Cisco, MobileAccess offer in-building cellular boost over copper cable

On June 29, Cisco and MobileAccess announced a system designed to improve in-building cellular signals that uses copper cable integrated into corporate LANs and works alongside Cisco Wi-Fi networks.

The MobileAccess VE system enables users to make voice and data calls from dual-mode smartphones or handsets via Wi-Fi or cellular connections, and it costs about half the price of equipping a building with coaxial or fiber-optic cables. The MobileAccessVE system is composed of a cellular controller that's installed inside a switching closet found in distributed locations, usually on every floor of a building, as well as access pods located on the ceiling of an area being served, said Leila Nouri, director of product marketing at Vienna, Va.-based MobileAccess. One controller feeds up to 12 pods, and a single pod can cover about 9,000 square feet, roughly double the amount of a typical Wi-Fi access point, she said. Each controller is connected to a cellular signal source box installed in a building by a wireless carrier. The controller is also connected to the Cisco switching network and out to various access pods and Wi-Fi access points. The cellular traffic from each pod travels over a separate frequency from the wireless LAN radio traffic, and both are over the Ethernet LAN cabling.