Secure internet via Cell - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Cloudchaser · RV-Dreams Community Member

Secure internet via Cell

Technomadia · RV-Dreams Family Member

Greetings...

Sounds like you have an older Verizon phone that doesn't have dual antennas - Verizon runs their voice calls over a different frequency than data, so if the phone doesn't have two antennas, data gets dropped when calls are made.

Did you know that you can use your unlimited plan however in a mobile hotspot (like a Jetpack)? You'd give up the phone part of your service, but you'd get a dedicated unlimited data access (just pick up a prepaid phone somewhere for your calling). You could also upgrade your phone to a newer one with dual antennas that can support hotspot and calls at the same time, just pay full price for the phone (or buy it used with a clear ESN), and you'll be able to keep your unlimited. If you take a Verizon subsidy, you'll lose your UDP.

For a router, the features you want are WiFi as WAN (repeating the campground's WiFi network inside your coach) and cellular inputs. WiFiRanger products are a solid choice for this, as are the Pepwave SoHo and others out there. The WFR has a VPN service built in that you can use when needed.

For more information on keeping connected on the road, we run the RV Mobile Internet Resource Center, and have an overview of the options available at: www.rvmobileinternet.com/overview - from there, we offer a lot of other resources to our RVing peers.

Best wishes,
- Cherie

-- Edited by Technomadia on Saturday 16th of May 2015 09:41:39 AM

Technomadia · RV-Dreams Family Member

Oh, and we have a comparison of cellular booster options currently on the market at:
www.rvmobileinternet.com/resources/mobile-cellular-boosters/

Cloudchaser · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thank you for the information. I'm not sure if i can use the campground wifi with the WiFi Ranger. I pay for the service, but once i connect to the wifi access point, I have to log in on a web page (like hotel wifi). Do you know if there is a way to do that on the Wifi Ranger?

Also, I think i need to get a signal booster for my cell phone before I do anything. I've been doing a little research and think I will try the Wilson Sleek. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 2, and it looks like it should fit the cradle. I may just have to use my phone as a hotspot when i want to pay bills and check banking stuff and use the campground wifi for general surfing, streaming and gaming.

thank you!

Technomadia · RV-Dreams Family Member

Yes.. the WiFiRanger is designed for exactly that. They specialize in products for RVers, and know campground WiFi systems (with login pages) well.

Roll Me Away · RV-Dreams Family Member

I have the Verizon Jetpak to which I connect my laptop, but would like to use the campground wifi when not using the Jetpak. Is the Wifi Ranger capable of connecting to my computer and delivering wifi without having to use the Jetpak? Apologies, but I am not technologically brilliant <G> so the jargon usually flattens me almost immediately. :) However, if I can get a Ranger, hook it up in my motor coach and connect my laptop, receive some of the large audio/video files that eat up gigabytes, it would be good, as I sometimes have to turn aside work. One month I went over the amount and Verizon took me to the cleaners. They're the best I've found but very restrictive sometimes.
How close would the Ranger have to be to the camp wifi to pick up occasionally when work gets heavy?
Roll Me Away

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Roll Me Away: You set up the WiFiRanger or similar router so your laptop, etc., uses the WiFi name/password (SSID/passcode) from the WiFiRanger and not the Jetpack. Then you use the WiFiRanger to use the Jetpack and campground wifi as sources, which you can switch between by using the WiFiRanger web interface. We have a Pepwave Surf SOHO, which is similar to the WiFiRanger, and our laptops, tablets and wireless printer only know the router's WiFi name. We switch between using our Verizon 5510L (MiFi/Jetpack/Mobile Hotspot), our AT&T Unite mobile hotspot or campground wifi via the router and all our connected devices work. In areas where we do not Verizon service, we can also hook our smartphones to the router to use either our AT&T hotspot or campground wifi for data service.

BTW: These routers can also track your internet usage, which can be useful.

-- Edited by bjoyce on Sunday 17th of May 2015 12:29:56 PM

Roll Me Away · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bill, a park where I spend a couple weeks has Tengo from their Rec hall, some are able to use it by using it through routers they tell me where they do not have to leave their coaches particularly at night. I think they download movies and music or whatever. I do not download these things, just audio/video files that I edit (and research) for clients. Dropbox usually handles it well, but many clients do not use dropbox and I have to download large files including texts. Millenicom was good, but no longer exists, so Verizon only offers up to 10 gigs which often doesn't cover it. Thus, I am thinking having a router might boost or somehow make the campground wifi available at night when I don't want to go out of the coach. BTW, I don't use my iPhone as a hotspot for any of my work, just for regular phone calls.

Would I need an antenna outside on my roof?
Are you saying the Jetpak can be on with the password of the router and if I do not use the Jetpak's verizon password, the router will use its own to connect and therefore, verizon will not be involved at all? The jetpak would just be a conduit for the rec hall wifi?
Thank you for your reply. Much appreciated.
Roll Me Away

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

The router can take one wifi as input and put out another, but the one it puts out is configured once. The wifi as input can be what the Jetpack puts out, campground wifi, Home Depot next door, whatever. Once you configure it, you can go into the router web interface and change which input wifi is current, the output wifi stays the same. Your Jetpack is just a wifi source to the router, if you use it as your input wifi then you use Verizon data, if not you use data off the other wifi. If you are not using the Jetpack as input, you can turn it off. WiFiRanger has wifi boosters as part of its product line, the Pepwave I use has optional antennas to boost the wifi signal, which I have. Some of these extras can be external, some not.

Example:
Say your Jetpack wifi name is "Verizon-890L-6E97: and the campground is "Jerrys RV Park", and your WiFiRanger's wifi name is "Roll Me Away". You set your computer(s) and everything else to use "Roll Me Away" and have them forget "Verizon-890L-6E97". Then you hook to the WiFiRanger's web interface and add "Verizon-890L-6E97" as a WiFi as WAN source. (I have not used a WiFiRanger, but this is how I configure both my Pepwave Surf SOHO and my old Cradlepoint MBR95, which also does "WiFi as WAN"). Now you also add "Jerrys RV Park" and once added you make it the active one and use your computer to do any configuration needed, like coupon codes. Now you can go into the WiFiRanger web interface, which is just a webpage, and choose either "Verizon-890L-6E97" or "Jerrys RV Park" as your active input.

Roll Me Away · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thank you! I am printing that and will, as I get a hands-on with the equipment, definitely understand what I'm doing much better. Very, very appreciated!