Passively WeBoost the Office with DAS

Before I start, let’s do a level check. How many of us have walked into a building while having a phone call only to discover that the coverage internally is so bad that the call either dies or becomes a garbled mess? If this applies to you read on.

I had the good fortune to talk to Jeff Gudewicz of Wilson Electronics about their new passive DAS system. For Wilson Electronics, this is an expansion of the services that they normally provide with the signal boosters which are branded under the WeBoost name. While the WeBoost systems support a community of small businesses and consumers that need connectivity, there are many business environments that need greater coverage.

As the densification of 4G and the expansion to 5G gets rolled out, carriers are looking for Enterprises to provide the systems for accessing the cellular network within the building. For many companies, the employees are encouraged to bring their own devices to work. That usually means a diversity of carriers, which makes dedicated small cells costly. DAS systems can be deployed to support the carriers in the area.

Per Wilson Electronics analysis there are 5.5 million commercial buildings that have less than 200,000 sq. ft. and for almost every case a Passive DAS fits the requirements. Some of these building sites are not economical for the carrier because the traffic is light. For example, a warehouse or garage often has less than fifty people working in the facility and while the coverage may be critically important to the business, the carrier needs alternatives from their usual implementation strategies.

Pew Research confirms my personal experience as a BICS engineer for the phone company, that these buildings are often built with cellular connectivity as an afterthought. While cellular access boosts the value of the building by over 25 percent, according to Pew Research, few building owners verify where connectivity is available.

Wilson Electronics’ channel partners are trained to do a site visit and tune the exterior antennas to the carriers’ existing towers. In most of the country, the towers are shared leasing facilities meaning it’s rare that the engineering gets incredibly complex in supporting multiple carriers.

The Passive DAS systems are called WilsonPro with the range being covering anywhere form 25K to 100K sq. ft. and the system includes self optimizing software.

If you said yes to the starting question about losing calls when you come into your facility, go outside one last time because it’s time to reach out to Wilson Electronics.