Unblocking Essential Arteries Planning and installing an Ofcom compliant mobile signal boosting solution in Brighton Hospital.
Construction sites are challenging environments to work in; constantly changing, often in remote or hard to access areas and by their very nature are surrounded by moving and evolving obstructions.
These factors can pose problems for a number of business-critical services, including providing internet connectivity, site access and that most fundamental of requirements, mobile phone connectivity.
This is exactly the problem Laing O’Rourke had at their Brighton Hospital development project.
Already in a heavily congested area just to the east of the centre of Brighton, the site layout and the nature of the project meant a number of the team were working from the basement of the building, below ground level and surrounded by thick concrete.
As would be expected, such an environment completely blocked both 4G connectivity and all mobile phone signal, preventing them from easily making business-critical calls and slowing both their work and the project’s progression.
This was a constantly changing environment, in a hard to access area. It was also surrounded by constantly moving and evolving obstructions.
The construction team were working from the basement of the building, below ground level and surrounded by thick concrete.
The environment that the team were working in completely blocked both 4G internet connectivity and all mobile phone signal.
A lot of mobile signal boosting equipment is available, but not all of it is compliant with Ofcom rules. This can lead to the equipment being removed and a possible fine imposed.
As a long-term client of TrellisWorks for interim 4G network connectivity solutions and point to point radio solutions, Laing O’Rourke turned to us to provide a means to solve this problem and enabled their team to get connected.
TrellisWorks’ QuickCel mobile boosting solution uses the Nextivity range of award-winning products, the only Ofcom compliant technology available in the UK currently, outside of the MNO’s own solutions. Not only is this range of boosters Ofcom compliant, but it is also fully scalable. The QuickCel managed booster solution can accommodate any sized site or project, from 1-2 users in a small, remote cabin to 200+ clients across a whole office building or cabin complex.
Following the completion of a site survey by a Trellisworks engineer, we confirmed that QuickCel would do the job. Following a full test across all visible network masts in the area, we identified the optimum antenna placement and direction, planned the necessary cable runs and hub location and confirmed that with this optimum layout the solution would provide a full mobile signal over the required MNO service.
Creating tailor made wireless solutions
Enhancing your mobile phone coverage no matter the location.
The key challenge of this project had always been users beneath ground level of a building still in the process of construction. In order to get the signal, the QuickCel solution required a cable run of over 50m from the server antenna location in an office, via the hub in the corridor outside, and then across a large access room. Finally, it would go out to the vehicle access ramp in the basement area to detect the network signal.
This cable run needed to be ceiling mounted in order to avoid being accidentally cut or dislodge by site traffic. Because of the distance, we used LMR 400 to reduce signal loss. This improved the performance of the solution and user experience.
Antenna Positioning & Testing
Even with the antenna externally positioned on the east side of the building, it was still below ground level and surrounded by nearby residential buildings, an environment which would be an insurmountable obstruction for a lot of other solutions.
However, with a variety of antenna options available with the QuickCel solution, we were able to utilise a directional panel antenna to capture the signal rebounding from the surrounding buildings and guarantee a consistent and efficient service.
Building the IT network and infrastructure
Building the IT network and infrastructure
