Weak Wifi

[Cat]

Some of the parks I have been in have a weak wifi signal depending on where your space is. What do I need to get, to pull in a weak signal then boost it so I will have strong signal for my Ipad,laptop? And can you get one that will that will do this with any wifi system? I would hate to have to go through a long set up every time we changed parks.

Thank you for any suggestions and an education on what possible and what's not.

[AFChap]

There are wifi boosters/external antennas that you can put on a pole outside your RV connected by wire to your computer google for wifi antenna or wifi booster and you'll probably find many options. I'm a fulltimer staying in parks all over the country, and in my exeprience, RV park wifi systems are rarely reliable. When I find a good one I count my blessings, but most of the time I use my tethered cell phone for cellular broadband ...quite worth the $1 day it costs me with Verizon.

[Sammie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AFChap There are wifi boosters/external antennas that you can put on a pole outside your RV connected by wire to your computer google for wifi antenna or wifi booster and you'll probably find many options. I'm a fulltimer staying in parks all over the country, and in my exeprience, RV park wifi systems are rarely reliable. When I find a good one I count my blessings, but most of the time I use my tethered cell phone for cellular broadband ...quite worth the $1 day it costs me with Verizon.

AFChap, I just recently bought a verizon usb modem. I signed up for the $60.00 per month 5 gigs. I'm just wondering if this might just be to much usage for just when we go on vacation.

Sammie

[Hikerdogs]

We bought a LinkSys WiFi antenna a couple years ago at Best Buy. It can be either plugged into a USB port on the computer or into a 8' remote USB port that comes with it. Most of the it's just plugged into the back of the computer. Every once in a while we use the remote port and hang it out the window.

On rare occasions I mount the remote port on the top of a 12' collapsible aluminum paint roller handle I got at Home Depot. When it's on the pole you can get a good signal from a WIFI router as far as 2 blocks away.

[UFO Pilot]

I use one like this ♠ WiFi Range Booster - Wireless Amplifier and am very happy with it.

[AFChap]

Quote:

verizon usb modem. I signed up for the $60.00 per month 5 gigs. I'm just wondering if this might just be to much usage for just when we go on vacation

That is the primary Vz cellular broadband plan ...and the same one I am using on my Smartphone. The plan price varies depending on what other data plans you have, and since my basic data plan on the Smart phone is $29.95/month the tethered broadband plan is $29.95 ...whatever plan the Smartphone has, both data plans together normally add up to $60/mo. The primary difference between your air card and my tethered phone is that I can "turn off" or "turn on" the broadband data plan at will on my phone, and I am charged only for the days I have used. The air card/usb modem requires a separate "plan" ...there are options for "suspending" the service on your air card when you are not using it, but I don't know what the options are or how they work. I think Vz does not have a smaller plan than the 5gb, but it gets very pricey very fast if you go over whatever the limit is.

[Ken Gluckman]

I had exactly the same concern as you. After trying a couple of solutions, I bought a repeater from JefaTech -- see:

JEFA Tech Long Range WiFi Repeater Kit for RV's

It does exactly what I wanted (and what it appears that you want). You have to log in at each park, but the process isn't much different than doing it directly with your computer. And once connected, it works great for my iPad, our iPhones, and my Mac without ever having to log in on them individually. So, in effect, it is easier to set up than multiple direct connections.

The kit comes with an exterior antenna that, I assume, really pulls in the weaker signals, but so far I haven't even connected it -- the results with just using the small antenna on the unit itself have been great.

I highly recommend this system.

[texnet]

See this thread for what I use:

Using a Deliberant CPE-2

[Cat]

I sure appreciate the information and the links. It looks like what I'm looking for is the repeater. Jefa looks good. Thank you for the recommendations.

[John]

For long rage use or to get your reception from over the big motorhome or trailer between you and the WiFi source try these solutions.
I used a Belkin 802.11b repeater with an external Hawking antenna with great results. The park where I was said "it is confusing others" so I retired it but I and others used it well while we could. It was good for multi users.
I used the Hawking 802.11g version of this adapter with the external 9dbi antenna on a pole outside my slide with great results. There is a difference between an adapter on a long USB cord and an external antenna. This setup is good for one user.
http://www.hawkingtech.com/products/productlist.php?CatID=32&FamID=60&ProdID=396
I now have the HWREN1 Wireless Range Extender which I have not had the opportunity to put to a hard test but it works fine from what I have tried. This too is hooked up with the 9dbi omni and is good for multi use.
http://www.hawkingtech.com/products/productlist.php?CatID=32&FamID=105&ProdID=394
I know of other choices but have not tried them so cannot compare. These worked for me.

[edj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cat Some of the parks I have been in have a weak wifi signal depending on where your space is. What do I need to get, to pull in a weak signal then boost it so I will have strong signal for my Ipad,laptop? And can you get one that will that will do this with any wifi system? I would hate to have to go through a long set up every time we changed parks. Thank you for any suggestions and an education on what possible and what's not.

I have purchased the Pepwave WiFi amplifier from 3Gstore. It works very well by itself, but if you need even more amplification, you can get the directional high gain antenna to go along with it. This receives and amplifies the WiFi signal and then acts like a router to re-transmit the full strength signal. It does work very well....

[erkme73]

This may get a bit technical, but for those with smart phones, look for applications that allow tethering to PCs without the 'phone as a modem' plan requirement. Android's latest version (2.2, AKA Froyo) has this natively, allowing up to 8 other wireless devices to connect. PDANet makes a program that will also do this. Key is to to circumvent the carrier/network ability to distinguish between mobile phone browsing and PC-connected-to-phone browsing.

I have Sprint, and for the last 8 years have been using my phone's data connection on my laptop, and only have their unlimited phone data plan.