Case Study courtesy of RSRF
An underground food court at Decott Mall suffered from poor cellular coverage due to dense construction materials and its below-grade location.
A CEL-FI QUATRA system was deployed to deliver strong, reliable cellular coverage throughout the food court and surrounding areas.
Two Network Units and eight Coverage Units were installed by a two-person crew in just three days.
Shoppers, restaurant staff, and visitors now enjoy seamless cellular connectivity across the entire underground food court.
The Decott Mall is one of Brooklyn’s premier shopping destinations, attracting thousands of visitors every day. While the mall offers a vibrant mix of retail stores and restaurants, its underground food court presented a major challenge: reliable cellular connectivity.
Located below ground and surrounded by dense construction materials, the food court struggled with weak and inconsistent mobile signal. For a space filled with busy restaurants and tech-savvy shoppers constantly using their smartphones, the lack of reliable coverage was a growing concern.
To resolve the issue, the mall partnered with a specialized system integrator to deploy a Nextivity CEL-FI QUATRA intelligent cellular coverage system, delivering strong, consistent signal throughout the space.
The underground location of the food court made it extremely difficult for cellular signals to penetrate the structure.
Several factors contributed to the connectivity problem:
In a retail environment where customers expect constant connectivity, poor cellular service negatively impacted both the customer experience and the operational efficiency of tenants.
The integrator selected CEL-FI QUATRA, Nextivity’s enterprise-grade Distributed Antenna System (DAS), as the ideal solution for this challenging environment.
CEL-FI QUATRA offered several key advantages:
Flexible Installation
The system uses standard CAT5 Ethernet cabling, simplifying installation and reducing deployment costs compared to traditional coax-based DAS systems.
Dynamic Signal Management
In dense urban environments like Brooklyn, signal strength from different carriers can vary dramatically. The QUATRA intelligent signal processing automatically manages near-far signal conditions, ensuring optimal performance across all supported carriers.
Remote Monitoring and Management
The system can be monitored remotely, allowing integrators to log in at any time to review system performance and diagnose issues instantly if the building owner reports a concern.
This combination of intelligent signal management and simplified infrastructure made QUATRA an ideal solution for the mall’s complex coverage requirements.
“With CEL-FI QUATRA in place, thousands of visitors can now stay connected while dining and shopping in the mall’s underground food court.”
The installation was designed to deliver seamless coverage throughout the entire food court and adjacent spaces.
System configuration included:
Despite the challenging environment, the deployment was completed quickly.
A two-person installation crew completed the entire system in just three days. Scissor lifts were used to route cabling across several higher ceiling areas, ensuring optimal placement of coverage units throughout the space.
Once installed, the system was fully operational immediately.
With the CEL-FI QUATRA system in place, the Decott Mall food court now delivers strong, reliable cellular coverage across the entire underground area.
Key outcomes include:
Shoppers can now stay connected while dining, browsing social media, or coordinating with friends inside the mall—exactly the experience modern retail environments demand.
