Answer first: the CD2000 is a dual-band FDD LTE enterprise repeater that tunes Band 20 (800 MHz) for O2, Vodafone, Three and their MVNOs, and Band 3 (1800 MHz) for EE, ASDA, BT, Orange, T-Mobile, The People's Operator and Virgin 4G plus circuit-switched 2G voice and SMS. Its >=70 dB uplink and >=75 dB downlink gain recover a weak donor and penetrate concrete and metal, while the >=27 dBm enterprise output, +7 dB over the CD1000's >=20 dBm and roughly five times the transmit power, spreads that recovered field across 2000 m2 for 200 users through up to ten zone antennas. It stays Ofcom licence-exempt and carries UKCA, CE and RoHS marks, but it does not repeat 3G Band 1 at 2100 MHz, does not carry any 5G band, and should not be stretched beyond 2000 m2.

Band 20 (800 MHz): The Long-Range Layer for O2, Vodafone and Three

Band 20 occupies the 800 MHz spectrum that Ofcom reallocated to 4G LTE after the analogue TV switch-off. Its low wavelength travels farther from the macro mast, bends around terrain and penetrates brick and foliage more cheaply than higher bands, which is why O2, Vodafone and Three deployed Band 20 as the rural and deep-building 4G layer. Inside a large enterprise building, Band 20 is the band that reaches the upper guest floor, the stock mezzanine, the workshop bay and the yard-facing office where the higher-capacity band fades.

Uplink and downlink frequency pairs for Band 20

A repeater works on a paired FDD block: the phone transmits on one block and receives on another, and the amplifier must repeat both directions without mixing them. The CD2000 repeats the 832 to 862 MHz uplink and the 791 to 821 MHz downlink together so a phone that sends a request to the Band 20 tower hears the reply amplified indoors.

Why 800 MHz reaches the far wing but carries less capacity

Lower frequency propagates farther and passes walls with less loss, but each MHz block carries fewer simultaneous data sessions than the higher bands. Band 20 is therefore the coverage band: it keeps a phone connected at the edge of the property, while EE's Band 3 carries the capacity where many devices gather. A rural estate, a Yorkshire office or a Wales warehouse on O2, Vodafone or Three relies on Band 20 being repeated indoors; the CD2000 does that on the donor side before the >=75 dB gain and >=27 dBm output spread it inside.

Band 3 (1800 MHz): The EE Capacity Layer and 2G Voice Path

Band 3 sits at 1800 MHz, the original GSM cellular band that EE and its family use for both 4G LTE capacity and legacy circuit-switched 2G voice and SMS. Its shorter wavelength carries more data capacity per block but attenuates faster through brick, double-glazing, concrete and floor slabs, which is why it reads weaker deep inside a building even in a well-covered city.

Uplink and downlink frequency pairs for Band 3

The CD2000 repeats the 1710 to 1785 MHz uplink and the 1805 to 1880 MHz downlink so EE-family phones get both LTE data and the 2G GSM voice and SMS path on the same layer. An older feature phone, a guest's handset, or a phone in an area where VoLTE has not yet been enabled still completes a normal call over the repeated 1800 MHz GSM layer rather than dropping to no service.

Why EE customers need this band rather than Band 20

EE does not rely on Band 20 for its domestic 4G in the same way; an EE SIM placed on a Band 20-only single-band unit would see no EE layer indoors. The CD2000's dual-band chassis keeps Band 3 live alongside Band 20 so one box serves an EE guest-room block and an O2 staff network at the same large address, which is the practical reason dual-band beats buying a single-band C2000 for a mixed-carrier enterprise site.

UK Network and MVNO Mapping: Which SIM Works on Which CD2000 Band

The table below maps every SIM named on the CD2000 product page to its host network and the band the booster repeats for it. Before ordering, check your SIM's host carrier rather than the shop brand, because the MVNO brand name itself does not appear on the tower.

A mixed-carrier office, hotel or retail floor benefits from different halves of the CD2000: the O2 staff network sees Band 20 light up, the EE guest-room block sees Band 3 light up, and a shared building where one team uses Giffgaff and another uses BT Mobile gets both bands boosted at once, which is the practical reason a dual-band chassis beats two single-band boxes across a 2000 m2 property.

Gain and Output: >=70/75dB Gain Plus >=27dBm Enterprise Output

Gain, measured in decibels, is the factor by which the amplifier boosts the weak donor signal before re-radiating it; output power, also in decibel-milliwatts, is the transmit level the indoor antennas radiate after that balance. The CD2000 carries both: >=70 dB uplink and >=75 dB downlink gain recover a faint donor, while >=27 dBm output drives the recovered field across the larger building. The 5 dB gap between uplink and downlink gain is normal because a tower transmits with high power and a phone transmits at low battery power.

Why +7 dB from >=20 to >=27 dBm is about five times the power

Decibels are logarithmic: +10 dB multiplies power by ten, and +3 dB roughly doubles it, so +7 dB lands at about five times the transmit power. The CD1000 holds >=20 dBm at 1000 m2 and 100 users; the CD2000 keeps the same >=70/75 dB gain but raises output to >=27 dBm, which is what doubles the footprint to 2000 m2 and the sessions to 200. The extra power absorbs wall, slab and racking loss at the far edge rather than amplifying a stronger field more noisily.

How the 27 dBm downlink reaches concrete, steel and upper floors

Every indoor surface costs signal: a plasterboard partition costs a few dB, an external brick wall costs 10 to 20 dB, a concrete or steel warehouse wall costs more, a ceiling slab between hotel floors adds its own loss, and metal racking, chilled units or machinery add attenuation on top. The >=27 dBm output replenishes that cumulative loss at the far edge so the phone still shows bars in the upper guest room, the stock mezzanine and the workshop bay, while the >=75 dB gain keeps the donor clean at the source and the <=5 dB noise figure keeps the 200 concurrent calls legible.

Noise figure <=5 dB at 200 sessions

A perfect amplifier adds no noise; every real amplifier adds some, measured as the noise figure. The CD2000's noise figure of no more than 5 dB keeps added noise low enough that the amplified signal decodes cleanly rather than arriving louder but garbled, which matters far more at 200 concurrent sessions than at a handful of phones. A high noise figure would raise the indoor noise floor, cause the phone to select a louder but noisier cell, and reduce the usable uplink; a <=5 dB figure is the standard repeater quality level.

Gain and output are separate knobs, not the same number

Gain describes how many times the weak donor is amplified; output describes the radiated enterprise level after the automatic gain control balances the two. The CD2000 keeps CD1000-level gain because the donor recovery problem is already solved, and adds output because the reach problem on a bigger building lives in transmit power; raising gain further would mostly risk feedback rather than extend coverage.

Output Ladder: CD2000 27 vs CD1000 20, CD500 20, CD250 17, CD200 10, CD100 10 dBm

The table below compares gain, output, area and users across the whole CD series and the single-band C2000. The CD2000 is the only model that combines CD1000-level >=70/75 dB gain with the top >=27 dBm output.

What the 27 dBm output does that 20 dBm cannot

The CD1000 and CD500 both stop at >=20 dBm; the CD250 reaches >=17 dBm; the CD200 and CD100 sit at >=10 dBm. At >=27 dBm the CD2000 supplies about five times the CD1000 transmit power, which is the difference between a signal that reaches the second floor, the far warehouse bay and the retail aisles, and one that fades at the edge of 1000 m2. The gain stays at 70/75 because donor recovery does not need to change when the problem is area and occupancy rather than a faint cell.

More output does not raise a licence or create a band

The >=27 dBm rating sits inside the Ofcom licence-exempt mobile-repeater class for this model; it does not require a paid frequency licence, and it does not turn a 4G-only repeater into a 5G or 3G device. A strong donor still reaches a clean 2000 m2; a faint donor below -112 dBm still needs a better-aimed aerial regardless of output.

Ofcom Licence-Exempt Status, UKCA, CE and RoHS Explained

Four marks sit on the CD2000: Ofcom licence-exempt status, UKCA for the UK market, CE for European conformity, and RoHS for restricted hazardous substances. Each answers a different regulatory question, and none changes the tuned bands, the >=70/75 dB gain or the >=27 dBm output figure.

Ofcom licence-exempt and the enterprise output class

Ofcom's permitted-class rules allow a low-power indoor repeater on licensed mobile bands without the owner holding a spectrum licence. The CD2000 meets the output, isolation and installation conditions of that class, so no application, fee, annual renewal or registration number is required, provided the unit is used as supplied, kept separated from its own donor antenna, and not modified to raise output further. The >=27 dBm figure is the model's rated output inside this class; the automatic gain control keeps the field balanced rather than running open-loop.

UKCA, CE and RoHS

UKCA confirms the product meets the applicable UK safety, electromagnetic compatibility and radio-equipment requirements for sale in Great Britain after the CE transition, the UK-market conformity declaration appearing on units supplied to UK customers. CE confirms conformity with the European Union Radio Equipment Directive and related health and safety standards, which is why the same kit ships across the EU delivery list including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Portugal, Poland and the Czech Republic as well as the UK. RoHS restricts lead, mercury, cadmium and other hazardous substances in electronics, so the chassis, cable and adapter comply with waste-electrical rules rather than containing banned materials. None of these marks alters how the bands repeat; they confirm the unit may be sold and used without a separate permit.

VoLTE and 2G Voice: How Calls Stay Connected Across 2000 m2

Modern phones place calls over the 4G data layer using Voice over LTE (VoLTE), while older handsets and areas without VoLTE fall back to circuit-switched 2G GSM. The CD2000 supports both routes where the network offers them, but its support differs by band.

VoLTE on Band 20 for O2, Vodafone and Three

Where the host network has enabled VoLTE on Band 20, a modern O2, Vodafone or Three handset places the call inside the boosted 800 MHz LTE session and the CD2000 repeats that session like any other data call. The booster does not negotiate VoLTE itself; the phone and network do, and the unit simply carries the already established 4G call across the large building where the >=27 dBm output reaches.

2G circuit-switched voice on Band 3 for EE

EE maintains a 2G layer in the 1800 MHz region, and the CD2000's Band 3 path repeats circuit-switched voice and SMS for EE, ASDA, BT, Orange, T-Mobile, The People's Operator and Virgin handsets that cannot or do not use VoLTE. A basic feature phone, a guest's handset, or a phone in a VoLTE-not-yet-enabled area still rings and completes a normal call over the boosted 2G layer.

What the CD2000 does not carry for calls

The unit does not tune 3G Band 1 at 2100 MHz, so a network that still routes voice or data fallback through 3G in your location receives no boost on that layer. Where VoLTE is unavailable and the network relies on 3G circuit fallback, a call may not complete indoors even though 4G data shows bars; checking VoLTE support on your handset before ordering avoids that surprise, and neither gain nor output can invent a band the chassis does not tune.

Honest Limitations: No 3G Band 1, No 5G, and Only 2000 m2

A guide that lists only benefits misleads a buyer. The CD2000 has three clear limits that should match your situation before you order, and neither the >=70/75 dB gain, the >=27 dBm output nor the ten-antenna plan removes any of them.

No 3G Band 1 at 2100 MHz

The CD2000 tunes only Band 20 and Band 3. It does not repeat Band 1 at 2100 MHz, the 3G UMTS layer some networks still use for data fallback or circuit-switched voice. A site that relies on 3G where 4G fails will see that fallback unboosted indoors; raising output to 27 dBm cannot manufacture a band the hardware never receives, and this is the single most important technical limit for areas already served only by Band 20 or Band 3 4G rather than 3G-only locations.

No 5G on any band

The CD2000 does not tune n78 (3.5 GHz), n8 (900 MHz) or any other 5G band, and it does not convert 4G into 5G. A 5G phone still receives its normal unboosted 5G signal from the macro tower, and the CD2000 only lifts the 4G Band 20 plus Band 3 layers. Expect reliable 4G calls and data across 2000 m2, not boosted 5G speeds, no matter how high the output.

Only 2000 m2 for 200 simultaneous users

The rated footprint of 2000 m2 (21,528 ft2) fits a large multi-floor office, hotel or resort, warehouse, factory unit, logistics centre, supermarket, large retail floor or rural estate, and supports up to 200 active sessions. A multi-block campus, a factory floor clearly beyond 2000 m2, or a separate linked estate needs a larger unit or a second unit rather than more output from this chassis. The 200-user count means active calls and data sessions, not every registered device on the premises, and beyond that ceiling the network itself schedules phones.

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