A cellular extender can have several meanings depending on the application or product. For our purposes, a cellular extender allows the extension of an existing cellular tower or towers beyond its designated distance. The typical cellular tower may reach up to 10 miles (16 km) with service and reception, but typically 2 to 5 miles (3-8 km) where the next cellular tower would pick up and take over service due to distance detection.
Cellular towers are typically installed in densely populated areas because of the significant investment required for the supporting infrastructure, including the cellular switch, tower, and antenna systems. The cost of deploying a new cellular site generally ranges from $250,000 to more than $2,000,000, depending on the location and network requirements.
As a result, installing these costly facilities in rural or sparsely populated areas is often not economically feasible. Even in metropolitan areas, however, coverage gaps and dead zones still occur. Valleys, hills, underground tunnels, dense building construction, and high-rise structures can all interfere with cellular signal strength and reliability.
Although customers frequently report these coverage issues, cellular carriers often determine that the cost of adding or upgrading a tower cannot be justified based on the expected return on investment. Consequently, many coverage problems remain unresolved.
The Cellular Extender provides an effective solution to this problem. It can be installed up to 60 km (37 miles*) from the nearest cellular tower, extending reliable cellular coverage into areas with weak or no reception.
The Cellular Extender captures even the weakest cellular signals, regenerates them, and rebroadcasts the signal to the area you designate. Because it extends an existing network, there is no need to install an expensive new cellular switch or tower.
Best of all, deployment does not require permission from the cellular carrier. In fact, cellular extenders are widely used by carriers and service providers to improve network coverage and capacity without the high cost of deploying additional cellular infrastructure.
By adding a fiber optic extender to the Cellular Extender, the range of possible applications expands to areas where a direct line of sight to the cellular tower is blocked, such as by hills, mountains, or canyons.
The Cellular Extender provides RF connections for both the donor (receiving) antenna and the coverage (service) antenna. By converting the RF signal to fiber optics, the coverage antenna can be located at a remote site, allowing cellular service to be extended over long distances or around obstacles that would otherwise block RF signals. This makes it possible to provide reliable cellular coverage in challenging locations such as valleys, canyons, tunnels, large buildings, and other areas where conventional repeater installations are not practical.
Our RPT-9000 is the Cellular extender, and the FPT-5000 is our Cellular fiber extender. Either of these products can be used alone or with each other for cellular extension and repeater applications.
Unlike conventional cellular repeaters, which are typically designed to improve reception only within small buildings or limited indoor areas such as warehouses, the XPANDAcell Cellular Extender is engineered to provide coverage over much larger areas and should not be confused with basic consumer or entry-level repeater products.
Many conventional cellular repeaters are limited not only by the distance they can cover, but also by the number of simultaneous cellular calls they can support. They are generally designed to amplify signals that are already strong enough for a cellular phone to detect. In contrast, the XPANDAcell Cellular Extender is capable of receiving and regenerating extremely weak cellular signals—signals that may not even register as a single bar on a mobile phone.
In addition, many traditional repeaters are intended to provide coverage only within a building or other confined area. The XPANDAcell Cellular Extender is designed to extend reliable cellular coverage across much larger service areas, making it ideal for campuses, rural locations, communities, industrial facilities, and other environments where broad-area coverage is required.
Before investing in a conventional cellular repeater, take a closer look at the XPANDAcell Cellular Extender and discover how it can dramatically improve cellular coverage and service.
The XPANDAcell RPT-9000 combines the functionality of both a cellular amplifier and a cellular repeater into a single, advanced solution. While it provides all the capabilities of a traditional repeater, it is designed to deliver greater coverage distances, improved signal quality, and a better overall user experience—resulting in increased customer satisfaction.
There are many applications for the cellular extender with its amplification and repeater functionality. Cellular service to valleys, hills, underground, canyons, parks, rural areas, or just about any location with limited or no cellular reception. The XPANDAcell RPT-9000 with its enhanced cellular repeater functionality solves all your cellular reception problems.
When you want it done right the first time, utilize XPANDAcell solutions. Contact us for more information.
