Nanaimo Business IT Support can take us down a variety of paths. When a local Nanaimo and Parksville Business approached us for assistance with their cellular connectivity challenges, we were happy to assist!
Our first approach was to try to get the users to use Wifi Calling while in the building. This was NOT the easiest method as each version of Android, plus different providers, has a different flow to set up Wifi Calling. The business has many employees coming in and out throughout the day, and reaching everyone would have been almost impossible. We created some generic steps for the Business, but needed to attack the root of the problem as the switch between WIFI and Cellular was fairly random.
The challenge was that the location was relatively close to cell towers, but the metal material of the building would leave massive signal dead spots (Essentially a Giant Faraday Cage).
We decided to install a cellular signal booster. There was one further complication – the building in question is skinny and LONG (over 150′). Most consumer-grade cellular boosters are limited in the range of interior coverage. We needed a booster that could handle multiple internal antennas (Passive DAS – distributed antenna system, just not active/managed). Luckily, our team has a lot of experience with Wifi signal coverage and Access Point layout planning to attack this.
We went on site and did a brief walkthrough and tested cell coverage – sure enough, getting only SOS in many locations throughout the building. Based on our survey, we had enough information to dig into the potential solution. Luckily, the cell service right outside the doors is amazing, and the tower we wanted to target was quite close and had line-of-sight.
To verify that we were targeting the correct cell tower, we used a Canadian Cellular Tower Map and Search site: Ertyu.org
Nanaimo Cell Tower Location Map
The site allowed us to target the correct tower for the majority of the users including GPS coordinates.
We decided on the brand for the booster: Wilson Amplifiers .
We have used Wilson cellular boosters in more compact office situations with great success. We have tried a variety of other generic brand boosters that did NOT meet expectations. The Wilson lines are amazing.
For this location, we went with the Weboost Business 100 with a secondary antenna package.
Weboost Office 100 Cellular Amplifier
This package, coupled with an extra interior antenna, should provide coverage between 8000 and 25000 sq ft! Based on the structure of the building, we chose a ceiling-mount omnidirectional antenna for the larger shared office:
Omni Directional Cellular Booster Antenna
For coverage along the far length (that also has 3 offices in a row along a hallway) we chose a directional wall mount antenna that should cover the 3 offices and common area (internal walls are Drywall/Wood Stud):
Directional Cellular Antenna
The booster unit itself was installed in the telco room, which is conveniently located at the center of the building! The external directional antenna was installed and fed to the roof, mounted on a pole kit, and facing line-of-sight to the closest cell tower that matches the majority of the userbase’s cell phones.
Keep in mind the base unit needs to have a decent separation from each of the antennas. The layout couldn’t have been better.
We were able to get the solution installed and tested in a day (after waiting far too long for some of the parts!), including internal and external work.
The results? 5 bars and clean calls.
