How Maximum Communications Turned Dead Zones into Coverage at Riverstone Exchange Tower
Client: Riverstone Exchange Tower
Integrator: Maximum Communications
Location: Downtown urban core, 52 floors + 4 subgrade levels
Sector: Class-A offices, retail, food court, and a boutique hotel (1,900+ occupants peak)
Executive Summary
Riverstone Exchange Tower had trouble with cell service in lifts, garages below ground, mechanical floors and deep interior suites. Carriers said there were a lot of dropped calls, and users saw slow data and call failures, especially during busy times. Maximum Communications created and installed a neutral-host Distributed Antenna System (DAS) that can handle multiple operators and bands. It also has room for 5G upgrades. The building passed the on-air acceptance test on the first try. After going live, the metrics show a huge improvement in coverage, quality, and user experience.
Highlights:
- First-try carrier on-air integration and acceptance
- RSRP improved from a median −104 dBm to −86 dBm across problem zones
- SINR uplift of +9 dB average on office floors
- LTE downlink throughput up 3.2× in food court and lobby; VoLTE MOS ≥ 4.1
- Dropped call rate reduced by 78%; elevator call success up to 97.6%
- 5G NR mid-band ready (reserved RU capacity and dark fiber pairs)
Client Overview
Riverstone Exchange Tower is a high-traffic, mixed-use property with complex RF environments. Steel-reinforced cores, mirrored façades, and dense mechanical spaces created heavy signal attenuation. Tenants include financial services, tech firms, and a hotel operator. Reliable indoor coverage is a lease differentiator, influences guest ratings, and is essential for life-safety notification.
Business Objectives
- Universal in-building coverage for multiple carriers across offices, retail, hotel, and parking.
- Capacity at peaks: lunch rush, events, and conference floors.
- Elevator and stairwell service for safety and continuity of calls.
- Future-proofing for 5G NR (mid-band) without rip-and-replace.
- Minimal disruption to tenants and hotel operations during build.
Challenges
Persistent RF shadowing in elevator banks and service corridors generated hard dead zones, while garages G1–G4 repeatedly measured RSRP below -110 dBm. Multi-carrier asymmetries, distinct anchor bands and disparate power policies, forced meticulous uplink/downlink gain budgeting to prevent noise rise and desense. Vertical distribution across 52 occupied floors plus subgrade levels required a riser-aware, sectorized topology to control PIM risk, manage coaxial loss, and localize handoff domains. Tight construction windows, hotel quiet hours and mixed office tenancy, necessitated night and weekend execution with rapid, end-of-shift site restoration and zero-defect turnover each morning.
Approach & Design
RF survey & iBwave modeling. Maximum Communications executed a full multi-band, multi-operator benchmark, capturing anchor and supplemental carriers with walk, drive, and garage sweeps, then translated findings into iterative iBwave designs. Priority zones, garages, elevator cores, trading floors, conference facilities, and hotel back-of-house, were modeled first to anchor the link budget and define sector boundaries.
Calibrated heat maps drove antenna density, placement, and downtilt, while riser-by-riser loss models set feeder sizes, split ratios, and passive component selection. The result was a sectorized plan that balanced uplink headroom with downlink SINR, constrained leakage into nonpriority areas, and provided a build sequence compatible with after-hours access and fast nightly restoration.
Solution Architecture
- Head-End: Neutral-host digital DAS head-end with sectorized design feeding 28 remote units (RUs).
- Bands & Services: LTE Bands 2/4/5/12/13/66; ready for 5G NR (n41/n77) additions; voice readiness for VoLTE/VoNR.
- Fiber Backbone: Redundant fiber rings with dual strands per RU for resiliency and growth.
- Passive Plant: Directional and omni antennas tuned for uniform RSRP/RSRQ and call quality; careful PIM-rated components to minimize intermod.
- Public-safety coordination: Maintained ERCES on a discrete BDA signal path per AHJ directive; enforced isolation from commercial DAS domains.
Reliability & Safety
- Power & Alarms: Conditioned power at head-end and RUs, monitored via NOC; supervised alarms integrated to building systems.
- Environmental: RUs and splitters placed outside heat-load hotspots; labeling and documentation for rapid MTTR.
Implementation
The build was sequenced per riser stack: garages and core levels first, then podium retail, then office floors, and finally hotel spaces. Work occurred during low-traffic windows to avoid guest and tenant impact.
Key steps:
- Head-end room buildout and MMR tie-in
- Fiber pull, terminations, and certification
- Remote unit placement, coax and passive network install
- PIM/VSWR sweeps and remediation
- EIRP tuning and live-load walk testing
- Carrier MOPs, on-air windows, and integration sign-offs
Documentation included as-builts, optical loss budgets, sweep files, sector maps, and acceptance results.
Results
After activation, Maximum Communications performed joint testing with carriers and property management.
Coverage & Quality
- Median RSRP lifted from −104 dBm to −86 dBm in garages, service corridors, and elevator lobbies.
- Average SINR increased by +9 dB on office floors; RSRQ normalized to carrier targets.
- VoLTE MOS measured ≥ 4.1 in heavy-use areas (lobby, food court, hotel check-in).
User Experience & Capacity
- LTE downlink speeds improved by 3.2× in the food court and by 2.7× in garages during peak hours.
- Dropped call rate fell 78% building-wide; elevator handoff success reached 97.6%.
- Complaints to the tenant helpdesk decreased 65% in the first 45 days.
Operations
- Alarms feed into the NOC with monthly health reports; SLA includes 4-hour on-site for priority incidents.
- Spare RU capacity and dark fiber pairs allow fast 5G NR sector adds without floor rework.
Compliance & Coordination
- Carrier on-air integration completed under approved Methods of Procedure (MOPs).
- Public safety remained isolated via a separate ERCES path per AHJ direction.
- All passive components met PIM specs; isolation targets verified to protect the macro network.
Stakeholder Feedback
“Our guest scores mentioned better phone service in rooms and elevators within weeks. The difference is real on sold-out weekends.”
Hotel Operations Manager
“We saw a big drop in helpdesk tickets about coverage. Trading floors hold calls now, even during market open.”
Tenant Facilities Lead
Lessons Learned
- Early vertical riser planning reduces path loss and limits future rework.
- Don’t skip live-load testing; peak-hour walk tests caught two congested pockets that static modeling missed.
- Keep public safety systems architecturally separate; isolation avoids surprises at inspection and protects first-responder reliability.
What’s Next
Riverstone plans to light 5G NR mid-band on two sectors serving the lobby and conference levels. The neutral-host DAS has reserved rack space, RU capacity, and fiber to support this without construction in tenant suites.
About Maximum Communications
Maximum Communications designs, builds, and maintains in-building wireless systems that meet carrier and AHJ requirements, neutral-host DAS, public safety BDA/ERCS, and fiber backbones. We handle the full lifecycle from survey and iBwave design to installation, optimization, and SLA-backed care.
Appendix: Technical Snapshot
- Head-End: Neutral-host digital DAS with sectorization
- Remotes: 28 RUs across 52 floors + 4 subgrade levels
- Bands: LTE 2/4/5/12/13/66; NR-ready (n41/n77)
- Fiber: Dual-strand per RU, ring topology, OLTS-certified
- Passive: Directional/omni mix, PIM-rated splitters/couplers
- KPIs: RSRP −86 dBm median in problem zones; SINR +9 dB; MOS ≥4.1; drop rate −78%
- Ops: 24/7 remote monitoring, threshold alerts, 4-hour on-site SLA
