WiFi booster?

[Marv_Hoag]

With everyone using smartphones the available bandwidth is almost nothing Getting on line with a computer is getting harder. Is there something out there to boost available signal? Eventually will buy a smartphone and create my own hot spot, but not today.

[tony_lee]

Well, it was good while it lasted. Used the nanostation for four days in the month we have been on the road. Moved campgrounds yesterday and now I can't log in to the nanostation to set it up for the new wifi service.

Just as well I didn't throw out my $20 ebay cheapie.

[OutdoorPhotogra]

OP, short answer is mobile users have the same problem as you, and maybe worse. My laptop has a stronger wifi receiver than my ipad or iphone. More than once I could connect to campground wifi on my laptop when my mobile devices didn't even recognize that a wifi network existed.

Still didn't change the fact that speed of the network almost always sucks. I stay on long enough to check sports scores. Wouldn't even try to stream video. I'm a weekend warrior so tv isn't part of our camping experience but we bring DVD's or movies on the hard drive just in case we are stuck in rainy weather.

[tony_lee]

Thanks all. Problem is my 50-year-old degree in Electrical Engineering didn't include Internet Stuff 101 and while I've kept up with it well enough to, for instance, trouble-shoot a campus-wide system in a hospital in the PNG Highlands, it doesn't take much to mess me up - and in this case you couldn't get a much more basic mess-up on my part - wrong password.

Anyway, down near the border and sitting under a big tree in the Walmart parking lot and the nanoStation is lying horizontally on the back of the copilot's chair pulling in a nice signal from Starbucks which is far enough away that I had no signal at all using just the laptop antenna. Google Fi is also connected to the gateway and updating all the stuff that I wont let it update on paid service ---- so I'm a happy customer.

The Google Fi phone and internet service is also performing as promised and swapping seamlessly back and forth between free wifi and Telco services depending what is available and is very easy to force it to not use anything that costs me money so that should be good too.

[Bill_Satellite]

thestoloffs wrote:

tony lee wrote:
Bill, you might know the solution.

Everything set up and seemingly working EXCEPT that although I can connect to the antenna or the gateway via my browser and select the local wifi and enter the security code and connect to it, I can't get internet. Says access is "limited"

What doesn't seem right is the signal strength meter on both the antenna itself and when looking at the signal strength via the browser - is blinking on and off - about 1 second on and one second off.

Any clues please?

When a WiFi network connection returns the error message dialogue "Limited Network Connectivity", it means that you did reach the network -- but you didn't receive a DNS-issued address, only a local (192.168.x.x range) address. That won't get you outside that local network and onto the Internet. (You can see this by going to Control Panel/Network & Sharing Center/See Network Connections, selecting that WiFi connection, and selecting the Details button.)

That could either be a signal strength issue or a problem with that WiFi hotspot. It could also mean that there's a secondary Web page that you must be transported to, in order to agree to their access terms, before giving you a fully-connected DNS address.

Too many factors to determine, definitively, without more information.

He had already posted that he resolved the conflict with proper setup.

[thestoloffs]

tony lee wrote:
Bill, you might know the solution.

Everything set up and seemingly working EXCEPT that although I can connect to the antenna or the gateway via my browser and select the local wifi and enter the security code and connect to it, I can't get internet. Says access is "limited"

What doesn't seem right is the signal strength meter on both the antenna itself and when looking at the signal strength via the browser - is blinking on and off - about 1 second on and one second off.

Any clues please?

When a WiFi network connection returns the error message dialogue "Limited Network Connectivity", it means that you did reach the network -- but you didn't receive a DNS-issued address, only a local (192.168.x.x range) address. That won't get you outside that local network and onto the Internet. (You can see this by going to Control Panel/Network & Sharing Center/See Network Connections, selecting that WiFi connection, and selecting the Details button.)

That could either be a signal strength issue or a problem with that WiFi hotspot. It could also mean that there's a secondary Web page that you must be transported to, in order to agree to their access terms, before giving you a fully-connected DNS address.

Too many factors to determine, definitively, without more information.

[Bill_Satellite]

Nice! Enjoy!

[tony_lee]

Ah well, old-timers disease strikes again. That is the problem with these user-unfriendly devices - they are too stupid to tell you you have done something stupid. All they do is sit there and blink at you.

Been here a few days and entered the easy to remember wifi password in a few days ago, but when I entered it this time I put the year on the wrong end of the RV park initials. DOH!!!

However, since even Windows is able to tell you the password is wrong, how hard would it for a fancy system like this to say something.

Thanks. All good now so between this system and Google Fi, I should be able to stay connected no matter where I am in 150 countries.

[Bill_Satellite]

What equipment are you using? What is the signal strength of the network you are attempting to connect to? Is there a network key and if so, who provided this?

[tony_lee]

Bill, you might know the solution.

Everything set up and seemingly working EXCEPT that although I can connect to the antenna or the gateway via my browser and select the local wifi and enter the security code and connect to it, I can't get internet. Says access is "limited"

What doesn't seem right is the signal strength meter on both the antenna itself and when looking at the signal strength via the browser - is blinking on and off - about 1 second on and one second off.

Any clues please?

[tony_lee]

Yes, ordered the stuff I need so it should be waiting for me on Wednesday morning. We tend to be travellers rather than stayers so I suspect my ebay special el-cheepo booster will still get plenty of use when I need to stop for a minute to check mail in Main Street, Anytown. There if the signal is a bit weak, I can just move a bit until it is usable.

[Bill_Satellite]

If you found the YouTube video by David Bott then you also have all of the information about the hardware. I just relocated and it took about 2 minutes to lock the booster to the campground and bring it from weak to strong and a solid 5MB download.

[tony_lee]

Bill, I'm getting sick of replacing the usual cheap ebay boosters as they fall apart after a couple of months, AND I need something that will allow both of us to access the wifi signal so I wondered if you could confirm the model numbers of those two components you mentioned - or maybe model numbers of anything you feel might have superceded what you have installed.

Be getting the MH out of mothballs early next week and heading down south from LA so now would be a good time to place an order with Amazon

Also - if possible that utube link for the set up

Thanks

Ah, don't bother with the utube link - found it.

[tamijohnson]

We use a booster and repeater which helps with basic internet reception at most campgrounds. It doesn't guarantee TV streaming since a lot of campgrounds don't provide the bandwidth for that, but it has definitely improved our ability to use a campground's WiFi. I wouldn't travel without it. Our cell plan is too expensive to not use free WiFi whenever we can! WiFi Booster and Repeater

[Bill_Satellite]

Marv Hoag wrote:

MrWizard wrote:

Marv Hoag wrote:
With everyone using smartphones the available bandwidth is almost nothing Getting on line with a computer is getting harder. Is there something out there to boost available signal? Eventually will buy a smartphone and create my own hot spot, but not today.

If your not buying a smart phone and using cellular bandwidth

what is the question about

smart phone bandwidth has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with campground wifi, cable dsl or fios or satellite internet

what is your question

In order to not use cell data, phoners switch to WiFi for data use. Thus using WiFi bandwidth on smartphones. Just trying to get my fair share of the WiFi bandwidth pie.

My question is what devices really work to enhance WiFi signal?

Marv,
First, understand that a "booster" will only make the signal available to your phone or computer stronger. If the campground internet service is slow or overloaded a booster will not change that. If you are only seeing 1 or 2 bars of signal from their WiFi broadcast, go to where the signal is strong and see if this improves anything. If it does then a booster will help. If it does not then you have run into the typical RV park internet service.
I happen to be in a park where there IS good WiFi but a bad signal at my location. For less than $100 I added a NanoStation M2 and an Air Gateway (so all devices could share) and I now have an excellent connection (went from -100dB, unusable, to -40dB, excellent) in the coach shared by the phone, the computers and the Kindle.
There are step by step instructions available on how to setup the system but you do need a tiny bit of computer knowledge to get the right settings during the initial setup. Let me know if you are interested and I can get you a link to the youtube video.