Cell Phone Signal Booster

WagsFTW

Needing some advice from my Techie friends.

My condo building has 15 units in it (not a very large commercial building), and it was built in 1970 (brick/concrete construction). Recently some of the residents have mentioned that they don't get signal in their units, or barely get signal. It seems like AT&T is the trend with that (I have Verizon and haven't had any issues), not sure what the situation is, since we are within a mile of the center of the city, and AT&T and Verizon both have excellent coverage around here. I'm wondering if anyone has a recommendation or experience in boosting the cell phone signal for our building (and potentially something not too expensive). I came across this website and this, but I don't even know where to start investigating solutions to this problem.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Pacifisto

I know my workplace recently had their booster looked at. If I remember, I'll try and find out what we use (and why) on Monday.

Thrax

Look into "femtocells". These are portable cellular amplifiers that are about the size of a wireless router. This is a personal solution, though, and not a panacea for multiple people.

Warning: some cell providers charge extra for these.

Chooch

what we sell at Micro Center is http://www.zboost.com/

WagsFTW

We could recommend a personal solution, but if it's a problem for almost half of our residents, I'd rather us look into a solution for the entire building (it also helps us when we want to sell our units - people want signal where they live). From what I read, looks like there are some amplifiers from Wilson that also require an antenna on the top of the building and require professional installation. Looks like this project could easily cost $1000-$2000, depending if you guys find any different information.

Kwitko

You're definitely going to need a site survey done. Let me check with some of my vendors if they have any contacts in your area. Send me a PM and I'll check tomorrow.