WifiRanger

[rbr]

I've relied on these folks for solid info on mobile internet access for the last couple of years - lots of real RV world advice based on testing and large group experiences.

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com


_____________________________
Ron & Glenda (The Good Witch!)
2015 Entegra Anthem 42DEQ
2014 Grand Cherokee toad

[Gary.Jones]

Ron

I just crawled through RVMobileinternets site and they do have a lot of useful information. I assume that by joining, you get access to more, but I did not do that. Also took the 24 minutes to watch the video and their summary and advice is good advice, and anyone who is weighing their options can probably learn a lot more from this site. The bottom line is that they, and I, have come to the same conclusion...... that with very few exceptions, using cellular based broadband is the best price/availability/performance option that there is out there right now. It is too expensive for downloading movies or video for most users unless you are in one of the areas that the companies that offer unlimited download to HULU etc have reasonable signals (small percentage of the country). Also, I thought that the analogy dealing with RV park WIFI was particularly good as most people just don't understand it. They said to think of it as similar to the RV park using a typical garden hose from the well or source to supply the fresh water needs of every coach/trailer/?? in the RV park. You only are going to get so much water through that pipe, and the more people trying to get water from that small pipe, the more the service becomes nearly impossible to meet everyone's needs. We have found maybe 2 RV parks in 3 years of travel that probably have very high speed commercial service into their router/WIFI system, or have two or three or ?? number of different 50 or 100 meg pipes coming into individual - different WIFI access points, but our experience is that > 90% of RV parks take maybe a 50M pipe coming into the park main office and then distribute that "pipe share" to everyone in the park. We have virtually given up on RV park WIFI until this multiple commercial pipes solution is common. (DW and I are pretty tech savvy and while our business is not dependent on the internet, we use it heavily for research, info on what is happening in the world, access to web resources, etc. etc. We don't download entertainment. We are with Verizon and subscribe for 16 Gigs of broadband each month and sometimes have to increase to ~ 20 Gigs to get through a month. Verizon price is coming down as competition is heating up from the smaller companies).

Gary

[Triker56]

Before this summers trip I installed the WiFiRanger Mini Pack
Staying at some of the same campgrounds I have before. Before WiFi was in & out at times in many of them.

The roof mounted antenna done away with those problems and I had better speed. Also the mini lets me connect my Smart TV, DVD player, Laptop, iPad and Desktop to it all at the same time. It's not needed on my iPhone with it's unlimited data if a cell tower is nearby. If not then it can connect to the Mini.

I have found that many campground's FREE WiFi has better speed then in the past. And good enough for email and web surfing. No need for streaming as my DirecTV has plenty to watch.

[Robmat]

Originally Posted by Gary.Jones

Bob

I also see all sorts of WIFI routers and remotes when I am in RV parks that I cant and dont want to connect to.... usually 3 to 5 different access points for the park and 4 or 5 other motorcoachs in the vicinity, and maybe a Pizza Hut. That is using no WIFI Ranger or similar product and only looking at the WIFI possibilities on my iPhone or iPAD. Now, there is no question that there is somewhat better performance by any roof mounted, external omnidirectional antenna or directional yagi style antenna on the roof compared to a cell phone lying on the dining room table inside the coach, but I seriously doubt that you are seeing anything that cannot be seen by examining your WIFI options on your phone. Might be wrong. In any case, as an earlier poster explained, if the "pipe" is a 50 meg pipe, then your bandwidth is going to be 50 megs divided by the number of people hanging on the WIFI system along with you. The 'Ranger type device doesn't improve that at all. My memory is that all cellular devices are limited to a power of 100 milliwatts. Now a hot spot may have additional receive pre-amplification in it which makes the receiver "hotter" than originally designed by the cell phone or router manufacturer, but that makes the receiver "hotter", but does not change the legal output.

Gary

Gary, I agree on the point that if the WiFi is poor nothing will help it be a better signal. I had several parks where the WiFi was not the best and others that was blazing fast, even with a full park. However from my amateur radio experience I think where it helps is in situations where you may get a marginal signal due to distance and with the window mounted antenna you will have an acceptable signal. With my set up the window mounted antenna allows me to "see" or "hear" more WiFi stations that I otherwise would. I was at a small park in Mitchell SD where we were told if we wanted Internet the WiFi hotspot was at the office. I was fairly far away and still got a decent signal from the office hotspot to access the Internet. I have to think it was due to the WiFi repeater and antenna. Even if I find after using it for a year that there is no great improvement the idea of one connection feeding all my other devices and not having to change them all at every park makes it worth the $149.00. I also have a Verizon MiFi and if I am in a location that has no WiFi I connect the WiFi repeater to the MiFi so I don't have to change back and forth on the phones, tablets, etc. As a side note about antennas my town has all the municipal buildings connected by WiFi. They connect buildings over a half mile apart using line of sight point to point antennas - system works fine.

[rbr]

I think the key is you have to be prepared to get your internet needs filled in multiple different ways, as stressed by the MIA folks. There are some parks where park wifi is good enough for our needs, but that's usually not the case. We have the Wifi Ranger Go2 create our network and use it to either connect all devices to the park wifi or to Verizon or T-Mobile via jet packs that I tether to the Go2 via usb.

We stayed in a park a couple of weeks ago where they had high speed (30+Mbps!) ethernet jacks at each site for no extra charge! For a $20 refundable deposit they loaned me an Ethernet cable long enough to run into the basement where I temporarily relocated the Go2. It was awesome - no complaints about Internet for those 10-days!


_____________
Ron & Glenda (The Good Witch!)
2015 Entegra Anthem 42DEQ
2014 Grand Cherokee toad
(Posted via iOS App)

[Timon]

Remember all these WiFi extenders can do is get you a better signal to work with. What it can't do is Get you faster speeds if the park doesn't have a good bandwidth from their ISP to start with. Even a small park can overload a 300Mb connection.

[MRUSA14]

With my "David Bott" repeater system I can often see three times as many access points as I see without it, and I can use many that are otherwise too weak to use. When I am overnighting in Walmart I can pick up the store's Wifi from the edge of their parking lot. Sometimes I pick up a signal from a nearby McDonalds or Starbucks. Many of these signal are very fast for browsing. As a previous poster said I don't do streaming video, as that is what my Directv is for. But for browsing, the repeater gives me many more signal choices, some of which are quite fast. When the signal is weak or slow, that is when I revert to a cellular hotspot, but having the repeater saves me a lot of money on my cellular data plan.

[brobox]

Having read this post with great interest, having a secure hub off of park wifi is worth the $100. Not using my expensive cell phone data, a big plus. Thanks to everyone that shared.

[Dr. Q]

I just order the "David Bott" system for my new [to me] coach. What others have said about the speed and data throughput is correct...if the pipe is small, the throughput to the coach will also be lacking.

However, the antenna's on our smartphone's are tiny, in comparison to the external antenna's. The larger, more powerful antenna will also increase your speed, as the antenna will maintain a better connection to the park WiFi.

Here's a plus to that system, as I see it. If you have a large S&B and have trouble with your home WiFi range; when not traveling, you can use this same antenna system to increase your home WiFi to those hard to reach areas.

My system should arrive in a couple days, so I will set it up and test. I'll come back on here with my findings.

Happy Surfing!

[brobox]

I am finally going to throw my drawer full of outdated 802.11b wifi signal boosters and large antennas that worked well in their days, but they were not secured and big and bulky.. I will update to Dave Botts system today. I got lazy when cell systems worked so well, but this post made me realize what I have been missing and having to watch my cell data closely at the end of the month.

[Barmats]

I have been using the system recommended by David Bott since Feb and it has performed very well. I chose the larger Nanostation M2 along with the AirGateway and window mount. I can often see and pull in signals that were not at all visible on my iPhone or iPad. It will not overcome a weak or overloaded park wifi signal but it can provide slightly better throughput than a direct connection if you're on the fringe. And having a secure wireless router as part of the system is a good thing. I use the Speedtest app to measure download and upload speeds.

I met a fellow recently in a park who was a reseller for a product called PDQ Connect. He said it has a range of up to 20 miles, which is much greater than the Ubiquity system, and is standard equipment now on all Newell coaches. Has anyone heard of this one or know someone who has used it?

AllPro Wi-Fi Signal Booster and Hotspot for Quality iTV, Computer, Sma – PDQ Connect

[Reppley]

Originally Posted by Dr. Q

I just order the "David Bott" system for my new [to me] coach. What others have said about the speed and data throughput is correct...if the pipe is small, the throughput to the coach will also be lacking.

However, the antenna's on our smartphone's are tiny, in comparison to the external antenna's. The larger, more powerful antenna will also increase your speed, as the antenna will maintain a better connection to the park WiFi.

Here's a plus to that system, as I see it. If you have a large S&B and have trouble with your home WiFi range; when not traveling, you can use this same antenna system to increase your home WiFi to those hard to reach areas.

My system should arrive in a couple days, so I will set it up and test. I'll come back on here with my findings.

Happy Surfing!

Can you give me a link where I can look at and maybe order the Dave Botts system?

Thanks for all your help

[brobox]

Originally Posted by Reppley

Can you give me a link where I can look at and maybe order the Dave Botts system?

Thanks for all your help

The link is on the first couple of posts. Private RV Wi-Fi and Making a Better Park Connection for Under $100 | Outside Our Bubble

[ghaynes754]

Barry the PDQ system uses Ubiquiti products and an 8db Omni antenna. Have you ever used a set of handheld GMS radios and gotten the advertised 7 miles range? Just sayin 20 miles , mountain top to mountain top maybe but ...