femtocellnek

A femtocell is a small, low-power cellular base station designed for use in a home or small business. It connects to the service provider's network via a broadband internet connection (like DSL or cable) and provides a cellular signal within a limited area, typically a few dozen meters. The primary purpose of a femtocell is to improve indoor mobile phone coverage, which can often be poor within buildings due to concrete walls and other obstructions.

Femtocells are essentially miniature cell towers that operate on licensed cellular frequencies, offering a similar service to larger macrocell towers but with a much smaller coverage footprint and capacity. They are designed to be user-installable and typically plug into an existing router. Mobile phones automatically detect and connect to the strongest available signal, so a device within range of a femtocell will seamlessly switch to it, providing improved call quality and data speeds without user intervention.

The technology is particularly beneficial in areas with weak or no outdoor cellular signal, such as basements, rural locations, or dense urban environments where building penetration is an issue. Mobile network operators deploy femtocells to offload traffic from their main network, especially in areas where building a traditional macrocell tower is not feasible or cost-effective. They can also help extend the range of services like voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) indoors.