Many reasons started me looking at WiFi devices for the RV. DW and I each have our own laptops; we wanted a printer that both laptops could access; and we wanted to be able to pick up that weak WiFi signal when the campground stuck us in the "south 40". And though I tease DW about only marrying me (some 41 years ago) for computer support, I wanted something easy to work with and reliable. (I get so much of the opposite at work!) While browsing some forums on Escapees, I ran across the WiFi Ranger. After a little research, I knew the "WFRBoost Mobile" from WiFi Ranger fit the majority of our "wants".
When the WiFi Ranger arrived, I configured it for use, but did not install the WiFi Boost or printer for a couple of months. (Had other things to do!) But during my last Mod of insulating the Alpine underbelly at the rear of the fiver, it was time to install the WiFi Boost!
I decided to install the WiFi Boost on the rear ladder. (WiFi_Boost_on_ladder.jpg). Pretty straight forward install with U-bolts. I secured the Cat6 cable down the back side of the ladder rail with small cable straps. Once I reached the base of the ladder, it was a fairly easy chore to fish the Cat6 around the Alpine's fiberglass tail section and into the underbelly. (Of course, since I had not installed any insulation, this was a totally empty area!) I ran the Cat6 across the underbelly along a structural cross-member between the I-beams. There is a group of electrical and TV cables that exited the coroplast on the port side under the slide. These cables are threaded through a support guide and enter the slide at the corner of the above entertainment center. I threaded the Cat6 in and among these existing cables. I carefully dug out the black silicon caulk from the access holes and fed the Cat6 up into the Entertainment Center. (Slide_access.jpg and Inside_EC.jpg) I noticed that the access hole in the side of the slide at the bottom appeared to have fiberglass insulation behind it. I removed the telephone jack plate and confirmed this – the walls of the Alpine slide are insulated with R-7 fiberglass! This came as quite a surprise as the dealer said they inquired to Keystone who stated that the walls were R-19. (Again, Dealer FUD. And why am I surprised?) This actually made the task of feeding an electrical fishing tape down the wall quite easy! In fact, I pulled not only the WiFi Boost Cat6 up through the slide wall, but also a Sirius RG-6, two HDMI cables, and a spare RG-6 coax I installed from the storage basement area back while installing the tank heaters.
Once the Cat6 was in the overhead storage above the Entertainment Center, I was faced with the question of how to mount the WiFi Ranger and power unit. I found an expandable net storage pocket in housewares at WalMart that fit perfectly! I also installed a surge protected gang plug from Home Depot. (WiFi_Ranger_install.jpg) The pocket holds the power unit with the WiFi Boost lead (blue Cat6) and the connecting power and link to the WiFi Ranger quite nicely. The USB extension mounted on the wall is to hold my T-Mobile Rocket 2.0 data stick. The whole unit is powered by a 12VDC adapter that plugs into the 120VAC power. I could have wired it into the 12VDC, but that would have required another wiring run from the breaker/fuse box as I couldn't find any non-switched 12VDC wires in this area.
The WiFi ranger is configured to first search the wired Ethernet uplink first, the search for WiFi networks picked up by the WiFi Boost. Last resort, it will query the T-Mobile Rocket 2.0 if there is a connection. If a WiFi network has a user id and password, this is easily put into the WiFi Ranger and can be saved. This makes those Tengo connections almost seamless!
The overhead area is also stores the Home Theater DVD player and woofer. The Samsung unit Keystone installed did not have an Ethernet port for network connection. I do have a Roku XS, however. With a short Cat6, I can connect the Roku to one of the 4 Ethernet ports on the WiFi Ranger, and with one of the HDMI cables previously pulled, connect to one of the HDMI ports on the Samsung TV. Roku can access NetFlix, Amazon, Hulu, and about 20 other video sites via the WiFi Ranger!
But what to do with the printer! We wanted the printer out of the way but accessible. DW and I decided against a washer/dryer (rather get laundry over quickly at the Laundromat!), so we installed wire shelves in that area of the front closet. The HP printer we purchased is wireless ready, so it was quite easy to connect to the private network of the WiFi Ranger. I put a vibration-absorption pad under the printer and used some REI straps to secure it to the shelf. As this HP printer is also an All-In-One, we can copy and scan (back to the laptop) wirelessly. This is also one of the HP printers that has "HP ePrint". This is cool! I have set up an email address through HP for the printer, so any graphic or print document that is sent to that email address gets redirected back out into the Internet and winds up on this printer! It's great for our daughter to send pictures from her iPhone of our granddaughter running track!
Other than being a WiFi Ranger customer, I have no stake or ownership in WiFi Ranger. So if you are interested, check out
www.wifiranger.com. For more information on other WiFi solutions for RVers, please look at the recent thread at
http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6491.
If you have any questions, please send me a PM.
Ron
Linear Mode
