Wifi choices

[PeteVJ]

I'm in an RV park with really weak wifi. Should I get wifi service from Cox cable? Or should I buy my own wifi router. We are here until the end of January. What's the best wifi router if that's the better way.

[chuckster57]

Where will you be when you leave? The next place may not be in cox service area. Will you always park where there is WiFi service? Just my opinion, but I would look at buying a router/booster. WiFi ranger comes to mind.

[NH_Bulldog]

We just bought a plug-in WiFi booster/range extender ($22) to boost our signal between the house and the shop. It is simple to setup and took the signal from no bars/1 bar to full signal and 100+ mbps out there. Still not as fast as the house WiFi at 300+ mbps but really upped the performance. You can boost any WiFi network as long as you can connect to it.

It will not fix poor bandwidth (too many people putting too much demand on the system at once).

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by NH_Bulldog

We just bought a plug-in WiFi booster/range extender ($22) to boost our signal between the house and the shop. It is simple to setup and took the signal from no bars/1 bar to full signal and 100+ mbps out there. Still not as fast as the house WiFi at 300+ mbps but really upped the performance. You can boost any WiFi network as long as you can connect to it.

It will not fix poor bandwidth (too many people putting too much demand on the system at once).

Many folks don't realize that there is a difference between a booster and a range extender. Many of these gizmos do NOT do both. A range extender should be connected to your router via ethernet cable and will extend the range of the wifi signal from router. A booster should be placed mid-point from the router (or extender) and it boosts the signal so a signal with better signal strength can be had at the end point. My shop office and home router are a few hundred feet away from each other. I use a an extender set up right next to my home router and a signal booster for the shop. It consists of a dual band antenna, amplified and connected to my workstation via USB. The antenna is directional and would have to be rotated if I wanted to pick up some other wifi signal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY1E5PnRjsY

[Lindyn]

We use AT&T wireless, everyplace that has AT&T service for iPhone the wireless, worked in every State, we have traveled in. Good Luck on your choice.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by Lindyn

We use AT&T wireless, everyplace that has AT&T service for iPhone the wireless, worked in every State, we have traveled in. Good Luck on your choice.

If you are happy with AT&T, look at Consumer Cellular. They use the same AT&T towers. Half the price or less and unlimiited data with their highest data plan (think it is $55 a month). Like most, it caps at 35 gigs but my wife also has the same thing and we have 70 gigs of data to use when camping.

[Hblick48]

I have a Visible phone and portable router. I use this setup at home and in the RV. If I have cell phone service (Verizon) I have my own WI Fi anywhere I go. Works great. $40/month. I use 80+ gb per month.

[dutchmensport]

Originally Posted by Hblick48

I have a Visible phone and portable router. I use this setup at home and in the RV. If I have cell phone service (Verizon) I have my own WI Fi anywhere I go. Works great. $40/month. I use 80+ gb per month.

We have AT&T phones with WiFi, but AT&T does not like to coorporate with my wife's work computer. After a very long search and a chance forum post one day, I learned about Visible. We purchased a Visible phone, a portable router that attaches to the phone, and it's become our primary internet service. We have a different service at home, but, even at home, we use the Visible for almost everything.

It truly is unlimited and we've been very pleased with it for months now. We stream videos, work on our work computers, have connected all our Roku televisions, and connect with our personal laptop computers and I-Pads.

Check into Visible.

[horneb]

We use a Verizon Jet Pack and an external antenna for computer and phones. We also dumped out home cable and use the Amazon Fire Stick with UTube TV but you need to use the RV Park WiFi when possible. Streaming UTube TV though the Jet Pack will eat up your data in less than 2 days but it will give you TV and computer connections even in a canyon it you have the right outside antenna and put it on your roof.

[macattack]

We bought and used a T-Mobile MiFi hotspot with good success. Remember, you can also use an iPhone as a wifi hot spot, too, but it is best if you have unlimited cellular data as part of your plan.

[Jwsnags]

I (and two other family members) have all installed the Wineguard 4G LTE / wi-fi extenders and they work fantastic. Easy to install, if a wifi signal is available, they can boost the existing signal. If no signal is available I just turn on the LTE signal (uses an Att or Verizon card or from Wineguard)
Highly recommended!

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by macattack

We bought and used a T-Mobile MiFi hotspot with good success. Remember, you can also use an iPhone as a wifi hot spot, too, but it is best if you have unlimited cellular data as part of your plan.

My cell service advertised unlimited Internet, and delivered that to me for years at home, but I discovered on a trip that this didn't extend to "tethered" (hotspot) service. Worse, once I ran out of my tethered allocation, they had no way for me to "recharge" the service (for a fee) for the rest of the month. We finally "solved" the problem by making DW's phone the hotspot until we left, which had its own tethered allocation we could use up.

Here's a handy tip a colleague pointed out for people with plans like that.

If you use your phone as a hotspot and have the TV, Firestick, etc. log onto it, that's tethered access, and you'll run out or get surcharged.

If you connect your phone to the TV with an HDMI cable, call up your streaming content on a phone app, and just mirror the screen to the TV, that's native access to your phone, and you can run it unlimited. You won't be able to use the features of the bypassed FireStick, Smart TV, etc (like the remote, to control anything but the volume), but you won't run out of cell time.

[adeakins]

Originally Posted by PeteVJ

I'm in an RV park with really weak wifi. Should I get wifi service from Cox cable? Or should I buy my own wifi router. We are here until the end of January. What's the best wifi router if that's the better way.

Unless there are obstructions between your trailer and the best (line-of-site) WiFi access point (WAP), nothing much will solve your problem. Most parks are slow to provide adequate WiFi coverage if any at all. Those who do tend to use what is called a MESH network where a number of repeaters are scattered about the park. This works a lot like a cellular network … or, at least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. Things like leafy trees (wet leaves are the worse) or WAP towers that are too short and tall RVs can block the signal. Ask your park if they (a) offer WiFi, (b) have a multi-nodal or MESH network and if so, (c) where the closest WAP is to your site. Don’t be surprised if their eyes glaze over in which case, you have your answer.

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by PeteVJ

I'm in an RV park with really weak wifi. Should I get wifi service from Cox cable? Or should I buy my own wifi router. We are here until the end of January. What's the best wifi router if that's the better way.

The answer depends on your definition of "weak."

The average state of RV park WiFi today is "good distribution, awful bandwidth." Meaning technology has improved to the point where it's possible for park owners to figure out how to cover their property with strong, working signal at a reasonable cost to them (some still won't but most do)... but Internet delivery to the park grounds itself (usually by a rural phone or cable company... or satellite) has still not improved to the point where they can provide adequate data flow to 100-200 campsites.

(For example, this week, a park I service which is in precisely this state, is having their two 15Mb gateway connections upgraded to 25Mb each, for a total of 50Mb... to serve 200 campsites. What's the internet speed at your house alone? Right?)

If the problem at your campground is "weak" signal, you can address this with a directional station inside your camper (outside if you insist, but it's typically overkill). If the problem is "weak" bandwidth to the campground, ain't nothing you can do about it... except abandon it entirely and transition to a personal cellular hotspot.

[Badbart56]

Originally Posted by Lindyn

We use AT&T wireless, everyplace that has AT&T service for iPhone the wireless, worked in every State, we have traveled in. Good Luck on your choice.

Same here, we're on the road about 45 weeks out of the year and it's served us well in all states. Canada is a little iffy though.

[RickV]

Originally Posted by LHaven

My cell service advertised unlimited Internet, and delivered that to me for years at home, but I discovered on a trip that this didn't extend to "tethered" (hotspot) service. Worse, once I ran out of my tethered allocation, they had no way for me to "recharge" the service (for a fee) for the rest of the month. We finally "solved" the problem by making DW's phone the hotspot until we left, which had its own tethered allocation we could use up.

Here's a handy tip a colleague pointed out for people with plans like that.

If you use your phone as a hotspot and have the TV, Firestick, etc. log onto it, that's tethered access, and you'll run out or get surcharged.

If you connect your phone to the TV with an HDMI cable, call up your streaming content on a phone app, and just mirror the screen to the TV, that's native access to your phone, and you can run it unlimited. You won't be able to use the features of the bypassed FireStick, Smart TV, etc (like the remote, to control anything but the volume), but you won't run out of cell time.

What we use is called a Screenbeam Mini connects to HDMI it is allows us to stream from our phones to the the TV wirelessly using the Smart View on a Galaxy phone, no wifi needed. The screenbeam only works with Android phones though. https://www.amazon.com/Actiontec-Scr...2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by LHaven

My cell service advertised unlimited Internet, and delivered that to me for years at home, but I discovered on a trip that this didn't extend to "tethered" (hotspot) service. Worse, once I ran out of my tethered allocation, they had no way for me to "recharge" the service (for a fee) for the rest of the month. We finally "solved" the problem by making DW's phone the hotspot until we left, which had its own tethered allocation we could use up.

Here's a handy tip a colleague pointed out for people with plans like that.

If you use your phone as a hotspot and have the TV, Firestick, etc. log onto it, that's tethered access, and you'll run out or get surcharged.

If you connect your phone to the TV with an HDMI cable, call up your streaming content on a phone app, and just mirror the screen to the TV, that's native access to your phone, and you can run it unlimited. You won't be able to use the features of the bypassed FireStick, Smart TV, etc (like the remote, to control anything but the volume), but you won't run out of cell time.

While you can use an HDMI to phone adapter I find it easier to "cast" from the phone to the tv via Bluetooth. It requires a smart tv or a device like Chromecast, Firetv, Roku, etc. Those "plug in" devices vary in cost but most basic ones can be bought for < $30 and do not require any fees or contracts.

[jimborokz]

We are staying long term at an RV park that in the past had streamable wifi.
This year when we arrived, I learned that the wifi had been hit by lightning and the parts needed to rebuild it were badly delayed do to supply chain issues.

I signed up for a service called All Over Internet. They supply a wireless router and have several plans aligned with your data needs. Not cheap, $400 to set up and $125/mo, but I can now use it anywhere we go including at home.

Verizon's "unlimited" throttles down after 15 gigs (two days streaming) and you have basically dial-up speeds for the rest of the month. Useless. Basically unlimited email service.

I have seen other similar wireless wifi plans but all seem to be limited. Visible looks like it is truly unlimited but at 5Mbs. Not the fastest train in town.

[homewrecker]

The 5MB is there minimal speed "somewhat" guarantee. You get what is available in your area (from what I am seeing). I have had 2MB-50MB depending on where the house is parked that week.

We are running a Pepwave router setup that we got from MobileMustHave. This router has 2 slots for cellular sim cards so that you can have options. We are currently using a Visible and AT&T card with both having unlimited data & bandwidth. Visible is by far the best deal for Verizon and we went with a company called American RV Internet for our AT&T card. Once you get to a campspot, simply log into the router and test connectivity from both carriers to see which is best. As a final CYA, our personal phones are on Google FI which is primarily covered by TMobile. Other than being in the middle of Yellowstone NP, we should be good with 1 of the 3 options.

For good wifi areas, the external antenna that was part of the MobileMustHave package does pick up wifi and you can also test that signal while in the router console.

In any case, all your devices simply connect to the router and you pick the service that provides the best connection.

I hope that helps.

James

[LHaven]

As a pro, I have measured streaming performance and determined that Netflix will not start buffering until the bandwidth approaches 760kbps. Approaching that speed downward, it will reduce the resolution of the movie (it gets somewhat smearier) but still won't buffer. At roughly 2-3Mbps, you get full Netflix experience for "normal" (non UHD) movies. If you can get a strong, continuous 5Mb, you should be all set for all recreational uses.

These figures may not hold true for Amazon Prime, and Hulu is right out (I can't even get it to stop buffering at 50Mb at home because their client app is so bloody shortbus). I believe Netflix pays the most attention of all streaming services into the problems of limited bandwidth.