Improve campground WiFi signal

[lakeman48]

Would like to use my Roku streaming device on campground WiFi signal. What do I need for hardware? Is it practical? or do I need my own Hot Spot? If so what would I need for that? Would like to stream movies and tv.

[FlatBroke]

Kiwi_too wrote:
Please do listen to some that are being "judgemental". People use judgement every day of their lives. Most have experience you could use. Requiring a specific answer will never work, on a forum especially, or in person, if someone believes you may want to rethink your idea. You are going to use your own judgement, based on others experience, opinions and advice. That includes weak, slow bandwidth at a CG, how streaming affects that available bandwidth (or how you might affect your fellow campers) and the use od a data plan.

As many have said, it is not because of signal but limited bandwidth (or it could also be a high latency). If a CG has a limited bandwidth and you try to take up 25% of that in streaming, you and your fellow campers will reap the consequences. That is why I take an SD (or USB) stick with movies on it. HD/H264 MP4 movies will average 1.5-2.5GB depending on the resolution you use. Red Box is a great resource. With these you do not worry about the video pausing to buffer the stream or if the neighbor cannot get to FB or email.

Great post. At the risk of being flamed, no virgin to that. When using limited free wifi at a camp ground to down load data hogging movies rates up there with not picking up after dogs, loud music, and leaving a dump station dirty. Bring your own internet for that. Suits on flame away. LOL

[AllegroD]

Please do listen to some that are being "judgemental". People use judgement every day of their lives. Most have experience you could use. Requiring a specific answer will never work, on a forum especially, or in person, if someone believes you may want to rethink your idea. You are going to use your own judgement, based on others experience, opinions and advice. That includes weak, slow bandwidth at a CG, how streaming affects that available bandwidth (or how you might affect your fellow campers) and the use od a data plan.

As many have said, it is not because of signal but limited bandwidth (or it could also be a high latency). If a CG has a limited bandwidth and you try to take up 25% of that in streaming, you and your fellow campers will reap the consequences. That is why I take an SD (or USB) stick with movies on it. HD/H264 MP4 movies will average 1.5-2.5GB depending on the resolution you use. Red Box is a great resource. With these you do not worry about the video pausing to buffer the stream or if the neighbor cannot get to FB or email.

[Paul_Clancy]

I like red box. Cheap and everywhere

[lakeman48]

Thanks again to all. We're trying to cut down on weight for a 4 month stay in Fl. this coming winter. Going to stay in several areas and were looking for more tv options. I am turning off Dish Net while were away. Gets rid of receiver, antenna, tripod and $100. per mo. bill. Also don't want to take a lot of DVD's. We should try to get more exercise !

[docj]

Dick_B wrote:
We access the internet with our smartphone and discovered that virtually everything we use the phone for, except telephone calls, eats into our monthly limit and there is a penalty $$$ for going over.

Most phone plans simply charge you for the extra data you use; I've not yet seen a plan that has an actual "penalty" for going over. There's a big difference between a pro rata charge and a penalty.

[Dick_B]

We access the internet with our smartphone and discovered that virtually everything we use the phone for, except telephone calls, eats into our monthly limit and there is a penalty $$$ for going over. We carry DVD's rather than use our phone for downloading movies.

[paulcardoza]

Doc --- Ignoring when you understand the impact of streaming over cellular hotspots is one thing. Ignoring when you are clueless of the impact is quite another. If someone spends a lot of time streaming video with no idea of the impact, it can result in quite a bill by month's end. $10/gb can add up quikly if you are streaming throughout the day.

docj wrote:

My advice ignore those who tell you streaming isn't possible or that it will cost big bucks on a data plan. If you pay $10/GB a two hour movie (in SD) will cost roughly $10 which is not all that much more than a pay per view on TV. If you have any questions feel free to post or PM me.

Joel

[Crabbypatty]

Hawkings Smart Repeater plus Hawkings wifi dipole on the roof. I stream netflix providing that the cg has a good provider. Wife is FB addict. Its only as good as the signal your getting it from. Last week the cg signal was no good but I connected to a condo a mile away. Worked great.

[SDcampowneroper]

docj, Joel, Thank you for saying what so many do not get.
Very few camps can get the bandwidth from their ip to support 'streaming'.
Max

[docj]

All too often questions on this forum about streaming are answered judgmentally rather than with facts. You asked a question and IMHO you deserve an answer.

There is no particular reason why you can't use your Roku and let it directly connect to an RV park's wifi. It may or may not have enough transmit and receive capability to do this well, in which case you might want to invest in a router with what is known as "WiFi as WAN" capability. It would be able to access the park's wifi and then redistribute it to the network inside your RV which would include the Roku. Such routers typically have better antennas and higher transmit power which make their wifi connections more reliable. I happen to work for one such company, WiFiRanger.com but there are several others that make similar devices.

It's worth noting, however, that many RV parks lack the bandwidth in their wifi systems to sustain even SD streams. No router or other device can improve that situation. Furthermore, the larger the number of people using the wifi, the smaller the bandwidth is for everyone. If you managed to stream you would be taking bandwidth from other campers.

If you use your cellular connection it is possible to stream even with a 3G connection (SD only). We happen to have an unlimited data plan so we stream quite often; with 4G HD streaming is easy. If you do have a limited data plan you can conserve it, at least on Netflix, by changing your My Account settings so that your streams are limited to SD. If you do that the usage is roughly 1GB per two hour movie. My wife and I like to stream TV shows we haven't seen many of which were only broadcast in SD so our usage levels are about the same even on services such as HuluPlus and Amazon on which you can't directly control the data rate.

My advice ignore those who tell you streaming isn't possible or that it will cost big bucks on a data plan. If you pay $10/GB a two hour movie (in SD) will cost roughly $10 which is not all that much more than a pay per view on TV. If you have any questions feel free to post or PM me.

Joel

[lakeman48]

Thanks for the info. Will forget about using campground WiFi and look more into Hot Spots.

[jcpainter]

Streaming is not a feasible option on campground WiFi. Bandwidth is limited and streaming will hog what's available. Many campgrounds will shut you down if they discover you are streaming with any device.

Streaming will consume your cellular data plan like crazy. Unless you have a HUGE data plan, this will cost you big $$$.

We have two Rokus, but only use them when we are stationery for a few months and are connected to local DSL or cable.

[PapPappy]

If you want more reliable signal, I'd invest in your own hotspot. CGs are getting better with their WiFi, but they are still iffy, and you may have one with a very weak signal, and the Roku would probably not work well there.

Personally, I'd get the Hotspot (which usually has a trial period for a week or so), and take it out for a trip...try it, and then decide if you'd do better with DVDs, or downloading movies to your computer, if the signal isn't enough for the Roku. At least that way, unless you have other uses for the hotspot (I take mine to work on the tugboat), you won't get stuck with a monthly fee and contract.

Good luck:)