CampPro 2 - Halo - RadioLabs WaveXL - Wifi Ranger

[Corky]

I have read so many reviews, looked at so many video's and have come to the conclusion they all work...So...Which is the "best" of all these choices? Anyone out there willing to tell me the problems they have and solutions found with whichever unit they have. Thanks in advance.

[tundrwd]

Originally Posted by Corky

I have read so many reviews, looked at so many video's and have come to the conclusion they all work...So...Which is the "best" of all these choices? Anyone out there willing to tell me the problems they have and solutions found with whichever unit they have. Thanks in advance.

Well, that's pretty hard to say honestly.

Source Signal (campground router):
To start with - a big problem is - most consumer wifi routers are not made to "spec". Either they don't work properly on the software end (sometimes fixed with a firmware update) - or their radios simply aren't to spec. Antenna arrangement plays a big part too. The cheap Chinese stuff is simply run of the mill and cranked out and no one really cares. That's the $200-300 and under stuff. GOOD routers - unfortunately - cost REAL money and are usually "Enterprise" stuff. Let's face it - the campground hosts aren't going to put out lots of $$$ to get an Enterprise router and setup (unless they are real hardcore computer geeks).

And over time radios die out and lose their transmissions strength. So for something like a campground, replacing the router EVERY 2 years is a must - to maintain the best signal strength. I doubt many do that.

On the receiving end (your camper):
Due to the fickle nature and build of the campground router - different brands being mixed on both ends will yield different results. This has been an issue (sometimes still is) with the wifi radios in laptops, etc. The laptop will connect to brand X, but doesn't like brand Y. Or will connect, and it will drop the signal, or just not work well. This has definitely gotten better over the last 20 years - but I can tell you for a fact that it's still an issue from time-to-time.

Upshot is - do your homework - listen to REAL users over anything else. And pay attention to price. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the time - for electronics - price is an indicator in quality. NOT ALWAYS - but more often than not. A $200 router is almost certainly better than a $40 router (and the campground probably got a $40 router). Don't let that be your only or main guidance - but do keep it in mind.

If all you're trying to do is boost the signal to your laptop - and it has a "port" for an external antenna - I'd try one of those first. Much cheaper than a wifi booster. Also - if you can - and it's offered - get on the 5Ghz frequency, not the 2.4Ghz frequency of wifi. The 2.4Ghz frequency has a saturation limit of how many can connect at a time - and it's not very many. 5 or so and it really starts to break down on consumer-type routers. 5Ghz has better tolerance for that - but due to the higher transmission frequency - it doesn't have quite the distance 2.4Ghz does.

[chuckster57]

We have installed a number of WiFi rangers. Haven’t had any customers complain.

[tundrwd]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

We have installed a number of WiFi rangers. Haven’t had any customers complain.

While what's in the camper has an effect - what's the greater effect is the campground's wifi. Honestly, if you're going to spend $500+ on a range extender, you probably are going to campgrounds that have good wifi (more full-time rv'ers, etc.) - so that is somewhat mitigated because they'll probably have better wifi capabilities and infrastructure.

If you have a system that uses LTE/4G/etc. then obviously, these statements simply don't apply.

[SC Dreamer]

I just got the Alfa Camp Pro 2 from Technorv. I'm going to set it up next week on a trip to NC mountains and try it out and compare results. I'll post back results when I can.

[John&Genny]

We have a Wifi Ranger and like it so far. We have a monthly site where we keep our RV if we are not out on the road. The Wifi system our campground has is on fiber, but the router is a standard Netgear router stuck inside the family lodge. No outside antennas of any type. Our 5th wheel is quite some distance away from the lodge so I ended up mounting the Wifi ranger on a Flagpole Buddy to give it some altitude and get the antenna well above the trailer. Even that wasn’t enough and I ended up replacing the ranger antenna with a 14 element yagi to get enough gain where I could pull a decent signal from that router inside the building so we can stream some TV shows. I’m a ham, we do antennas

John K7KB

[tundrwd]

Originally Posted by John&Genny

We have a Wifi Ranger and like it so far. We have a monthly site where we keep our RV if we are not out on the road. The Wifi system our campground has is on fiber, but the router is a standard Netgear router stuck inside the family lodge. No outside antennas of any type. Our 5th wheel is quite some distance away from the lodge so I ended up mounting the Wifi ranger on a Flagpole Buddy to give it some altitude and get the antenna well above the trailer. Even that wasn’t enough and I ended up replacing the ranger antenna with a 14 element yagi to get enough gain where I could pull a decent signal from that router inside the building so we can stream some TV shows. I’m a ham, we do antennas

John K7KB

In an indirect way - you've confirmed what I've said. The wifi system is on fiber. That means it's almost certainly a campground near a major metro area (they using Google Fiber?) That gives them at LEAST a 100Mb pipe. Maybe up to 1Gb. That's not typical of a usual campground.

You've also had to use a pole to move the repeater/amplifier above "interference" from the camper to get a better signal (also improve line of sight too I assume). And replaced the standard antenna with a yagi. Yagis are directional, and must be carefully aimed, that can be tricky, but if you're a HAM - then that's not bad to do.

Curious - how many dB of gain does the yagi have? Did you build and/or tune the yagi? Have to calc the cable length to the amplifier/repeater?

Also surprised the campground allows streaming. Of course, they usually don't know how to properly configure the router, so they don't block streaming sites, but they usually have "rules" that state they don't want streaming. That usually sucks up at least 2Mb of bandwidth for streaming - but they've got fiber, so that helps.