Cell Phone Booster Blog

After purchasing and installing our repeaters, a lot of customers ask why repeaters aren’t more commonplace. Almost everyone has experienced cell phone problems, whether it’s a dropped call while you’re driving, or poor reception when you call home from the supermarket to check whether you need to buy milk. Dropped calls and poor reception mean dissatisfied customers and lost revenue, so why aren’t network providers scrambling to install repeaters on every street corner?

To explain why, I’ll have to give a little background on how cell phone networks are licensed to use their frequencies. The FCC (the Federal Communications Commission) is in charge of designating and selling licenses for the frequency spectrum that cell phones use. The FCC has two main frequency ranges that it has licensed networks to use, one is around 850MHz (the “Cellular band”) and another is around 1900MHz (the “PCS band”). Each one of these “bands” is then subdivided into smaller frequency “blocks” and sold to networks. The 800MHz band is usually shared between two networks (usually Cingular and Verizon), and the 1900MHz band is usually shared between six networks (usually T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, Cingular and a couple of regional carriers).

Have a look at the diagram below to see what the FCC licensing scheme looks like.

As part of their licensing rules for these cellular frequencies, the FCC requires that networks only sell and use equipment that works on their specific frequency “blocks”. However for technical reasons it’s very difficult and expensive to create repeaters that only cover these smaller frequency blocks. You’ll notice that all the repeaters we sell on our site cover an entire frequency band, and never just a frequency block. If networks were to start installing repeaters wherever they could, they’d be flouting FCC rules and would probably get slammed with a big fine. Moreover, Sprint would hardly want to install a 1900MHz repeater that would also improve the reception for all the other networks that share the band and with which it competes.

Since networks can’t install these repeaters or even make a little cash selling them to their customers, they don’t promote them at all. By contrast, in Asian countries like South Korea repeaters are installed in every apartment complex, shopping mall, and even on street corners. Unless the FCC makes an exception for repeaters, it’ll be a while before we see similar market penetration here in the States. With no network backing, the repeater market in the US is developing as people learn of the products through word-of-mouth and as manufacturers like Wi-Ex, Wilson, TelecomTek and Spotwave gradually promote their products.

A couple of weeks ago I discussed the zBoost ZPersonal from Wi-Ex. To refresh your memories, it’s the new portable cell phone repeater. Designed to be set up quickly, consumers will be able to move the zPersonal from home to office. Another distinguishing feature is its price. Retailing at $99, it will be the most affordable repeater on the market.

As I said before, we at RepeaterStore are really excited about the new zP. Customers are already asking about availability and we predict it will be one of our most popular models. That’s one reason we were pleased to hear that it was recently honored at the CTIA Wireless Expo 2007.

The zBoost zPersonal was 3rd place winner of the CTIA Emerging Technologies (E-Tech) Award. There’s no doubt that as a cell phone repeater, it is groundbreaking on several levels. Aside from its expected price, it’s also the most portable cell signal amplifier on the market.

We also think that this award is great for the cellular repeater industry in general. It’s great that repeaters are being recognised as groundbreaking technology.

We’re looking into getting a zP here before they’re available to purchase. Hopefully soon we’ll be able to devote a blog post to its power output, coverage area, and more.

Last month I mentioned how building materials can block cell signal by acting as a Faraday cage. The Faraday cage phenomenon is a pretty interesting one and I thought it deserved a bit more attention.

A Faraday shield consists of a wire mesh which blocks external electric charges from entering the cage. The video below, from a German university, illustrates its purpose pretty vividly.

In addition to stopping the person inside from being electrocuted, the Faraday cage blocks electromagnetic fields and frequency waves – the latter resulting in interrupted radio and cell coverage. When such waves encounter conductive material, they do not pass through the material but rather flow around its surface. For example, when lightning strikes the metal frame of a car or airplane, that frame shields the passengers inside from the electric charge.

Faraday cages, intentional or otherwise, are everywhere in our daily lives. Some auditoriums and exam halls use them to prevent disruption or cheating in tests. Microwave ovens have inbuilt Faraday cages to contain the microwaves within them. In practice, we expect to encounter them regularly, anticipating losing radio signal driving under a bridge, or cell signal when entering an elevator.

Most homes were certainly not deliberately constructed as Faraday cages. For one thing, a true Faraday cage would be exceptionally expensive, and only of interest to sensitive government buildings. Nevertheless, the wire frames and meshes used in building construction have the effect of blocking or severely reducing the quality of cellular signals inside them. This is obviated somewhat by a building’s doors and windows, but the ‘Faraday cage effect’ still results in many, many homes and offices receiving little or no cell phone coverage.