Boosting LTE and 5G Signals in Outdoor Venues
Campers and RVers are looking for more than just location, price, and the usual amenities. Today’s modern camper and RVer expect reliable cellular coverage for all their connectivity needs.
As the owner or manager of an RV park or campground, you need to think about how to supply your guests’ cellular coverage in your locations that may be remote and surrounded by trees.
MCA possesses the expertise in the design and installation of outdoor distributed antenna systems (outdoor DAS | oDAS) to enhance cellular connectivity at your RV park or campground.
How DAS Boosts Cell Coverage in RV Parks and Campgrounds
Typically there are three reasons your campground or RV park will have poor cell reception:
- Your camp or RV park is too far from the nearest cell tower
- Mountains, hills, or trees obstruct the cell signals and prevent them from reaching your park
- The buildings in your camp are made from materials that obstructs RF signals
Distributed antenna systems (DAS) consist of a series of amplifiers and antennas strategically placed to spread and boost cell signal in a given location. There are two types of DAS: indoor and outdoor.
While you might need cell signal boosters in the offices, meeting rooms, cafeterias, cabins, clubhouses, or any other indoor areas at your campground or RV park, here we’ll be discussing the benefits of outdoor DAS (oDAS).
If line-of-sight cellular towers are obstructed by facilities, trees, hills, and mountains surrounding your campground or RV park, or if your outdoor space is experiencing a weak signal because it is far away from the nearest cell tower, oDAS can provide the signal enhancement you need.
Outdoor DAS is especially good at distributing Wi-Fi signals across camps, RV parks, and other wide open spaces.
Carrier-Grade Outdoor Active DAS
Outdoor active DAS (active oDAS) is specifically designed to boost outdoor cellular connectivity. There are other types of DAS solutions, but this one is best suited to the application at hand.
Depending on your budget, the size of your park or campground, and other factors, MCA assures that guests at your outdoor site will enjoy superior coverage at a cost-effective price point with our outdoor DAS solutions.
Active oDAS provides a much more powerful connection than other DAS solutions such as passive DAS. Passive DAS is not suitable for outdoor use because the equipment for this system needs to be attached to something.
Active DAS is more expensive than passive DAS, but you should consider this a worthwhile capital investment that will drive significantly more traffic to your camp or RV park.
Many RVers and campers will travel miles out of their way to avoid staying in a park with poor cell reception, so the system more than pays for itself when you take into account the increase in the number of guests you’ll be serving each year.
For an active oDAS system, you’ll need a separate DAS amplifier for each carrier (Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile/Sprint) to provide boosted cell coverage for all your guests. Each of your amplifiers will pick up signals from far away or blocked cell towers and spread them throughout your camp on fiber optic and/or coaxial cables.
MCA will walk you through the bureaucratic red tape of securing agreements from the carriers to enhance their signal.
Once installed, your active oDAS offers the strongest cell boost around. Your guests can stream music around the campfire, enjoy a movie night with their friends, check emails regularly, and post about your camp or park on their social media channels.
Outdoor DAS significantly enhances the RV and camping experience.
The Benefits of Providing Boosted Cell Signal at Your RV Park or Camp
Beyond giving your guests a better camping and RV experience, there are numerous other benefits of installing carrier-grade oDAS to you as the property manager or owner.
Safety
From motorhome accidents to medical emergencies, you want to make sure your guests have reliable cellular coverage. When first responders need to be notified to respond to an incident at your RV park or campground, the last thing you want is for your guests to be frantically searching for a landline.
Better Reviews and More Traffic
As we mentioned above, RVers and campers know what parks have reliable cellular coverage and those that don’t. They do their research. Yelp reviews and other crowdsourced platforms can make or break your business. By expanding your cellular connectivity for guests, you’ll earn more 5-Star reviews – increasing your bottom line.
Increase Your Guests Stay Time
Better cell reception means that guests can do work remotely from their RV, campsite, or cabin. Your guests who have to respond to emails won’t leave before the weekend is over because they realize cell reception is spotty.
High ROI from Active oDAS
Increased traffic and longer stay times mean a better bottom line for your business. We understand that implementing outdoor active DAS can be capital and labor intensive, but it pays for itself in a short period of time.
Better IoT Management
If your park or campground has IoT applications, such as vending machines, ATMs, coin-op laundry, smart sensors on hookups, quality cellular routers with strong signals are a must-have. Outdoor DAS will ensure that all your campground and park applications are run smoothly.
Active oDAS is also a great way to free up space on your Wi-Fi network for faster transmission speeds for your park or camp’s IoT applications. Ensure that your vending machines, ATMs, and other applications have secure M2M connection for real-time transfers and monitoring.
How Can MCA Help with oDAS for My RV Park or Campground?
You need to face the facts: for most RV parks and campgrounds your Wi-Fi networks just aren’t cutting it.
Wi-Fi has an extremely limited range. Only active outdoor DAS can give you the signal your more modern guests expect from their camping experience.
As a Tier 1 National Integrator of Carrier-Grade DAS solutions, Mobile Communications America provides the service you need every step of the way.
From consultation, RF site surveys, iBwave design, solution-focused engineering, system testing, and on-site installation, we’ll make sure your park and campground guests never want to leave their vacation.