Should I Invest in a DAS or Opt for Multiple Femtocells?

Actually, just to clarify, you can't go that cheap with traditional femtocells. You're likely going to want enterprise femtocells, usually costing around $2500 each. Try starting with two for each carrier and see how it goes before fully committing to DAS.

Going the cheap route might cause you more headaches than you anticipate. Honestly, even enterprise femtocells can be tricky to manage. If this is meant for public use, you should really think about whether you need coverage for all carriers. Have you talked to the carriers directly? Their enterprise options are typically very pricey.

It's crucial to figure out the purpose of the cellular coverage. Is it primarily for voice calls or maybe something else? If voice is all you need, consider if WiFi calling might be a viable alternative for mobile devices since you already have good WiFi in place.

From my experience, there is DAS at my workplace, a big manufacturing plant. It's mostly hands-off for us, and while I can't comment on the costs, having reliable coverage everywhere the antennas are installed is a great perk.

You might also want to consider a Cell-Fi solution from Nextivity. They work well in smaller buildings but do make sure there's enough macro capacity in the area. It’s definitely a lot more budget-friendly compared to a full-blown DAS setup.