Understanding how 5G can impact Indoor Cellular Coverage
If your organisation is struggling with indoor cellular coverage, you may be anticipating that as 5G is rolled out your difficulties will be minimised.
Unfortunately, this may not be correct, which is why today’s insight looks to address your understanding of how 5G can impact indoor cellular coverage.
What is 5G?
5G is the 5th generation of wireless technology, which has been developed to provide improvements on 3G and 4G.
The specifications of 5G suggests it offers faster data speeds, with lower latency, greater network capacity and most importantly enhanced coverage and reliability.
As a result of these technical specifications, you would be forgiven to think that this will significantly increase the chance that your current, poor indoor cellular coverage will improve and that it is just a matter of time until your previously poor coverage within your workplace will increase without the need for intervention.
Recently, we have been discussing with our partners and customers how, although 5G will offer an improved experience there are in fact several factors that although overall make 5G a greater solution it could exacerbate your indoor coverage further than at present, particularly those in heavily developed areas.
Influencing factors:
Building materials: As seen in several of our communications regarding poor cellular coverage, building materials play a heavy role in reducing coverage. Commonly used materials such as cladding, glass, insulation and steel drastically affect coverage because they block and weaken signals, which will still be the case with 5G.
Network deployment: The rollout of 5G as we have seen with its predecessors may not be consistent throughout all parts of the UK, with further limitations to indoor coverage being significantly less than external coverage.
Frequency: 5G uses higher frequency bands. A frequency band is simply the range or interval of radio frequencies used to transmit a signal over a telecom network.
With 5G, these higher frequency bands equate to offering higher date speeds, however they cannot penetrate buildings as effectively as 4G and 3G (lower frequency bands.) So as 5G rolls out you could see the result being a weaker indoor coverage that you currently have.
Although you may be disappointed to read today’s blog if you were hoping to combat your indoor cellular coverage issues with 5G, you will be pleased to know that Data Installation & Supplies can provide you with bespoke, robust coverage solutions inside buildings and internal spaces to create a connectivity-positive environment for your organisation and workforce.
So, now would be the perfect time to contact us on 01274 869 099 or info@disnorth.com and allow us to better understand your current coverage situation. Our team of experienced engineers will be happy to discuss with you just how we can support your organisation and its indoor coverage issues with Smart Cellular Coverage Solutions moving forward.