Does foilback kingspan adversely affect 4G reception?

mayoman1973

Currently renovating our garage with intention of using it as an office. I have got the walls pumped and would like to dryline the inside also as the pumped cavity is only 100mm. But as 4G is giving me one , maybe two bars at the moment on most phones I tried it with inside the garage. Will installing foilback kill this completely? For my work, 4G is more important than uValue of my wall. I would skip the drylining altogether if need be but if I thought kingspan would have little or no affect on 4G then I'd definitely have it installed on the inside and roof.
For every opinion online that I can find about foilback reflecting 4G and acting as a faraday cage, I also get an opinion saying the exact opposite. ie that foil back insulation can boost your 4G signal. It clearly can't do both so some folk are right and the rest are wrong.

loyatemu

are you totally reliant on 4G, you have no WiFi?

You could put an external aerial on the garage and run it into an internal 4G router with WiFi, would give you a better signal regardless of the insulation.

mayoman1973

Yes, must be 4G. I work in IT and I need to have multiple concurrent 4G connections. The only 4G repeater/booster I can find can only handle around 10 devices which would do if it was the only option. But I have had people question the legality of actually using such devices in the UK.

M.T.D

Generally the more barriers, walls etc., the weaker your signal will be.
4G is for data not phone calls. So get a modem that can take an external aerial and mount that outside, a directional yagi should get you more "bars".
If you want to pick up the wifi from your house many routers will work as repeaters. Preferably you plug your computer in to the router with lan lead and let the wifi connect you to the house with external aerial if needed for signal strength. Using laptop on wifi and wifi to house would halve the available bandwidth.

NickNickleby

This calls for an experiment. Make a rudimentary cube frame then cover the sides and top in cheap tinfoil. Ring someone from your 4g phone, put them on loudspeaker and put the phone on the table. Then put your foil cube over the phone and see what happens.

At the end of the day, you'll probably go ahead with the insulation either way, but this way you won't be surprised. I'd put a smiley here, but my tablet doesn't do them for some reason.

banie01

Yes, foil backed insulation, metallic beads and any other metallised insulation will all adversely affect all radio wave and EM reception within area bounded by such a perimeter.

No experiment is needed, is known as a Faraday cage.

ComReg recently amended their rules to allow certain domestic repeaters and if memory serves their is a company in Waterford that builds a few types.

Another option may be a 4G router with an external antenna.

I would caution any IT pro against using or relying on a mobile connection for anything other than redundancy but if it's what you are stuck with, fair enough.

the_pen_turner

Definitely effects it. I did a job a while back with 3 rooms. 2 were declined with 50mm walls and ceiling. Very little signal or 4g. Even the radio is a pain to tune in. The 3rd room is an insulated stud wall and it's fine in there

Shaunoc

That insulation foil helps prevent common cold. Counteract issues of 4g.
Don't get me started on 5g

It's Friday!

GinSoaked

The foil both blocks and reflect 4G and other radio waves. So if only one wall is lined with foil and is behind the 4G antenna it can act to boost the signal a little bit by reflecting some of the signal that miss the antenna the first time around. Then of course if the foil is in front of the antenna it can block the signal completely.

Fix here is to get the antenna outside and as high up as possible. Easiest way is to put a normal indoor 4G device in a waterproof enclosure power it with PoE and mount it on a pole.

Outkast_IRE

I would of been in plenty of new build - one off houses in the last 20 years a good few of which utilised foil back insulation such as kingspan etc.

Plenty of those people need to leave their mobile phones on the windowsill for reception. Its not every house , but enough of them to indicate there is an issue.

GinSoaked

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

I would of been in plenty of new build - one off houses in the last 20 years a good few of which utilised foil back insulation such as kingspan etc.

Plenty of those people need to leave their mobile phones on the windowsill for reception. Its not every house , but enough of them to indicate there is an issue.

LOL "not every house" probably the ones where the builders missed the insulation out altogether

Outkast_IRE

GinSoaked wrote: »

LOL "not every house" probably the ones where the builders missed the insulation out altogether

In Ireland nothing would surprise me.

Sleeper12

Last I heard repeaters are illegal because you need a broadcast license or communication licence.

the_syco

mayoman1973 wrote: »

For my work, 4G is more important than uValue of my wall.

Are you with Vodafone? https://n.vodafone.ie/support/mobile/sure-signal.html

Alun

the_syco wrote: »

Are you with Vodafone? https://n.vodafone.ie/support/mobile/sure-signal.html

They no longer sell these.

Alun

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Last I heard repeaters are illegal because you need a broadcast license or communication licence.

Not true. Properly licensed ones are legal, cheap Chines tat aren't.

StellaDoradus is an Irish company that design, manufacture and sell legal ones ...

https://www.stelladoradus.com/