Frequently Asked Questions

Yes Cel-Fi is legal. The Cel-Fi Smart Signal Boosters are licence exempt under UK law and fully meet the requirements of Ofcom SI 2018/399.

Mobile operators have historically adopted an extremely strict policy against the use of user-installed mobile phone signal repeaters and boosters on their networks as they caused interference and damage to the performance of the networks. It is for this reason that Ofcom consider many mobile signal repeaters as illegal. Due to its unique intelligent features, Cel-Fi is the only user-installable legal mobile phone repeater permitted in the UK.

No.

No.

Cel-Fi units can be re-configured to other networks using the Wave™ mobile app, if they were supplied by Cel-Fi.co.uk. Units sullied directly through the UK mobile networks cannot be reconfigured to other networks

Because once you walk away from the WiFi signal, the call is dropped, keeping you tethered to your location. This is not the case with CEL-FI, as it uses the cellular signal, allowing calls to be continued once on the move.

So are the Cel-FI Signal boosters safe? We actually test the Cel-Fi units like a phone for a SAR rating. Anything with a SAR rating of less than 2.0 is defined as 'touch safe'. Both the Cel-fi window unit and coverage unit have a SAR rating below 2.0.

Technically measuring SAR is usually only done for hand-held or body worn devices so WiFi routers generally don't have SAR ratings. In any case the power we emit is no greater in general than other consumer wireless networking devices and smartphones

Mobile phone signal repeaters are classified as radio devices. They work to boost mobile phone signal, however, they can interfere with mobile operator networks and therefore are considered illegal as laid out by Ofcom.

Cel-Fi is different in that it is considered a smart repeater under the criteria set by Ofcom. A Smart Repeater is a mobile phone signal booster that is connected to a particular operator network and allows the host mobile network to control the device. Unlike mobile phone signal repeaters, smart repeaters do not interfere with the mobile network’s coverage and are therefore considered a legal mobile signal booster.

Cel-Fi utilises an intelligent processor to actively adjust to the network environment. It uses multiple techniques including automatic gain control, real-time path loss analysis, and uplink signal gating to ensure that it never degrades the quality of the macro network signal or artificially raises the noise floor of the node B.

The Cel-Fi's IntelliBoost is the first processor designed specifically to optimise the indoor transmission and reception of 3G and 4G wireless signals in silicon. With advanced filtering, equalization and echo cancellation techniques, Nextivity has developed an embedded architecture which delivers unprecedented in-building data rates and pervasive 3G and 4G connectivity. The IntelliBoost processor ensures that Cel-Fi products never negatively impact the mobile network while providing maximum coverage.