first floor. But on the second floor, the primary cell coverage is usually enough to make calls because the repeater won't help up there.

That sucks! I don't know how well the one I got would work outside of a 30x30 metal box but I am pretty sure it would be better than that. Maybe you need a better indoor antenna?

I had to experiment to even figure out where the towers were. They don't publish that sort of information, and asking AT&T where there towers were got zero response.

There are three third-party apps mentioned in the manual which can tell you where the towers are. They are OpenSignal, Cell Mapper, and Network Cell Info Light. I just picked the first one and it worked fine.



I pointed the antenna exactly along that line the app suggested and got strong signal from the tower that I can't even see. Maybe using one of these apps could help you better align your outdoor antenna and get better results.

Now I see I need to do the same in my shop, but cell service in the shop really sucks. I was able to pipe internet out to the shop using a couple of Ubiquiti Nanostations, and that will take care of some of it, but it doesn't work for texting or for calls to non-iphones.

That's odd. Does Apple have its own app for wifi calling? On my android I just turn on wifi calling (it's a setting, not an app, on my phone) and then I can call or text anyone I want.

 

[jocat54]

I got lucky on internet in my metal shop. The house and shop are on the same meter (breaker box) so I used powerline adapters, they use the existing wiring in the hose and shop for internet. I was really skeptical, but they work great. You do have to be able to hook them to your modem in the house and install a router in the shop. I get 5 bar strength and stream the TV in the shop and computer and phone works.

 

[rabler]

Curious about it, I did a bit of research. Here is an explanation of signal strength vs signal quality.

The theory behind that is the Shannon channel capacity theorem. This basically says if you have a stronger signal (better signal to noise ratio), you can get more data through end-to-end.

Both cell signals and wifi use adaptive coding. That is, they measure the signal strength and adjust the transmission rate to get the best throughput. If the signal strength changes, they adjust on the fly. Since the adjustment is made at the tower and the cell phone (or router and wifi device), it really doesn't matter how the signal strength was improved.

This helps tremendously with serving more customers over a larger area. The closer (stronger signal) customers get better service, but they also take up less overall time on the cell tower or wifi hub, so the tower/hub can serve more customers. Distant and weak signals take a larger time slice, but still get service at a reduced data rate. The exact details are very complicated and quite sophisticated, and change between cell versions (3G/4G/5G) or wifi versions (802.11 a/b/g/n) ....