Walls stop radio, so in-building 5G needs its own cells. An indoor small cell is the femto-to-pico tier done for enterprise floors, hospitals, retail and venues — coverage and capacity placed where the macro network simply cannot reach, and the modern answer to a distributed antenna system.
The macro network is built for outdoor coverage; modern building materials attenuate it heavily, so deep indoors the signal is weak or absent. An indoor small cell solves that from the inside: compact cells mounted on ceilings or walls, each covering a floor or zone, delivering full-rate 5G NR and often Wi-Fi where the users actually are.
They install like network access points — powered over Ethernet, cabled back to a switch, and managed centrally — which makes them far cheaper to deploy and expand than a traditional distributed antenna system. Capacity scales by adding cells, not by re-engineering a shared feeder.
The core can sit on-premises for local breakout and data residency, or belong to the operator for a neutral-host deployment. Either way the building gets dedicated coverage and capacity it controls.
| Parameter | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tier | Femto to pico — low power for indoor coverage and capacity density |
| Access | 5G NR (sub-6 / FR1), with integrated Wi-Fi options; licensed, shared or private spectrum |
| Mounting | Ceiling and wall mount; discreet enclosure for enterprise and public interiors |
| Power & cabling | Power over Ethernet, cabled to a standard switch; no RF feeder network |
| Backhaul | Ethernet to an on-premises or operator core; local breakout where required |
| Management | Central provisioning and monitoring across the cell estate; self-organising configuration |
| Use | Enterprise floors, hospitals, retail, transport hubs and venues |
Indoor small cells fit anywhere the macro network fails inside and the building needs capacity it can rely on: enterprise campuses, hospitals where coverage is safety-relevant, retail and logistics, and venues with dense, bursty demand. As a neutral host, one deployment can carry several operators.
They pair with the private-5G core for on-site breakout and sit in the same family as the converged small cell and the outdoor small cell — indoors, outdoors and all-in-one covered by one portfolio.
We work on the indoor cell as an integration and RF problem: the small-cell SoC and radio design, the antenna pattern for even in-building coverage, the PoE and thermal design for a discreet enclosure, and the management integration for a large indoor estate. Deliverables span reference design, bring-up, RF and coverage characterisation, and production support.
We can target licensed, shared or private spectrum, with or without integrated Wi-Fi, and tune the cell density to the building and the traffic.
A compact, low-power 5G cell mounted on a ceiling or wall that provides coverage and capacity inside a building, where the macro network cannot reach. It typically carries 5G NR and often Wi-Fi, installs like a network access point over Ethernet, and backhauls to an on-premises or operator core.
Modern building materials heavily attenuate radio, so an outdoor macro cell is weak or absent deep inside. In-building coverage needs dedicated cells placed where the users are, rather than relying on a signal that cannot penetrate.
A distributed antenna system shares a feeder network of passive antennas from central radio equipment. Indoor small cells are self-contained cells cabled over Ethernet like access points, cheaper to deploy and scale, with capacity added by adding cells rather than re-engineering a feeder.
Yes. The core can sit on-premises for local breakout and data residency, or belong to the operator. As a neutral host, one deployment can carry several operators over the same indoor cells.
An indoor small cell is a low-power femto/pico cell for in-building coverage, ceiling/wall mounted and PoE-powered. An outdoor small cell is a weatherproof micro-tier cell for street-level densification, mounted on street furniture with fibre or wireless backhaul.
Enterprise floors, hospitals where coverage is safety-relevant, retail, transport hubs and venues with dense demand — anywhere the macro network fails inside and the building needs reliable capacity.
5G NR + Wi-Fi 7 in one box.
PRODUCTThe street-level counterpart.
PRODUCTThe on-site core behind it.
KNOWLEDGEBands an indoor cell can use.
KNOWLEDGEOne cell, several operators.
KNOWLEDGEThe capacity technique outdoors.
Even in-building coverage, discreet enclosures, PoE and a management plane for a large indoor estate are where an in-building rollout is won. Tell us the building and the spectrum.