Initial & complete RF site survey instructions for cell phone RF signal booster installation

What is the difference between Initial RF site survey and complete RF site survey? Steps for both are listed below to help with cell phone RF signal booster installation.

Initial survey instructions for cell phone signal booster installation includes:

A) Record outside signal strength reading in decibels, the most accurate unit of measurement for cellular signals. This needs to be noted for the best reception along outside perimeter of a building. A phone's field test mode would help find this at all 4 corners of the building. Please allow 1 minute for it to update at each location.

B) Record interior square footage that requires boosted reception. Not all areas require improvement in reception. Only areas where signal is weak need to be recorded. This will help determine which cell phone signal amplifier kit would be most suitable.

C) Determine expected number of simultaneous users at the locations with poor mobile reception. This helps determine the right capacity cell phone antenna booster will be required. For example, a SureCall Fusion 5s would be suitable for a large home but for areas with a large number of simultaneous users such as a large waiting area in a professional building would require a high capacity kit such as the SureCall Force 5.

The complete site survey would require:

1. A signal meter or spectrum analyzer is required because it provides readings in real time whereas a phone's test mode may take up to a minute to update at each spot or location.

2. Commercial installation questionnaire (CIQ) or site survey worksheet will need to be used to input data.

3. Floor plans or construction blue prints to note signal readings in various areas of floor plan.

4. Access to various critical areas of the building such as room(s) where signal is poor or the roof or terrace to install donor antenna on top of the building.

Watch the video below for more detailed information regarding how to conduct initial and complete RF site survey for cell phone signal booster installation.

Today, we're going to be talking about the difference between an initial site survey and a complete site survey. Your initial site survey is typically going to be done when you're already on the job site. Maybe you don't necessarily have your spectrum analyzer or your RF signal meter with you and you want to just get an idea about if this is a potential customer for a circle signal booster. As well as the service that you're already providing for your customer, there are a couple of key pieces of information that you're going to want to have when you're doing this initial site survey.

Number one, you want to make sure you get the signal strength readings outside of the building. This is typically going to be a negative dB. And make sure that you put your phone into test mode and don't just get the bars, because the bars, as you know from my previous videos, can be very deceiving. You're also going to want to make sure that you record the total amount of square footage that your customer would like to have covered. Maybe, if you're in a larger facility, you may not necessarily need to cover the entire building. Maybe there are a couple of different dead spots within that building that need to be covered. You need to know that information ahead of time so you know which booster to choose for your customer.

Another critical piece of information you're going to want to know is the expected number of simultaneous users. By partnering this with the outside signal readings and the total amount of square footage, you can let your customer know what type of booster they may possibly need for this application. For instance, if you know that there's going to be a lot of people that are going to be on the phone at the same time, you may need a higher capacity booster, something like the Force 5. But if you're just dealing with a large home, you may just need the Fusion 5S that will cover a pretty good-sized amount of square footage, but does not have the type of user capacity to something like the Force 5 would.

The complete site survey is going to be a little bit different. You do need to make sure you have either your spectrum analyzer or your RF signal meter. You also need to make sure that you have a copy of the commercial installation questionnaire or site survey that you can find at https://www.signalbooster.com/pages/cell-phone-booster-installation-service-questionnaire

You're also going to need a copy of the floor plan so you can make sure to indicate the signal readings on the actual four plans themselves. The last thing you will need is access. You're going to want to make sure that you have access to the perimeter of the building. You're going to want to make sure that you have access to the roof where you're expecting to put your outside donor antenna. You also want to make sure you have access to the interior of the building so that you can get signal readings for those dead spots that you're finding inside that building.

When you're recording your signal strength readings outside with your signal meter, most likely you're going to be using mode number two because you're going to want to make sure that you get the signal readings for the different blocks in the different bands that the signal booster is going to be amplifying.

If you're going to be using SignalBooster.com's free to use configuration assistance program, you really need to make sure that on that site survey, you have every question answered completely, not just with things like see floor plans or unknown. Make sure that it's complete.

We have a more in-depth video that talks about how to conduct a complete site survey from start to finish, but for now, feel free to go out there and offer those customers that in building solution.