Lifts: the metal box problem.
There’s no network in the lift because a lift car is a metal box moving inside a concrete shaft. Metal blocks radio signal, and the shaft keeps out what’s left. Calls drop as the doors close.
Where the signal goes.
The car is a metal box
Metal walls reflect and block radio signal. Physicists call a closed metal enclosure a Faraday cage, and a lift car comes close to one.
The shaft is concrete
The shaft sits in the building core, often the deepest point from any window.
It’s moving
Signal changes floor by floor. A call that survives on the 12th floor can drop by the 3rd.
What we measure here.
Every job starts with a reading, room by room. No guesses.
- Readings in each lift car at several floors, per network
- Lift lobbies on every floor and in the basement
- Shaft access and the lift maintenance contract, with the building’s approval
- Emergency communication arrangements already in place
What usually works.
The readings decide. These are the routes we most often recommend for lifts. If the SignalCheck says none of them will help, we'll tell you.
Coverage in the lift lobbies
Often the practical first step: people stop losing calls while they wait.
Coverage in the lift car
Needs coordination with the lift maintenance company and the building, through a lawful route agreed before work starts.
Building-wide in-building coverage
For towers with several lifts, usually planned as part of operator in-building coverage.
We don't sell or install mobile signal boosters. Every install goes through a lawful route agreed in writing before work starts. Why.
A note on safety
Lifts have their own emergency communication systems. Mobile coverage in a lift is a convenience and a reassurance, not a replacement for the lift’s emergency phone or alarm.
Readings before. Readings after.
Every SignalFix job ends with a Bar Certificate: the same reading in the same rooms, taken again and signed.
About lifts.
Why does my call drop the moment the lift doors close?
Who has to approve work in a lift?
Read next
Other places: Homes · Apartments · Villas · Gated communities
Bring the signal home.
Tell us which rooms drop calls. We’ll measure every one, and tell you honestly what will fix it.