[TriLUG] OT: comms inside a corrugated metal building

[Pete Soper via TriLUG]

For a bit more general solution than John suggested, I did some work for 
a client using AT&T cell and my signal in my basement here in the 
boonies stunk. I got a relatively cheap ($350 from memory) box that had 
a weatherproof antenna connected/powered by a plain 75 ohm coax cable 
(like TV/satellite cable) that I pointed at the nearest AT&T tower from 
outside the house. Inside the house was a box that acted as a repeater 
to put the signal into my shop. There is a straight forward process to 
register these devices with AT&T so they can be confident that your high 
powered repeater inside the metal building is not a "loud" signal in a 
dense apartment complex that will hose up your neighbors and cause AT&T 
to be blamed, or worse, piss off the FCC. This worked extremely well and 
my cell modem connect times went from minutes to seconds. No doubt AT&T 
sells or leases these things too.

-Pete

On 8/15/19 8:36 AM, John Vaughters via TriLUG wrote:
>   CMP,
> What you have to do is locate the WAN antenna outside the building. Assuming you are referring to cell WAN connection. We do this all the time for remote locations. Call AT&T and they should be willing to help you determine the cell strength in the area of the router. Cisco 819 router is a fairly low cost router solution with cell WAN.
> John Vaughters
>      On Thursday, August 15, 2019, 8:30:38 AM EDT, Cristóbal Palmer via TriLUG <trilug at trilug.org> wrote:
>   
>   Greetings fellow nerds,
>
> Do you or somebody you know set up high speed WiFi or a cell site inside a
> corrugated metal building within short distance (~150 yards) and line of
> site of a building that already had network? How did you go about it? What
> did it cost?
>
> I ask because somebody local (a business owner) is complaining that AT&T is
> the only mobile provider that doesn’t work in  this big metal box, and of
> course the WiFi from the building up the hill doesn’t work inside the metal
> building. It feels definitely not worth it to trench and lay cable to the
> building to fix service for one provider, but how can I know if it’s worth
> it if I don’t know what solutions people have?
>
> I’m also not picky about whether your answer was more DIY or contractor. If
> you know of a person or company who does good site surveys and estimates
> for something like this, please speak up.
>
> Thanks,
> CMP