Femtocells, Vodafone Sure Signal aim to improve phone reception indoors
January 21st, 2010
To tie in with the launch of the iPhone on it’s network, Vodafone has launched a “femtocell” product which aims to guarantee 5-bar signal in your home called Sure Signal. In this article, we explore the technology underlying “Sure Signal” called femtocells. We look at how they work, their benefits and downsides and whether they will take off in the UK.
What is a Femtocell?
A Femtocell is essentially like having your own personal cellphone tower. That sounds scary but a femtocell is about the size of a wireless router so you can have it in your living room. A femtocell will typically output a 3G mobile signal which your phone can recieve. It plugs in to your broadband connection and utilises that to connect to the mobile network operator (i.e. Vodafone). All of your mobile phone calls, texts and web browsing are routed through that femtocell when you are in the range of it.
What are the benefits of the Femtocell?
Reception can be a huge problem for many people. Dropped phone calls due to poor reception are annoying at best and at worst can lose you money and waste time. Similarly, more and more people have probably experienced the pain of trying to browse the internet on a slow and unreliable 3G connection. It’s a frustrating experience.
Femtocells promise to guarantee you a great 5-bar signal in your home or office (wherever you’ve installed it). Because the actual base station now sits inside your house, you don’t need to share the connection with anybody else and it’ll work a lot better indoors.
If you normally experience poor reception, you may currently experience short battery life on your phone as your phone needs to increase the transmission power in order to maintain the connection with the network. Potentially femtocells could help extend your phone’s battery life by providing a better signal.
How does this differ from Wi-Fi?
photo: madnzany
In terms of what a femtocell and a wi-fi router do – they essentially do exactly the same thing but for different devices and using different technologies.
Wi-Fi can be used by other devices such as your laptop, games consoles or iPod. Femtocells can only be used by your mobile phone as they produce a 3G mobile signal.
Some high-end phones are now beginning to feature wi-fi support which allow you to browse the internet over your own wi-fi connection. However, most phones don’t support wi-fi. Femtocells should work with existing phones.
Who pays for the Femtocell?
Generally customers will have to pay for a femtocell themselves. On Vodafone’s Sure Signal, there is a one-off charge of £50 for a femtocell for customers on a contract of £25/month or more and £120 for everybody else. You’ll additionally have to provide a 1Mbps broadband connection yourself.
Crucially, even though your phone calls are now going through your broadband connection, you’ll still have to pay the mobile network for them. The network operators have been criticised for asking customers to “pay extra to fix their own failures” (i.e. poor reception). Gizmodo writes:
All of the carriers are ripping off their customers with these things, since all of the work is being put on your home internet connection, which you pay your broadband carrier for.
…
Where do they get off charging for this? Femtocells will actually reduce the load on their networks. It shifts the traffic over to the internet provider you’re already paying for (which I’m sure ISPs will just love).
Are Femtocells safe?
photo: conskeptical
Femtocells emit low-power radiation and should be no more dangerous than a wireless router. In fact, using a femtocell could even be beneficial – if your reception is better then your phone can operate and broadcast at a lower power.
What is Vodafone Sure Signal?
Vodafone Sure Signal is Vodafone’s femtocell offering. Although it was originally launched in July 2009, Sure Signal has just been relaunched to coincide with the release of the iPhone on the network. That said, anyone with a Vodafone iPhone can already use the wi-fi connectivity on there for free which achieves practically the same thing.
Which other operators offer femtocells?
At the moment, only Vodafone offers a Femtocell service. You cannot use Vodafone’s femtocell to connect to other networks. No word on when femtocells will be available on the other networks.
Will femtocells take off?
It’s hard to tell. The operators have put a fair amount of momentum behind them and I think £50 is a price that many customers will consider paying if they suffer bad reception.
That said, wi-fi connectivity is appearing on a lot of new smartphones. Not only is wi-fi connectivity free (assuming you already have a wireless router), it is possible to make cheap VoIP calls over wireless using applications such as Skype. Smartphones with wireless connectivity could easily make femtocells redundant.
| About Ken | |
 | My mission is to demystify the world of mobile technology for general audiences and to communicate how mobile technology can enhance every aspect of our daily lives. I've been maintaining the Ken's Tech Tips website since 2004. I have experience communicating mobile technology and presenting new mobile products both online and offline, including at various trade shows and events. You can check out my profile or drop me an e-mail. |
- Mobile , Mobile Broadband , Smartphones , Vodafone
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