Al Lounsbury is based in Ciena's Ottawa Campus and is office of our Digital Marketing squad.

Al Lounsbury up on the roof

Practise y'all have a special place where you love to relax and unwind, simply can't because of a lack of cell phone or mobile data coverage?  Or maybe you lot're having problems getting good jail cell reception in your ain home where your second role is located. For most people, the respond to these problems is to 'but deal with it' or try switching providers.  Just as an gorging do-it-yourselfer and an engineer, that wasn't my way.  My solution was to build my own cell belfry.

In my example, I have a cabin in Northern Ontario. Information technology'southward beautiful and peaceful there, but the nearest grocery store is 30 minutes away in a boondocks with a population of less than one,000 people.  Cell coverage is spotty at best. If I'm on top of a loma on a clear mean solar day, I might be able to pull in i bar on my mobile.  In fact, many renters in the surface area have a daily walk to the top of a nearby hill just to receive their text messages and emails.

So my engineering claiming was to effigy out how to obtain groovy mobile coverage at my cabin, assuasive me the occasional Fri work day at that place versus being in the office cube.  Here's how I did it using common materials y'all can find online or at your local home comeback store.

Researching Your Needs

Step 1 in the procedure is to notice the nearest cell belfry to your location and figure out on what frequency band the tower operates on.  Most 3G/4G systems operate in either the 800 (824 to 894) MHz or one.9 (1.85 to 1.99) GHz band. The 800 MHz band will have a greater range than the one.ix GHz ring due to atmospheric attenuation, hence many carriers prefer the 800 MHz band for greater area coverage.

For my fellow Canadians, here'due south a bully website which maps all the towers in Canada for multiple carriers and provides details, including their frequency band.  You can also check with your mobile carrier and inquire the technical back up department for the nearest belfry and its frequency band.  Additionally, you tin search your telephone'due south app store for "cell signal," and multiple apps will pop up that can help.  On Android, I utilize the Open up Signal app, which provides the direction of the nearest and strongest tower.  In my example, the nearest Rogers cell tower is located in Bon Echo Provincial Park and operating at 850 MHz.  With my inquiry done, it was fourth dimension to move on to gearing up for the build.

Ownership the Components You Demand

Your basic list of required components consists of a tower, an outdoor antenna, an indoor antenna, a bi-directional amplifier, and RF cables. For the best performance, brand sure that your outdoor antenna is highly directional, essentially a narrow, laser-like beam that points direct to the nearest cell tower. By keeping the antenna highly focused, we ensure that all the signal power is directed at our target tower and non sprayed over a wide expanse.  This is referred to every bit antenna proceeds and the higher the gain number the more focused the antenna power volition be.  The antenna I used is a xiii dbi gain 800 MHz Yagi antenna (fig. i), constitute hither.

Figure 1: Outdoor AntennaNext up is our indoor antenna. We want to maximize indoor coverage hence the gain number volition exist much lower, as nosotros aim wide, non far. Also, to continue household peace with the lady of the business firm, installing an ugly antenna on the wall was "not" an pick for me, but luckily a ceiling mount was. By using a dual polarized (vertical & horizontal) ceiling mount antenna, you tin can provide 360-degree coverage around the antenna with a vertical axle width of 150 degrees downward from the antenna to the floor. The one I used (fig. 5, Part #301123) can be constitute here.

With both antennas in hand, you'll need to choice out your bi-directional booster.  With your booster, it's all most GAIN and ensuring the proceeds can be adjusted accordingly.  In my example, I picked up a 55 db gain amplifier (fig. 6, hither). This worked perfectly and took my motel from no coverage to iv-v bars of coverage in whatsoever weather condition status, including Snow!  That said, if the upkeep allows for a college proceeds amplifier, go for it. The higher gain amplifier volition provide better coverage, including the ability to drive more than than one indoor antenna if a wider indoor coverage surface area is needed.

We now have all the major components and just demand to connect everything together with proficient "depression loss" RF cable since nosotros do not want to waste precious indicate power with leaky high loss RF cables. A skilful depression loss twenty-foot cable should have a loss of 1 db or less. And yes, a unmarried db is significant. To put in perspective, a 3 db loss ways that the signal power has been reduced by FIFTY percent…yes half!  So every db counts, and ensuring ane uses ultra-low loss cables is highly recommended if maximum coverage (proceeds) is needed.

Building the Tower

With our components in hand, we need to identify our antenna placement locations. As the outdoor antenna is highly directional and the indoor antenna is basically focused straight downwards below the outdoor antenna, nosotros need to ensure that the outdoor antenna does not betoken over the indoor antenna, assuasive for roughly xv feet of vertical separation.  These separation requirements get much stricter if not-directional outdoor antennas are used with console indoor antennas. In these cases, 20 anxiety vertical and twenty feet horizontal separation could be required to prevent RF feedback.  This feedback is similar to sound feedback that occurs when a microphone (inside antenna) gets too close to the output speakers (outdoor antenna). If feedback does occur, your amplifier will close down, so make sure that you space each antenna carefully.

The tower itself is a simple affair to build. And for me, a trip to Home Depot was all that was required. I used i ¼" galvanized pipe in vi pes sections for the tower (fig. 3) and a shorter 4 foot ii" pipe (fig. 2) to anchor into the ground. Although steel pipe would exist cheaper, it likewise requires painting to ensure it does not rust, so I rejected that choice.

Galvanized pipeYous'll need to bulldoze the 2" pipe into the ground with a sledgehammer or the back of an axe to allow the 1 ¼" pipe to slide into information technology equally shown in figure 2. Space the pipage abroad from the domicile'southward foundation about the same distance every bit the upper strap you'll employ to secure the pole at the roof line.  This will aid ensure your tower is vertical and not leaning one mode or the other. Having a directional antenna pointing 10 degrees down or up would non be expert.

Later on securing your tower, adhere the Yagi antenna to the 1 ¼" pole using the mounting hardware provided with the antenna. Don't forget to attach your ultra-low loss cable and use electrical tape to strap the cable to the pole so wind does not cause the cable to wear.

Figure 4: Cell towerTo go the height you demand, simply add additional six' pole sections from the lesser up using couplers (shown in figure 3) to push button the antenna higher while taping down the cable on the side of the pole. By adding sections to the bottom at basis level, you continue yourself off the roof.  In my example I have five half-dozen' sections property up the antenna for a total height from the footing of 30'.  Apply galvanized strapping (fig. four) at the roofline to secure the pole into position so information technology does not fall or sway to one side or the other.

At the roofline, observe a place (soffit vent or drill a hole) to feed the antenna cable into your attic/home and point the antenna roughly in the direction of the nearest cell tower. We'll fine-tune the placement afterward.

For the indoor antenna location, this is a good time to consult with your spouse, as I did with the lady of my motel. The merely placement requirements are that it cannot be in the same vertical line as the outdoor antenna and should be virtually the indoor area where the coverage is needed most. So the winning location for me was on the ceiling by the cabin's entrance as shown in figure v.

Image of indoor antennaNow it's fourth dimension to caput up to the cranium to mountain the amplifier and connect all the RF cables.  The amplifier should be placed in a convenient piece of cake to access location in case maintenance is ever needed.  I placed mine on a rafter that is right beside the attic hatch every bit shown in effigy vi.

In society to minimize power consumption, I turned the proceeds of the 1.9 GHz band as depression every bit possible since I didn't need any 1.9 GHz power. I so maximized the proceeds of the 850 MHz band. In your instance the opposite may exist truthful, just you should just demand i band maxed out.

Y'all're nearly done, simply I do take a couple of final recommendations. First, it'due south a proficient thought to install lightning surge protection, in figure 7, equally this is an electrically conductive metallic pole that reaches loftier up into the air.  This surge protector gets installed on the outside antenna side of the amplifier and needs a good grounding wire on it to conduct any lighting surges to the footing, safely away from the amplifier. It'due south important to know that anytime a lighting strike is "near" the antenna that information technology will produce a surge. Surge protection is a great investment and it merely introduces a 0.two db loss. Protecting your investment properly is highly recommended.

Secondly, consider installing an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) on the amplifier and so you lot tin proceed to have cell coverage even when there is a ability failure. There is cypher like streaming a good movie when the ability is out, and having a phone bachelor for emergency calls is valuable.

55 db gain amplifierWith all the RF cables firmly continued, it'due south time to ability up the amplifier. The amplifier's lights will initially first blinking green, and in xv minutes they should stay solid if all is working correctly. If you don't get solid light-green lights, consult the amplifier's troubleshooting guide, but for me, the first attempt gave me all light-green lights!

Once powered upward, it'due south time for the terminal step: adjustment the antenna for maximum reception. Although the bars on a jail cell phone can exist useful for casually gauging reception, they lack accuracy and merely update one time every 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on the brand. However, every mobile phone has a hidden test mode that will update the signal forcefulness every second.  Many of these codes can exist found from searching on Google for "<insert mobile make name> test style codes". You'll be looking for the dial sequence to input in society to access the test mode.

Surge protectorAfter entering your lawmaking, select UMTS, debug, and basic. The key numbers are RSCP (received force coded ability) and Ec/lo which is a ratio of adept free energy over bad free energy akin to a signal to noise ratio. Getting an Ec/lo of -10db and higher (meaning less negative) is ideal. While watching the RSCP number, plough the antenna a couple of degrees so await for the numbers to update. There will be a identify where RSCP and Ec/lo maximize themselves, which represents your optimal direction.  At this point, you're done!

By at present your remote location should have awesome 3G/4G prison cell and data coverage, enabling you to leverage some of today'due south technological niceties. For instance, I can now control and monitor the heating in my cabin, correct from my prison cell phone.  As I drive up to the cabin in wintertime (half-dozen months in Canada), I bring up the app on my telephone and plow the heat on so information technology'southward nice and cozy when I make it. There are lots of advantages to having a stable data signal that we could go into, simply of course, that is another web log entry all by itself.

Have whatever questions on how I did it?  Just inquire in the comments box beneath.

[Earlier showtime any project to boost your wireless signal as Al describes above, be sure to ask the manufacturer of the cellular amplifier virtually local regulations for both your wireless provider and your local area.  For case, in the U.S. the FCC recently adopted rules to ensure the reliability of individual cellular networks by having people operating cellular signal boosters register them with their mobile provider.  No such rules exist in Canada at the fourth dimension this was published.]