LongFi Connect Fixes Weak Indoor Cell Service Using the Wi-Fi Casinos Already Manage

Walk past many casino lobbies, and the bars on a guest's phone start to disappear. Thick walls, metal roofs, large gaming floors, and remote locations block cell signals. 

Guests can't make calls, load mobile tickets, or find the friends they came with. Staff feel it too, on the floor and in back offices.

LongFi Solutions CEO and Co-Founder Josh Heller saw the problem firsthand on a recent visit to a client's casino.

"I was 30 minutes into a meal at the casino's restaurant before I looked at my phone and saw it said SOS," Heller said. "Nothing alerted me. If someone had been trying to reach me, they couldn't have."

That is more than an inconvenience. The IT director at one of LongFi's current casino clients said that for many older guests, being able to reach family and friends by phone is a big part of deciding whether to visit at all.

The traditional fix is a distributed antenna system (DAS), a network of carrier antennas installed throughout a building. A DAS can be costly, take months to install, and may cover only some carriers or parts of a property.

Houston-based LongFi Solutions is taking a different approach. Its LongFi Connect service uses the Wi-Fi a property already manages to carry cellular calls, texts, and data.

"Most casinos have already invested in good Wi-Fi," Heller said. "We connect the carriers to that network. Guests and staff stay connected, and there's no capital investment or new equipment required."

LongFi Connect is built on Passpoint, an industry standard developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Once turned on, phones from participating carriers recognize the property's Wi-Fi as a trusted extension of their carrier's network. 

A phone joins automatically and securely, with no password, login page, or app. Where the cell signal drops, calls, texts and data keep working over Wi-Fi.

"Think of it like roaming," Heller said. "When you travel, your phone hops onto a partner network without you doing anything. LongFi Connect does the same thing indoors."

LongFi Connect requires no new equipment or on-site installation. Users don't need to buy, mount, or wire any hardware. 

LongFi Connect runs on the enterprise Wi-Fi platforms most properties already use, including Cisco Meraki, Extreme Networks, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Aruba, Ruckus, and Fortinet. The property keeps ownership and control of its network. LongFi adds the carrier connection on top.

Rollout is light. After a property registers, carrier approval takes two to three weeks, followed by a 30-minute technical setup call. A recent higher education customer brought several hundred access points online in about half an hour.

"There's no rip-and-replace," Heller said. "If your access points support it, we turn it on inside the network you already run, and your IT team keeps control of it."

Coverage gaps show up across tribal enterprises, not just on the casino floor. Hotel towers, event centers, government offices, health clinics and community buildings often face the same thick-wall and remote-location problems. Because LongFi Connect rides on existing Wi-Fi, it can reach any building a tribe already covers with its network.

Kathy Davis, LongFi's Senior Strategic Advisor for Casino & Tribal Gaming Partnerships, said coverage comes up in nearly every conversation she has with tribal IT leaders.

"Almost every casino IT director I talk to has a dead zone story, whether it's the far end of the gaming floor, the hotel tower or the parking garage," Davis said. "Some have a DAS that only covers one carrier. They want guests to stay connected without starting a construction project."

LongFi Connect is already running at venues outside of gaming. At one of the largest community colleges in the Mountain West, it runs on the college's existing Cisco Meraki network and has improved notoriously poor indoor cell signal. 

During the 2026 World Cup, LongFi deployed OpenRoaming with venue partners in Houston's East Downtown district, work the Wireless Broadband Alliance highlighted. LongFi is a member of the Wireless Broadband Alliance.

"We're new to gaming, not to this technology," Heller said. "Tribal casinos have the same problem we've solved for colleges and event venues, and often a bigger one, because of how large and remote these properties are."

LongFi is activating LongFi Connect at two casinos, with more expected in the pipeline. The company plans to share results in a follow-up case study once activation is complete and the right permissions are in place.

For more information on LongFi Connect, visit longfisolutions.com.