wifi extenders

[jimwooster]

We spend 4 months in Florida and suffer with the same problem as many RV'ers. Campground WiFi is lousy. In the past Ive just paid extra for more Gigs and use the hot spot on my Verizon plan. Not great, but has worked. I don't need the unlimited plan since my home wifi works well for 8 months in Ohio. I saw a Weingard WiFi Extender at Camper World and asked how well they work. Guy said people were happy with them. Cost is about $200 for it or $350 for the one with 4G. Then installation cost. Before I lay out $4-500 bucks Id like to hear what you folks think. Do they really work! Thanks

[trail-explorer]

The WInegard Connect with 4g obviously requires a data plan.... it is a hotspot, not a cell phone booster.

The Wifi version will pull in existing WiFI signals and redistribute them through the RV through another WiFi network that you set up through the unit.

There's also WiFi extenders that you plug directly in to a USB port on a laptop - that's what I use. I bought one from RadioLabs.com years ago. It is just a long range wifi antenna, not a WiFi redistribution device like the Winegard unit is

[jimwooster]

Thanks. I really appreciate the honest responses. Somebody nailed it about the system overload. The CG has over 200 sites and I’m sure that’s the issue. Will increase the data on Verizon.

[goducks10]

2oldman wrote:

RobWNY wrote:
We posed the question about using our phones as a hotspot.... upgrade the plan to the unlimited plan and then downgrade it again when we return home..

Read the fine print with this plan. Verizon does NOT allow *unlimited* data when using a hotspot. I don't know what ATT does.

I'm in a shared Verizon plan with 4 family members and we have unlimited data.
I use my hot spot with my Chromebook all the time when out camping.
Been doing this for a few years or so. Not all that often but enough that it would seem if I couldn't do it it would've been an issue.
I probably hookup maybe 8-10 times a year and for 3+ days at a time.

[Matt_Colie]

Everybody that has written here has been pretty much correct.

If you are out of range, a booster can help. Before you even consider spending the money time and aggravation on that, do some research. Next time you are at campground, look into what ever you are running. Most have a screen or app that will tell you what is going on signal-wise. If you see just one frequency access point and there are more than six users, give it up. I have been in some that had their access points well spread across the band, and they are better. But it still only takes one clod trying to stream an HD movie to dump the whole system.

If you want to try an inexpensive fix, get a remote and high powered 802.11 adapter. I am fond of and still have a couple of Alfa units. usually, if it is in the county, I can work it. But bandwidth it still the name of the game. We black top a lot, and this does come in handy.

If we have the Gigs left, I will usually run the phone hotpot with Verizon. If you burn the BW you bought, you can always get more.


Warning: Verizon says that they have a saftey.....
They say you won't get shut off.....
¡¡DO NOT COUNT ON THAT !!
When I ran over last, we got shut down to USELESS data rate. It was less that the 1X I had with the old flip phone and then you are soo sloow that you can't even set up more data.

The only good thing is that you can turn the extra data on and off like the light at the ***** house door. That is what I do now.

Speaking of which... Their "Unlimited" plan is really 22gig, and a good friend that thought had a deal found that they slam the door on his ass too.
Thank you for reading

Matt

[SDcampowneroper]

The sticky question rears its head again. Is it connectivity, or is it bandwidth? Rarely is it connectivity, 1 bar cell phone is as good as 3, as long as the connection is solid. A cell extender may improve your ' bars' cant help you with bandwidth, therefore speed.
Bandwidth is another matter. The available bandwidth of a broadcast wifi system is limited to the incoming mb/s the provider can provide, reduced by the speed of the broadcast antenna and other equipment , so an incoming 50 mb/s may only be a 25 available wifi. Split that up among the camps many.
Upload is even more troubled.
The only promise to make camp wifi as good as you want is when camps get fiber optic cable which vastly increases bandwidth.
wide camp bandwidth comes with a price.from the provider. When camps can get it and offer it,we will have to pay for it, so it will come with a price increase, Your choice is to pay your cell provider for the bandwidth or through higher camp fees. Think, the camp pays for service for when only 1 user, but must plan and pay for the maximum usage . Its like CATV. 1 site or all the price is the same.
My bet is it will be cheaper and more convenient in the long term to use your cell plan

[2Rad4U]

My camper came from the factory with the wi-fi booster. Works great!

[2oldman]

RobWNY wrote:
We posed the question about using our phones as a hotspot.... upgrade the plan to the unlimited plan and then downgrade it again when we return home..

Read the fine print with this plan. Verizon does NOT allow *unlimited* data when using a hotspot. I don't know what ATT does.

[RobWNY]

We just got a new Pre-Paid phone plan with AT&T (8GB each on two phones per month). I'm sure Verizon has something similar to what we're going to do. We posed the question about using our phones as a hotspot. It was suggested to us that we have a plan at home that gives us what we need and not more but when away for the winter, upgrade the plan to the unlimited plan and then downgrade it again when we return home. I asked how often we can do that and were told we can do it as often as we want. That way we only pay extra when we need it. Something to look into anyway.

[jorbill2or]

If your staying at the same park you say is lousy Probably not. Was it lousy because you couldn't see or connect to the wifi because it was too far away? Did it work well in the office? If it was then the Booster will pick it up and boost it to the inside of your RV. some even provide a unique in RV private password protected wifi using the parks wifi or a cell network ( the 4g model you described ).Probably More likely and as we have found the park WiFi is not able to sustain 20-100 or more people on the same connection. Invite 50 of your friends to all log onto your home wifi at the same time and see what happens. They all get a strong signal but the pipe is just too small.
If your staying in one place do they have phone service at the site ? can you get internet via that? If not Bite the bullet and get a Cellular Wifi that works well where you are staying. You say in didn't work that well .. maybe your carrier isn't the best in that area.

[2oldman]

No salesman will ever tell you something he sells doesn't work. Save your money.. bring your own data plan.

[MrWizard]

They extend the range, give you a stronger signal
But they can not change the overload problem, too many people on the same access point
Do they help...Yes
But not as much as you want it TOO

[donn0128]

It will do nothing to increase band width. Which is 99% of the problem in most camp grounds. All they will do is increase signal strength IF your site is on the fringes of the parks antenna. You will still be stuck with all the people taking up the band width. Plus your still sitting using a totally unsecure wifi. No thanks!