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Old 07-28-2017, 12:03 AM   #1
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Internet Access for the camper

Just mulling around with the idea of some kind of internet solution for the camper. I've found that a lot of the time there's next to no cell phone reception and if you're in a campground that offers wifi, it's got a weak signal and/or slow connection. Anyone here decided to up the game a bit and do something unique? I'm thinking about some possibilities like..
* High gain directional wireless antenna for better long range WIFI reception.
* Cell phone signal booster.
* Satellite dish for Internet.
* HAM radio solution (packet radio).

Ideas?
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Old 07-28-2017, 05:23 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Packerbacker_TX View Post
Just mulling around with the idea of some kind of internet solution for the camper. I've found that a lot of the time there's next to no cell phone reception and if you're in a campground that offers wifi, it's got a weak signal and/or slow connection. Anyone here decided to up the game a bit and do something unique? I'm thinking about some possibilities like..
* High gain directional wireless antenna for better long range WIFI reception.
* Cell phone signal booster.
* Satellite dish for Internet.
* HAM radio solution (packet radio).
Ideas?
There are some issues that technology will help and some it will not help.
- Poor CG Wi-Fi signal due to MANY campers (bandwidth) - WiFi signal extender will not help you out
- Poor CG Wi-Fi signal (Cheap/Old CG AP equipment)- a Wi-Fi signal extender MAY help you out, only as good as the AP signal quality
- Weak CG Wi-Fi signal - A Wi-Fi signal extender WILL help you out
- Distance from CG's AP, A Wi-Fi signal extender will help (line of sight)
- Poor Cell Phone service (distance from cell tower) a Cell Signal will increase signal in most cases
- Using IE: MiFi with poor cell service will not produce acceptable Wi-Fi service in most cases. May work but very slow. I have one for a backup... have not used in at least 2 years.
- Satellite dish for internet- could be expensive if you use a lot of data
- Cell phone signal booster- can help cell service signal

With all that said:
I have the Wi-Fi signal Extender (around $100) and it works great in most CG's, or Big Store parking lots (Home Depot, Walmart...). Some CG's are using technology to block the use of Wi-Fi signal extenders because if not set up correctly, they try to lock on to the CG's AP and it causes problems for other users. Line of site my EnGenius ENS202EXT (external Omni directional antenna) is good for 1.5 miles (line of sight).
I just purchased a Uniden Cellular signal extender ($500). We are located in a valley with 4K' mountains around us, 4+ miles from the cell tower. Dropped calls, not able to send pictures, txt messages do not get sent/received. 1 bar max.
After installing the Cell Signal booster with Directional antenna, 4 bars, no dropped calls, send/receive all text and pictures. DW very happy. On point to remember, we are 4+ miles away from the cell site, on normal days we have 4 bars, I did notice that when the CG was filled for the fair, with all the extra phones (about 150 additional RVers in the CG) we dropped to 3 bars, but still GREAT connections. Wi-Fi (bandwidth) was affected by all the additional campers.

In either case use External antennas

HAM Radio, one of the experienced HAM radio members will probably let you know.

Wi-Fi Signal Extenders

Cellular Signal Boosters
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Old 07-28-2017, 11:14 PM   #3
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Your cellular booster paired with a dedicated cellular modem/ gateway (like the mifi) is the best bet. A satellite setup would be good, as long as you're not in trees, or a big wind doesn't knock your dish out of alignment, and you can deal with the pain in the but of having to realign it everywhere you go. Repeating, boosting or "enhancing" public wifi (like in campgrounds) is just burning good money. Your signal strength will have little to do with your quality of service as the wifi can become saturated very quickly leaving it so congested that it will be too frustrating to use. You are way better off being your own little island.

Source: 20 years as a SysAdmin dealing with enterprise grade wireless implementations.

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Old 07-29-2017, 06:33 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by Mustang65 View Post
There are some issues that technology will help and some it will not help.
- Poor CG Wi-Fi signal due to MANY campers (bandwidth) - WiFi signal extender will not help you out
- Poor CG Wi-Fi signal (Cheap/Old CG AP equipment)- a Wi-Fi signal extender MAY help you out, only as good as the AP signal quality
- Weak CG Wi-Fi signal - A Wi-Fi signal extender WILL help you out
- Distance from CG's AP, A Wi-Fi signal extender will help (line of sight)
- Poor Cell Phone service (distance from cell tower) a Cell Signal will increase signal in most cases
- Using IE: MiFi with poor cell service will not produce acceptable Wi-Fi service in most cases. May work but very slow. I have one for a backup... have not used in at least 2 years.
- Satellite dish for internet- could be expensive if you use a lot of data
- Cell phone signal booster- can help cell service signal

With all that said:
I have the Wi-Fi signal Extender (around $100) and it works great in most CG's, or Big Store parking lots (Home Depot, Walmart...). Some CG's are using technology to block the use of Wi-Fi signal extenders because if not set up correctly, they try to lock on to the CG's AP and it causes problems for other users. Line of site my EnGenius ENS202EXT (external Omni directional antenna) is good for 1.5 miles (line of sight).
I just purchased a Uniden Cellular signal extender ($500). We are located in a valley with 4K' mountains around us, 4+ miles from the cell tower. Dropped calls, not able to send pictures, txt messages do not get sent/received. 1 bar max.
After installing the Cell Signal booster with Directional antenna, 4 bars, no dropped calls, send/receive all text and pictures. DW very happy. On point to remember, we are 4+ miles away from the cell site, on normal days we have 4 bars, I did notice that when the CG was filled for the fair, with all the extra phones (about 150 additional RVers in the CG) we dropped to 3 bars, but still GREAT connections. Wi-Fi (bandwidth) was affected by all the additional campers.

In either case use External antennas

HAM Radio, one of the experienced HAM radio members will probably let you know.

Wi-Fi Signal Extenders

Cellular Signal Boosters
Thanks for the detailed information on WiFi signal extenders. Very helpful as we too have been having our challenges with receiving WiFi at campgrounds.
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Old 07-29-2017, 01:32 PM   #5
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My setup is similar to Mustang's, in fact I read his posts on the topic many times prior to purchasing. All of his points are spot-on and I will add that in a large CG there are usually several AP's and using my wifi extender allows me to sample them to see if one has better response than another. Not always the case but a couple of times the AP in the meeting room/library/game room will have fewer devices connected.
It's not a "silver bullet" but it helps from time to time. It also allow us to configure the devices to connect to the in-house wifi instead of individually connecting each one to the park wifi.
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Old 07-31-2017, 06:07 AM   #6
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We finally stopped trying to use CG WiFi. They are always slow, even when you are next to the hotspot and you have a good signal. There are just too many people trying to use the connection.

We use cell exclusively. Rarely do we not have enough signal for 4G service (Verizon). When on the fringe I can set up the MiFi with external antenna to get an extra bar or two. With only two bars we still have enough bandwidth to stream movies.

I did look at satellite internet. Too expensive for the limited bandwidth.
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Old 07-31-2017, 06:45 AM   #7
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I have an external wifi antenna that works very well if you remember to shut off the laptop internal one.. but that does not make the poor quality CG signal any faster.

Satellite internet very slow and expensive. I had one with an auto dish and speeds were just a bit faster than dial up. That plus restrictions on bandwidth usage makes it a very poor option unless you have no other choice
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Old 07-31-2017, 07:19 AM   #8
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I'll pass on a notable exception - Point South / Yemassee KOA Journey off I95 where we've stayed twice gives a consistent 35Mbps on fast.com. Worked well even on busy weekends with Netflix and Spectrum.

Otherwise, we download Netflix and Amazon movies and shows before we leave.
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