Wifi booster and antenna
I'm looking for the best way to speed up and get a better signal from the free wifi they offer at the park I'm staying at. Any ideas? Thanks guys!
Forum Discussion
Well Texan,
Let me tell you about years of experience of traveling internet. (We used to have to go "Wardriving" to "Find Wire" - if you are that old).
Any shared 802.11(x) is going to be slow most of the time you want to use it. Many commercial sources shut down at closing. The occasion when you can even effective stream even YouTube will get rarer. (FCC 802.11(with a letter for speed) is the basic rule for all Wifi systems.)
I have had high powered 802.11 systems for years, usually Alfa units that do 10 to 20 times the power that an internal system can manage. With the better antennas, they can work access points that are at extreme distances. These do not hurt speed as they replace the internal modem in your computer. I used to carry add-on antennas that made this even better, but reread that second paragraph. It is all lost if you need speed and to do anything more than e-mail. Today's websites are also not designed for anybody with any limits on bandwidth. (Bandwidth - that amount of data you try to move.)
If you have a smart phone and your carrier is Verizon, (check this) then you can now use their hotspot system without buying the app and their data cost has become more reasonable. They also will not shut you down if you run over the allowance, but they will throttle you. You can also pump the plan on-line. Even this does require some planning. You need a phone base in a good location that has to have power to it or the poor phone will crash in short order. There is no way to do this for free, but with proper hardware and plan selection, it can be affordable.
If you are in the habit of being in places with poor coverage, think about getting a repeater to install in the coach. Often called a booster (though that is something that is actually different) these can provide a handset with more radio power and sensitivity.
Matt
Let me tell you about years of experience of traveling internet. (We used to have to go "Wardriving" to "Find Wire" - if you are that old).
Any shared 802.11(x) is going to be slow most of the time you want to use it. Many commercial sources shut down at closing. The occasion when you can even effective stream even YouTube will get rarer. (FCC 802.11(with a letter for speed) is the basic rule for all Wifi systems.)
I have had high powered 802.11 systems for years, usually Alfa units that do 10 to 20 times the power that an internal system can manage. With the better antennas, they can work access points that are at extreme distances. These do not hurt speed as they replace the internal modem in your computer. I used to carry add-on antennas that made this even better, but reread that second paragraph. It is all lost if you need speed and to do anything more than e-mail. Today's websites are also not designed for anybody with any limits on bandwidth. (Bandwidth - that amount of data you try to move.)
If you have a smart phone and your carrier is Verizon, (check this) then you can now use their hotspot system without buying the app and their data cost has become more reasonable. They also will not shut you down if you run over the allowance, but they will throttle you. You can also pump the plan on-line. Even this does require some planning. You need a phone base in a good location that has to have power to it or the poor phone will crash in short order. There is no way to do this for free, but with proper hardware and plan selection, it can be affordable.
If you are in the habit of being in places with poor coverage, think about getting a repeater to install in the coach. Often called a booster (though that is something that is actually different) these can provide a handset with more radio power and sensitivity.
Matt
