WiFi Booster! - RV-Dreams Community Forum

TRAILERKING · RV-Dreams Family Member

WiFi Booster!

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

Wifi Ranger has been discussed a bit....try the search function...

TRAILERKING · RV-Dreams Family Member

Oh yes of course................Thanks for all your help.

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

My website covers most of the rational options. link in my signature.

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

I strongly recommend Technomadia's website and book! They've got a very comprehensive eBook that explains Mobile Internet connectivty for the RV'ers.

BillyandKris · RV-Dreams Family Member

About everyone around here uses Wilson booster. We use the one that says it is for a "small building". We are on Verizon for wifi and this is not Verizon country so the Wilson really works for us. You do have to put up an antenna on a pole or up on your ladder or something. Not sure if they have other kinds that don't require that effort.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

The Wilson booster is only for cellular boosting, not boosting of campground WiFi. They are completely different.

Note: Older cellular boosters are now being fazed out and people might be told to turn them off if a carrier requests it - http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/02/fcc-orders-2m-people-to-power-down-cell-phone-signal-boosters/ (do read the "Update" text).

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Terry or Gene: You might want to move this to "Technology".

rgrrmg · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hi ALL,

I am now living and working in Sequoia National Park, I have Verizon and there is no tower up here for it. So for the next 4.5 months I have to rely on a pretty weak WiFi signal, so I was wondering if anyone could let me know all I need to purchase to increase my signal. I was looking at a directional antenna and maybe some kind of booster, but what I'm not sure about is how to interface the antenna and booster to my laptop.Thanks for any help.

Roger

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Look into items like this......

www.ccrane.com/!!qx5EfzuQiygsQqyMzd0Pw!/Super-USB-WiFi-Antenna-3-High-Power-Long-Range-80211-B-G-N-Wireless-1

put it inside a big soda bottle and raise it up in the air on a pole over the coach or mount it to the rooftop tv antenna.

you can buy a 25 foot male to female usb to increase the length of the wire and it plugs in the usb port!

netgear also makes a laptop fob ....NG 600.. 45.00..that I use....I put it in a large pill vial and have it mounted to the top of the vent works great

TRAILERKING · RV-Dreams Family Member

Wow that looks like a good unit. I'll check it out.

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Roger, do you just need to connect a single laptop, or do you need a router for other connections? There are some simple solutions if you just have a single computer, but the better solutions generally require you to use a router....

rgrrmg · RV-Dreams Family Member

Just 1 laptop.

Thanks

Roger

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

There are many options for one laptop. Here is a recent video review by an RVer of one option - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgXLmthJzhA .

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

the Bear Extender 1200 is a pretty good deal ......I spoke with Eric , longer cord and put it outside on the roof will give you some real good range!

rgrrmg · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks Mike,

I am considering the Bear Extender 1200 and extension cable. My only thought is if anyone out there has one, does it increase the speed, or just signal? Looking at the signal on my laptop I can have anywhere from 4 to 5 bars, so I believe the signal strength is okay, it could be that it is on a slow local network and the Bear Extender may not help me.

Roger

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

it might get you to another network

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

4 to 5 bars means the network itself is slow. A booster just makes a weak signal stronger. As Mike says, "it might get you to another network", one that is faster.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

you might want to download ...inssider 3....

I have it and it helps alot on cleaning up a connection and finding what connections are out there......plus the tutorial will give you a real good understanding on what is happening.

like most have said.....Free wifi is just that , within a park there are just to many rigs with wifi that find a need to stream movies....which just overloads the bandwidth available .....it is not a park problem ,its a user problem if the same people who stream on the park system for free had to pay for it or do it on there own system they would stop.

A good thing only lasts so long before it gets ruined by abuse.......time for parks to go back to sitting in the office to connect for your email....that would cure it

JayKim-no regrets · RV-Dreams Family Member

We get 'free' WiFi here on the base campground, unfortunately it's pretty much useless! Our neighbor sits right under the receiver and her phone keeps saying she is 'out of range'.

We have the WiFi Ranger, it boosts the signal that is out there, more often than not we can get a decent enough signal, but not always a great speed. It's pretty frustrating when the WiFi is supposed to be part of the site rent, especially as Jay is trying to finish off his BA with online classes. I would recommend the WiFi Ranger for boosting signals, it's a bit more expensive that some out there, but we have definitely had value for money.

rgrrmg · RV-Dreams Family Member

Just got the bear extender, it is no help.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

did it improve your signal.....try it outside your coach.......it will not increase your speed on the bandwidth....they do not make such a creature.

if you get a good connection signal and you are getting slow speeds....the system is overloaded...outside of getting your own connection there is no way to increase the speed other than making sure nothing else is running in the background on your computer.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

I back tracked on this post and read your original post...

have you tried using the wifi after normal hours....like when others are sleeping to see if it increases dramatically?

some campgrounds have taken to throttling down there systems due to abuse......the crappier the system works , the more people use it for intended purposes....E-Mail

Technology is moving so fast and we rely on it more and more........but for some reason we demand it work our way at somebody else s expense.....and make that free tooo!! :)

the campgrounds and parks , most will say free access.....and it is a high speed system.....but when everyone is streaming and abusing what is available....it becomes the 4pm freeway in a major city on a weekday.....slow , irritating , bottle necked , crashes....worthless until they all get off the exit ramp!

rgrrmg · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hi Mike,

I also looked back at my original post, I was wrong then...it was not a weak signal. What I have found out since from other seasonal workers here is that depending on where your rig is located it can be a weaker signal. I have almost line of sight with the wifi antennas, however as you mentioned alot of people get on it. I will try during what I hope is a non busy time and see if things speed up noticeably. With that said I believe the system the wifi is connected to is probably slow and has not been improved recently.
Guess I will have to live with what I have for the next few months.

Thanks to everyone for all their suggestions.

Roger

the wheelberries · RV-Dreams Community Member

Jack, just used the coupon code from your site to order wifi ranger and go

recieved 25.00 discount thanks so much... your information and suggestions

have helped us so much. Been FTing for all of two months. newbies with so much to learn.

this forum and the wonderful folks here have been so helpful and encourageing .

we have posted only a few times but have gleaned so much information from the forum.

we are staying local (Chattanooga, Tn.) for the summer, helping our son get a new resturant

up and going then off to Texas to visit my brother and up the West Coast- we have grown children in Cal.

hoping to winter out there somewhere. open to info and suggestions.

hoping for a good experience with the ranger... thanks again

ron and nan faulkenberry

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

The Wifiranger will help acquire signal with the Mobile, and the Go2 is a good cellular router (alone, or combined). BUT, as noted above, it will not help with slow wifi due to overloading the available bandwidth. It WILL help to boost a weak signal to a more useable signal. And if the bandwidth is available at the back end that stronger signal will increase your throughput (speed). But often is does not help. MANY people - even on these forums - insist that they be able to stream video and other bandwidth intensive uses of the campground wifi. Since they are "paying for it" with their campground fees. And they insist that the campground owner SHOULD provide usable streaming capabilities, since they are "paying for it". Unfortunately, that is not the way it works. And most campgrounds cannot provide for individual user throttling in their systems. For various reasons, but mainly it is 'skills" and "money".

My advice to all users of wifi is to view it as a limited resource that may or may not work effectively. And it is almost guaranteed not to handle high bandwidth demands. If higher speed Internet is critical to your life (1 mbps or better) then you need to use cellular data, pay for the level of service you require, and stay in locations that provide that level of service. DO NOT depend on campground wifi - you should view it as a "bonus" if it does meet your needs.

And, if you are of the belief that campgrounds supplying wifi "should" provide you individual streaming capability then my suggestion is to verify this before paying for your site, and move on if they cannot guarantee it. In which case you will be doing a LOT of boondocking. It is a simple matter to use your smartphone to run a speedtest at check in. If you see less than 15-20 mbps then you will not get streaming - because once the system is more heavily loaded in the evening it will not support streaming. Especially with multiple people doing it.