Keep it Inside
Opinion
By Don Bishop
AGL Magazine May Issue — When I attended the Network Infrastructure Forum collocated with the International Wireless Communications Expo in Las Vegas, it was difficult to make cell calls from my hotel room. My guess was that the sunlight-reducing tint on the windows was metallic and made it difficult for the signal to penetrate into the room. The hotel was built in 1969, and maybe it has no in-building system to connect wireless devices with the mobile network.
Wouldn’t you know it, the combination of in-building wireless with an RF shielding for windows is precisely the point of an optically clear window film technology that also provides infrared shielding for thermal imaging defense purposes. The film from Signals Defense attenuates outside signals by more than 30 decibels in the range from 100 MHz to 12 GHz.
When a building has a distributed antenna system, small cells, bidirectional amplifiers or signal boosters, the purpose is to provide uniform cellular coverage and capacity in high-traffic areas throughout the building. Signals penetrating from outside interfere with the indoor signal. RF-attenuating window film insulates the indoor system from interfering RF signals and lets it do its job without the need for installing more powerful access points to overpower the signal from outdoors. Maybe the Las Vegas hotel was simply a little ahead of its time. Nevertheless, an engineered solution intended to provide optimum signal levels inside would work better. Window film just might play an important part.
My thanks to IWCE for the hospitality at the Network Infrastructure Forum, and thank-you also to AGL Media Group’s own J. Sharpe Smith, who programmed the conference. Sharpe also programs AGL Conferences and provides similar support for Wireless West and the Tower & Small Cell Summit. Plus, he edits AGL Media Group’s eDigest email newsletter. I don’t know how he does it all so well.
You can take advantage of it, though. Come to the Tower & Small Cell Summit in September or the AGL Conference in October. Visit www.towersummit.com or www.aglmediagroup.com/aglevents. To subscribe to the eDigest email newsletter, visit www.agl-mag.com/signup .
Nothing beats being at these conferences. Many times, you’ll want to meet the speakers in person to help you capitalize on what you’ve learned. Being with like-minded people will uplift and motivate you, too.
But if you can’t attend, watch for coverage in AGL Magazine, in the eDigest email newsletter and on the AGL Media Group website.
Don Bishop is executive editor/associate publisher of AGL Magazine.
http://www.aglmediagroup.com/keep-it-inside/
04/22/2016
