Truck Camper Wifi Setup

[aidwilli]

Hi everyone,
I'm going to post about my wifi setup in my 1999 Lance 1130. It works pretty well so maybe you can benefit from this or maybe you could add to my knowledge.
Here's what I've got (some prices have changed since october):

Asus RT-AC68U AC1900 router (amazon) $55
L-com HG2415U-PRO 2.4GHz 15dBi Omnidirectional Antenna N-Female (amazon) $102
WiFi Wireless Antenna Extension Cable (amazon) $22
19v dc-dc converter (optional)
(amazon) $20
N Male to RP-SMA RP SMA (amazon) $9

Total $208 plus the on/off switch for the dc-dc converter. I use the carbon monoxide circuit in the cabover to power it.

I bought the omnidirectional antenna because I thought I was going to use this setup as a wireless repeater bridge. That only works OK because the antenna will throw the virtual network's signal too far away to be used very well. If I did this again, I would try using a directional antenna.

I mounted the antenna to the existing TV antenna on the roof of the Lance using SS hose clamps. I haven't finalized the installation yet so right now i just pass the LMR-240 cable through the emergency exit. I will drill a hole and mount a box on the roof to coil the extra little bit of LMR-240 in eventually. I can monitor signal quality in DD-WRT while I spin the antenna mount slowly to find the best position.

The trickiest part of this set up is flashing the AC68U router with DD-WRT. This is an open source firmware that can be installed on many routers and will "unlock" the advanced features of the router. I followed this fellow's tutorial which made it quite simple. LINK TO TUTORIAL

Here's how to set up a client bridge with DD-WRT. DD-WRT Wiki

Essentially what I do is I use the 2.4ghz radio to talk to the gateway router. This could be your home or a public hotspot such as starbucks.
I set my router to a static IP and disable the DHCP server so that the gateway router still assigns IP addresses.

Then I use the 5ghz radio in AC mode (you can any 5ghz mode though) to rebroadcast a private network. So i have my own private 5ghz network from a 2.4ghz private/public hotspot. I can select which antenna to transmit/receive the 2.4 and 5ghz signals so the 5ghz doesn't try to use the 2.4ghz only L-com antenna.

Like I said, I would try using a directional antenna in a future build. This works well for me, though. The noise from an omni is the weak link in this system. I'm probably 150ft away and 25ft down (street level vs 3rd story house) from the gateway router (standard verizon MI424WR using N only on channel 1) and I'm getting an RSSI of -68dbm. There are a couple trees and a roof in the way.

No pics today, sorry. It's another noreaster here in Philadelphia so i'm not going on the roof!

Maybe there are less expensive alternatives out there? For less than $250 i have something that works well for me.

[mellow]

Ahh, got some UBNT guys in here 🙂 Thinking about putting their new led lights in my camper and when the current controller and panels die I will switch over to UBNT's. Love their products.

[sbryan]

We average 20-4-GB of data per month while on the road and have three devices on our wireless account (2 smart phones and the mifi). Our bill is $160/mo and covers service in the US, Canada and Mexico. Not cheap but if I back out the cost of a landline that I would otherwise need it brings the cost down to around $110/month. Still not cheap but we have had great luck with this setup for over two years.

[aidwilli]

skidsteerpilot wrote:
This can also be done with a Raspberry Pi, https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=142266

I've done proof of concept at home, but not yet on the road.

That's cool! Making your own router essentially. Looks like it is running a custom linux distro? I did some work with programming PIC microchips and have done a fair amount of programming arduino for cnc and machine control. Never did anything with raspberry pi, but it looks like linux which I copy-paste my way through when neccessary 😮 It probably uses many of the same packages that dd-wrt uses in my system. Do you know what the hardware cost of that is? It could be worth learning.

Down the road I want to integrate more embedded systems in the Lance to nurture my laziness.

For example, I want to use an IP camera as a reverse camera. Then I can use my phone as my reverse camera system and a way to see who is knocking at the back door. If I park the camper in a location with internet access, I would be able to monitor it from anywhere in the world. I imagine this could be useful when we are abroad.

[aidwilli]

We will be looking into the LTE data plans when we travel to Mexico. If they stretch our budget too thin then I have a good reason to get off the computer and go outside more. 🙂

[sbryan]

I had this system for a while https://www.ccrane.com/item/ant_wifi_vect_homer/102/cc_vector_home_wifi_repeater_system_orphan but discovered that most campground and other wifi systems I wanted to use were so poorly designed that throughput was almost worthless.

We now have an unlimited data account with our cell phone provider and I have a Mifi that gives me fast LTE speed access for all our devices (will handle up to 16 devices). It costs more per month than a limited cell account but I have found that we get better throughput and pretty good coverage across the US and Canada. There are times when I can't get an LTE signal but in those locations I usually couldn't piggy back on someone's wifi either.

[deltabravo]

Here's my range extending wifi setup

[bka0721]

Uh, well. Hmmmmm, yeah. What you said there Mark.

To be honest, Mark (msiminoff), I have no idea what you and others are saying here or doing. I certainly appreciate it when I do have internet. Personally I would just like it to be plug n’ play. But I am fascinated about all of this information. Just haven’t a clue what you are saying.

Since I was a little kid I was the one that sat at the end of a garden hose, waiting for the water to come out. I am sad to say I am still that way.

b

[aidwilli]

Actually it wasn't a typo! :E Need to drink my coffee before I post! Datasheet (pdf)

Looks like 2.4ghz is limited to 500mW. Anyway that should be more than enough for this area at least. 100mw is all I need here. I played with finding more networks last night and probably found 20 to 30 different SSIDs that I never had seen before. All of them about -70 to -80 "RSSI". Usable signals.

The 2.4ghz band is solely for bridging the network, not repeating it here in the camper. The small antennae that come with the router are used for the 5ghz private network.

[aidwilli]

msiminoff wrote:

aidwilli wrote:
the antenna datasheet says input power is limited to 100W...

100 WATTS?!?!?!?!? :h

FCC limits 5 GHz "WiFi" transmission to 30dBm (1 Watt).

Haha my bad... obvious typo. 100mW!! I imagine at 100w of 2.4ghz I'd be melting the snow off the roof today :B

[msiminoff]

aidwilli wrote:
the antenna datasheet says input power is limited to 100W...

100 WATTS?!?!?!?!? :h

FCC limits 5 GHz "WiFi" transmission to 30dBm (1 Watt).

[aidwilli]

Actually the antenna datasheet says input power is limited to 100W. The ac68u can easily supply that amount of transmission power. I think the weak link is ddwrt's site survey and the fact that i'm in an extremely dense wifi environment.

[aidwilli]

Kayteg1 wrote:

So is my converter capable of doing the same your system does?

Yes, it is essentially a smaller version of my system. It looks like an excellent product that would give secure access to the web via the tor network.

I don't know much about networking, just the basics. I hacked my way through this. Lots of following others' advice. Now i'm looking forward to maybe integrating some of the features of that device into my system.

edit: fixed formatting

[skidsteerpilot]

This can also be done with a Raspberry Pi, https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=142266

I've done proof of concept at home, but not yet on the road.

[aidwilli]

Ok so I see I'm definitely not the cheapest set up. I guess my strong points are my antenna and the ability to do 5ghz. Then again, a directional antenna would deliver a greater SNR margin at larger distances. I will have to play with the capabilities of the router to see if I can maximize the ability of the antenna in this application.
The router definitely has some limit to its ability to supply power to the antenna so i might need some kind of amplifier - again $$$. I'm learning and enjoying the process so its worth the investment

[msiminoff]

Maybe there are less expensive alternatives out there?

That's a cool setup aidwilli !!

I opted for a slightly different approach with the primary goal being maximum range so that I can access hotspots even when I'm parked a long distance from them (several kilometers easily).

For the antenna/point-to-point bridge, I am using a Ubiquiti Nanostation M2 ($88).
Note that Ubiquiti's LocoM2 does exactly the same thing with a bit less range (still a couple Km) and only costs $48.

For the access point inside my TC I'm using a tiny Ubiquiti AirGateway ($24) and the combo is powered by a low cost passive POE injector ($6). I'm injecting 12Vdc so no power converter is needed.

The downside of my setup is that the NanoStation's antenna is directional, so I have to re-aim it toward the nearest hot spot every time I park... I occasionally mount it on the TV antenna mast to make the process quick & easy.

As far as "less expensive alternatives"; the combo of a LocoM2, AirGateway, POE injector, plus a couple ethernet cables, can be had for under 90 bucks.

Cheers,
-Mark

On edit: Here's are links to Ubiquiti's NanoStation and AirGateway product lines.