WiFi booster

[8ntw8tn]

The new,small park we're in just installed WiFi. However,it's pretty weak even outside our trailer and usually unavailable inside most of the trailer. We do have an acceptable signal in the bedroom. I want to put a booster up there to make it accessible for the rest of the trailer. I'm looking at either the T-Mobile dap-1610 or the tp-link RE305. Both are really meant for home use and recommend having access to the router to press the button for the WP. That's not possible of course and the next recommendation is to use your cell phone and follow the instructions. Neither manual that I've downloaded explains that procedure. Before I spend $60 on either of these products I'd like to be sure I can set it up with the limited amount of technical knowledge I posess. Thanks.

[YC_1]

The Ubiquity product needed to solve the problem is less than $50 on Amazon.

You would need a local wi fi router to spread the signal throughout your rv and beyond. Or you can use any computer that has a cat 5 connection and then just share that via the computer.

The nano stations are easy enough to set up and I posted a link to an ongoing discussion in a previous post here.

[NamMedevac_70]

Acampingwewillgo wrote:
"Visible" hot spot but join a group and pay 25.00 a month on the Verizon network! I keep this phone just as a back up to my T-Mobile phone/hot spot. I seem to always have good/usable signal on one or the other.

Maybe you can find someone like me with a grandfathered AT&T Mobley hotspot with true unlimited data and good reception to sell to you. Cost is around $23.00 per month and can use up to 5 devices. Besides travel I also use mine at home with AC adapter for internet backup. Good Hunting

[jcpainter]

docj wrote:
What you're actually looking for is a router/repeater that is capable of what is called WiFi as WAN which means that it can receive WiFi from a source, such as the RV park, and rebroadcast it inside your RV. Regular home routers don't usually have this function because you're unlikely to "drive" your house to where there's a WiFi to connect to!

There are a number of companies that offer routers with WiFi as WAN capability. You can read about this topic on the Mobile Internet Resource Center website. MIRC is run by good people who aren't affiliated with a specific manufacturer so you get good unbiased information. Some portion of the site is free; some requires a subscription.

MIRC

Joel (AKA docj)

Excellent advice to use MIRC for information!

Eric and Tami Johnson of Techno RV sell some decent units and they give service and support with their sales! I highly recommend them.

[Matt_Colie]

Well 8nt,

You can keep messing around if you want to, but doing the hotspot with Verizon hardware is so easy, that it makes everything else look silly.

If you really want to use the crampground WiFi, get serious and look up the Alfa units. Read about them. Before cell tethering was easy, I did this a lot. I often worked with spots I could not even see.

Now, I only use the Alfa hardware when cell coverage is so bad that it is an issue. (In spite of many believe, cell coverage is not universal all over the USA.) There are lots of dark places even if you combine coverages. I recently worked a closed Panera Bread.

If you are going to tether or hotspot from your phone, put it on a good power supply. This operation will toast the onboard battery. It takes about three keystrokes to set it up and which ever phone is hot, we can all (3) use it together.

Matt

[docj]

What you're actually looking for is a router/repeater that is capable of what is called WiFi as WAN which means that it can receive WiFi from a source, such as the RV park, and rebroadcast it inside your RV. Regular home routers don't usually have this function because you're unlikely to "drive" your house to where there's a WiFi to connect to!

There are a number of companies that offer routers with WiFi as WAN capability. You can read about this topic on the Mobile Internet Resource Center website. MIRC is run by good people who aren't affiliated with a specific manufacturer so you get good unbiased information. Some portion of the site is free; some requires a subscription.

MIRC

Joel (AKA docj)

[8ntw8tn]

I should have mentioned that I already have an unlimited data plan from Verizon for all the phones on my account. I'd just like to have decent wifi for my kindle and DW's iPad. Yeah, we can use the iPhones as hotspots, and probably will, just trying to avoid some of the hassle. And of course we have to have the wifi in order for the iPhones to update and do the backup functions. But we do have enough signal in the bedroom for that to happen. Thanks for the replies.

[YC_1]

Check out this current thread.

Simple device and you will get plenty of signal. Won't help with bandwidth of course but the signal should come in smoking hot. Make sure you are confident of the frequency band. 25. versus 5ghz for example.

Set this thing up, connect the cat 5 cable to a router of your choosing and you will have a nice umbrella around your rv.

[8ntw8tn]

Well, I have,at best, two bars of signal on my iPhone when outside the trailer or up in the bedroom. Once I get back into the living area I lose the WiFi signal entirely and the iPhone reverts to the LTE data plan. For some reason my kindle fire still picks up the WiFi signal even though it's not showing any bars at all;speed isn't an issue when it's connected. There are only a half dozen trailers in the park.

[Acampingwewillg]

"Visible" hot spot but join a group and pay 25.00 a month on the Verizon network! I keep this phone just as a back up to my T-Mobile phone/hot spot. I seem to always have good/usable signal on one or the other.

[agesilaus]

Yeah even if you boost signal strength lack of bandwidth will make it useless. Most folks have given up on park WIFI. Think about a cell phone hotspot like the Visible $40/month unlimited.

[Lwiddis]

Are you sure your issue is signal strength? Could it be a lack of bandwidth?