Long Range WiFi System

Nice setup!! It is amazing how many camp grounds claim WIFI service and the signal is like -85dB. One CG said don't complain about WIFI reception or lack of... we did not have to supply any connection.. After a speed test the download was a little more than 56K and upload was less than that. So I built my own system. We stay at a lot of state/federal/Cor..of Eng camp grounds so WIFI is not provided. Thanks to Nearby McDdonald's, Starbucks, Homedepot and other businesses that provide free WIFI, we are usually connected. We usually end up buying some thing from them while camping... The longest distance was a Homedepot that was a little more than a mile away. Also use our MagicJack phone with no issues over the camper WIFI, saves on wireless phone minutes. Access to my Slingbox at my home is great... One month left of our 3 month campin trip...
DON
 
Mustang65 said:
Nice setup!! It is amazing how many camp grounds claim WIFI service and the signal is like -85dB. One CG said don't complain about WIFI reception or lack of... we did not have to supply any connection.. After a speed test the download was a little more than 56K and upload was less than that. So I built my own system. We stay at a lot of state/federal/Cor..of Eng camp grounds so WIFI is not provided. Thanks to Nearby McDdonald's, Starbucks, Homedepot and other businesses that provide free WIFI, we are usually connected. We usually end up buying some thing from them while camping... The longest distance was a Homedepot that was a little more than a mile away. Also use our MagicJack phone with no issues over the camper WIFI, saves on wireless phone minutes. Access to my Slingbox at my home is great... One month left of our 3 month campin trip...
DON
Click to expand...
Would you mind explaining a little more about how it works. I am intriqued by the use of a magic jack!
 
No Problem.. The new version of MagicJack allows you to either plug the unit into your USB port on your PC/Laptop or directly into your WIFI router. I have it plugged into my TT’s Wireless Router where it picks up the internet. I have a wireless phone plugged into the MagicJack unit (1.5”x3”) so we can make/take calls anywhere in or outside the TT. So far no complaints and saved us a lot of cell phone minutes. MagicJack allows you to pick a telephone number (in ANY area code you desire) or port you existing land line to MagicJack. Currently I have my land line fwd to the MagicJack number. You also get an email from MagicJack when you have voice mail.

As for my WIFI setup, I use an EnGenius EOC 5611P (500mW - Access Point/Client Bridge) in Client Bridge mode, to communicate with the CG WIFI Access Point. It is plugged into my TT’s Cisco WIFI Wireless Router, which I only allow access to the TT toys (PC, Laptop, Notepad, Solar Charge Controller, Sensors, MagicJack..) When buying ANY unit the one thing to remember is that 99.99% of CG’s WIFI uses 802.11g, some of the newer WIFI extenders only have 802.11n and are not backward compatible with b or g. The first CG that I have EVER encountered using 802.11n is the one that I am currently staying at. One of the problems with CG’s is that they provide WIFI and restrict it to 10mB internet access for ALL the campers combined; Hence a strong signals, but slow access.

Recommendation: (You have many to select from)
EnGenius ENH 202 – 800mW (2.4GHz) (Amazon $125.00) (The EOC 5611P is no longer produced)
Any WIFI Wireless Router (I used one of my old ones)

My Planned Upgrade:
EnGenius ENH 202 -800mW (2.4GHz) Communicate with CG WIFI Access Point
EnGenius EOC 5611P – 500mW (2.4GHz or 5.8GHz mode) will replace the TT’s Cisco WIFI Access Point

Enjoy!!!
Don
 
krackeer said:
Whats it cost for a setup like this?
Click to expand...

For our specific setup:

Lcom with PoE box $69
Trendnet router $30
Ethernet cable $15
Buddipole $55 - (painter's pole good option if you don't already have something)
Clamps and plumbing bits $10
 
dcplumer said:
We put together a long-range wifi system for our JayFlight 28BHS in order to hit weak campground access points. We thought others might be interested in our project description including the necessary software configuration steps. These are posted on our projects blog:

http://eplumer.blogspot.com/2013/07/long-range-wifi-on-trailer.html

Edward and Danielle
Click to expand...

Great Idea! After reading this post last week and thinking about it for a while, I've decided to implement my own "on the cheap" version of this mod using some networking equipment I already own:

1. TL-WA5110G 400mW Access Point. I had this sitting in storage. It supports PoE so I'll only need to run the 1 ethernet cable. I believe I spent around $45 for this a few years ago. I've mounted this inside of a waterproof plastic container, drilled a hole for the antenna, and sealed it up with silicone.

2. Linksys WRT54G Router. I also had this lying around. I'm sure any router will do but the Linksys routers allow for custom firmware to be installed (e.g. dd-wrt). This allows for more options.

3. I bought a 9 ft. Painter's Pole from Wal-Mart for $12 which I've mounted to the side of the roof access ladder (that gave me more altitude than mounting to the spare tire support as the OP suggested). I should have a good 5-6 feet of roof clearance when fully extended. I also picked up a couple of pipe fasteners in the plumbing section for a couple bucks. I still need to figure out how to mount the plastic container to the top of the painter's pole. I'd like to be able to detach it when not in use. I was thinking of fastening the container to a paint pad/edger so it can be screwed onto the threads and taken off when not in use.

For wire routing, I'm not too keen on drilling holes though my TT floor, so I'll probably just end up routing the Ethernet cable through the outdoor storage access when in use and mount the router and PoE module somewhere inside that storage area.

Tonight I'll play around with the software to see if I can get it to work. Shouldn't be a problem since I've set up a remote WiFi access point in my house before. If it works I'll have a solution that only cost me $18 out of pocket.. Not bad!

Dan
 
dcplumer said:
We put together a long-range wifi system for our JayFlight 28BHS in order to hit weak campground access points. We thought others might be interested in our project description including the necessary software configuration steps. These are posted on our projects blog:

http://eplumer.blogspot.com/2013/07/long-range-wifi-on-trailer.html

Edward and Danielle
Click to expand...

Edward,

I read your blog posting with great interest. We're going to be spending a month in Florida in a park without park wide wifi. I have been searching for an internet solution such as having the cable turned on or mobile hot spots. Your post provided an alternative idea. The park does have wifi available at a clubhouse which is probably less than 600 yards away. A high powered receiver like you described would likely pull the signal in. My question is how do you deal with login ids and passwords for the parks system? I didn't see it in your phohts, but I am assuming there is a web interface to your L-com unit where you would enter that information. Is that correct? At some parks the login times out each day. Do you have to re-login each day?

Thanks,
Dennis
 
We too gave up on being successful at the camp grounds WIFI usage. I was always leery of just connecting up to the various WIFI hot spots around the country.

We went ahead and got the VERIZON MIFI unit a few years back. Is a contract thing but cheaper back then. This is a stand alone device that creates a legal local hotspot and will support five devices at the same time... This is a small pocket size unit that has internal four hour batteries and can plug into 120VAC... Works anywhere you get Verizon cellphone service.

We use our MIFI unit normally sitting in one of the WILSON SLEEK Cradle mobile cellphone holders which has an outside antenna capability. This increases our local WIFI hotspot range around the trailer alot. This is a great docking station for our MIFI unit as well.

Don't worry about the weak WIFI usage at the camp grounds anymore. Being a stand alone unit this does not have anything to do with my Verizon cellphone usage.. When sitting on the beach I slip it into my shirt pocket and we can sit on the beach with me using my big M90 Dell laptop - momabear on her HP portable - and both of us with our tablets etc... Haven't run into a place yet where it didn't work here on the east side of the USA.

Back in the older days I used a Verizon Air Card plugged into a Cradlepoint router which created a wireless WIFI network for camping.. That worked great as well...

I was just never much a fan of just logging into all of the WIFI hot spots scattered all over the country... Too risky for this ole man... Have done it alot at hotels alot but they are mostly password protected type things. Members only type of thing

This is just me - people do this all the time and survive I guess
Roy Ken
 
Depends if it is a login to the wifi AP itself or one of those policy-acceptance pages like you get in hotels. The former would be entered on the wifi ap-client pages as a "profile". The later would pop up on the client computer when you first attempt to navigate to some website.
 
We use the MIFI as well but have not yet set up any booster for it. Good to know that that works well for you. Lot of places we have been don't have Verizon MIFI access either. Regarding safety, important to configure the firewall on router and laptop. Of course, no network is really safe ... sigh.
 
We use mifi along with a EnGenius WiFi signal extender. The reason we purchased the mifi, was to give us access at CG's and surrounding areas that had no public WiFi. The mifi cost us about $90 for 3Gig, which we used up in no time at all. We just returned from out trip to Colorado (4 months) and only needed the mifi at 2 CG's, out of the 14 we stayed at, which did not provide any WiFi. We tested the signal strength of the extended WiFi vs the laptop's WiFi only, and the results were as expected (Really Great). It also allows you to select the CG's fastest AP (if more than one is available) , which the laptop alone did not see. I use it to connect to the Slingbox connected to my home cable, VPN, and the signal reception was great, watching the home DVR/cable (Ray's Baseball). The MagicJack phone works great with it.

As for security, if you have a good firewall and antivirus program on your laptop/PC/Tablet (I only use McAfee, as did all the companies I worked for), set them up for public access, and ensure that the sites links are https access, for your private information, you will be ok. I mostly use the VPN connection (encrypted data) that links my TT directly to my home internet connection, and search the net that way.
Good luck with your decision.

I can only speak for myself, it is not for everyone, but we are very happy with our system.

Don
Our WiFi Album - http://www.jaycoowners.com/album.php?albumid=328
 
I have considered installing a WIFI extender on my Batwing mast....(we rarely use the antenna for HDTV). The antenna mast goes up, down and swings any direction....

Has anyone tried this?
 
Yes, on our previous TT I mounted it to the TV antenna, worked great, except that the added weight of the WiFi antenna made it very difficult to get it started off the down position. I was affraid that I would break the hand crank off.

Don
 
Mustang65 said:
Yes, on our previous TT I mounted it to the TV antenna, worked great, except that the added weight of the WiFi antenna made it very difficult to get it started off the down position. I was affraid that I would break the hand crank off. Don
Click to expand...

Thanks, Don....makes sense. I've seen some pretty small units....very tempting

BTW....(I haven't looked into it yet) were you able to use the cable from the Batwing?
 
The unit I have uses its own coax so I had to run it from the antenna down the arm across the roof to the side by the awning and went next to that down to the storage compartment where the WiFi unit was mounted and I used a Cat5 cable from the unit to the TT's wireless WiFi unit. Most of the units now have the antenna molded onto the case of the unit, and all that weight is at the very end of the crank out antenna, causing extra stress on the hand crank handle. It was nice to just be able to crank it up, where now I have to swing it upward from the ladder mount. Either way, it was worth it.

Don
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

WP
Honest Owner Review for Jayco 2017 Jayflight 264BHW
wpostma
WP
WI
2018 30.5 MBOK Review
2
Timrivs
TI
Dskyward-JAY
377 RLBH Warranty Repair
2
bdreinv
BD

New posts

Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Try RV LIFE Pro Free for 7 Days

  • New Ad-Free experience on this RV LIFE Community.
  • Plan the best RV Safe travel with RV LIFE Trip Wizard.
  • Navigate with our RV Safe GPS mobile app.
  • and much more...
Try RV LIFE Pro Today
Back
Top Bottom