I am not able to get cell phone reception in my underground parking garage where I live. The strange thing is that the Property Manager has a signal with his phone. So on the internet, I saw that a company is advertising, that they can install a cell phone reception booster in the parking garage ,to be able to get a signal down there. Is this true or is it just a gimmick ? I sent an e mail asking the condo board if they could consider this for our garage .
Boosting cell phone reception in underground parking garages
- Thread starter peter912
- Start date
What is your signal like outside of the parking garage? A cell booster can boost what it can pick up right so if the signal outside of the garage isn't great, it may not help you much (in addition to johnb35s comment about metal and concrete).
If you do decide you want to go down the booster route, you can do some preliminary scouting by checking something like Cell Mapper and locating where the towers are -- make sure you narrow down to your carrier/supported-bands, otherwise you're just going to help everyone else
As an anecdote, I have really bad reception where I am (-116db to -120db) and after putting the booster very roughly in place (just plopped inside my garage actually), the service is much improved (-85db to -105db). I just bought a basic residential unit and roughly eyeballed placement of the antenna. I had a rough idea which direction the cell tower was in so I had it point that way. When I get around to installing it outside, I expect it to get better still.
Make sure to go for the thickest (read: more expensive, less flexible) wire though, especially if it is a long between the two endpoints. The signal loss between different types of cabling is no joke: I originally started with 60ft RG6 and then bought some cheap 100ft RG6 for it to be almost unusable. Switching to 100ft RG11 was a massive improvement. There are fancier types of wire available -- if you're going with a professional installation, the pros may be able to suggest whether or not it's worth it.
If you do decide you want to go down the booster route, you can do some preliminary scouting by checking something like Cell Mapper and locating where the towers are -- make sure you narrow down to your carrier/supported-bands, otherwise you're just going to help everyone else
As an anecdote, I have really bad reception where I am (-116db to -120db) and after putting the booster very roughly in place (just plopped inside my garage actually), the service is much improved (-85db to -105db). I just bought a basic residential unit and roughly eyeballed placement of the antenna. I had a rough idea which direction the cell tower was in so I had it point that way. When I get around to installing it outside, I expect it to get better still.
Make sure to go for the thickest (read: more expensive, less flexible) wire though, especially if it is a long between the two endpoints. The signal loss between different types of cabling is no joke: I originally started with 60ft RG6 and then bought some cheap 100ft RG6 for it to be almost unusable. Switching to 100ft RG11 was a massive improvement. There are fancier types of wire available -- if you're going with a professional installation, the pros may be able to suggest whether or not it's worth it.
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This is in a high rise residential condo tower . Well to my surprise ,the Condo board actually replied to my e mail . They said that they already obtained a quote a few months ago and I was shocked to hear that it was well over $100,000, for this underground parking garage but keep in mind it is a huge area, well over 1000 parking spots here, for four buildings.
Yeah I had a sneaking feeling it wasn't going to be a "just buy something off the shelf from Amazon and run a bit of coax"
Has condo management given any hints as to whether or not they have the stomach for that kind of price tag? Near me, I know that some of the bigger apartment builds (have an arrangement with the mobility providers to actually host repeater towers... I imagine this would be beyond what they would divulge to regular 'ol tenants but that would be an "everybody wins" scenario.
Has condo management given any hints as to whether or not they have the stomach for that kind of price tag? Near me, I know that some of the bigger apartment builds (have an arrangement with the mobility providers to actually host repeater towers... I imagine this would be beyond what they would divulge to regular 'ol tenants but that would be an "everybody wins" scenario.
Well, I don't know if they will actually end up doing anything because they have already started work, on a one to two Million Dollar job, in the underground parking garage. I am not really sure what it is that they will be working on. I think it has to do with foundation cracks and leaks. It is surprising that a 12 year old building would already need such major work ?Yeah I had a sneaking feeling it wasn't going to be a "just buy something off the shelf from Amazon and run a bit of coax"
Has condo management given any hints as to whether or not they have the stomach for that kind of price tag? Near me, I know that some of the bigger apartment builds (have an arrangement with the mobility providers to actually host repeater towers... I imagine this would be beyond what they would divulge to regular 'ol tenants but that would be an "everybody wins" scenario.
Okedokey
Well-Known Member
have you not seen the recent collapses.