In-building cellular coverage for a Sydney apartment block
Concrete-filled blocks and metal cladding left 36 apartments with barely any reception — and a basement car park with none at all.
The problem
The block was built from concrete-filled blocks with metal exterior detailing for aesthetics, and as a result cellular reception for both voice and data was very limited throughout. The seven-storey building holds 36 apartments split between permanent residents and short- and long-term holiday rentals, and the poor reception was driving increasingly bad reviews and complaints. The basement car park had no coverage at all, which the strata manager considered a safety concern in its own right.
What was done
The strata management company engaged us to improve coverage across the complex. Our installation and project management team worked with our in-house network engineers to design an in-building system carrying 3G and 4G for Telstra, Vodafone and Optus. Alongside balancing incoming signal and choosing external antennas against the existing outside signal, the design also had to be visually acceptable on a residential building.
How it turned out
The strata manager reports total satisfaction from the owners corporation with the improvement in signal strength throughout the building. Residents and holidaymakers have praised the investment, rental turnover has decreased, leases are being extended and holiday reviews have turned positive.
Deployed at the time
As named in the original case study. Some of it is superseded, or was never in our range.
- Signify in-building coverage system, 3G and 4G, three carriers
- External antennas selected against the existing outside signal
What we'd specify today
Current equivalents from our catalogue for this kind of site — not a statement about the hardware installed.
Where this came from
Transcribed from iDatanet's published case study. The source states no model numbers, no signal-gain figure and no antenna count — all outcomes are qualitative. The products listed are the passive RF distribution hardware we stock for this class of system, not a claim about the parts used here.