SOHO Mobile Repeater USER GUIDE Powertec Telecommunications Pty Ltd 14/511OlsenAvenue SouthportQld4215 Australia Ph:+61755770500 Email: sales@powertec.com.au www.powertec.com.au SOHO Repeater User Guide www.sohorepeaters.com 1
Overview: Thank you for choosing a SOHO Mobile Repeater. You will now be able to use your mobile phone inside your home or office. Gone are the days when you had to go to the window upstairs or walk outside to make a call. Like a skylight that brings sunlight into your home, the SOHO Repeater amplifies the outdoor mobile signal and disburses it within your home or office. By following the easy instructions in this user guide, you will have great coverage in your home or office. Why Indoor Signals Can Be Weak There are several obstacles that can contribute to the poor reception you receive in your home or office. 1) Location of the Mobile Phone Tower in Relation to Your Home/Office While mobile phone providers have tried to place mobile phone towers in the best position to provide coverage, local regulations and terrain can impose restrictions on where these towers can be placed, limiting the signal strength available at your location. 2) Obstructions Caused by Buildings, Terrain and Trees Mobile phone signals can be completely blocked or reflected by buildings SOHO Repeater User Guide www.sohorepeaters.com 2
Preparing to Set Up Your Repeater Product Check for Signal Strength Before placing a SOHO Repeater in your home, make sure that you can place calls on the outside of your home, at roof level or wherever you plan to place the outdoor antenna. Repeaters can only bring signal into your home when there is signal present at the outdoor antenna. Using your mobile phone, place a call from an outdoor location to confirm that enough signal is present to complete the call. If a weak signal is available at ground level, check the signal strength at a roof level location where the signal will likely be stronger and where the outdoor antenna can be placed for best performance. If you can reliably make and receive calls outside your home, then the repeater can bring the signal into your home. Mobile phone signal bars are approximate and vary from phone to phone. The number of bars can fluctuate widely, depending on the location of the phone, the position or angle of the phone and weather. Most mobile phone signal meters update every 6 to 10 seconds. An increase of only one bar typically indicates a 4x to 10x signal Increase. THE BEST INDICATOR OF SIGNAL STRENGTH IS THE ABILITY TO RELIABLY PLACE AND RECEIVE CALLS. SOHO Repeater User Guide www.sohorepeaters.com 3
Determine the Needed Coverage Area Identify the location in your home/office where you need signal coverage the most. A SOHO Repeater can cover approximately 90 square metres (coverage varies based on outdoor signal level, building construction, and placement of the indoor antenna). Internal walls will also reduce the coverage area. Determine the Location of the Antennas To capture the best signal, place the Outdoor Antenna as high as possible and position it horizontally towards your nearest tower, keeping it at least 1m away from any metal. The location of the Outdoor Antenna should be at least 5m higher than the Indoor Antenna. If this is not possible, maximizing the horizontal separation between the 2 antennas is advised and also reducing the repeaters gain (see Adjusting the Repeaters Gain) Additional Cable Requirements If the distance between the Outdoor Antenna and the Repeater exceeds 10m, you will need to purchase additional coaxial cable. For cable runs longer than 10m we recommend the purchase of LMR400 low-loss cable from our website. A longer cable is helpful only if it allows you to place the Outdoor Antenna in a location where you measure stronger signal. SOHO Repeater User Guide www.sohorepeaters.com 4
Setting Up Your SOHO Repeater Placement of the Outdoor Antenna Choosing the best location for the Outdoor Antenna will provide the best performance and the largest area of improved signal. Determine the location that provides the strongest signal using the signal strength indicator on your mobile phone. Find the location that provides the most bars of signal strength and place the Outdoor Antenna at or near that location. Avoid placing the Outdoor Antenna near metal such as wiring, A/C ducts, metal siding, truss plates, etc. When connecting the cable to the antenna, run the cable straight down from the antenna. Avoid draping the coax near the antenna. Warning: In order for the repeater to function correctly and not interfere with the mobile network, there must be enough separation between the indoor and outdoor antennas. Failure to provide adequate isolation will not only result in poor indoor coverage, but probably a visit from your local service provider investigating the network interference. It is highly recommended that the Outdoor Antenna and Indoor Antenna have approximately 5m of vertical separation. Warning: Avoid placing the Outdoor Antenna near metal such as wiring, A/C ducts, metal siding, truss plates, etc. When connecting the cable to the antenna, run the cable straight down from the antenna. Avoid draping the coax near the antenna. SOHO Repeater User Guide www.sohorepeaters.com 5
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Outdoor placement The following instructions are recommended for the best reception. 1. Using your mobile phone as a signal meter, confirm an area on your roof that will deliver optimal signal strength to the Outdoor Antenna. Identify the best location for attachment of the mounting bracket-such as an eve or existing pole. 2. Secure the mounting bracket at the highest possible point and at least 1 meter away from metal objects such as pipes, metal siding, A/C unit etc. 3. Position the mounting bracket such that the Outdoor Antenna will be horizontal and pointed towards your carriers nearest mobile phone tower. 4. Connect the supplied 10m coaxial cable to the Outdoor Antenna. 5. Run the coaxial cable along a descending pipe or through a wall that that leads closest to the location of the Repeater/Base Unit. NOTE: Refrain from securing cable or drilling holes until the system has been tested. 6. From the other end, connect the 10m cable to the Repeater/Base Unit. 7. Connect the Indoor Antenna to the Repeater/Base Unit and mount it on a wall indoors facing towards where you require coverage. 8. Connect the Power Supply to the Repeater/Base Unit and plug it into a power outlet. SOHO Repeater User Guide www.sohorepeaters.com 7
Locate a pipe that descends from the attic down to the desired location of the Repeater/Base Unit. Tie a weight to a pull string and lower the weight down alongside the pipe. In the lower room, tie the pull-string onto one end of the cable. From the attic, gently pull up the string until the coaxial cable can be grasped. Connect the coaxial cable to the Outdoor Antenna. SOHO Repeater User Guide www.sohorepeaters.com 8
Confirm Your Repeater is Working Properly Perform the following steps to confirm that the unit is now working properly: Unplug the Base Unit power cord. 1. Turn on your mobile phone and check the signal meter. 2. Plug the power cord into the Repeater/Base Unit. 3. Hold your mobile phone about 1m from the Indoor Antenna and then turn it on. Wait up to 1 minute for the Mobile phone to register the signal coming from the Repeater/Base Unit. 4. If the signal meter shows improvement, your Repeater unit is working properly. Improving Your Coverage Area When your Repeater system is in place and fully connected, you should walk throughout the room and see that you are able to reliably place calls. Remember, coverage varies based on outdoor signal level, building construction, and antenna placement. Coverage in adjoining rooms (next to, above, or below) will be reduced by walls or ceiling/floors. Should you desire to improve coverage, you may: 1. Move the Repeater/Base Unit and/or adjust the angle of the Indoor Antenna. 2. Move the Outdoor Antenna to a higher location. 3. Purchase additional cable for the Outdoor Antenna. 4. Adjust the gain of the repeater using the dip switches SOHO Repeater User Guide www.sohorepeaters.com 9
Adjusting the Repeaters Gain The SOHO Repeaters have a feature called Adjustable Gain Control that controls the amount of gain the Repeater outputs. This feature is highly useful when setting up the Repeater, helping ensure there is enough separation between the indoor and outdoor antennas. The Repeaters come preconfigured in the maximum gain setting with all switches in the ON position. On the side of the repeater are the gain control dip switches, marked D (Downlink) and U (Uplink). The switches are numbered with each having the ability to lower the Repeater s gain by a set increment when moved to the off position: Note: the higher the attenuation number in dbi the lower the coverage area will become. Product contents SOHO Repeater User Guide www.sohorepeaters.com 10
GSM/DCS Specifications 900/1800 Bands Specifications Frequency Up link GSM 890-915/DCS1710-1785(MHz) range Downlink GSM 935-960/DCS1805-1880(MHz) Gain( GSM/DCS Up link 55//50 65/55 45/45 db) GSM/DCS Downlink 60/55 70/60 50/50 Gain adjustable range MGC 30dB Output power(dbm) 17 20 17 Pass band ripple GSM 4dB DCS 15dB Guard band rejection GSM (BW-60dB) 42 MHz (BW-70dB) 45 MHz DCS (BW-60dB) 104MHz (BW-70dB) 107 MHz I/O impedance 50 /N 50 /N Connector I/O return loss -10dB Noise Figure -8dB Intermodulation attenuation 40dBc (Po=13dBm) Transmission Delay 0.5us Ambient temperature Power supply Size Reliability Electromagnetic compatibility Function -10 ~50 AC110~220V±10% 45~55Hz 158mm*136mm*37mm GB6993-86 to zhe GB6993-86 standard ETS300 694-4 to zhe ETS300 694-4 standard a) Power supply LED denote b) Export power ELD denote SOHO Repeater User Guide www.sohorepeaters.com 11
CDMA/PCS Specifications 850/1900 Bands Specifications Up link CDMA824-849/PCS1850-1910(MHz) Frequency range Downlink CDMA 869-894/PCS1930-1990(MHz) CDMA/PCS Up link 65//53 Gain(dB) CDMA/PCS Downlink 70/58 Gain adjustable range MGC 30dB Output power(dbm) 20 CDMA 4dB Pass band ripple PCS 15dB Guard band rejection CDMA (BW-60dB) 42 MHz (BW-70dB) 45 MHz PCS (BW-60dB) 104MHz (BW-70dB) 107 MHz I/O impedance 50 /N Connector I/O return loss -10dB Noise figure -8dB Intermodulation attenuation 40dBc (Po=13dBm) Transmission Delay 0.5us Ambient temperature -10 ~50 Power supply AC110~220V±10% 45~55Hz Size 158mm*136mm*37mm Reliability To zhe GB6993-86 standard Electromagnetic compatibility To zhe ETS300 694-4 standard Function a) Power supply LED denote b) Export power ELD denote SOHO Repeater Models SOHO Repeaters will operate on both 2G and 3G. SOHO-850 850 MHz mobile band SOHO-900 900 MHz mobile band SOHO-850/1800 850 & 1800 MHz mobile bands SOHO-850/1900 850 & 1900 MHz mobile bands SOHO Repeater User Guide www.sohorepeaters.com 12