Femtocell

Most people understand that using their cell phone in their basement or in an office building can be a futile act because the signal is simply not strong enough. Therefore, it is difficult to make phone calls and, more importantly, to send text messages. All the concrete and walls around you make it difficult for the signal to be received in a strong enough amount to properly allow for information to be transmitted.

A femtocell, though, is a new type of technology that acts like a relay station for the cell phone. For example, if the user was in the basement of their house and they sent a text message, the message would first be sent to the femtocell and then relayed to the cell phone tower. Because the femtocell is closer to the cell phone and in a better vicinity to be picked up by the cell phone tower, it acts as a pivotal stage in the transmission of information.

Operating a Femtocell

To make the femtocell work, the user must plug it into the DSL or cable connection. Once it is plugged in, it connects to the MNO (Mobile Network Operator) mobile network and expands the coverage of the area by around 30 to 50 meters. The process of setting it up requires only plugging it in. There is no installation of software. Therefore, once it is plugged in, it is ready to be used.

Once it has been plugged in, the user must decide which mobile phones can be attached to it. Most residential femtocells can handle anywhere from 2 to 4 cellular devices. Therefore, it is important to plug in which phone numbers are allowed to use the added boost. Any other phone number won't even know that the femtocell exists.

Benefits of a Femtocell

There are a series of benefits that femtocell can argue. The first is that, if it is working properly, no matter where you are, you'll have five bars of service. This is beneficial because even if you are in the basement, you'll be able to send and receive messages and phone calls. Femtocell has a higher capacity which is important if you are an individual who sends high data transfers over your phone.

Fundamentally, the reason why a femtocell is so useful is that it creates an opportunity for a room or location that would otherwise have no service to, with the use of DSL or cable, suddenly have five bars of connectivity.