Wi-fi/4 G extenter/booster suggestions?

[Libbett]

FULLTIMERS: After spending the weekend at a campground where wi-fi was virtually non-existent and cell reception no better, what do fulltimers (or anyone in the know!!) recommend as a wi-fi 4 LTE extender/booster? We had someone at the campground, who is a technician, recommend Winegard but we've found the reviews on the 2.0 connect to be varied to the extreme. Alpha seemed to get great reviews but we are not tech savvy enough to know what we're looking for.

My husband is working from home still and I'm out of work so we'd like to travel some. I tried looking for a thread here about it and couldn't find anything within the last year which I probably don't want to go back too much further than that with how technology changes.


Thanks!!

[chuckster57]

Have you looked at “WiFi Ranger”? I don’t have any extenders but I have installed a few.

[LHaven]

Frankly, I'd just go with what reviews well, especially if your camping is mostly on-the-move or very short term.

I've installed a lot of residential cell boosters and I have my favorites, based on how well they are designed with features to help you aim accurately. I can look up the towers on a map before I start, and I know where I should be aiming.

But in an RV, it's a crapshoot. You can't use a directional booster (unless you're going to be in the same campground for long enough to approximate a residential situation). And you don't know if the "no service" in any given campground means "the service is just beyond the reach of your cell phone's transmission power," "there's a big hill between the campground and the nearest tower," or "your cell provider has no towers within 80 miles of here" (e.g., US 90 West Texas). So you can't tell if the booster will solve your problem even if it works properly.

Now, if you have a favorite campground that you hit for two weeks every year, the equation changes. Treat it as a residential situation, find out where the nearest tower is for your carrier, buy a nice directional booster, and spend 15 minutes aiming it at the start of each vacation.

[Bill-2020]

Originally Posted by LHaven

I've installed a lot of residential cell boosters and I have my favorites, based on how well they are designed with features to help you aim accurately. I can look up the towers on a map before I start, and I know where I should be aiming.

Care to expand on which ones are your favorites? I would take the time to aim it. Amazon has lots of them that seem to be iffy at best.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by Bill-2020

Care to expand on which ones are your favorites? I would take the time to aim it. Amazon has lots of them that seem to be iffy at best.

Bill, My experience has been that Amazon reviews are written by a few types of folks.... first, the person who bought and loved the quick shipping but really isn't reviewing the product but Amazon itself.

Second, the person who bought something fairly expensive (like some of the wifi gadgets) and says it is the greatest since peanut butter since it reflects on their buying choice and by extension their intelligence.

Third, the person who reviews the item who didn't read the instructions for or couldn't understand the gizmo's tech to enable them to use the thing effectively.

Four... The person who bought and expected magic and their RV park or parks had substandard wi-fi to begin with so the gizmo is to blame.

That said, most reviews are kind of non helpful. Note the lack of positive reponses to your request for info on the subject. Why? Most folks don't have a good wi-fi extender/amp solution. When my bro-in-law and sister came to stay for about 6 weeks they had wi-fi problems. They normally use an "unlimited" hot spot but had no phone signal. They couldn't pick up much signal from my range extender located in my house and pointed towards my shop office. I get pretty good signal there where I can stream quite nicely. In any case, their RV was parked quite a ways away from my home but about 75-100 yds from my shop office. I have a marine grade omni 2 gHz USB antenna that provides nice gain and it is plugged directly into my shop desktop. I had a backup directional antenna and my bro-in-law cable tied it to his awning upright (didn't use awning) and pointed it towards my shop. This directional antenna is also USB and they ran the cable to a laptop (windows) in their camper and turned on the "hotspot" function and had a decent signal where they could stream TV in their camper.

Extenders extend and if you place one in your camper they are not likely to be of much use but if you get a good USB antenna and mount it somewhere advantageous and use a laptop as a hotspot, that might be a solution. Make sure the antenna is outdoor type. This is the one I currently use for my shop wi-fi and it is about 150 yds from my home based extender. I have it mounted on a pole about 12' above the ground:
https://www.ebay.com/c/1900112025?iid=113015846346

[Bill-2020]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

Bill, My experience has been that Amazon reviews are written by a few types of folks.... first, the person who bought and loved the quick shipping but really isn't reviewing the product but Amazon itself...

Thanks for those details on the wireless. You had mentioned “cell boosters” and that’s what I was referring too but I wasn’t clear. Can you name a few favorites of those? Brand/Model #

[MattHelm21]

I went with a dual layer approach in my rig. There were two concerns I had. First, WiFi. I have multiple devices(phones, tablets, laptops) I didn't want to have to reconfigure every time I pulled into a campground. For that reason, I chose to get a WiFiRanger Core router. i didn't utilize a roof antenna but just let it use its internal one. It lets all of our devices retain their Wifi settings to connect to the WiFiRanger and I only have to connect the WiFi Ranger to campground Wifi when its adequate or available.

This worked well until we began frequenting a campground with very poor Wifi bandwidth and cell service that could only provide 1xrtt or 3G data and spotty voice on a good day. That had me trying to decide on a roof antenna for the WiFiRanger or a Weboost 4G RV cell booster. After researching the Weboost and knowing in advance I had cell service(this is with Verizon) but poor coverage, I decided on the Weboost. It worked perfectly for my situation. I went with the soft install method and chose not to drill anywhere through the roof or sidewall. The omni-directional antenna is mounted on the roof ladder and I park and route the cable only when I need it down off the roof and in through the slideout gasket to the control unit which I mounted to the wall inside the slideout. From there, one more cable runs from the back wall of the slideout to my kitchen counter where the inside antenna is located.

When it is all turned on, it provides boosted signal for voice calls which we really needed in order to keep in touch with my wife's mother. For data, I take one of our tablets and leave it in hotspot mode(on Verizon) and configure the WiFiRanger to connect through it instead of park WiFi.

Now, I'm not a fulltimer so my needs may not align with yours. If I were going to be staying in parks for long periods of time, I'd look into the next model Weboost available with the unidirectional antenna. It would be harder to setup but would give additional height and received signal strength before amplification. It comes with a mast that has to be mounted to the side of your RV and removed for travel.

[Bill-2020]

Originally Posted by Bill-2020

Thanks for those details on the wireless. You had mentioned “cell boosters” and that’s what I was referring too but I wasn’t clear. Can you name a few favorites of those? Brand/Model #

My apologies Wired - I thought you were another member. I failed to notice the user name.

[mikz86ta]

WiFi extenders are great but that depends on if the parks signal is good, reliable or if the park even has any.
If the park offers cable, and it's like Comcast, and if you plan on staying for 6months or longer, I would just pay for a cable modem and service. Check to see if the park is cool with it first.
If it were me, I would use my cell service data plan which is usually reliable. And invest in a cell extender to bring in a distant cell tower signal.

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by Bill-2020

Thanks for those details on the wireless. You had mentioned “cell boosters” and that’s what I was referring too but I wasn’t clear. Can you name a few favorites of those? Brand/Model #

I've installed infrastructure systems like SureCall. They include all the meters and signal indicators necessary for a good installation.

I've also installed "consumer grade" systems similar to WeBoost. On my latest, the instructions started with "run this third-party app on your phone as you wander around on your roof, to find the spot with the best cell signal..." Except the installer can't use his phone because it isn't the same carrier as the homeowner and is served from an entirely different tower, and the homeowner has an iPhone, which can't run this app. And it goes downhill from there.

[BRB Rig]

Originally Posted by Libbett

FULLTIMERS: After spending the weekend at a campground where wi-fi was virtually non-existent and cell reception no better, what do fulltimers (or anyone in the know!!) recommend as a wi-fi 4 LTE extender/booster? We had someone at the campground, who is a technician, recommend Winegard but we've found the reviews on the 2.0 connect to be varied to the extreme. Alpha seemed to get great reviews but we are not tech savvy enough to know what we're looking for.

My husband is working from home still and I'm out of work so we'd like to travel some. I tried looking for a thread here about it and couldn't find anything within the last year which I probably don't want to go back too much further than that with how technology changes.


Thanks!!

We are seeking a similar solution. We’re fulltimers, primarily living on BLM. We are fortunate enough to have Verizon’s discontinued unlimited $65 plan and live and work with our Jetpack as close as we can to cell towers, but sometimes, we cannot get as close as we’d prefer.

We’ve heard great things about WiFiRanger’s new Converge system. We spoke to them and they recommended their forthcoming new Everest model.

We’re curious to know if anyone has Converge and can offer some advice about it.

Thanks!

[JoelandMimi]

We live out in the country and had been looking for an internet solution. I came across mofi 4500 it is wifi/4Glte. We love it and if you need to you can add an external antenna to boost in coming signal.
There are a lot of videos on youtube about the device.

[lewy64]

I use a weboost 472120 for cell boosting. It works for all cell phone companies. This requires a unit outside and a unit inside. They do have other specific ones that may be cheaper. Outside i get like 1-2 bars inside with the booster i get 4-5 bars. It has to be aimed during setup. They say it wont boost the data channel, but i havent had problems with that side. I also use this for my mobile hotspot when there is no wifi available.



I use a TP-Link CPE610 For only 5ghz wifi. This is just an outside unit, but if used other ways may require a connection inside. You can use this multiple ways, recieving or transmitting of directional wifi. Currently I have this out 40ft from my trailer to intercept the 5ghz wifi signal from the resort. Im in a low point and im using it as a repeater. Others can connect to this unit this way that are also in this low area. TP link also has the 2.4ghz units also. This has worked flawlessly for me and I get a 3-4 bar signal, where i would not get a signal. I also have the 2.4ghz model but i have yet to use it.


There are combination units through wineguard and furrion but their monthly services are extremely high.

[bbells]

I just use my phone as a wifi hotspot. Never had a problem.

[pitman44]

You might want to check out these folks. They have a LOT of information including information on figuring out exactly what your needs are.
https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/

[wiredgeorge]

I posted this on another site awhile back and reviews were not spectacular for this service but it was new at the time:

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/att...o-roadlink-c2/

I don't follow this tech stuff but it appears if you buy the anternna and wifi router gizmos, AT&T will sell you unlimited 4G LTE data for $360 a year. The buy in for the gear isn't cheap but if you full time, it is an option if the AT&T network is good for you.

I got interested a little when PPLMotorhomes.com sent me a flyer for this Winegard antenna:

https://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/...-white_73.1438

[Camp CA]

Originally Posted by Libbett

...........what do fulltimers (or anyone in the know!!) recommend as a wi-fi 4 LTE extender/booster?...........

We installed a wifi extended but the verdict is out on its effectiveness. Instead we have a Verizon router to pick up wifi.

[Farside]

Originally Posted by bbells

I just use my phone as a wifi hotspot. Never had a problem.

The problems with using your Cell Phone or Laptop as a Hot Spot.

First, you will notice that the unit will get pretty hot (touch the back cover), this is the battery over heating and the excessive heat is actually shortening the life span of your internal battery.
Second, Using your device as a Hot Spot will drain the battery quite quickly, Advise that you plug in your device if you do plan on using that application.
Third, You are using up the data on your phone plan, and the speed will be throttled back when it reaches your specific limit. Think about a movie using about 2GBs.
Fourth, The Hot Spots on phones are not as fast as your home network.
Fifth, Depending on your carrier, you actually might not be able to share your Hot Spot with multiple users. If you can, each user will be using half your connection speed, and using up your data. The more logged on, the slower your speed will be.
Sixth, And, in some cases, you can't use your phone and Hot Spot at the same time.

[04ctd]

what are the numbers in the WineGard cost?
my RV is supposed to be "prepped" what does that mean?


my Verizon jetpack was ALWAYS great a few years ago, the Verizon peeps said "it runs on a DATA Bandwidth/freq, NOT on the phone stuff, so it does MUCH better than your phone"

[Spytraveler]

Hi All, I m new to camping and few weeks ago we got Bullet 243BHS with installed Winegard Air360+ and pre-wired place for 4G LTE Winegard Router GW-1000. So I bought the router and now scratching my had how to install it. For sure there is the spot on the ceiling below the Air 360 antenna but the power cable seems to be looped - no open end. The router came with a power switch as well which also needs to be installed somehow on the control panel or wall. Does anyone have any experience with the GW-1000 Router installation?