How do I get a better wifi signal from weak park wifi I

FARMER45

Well-known member
I have been in several rv parks lately , that had a weak wifi signal, and would be dropped a lot , is there a way to increase there signal with a antenna, repeater, or booster, or something I never heard of. I am two or three generations behind
 

danemayer

Well-known member

I'm not positive, but that looks like an amplifier for cellular voice and data signals, not for wifi.

You might need to get a cradlepoint router or similar product that receives wifi signals, and also accepts an external antenna, and creates a local wifi hotspot for your computer(s), tablet(s) and phone(s). This one from the 3gstore will do so and also receive cellular data signals if you have or ever decide to make data connections over the cell network instead of on the park's wifi.

If you call the 3gstore, they can walk you through various solutions.
 

Nabo

Southeast Region Director-Retired
We also use the Verizon MiFi and have gotten signals when cg sources are none to zero. We have two, one being the orginal Mifi 4g when they first came out which work fine but we also just got a newer one which really works great and faster. Newer technology I guess.
 
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evolvingpowercat

Well-known member
If good signal is important to you state that when you arrive at the park, they likely know which parts of the park have weak signal and can try to not assign you there. You might get a slight improvement if you buy a wifi range extender and plug it into outside outlet, something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Uspeed-Repeat...351856653&sr=8-9&keywords=wifi+range+extender

Some of the problem is that WiFi is subject to interference when multiple people have WiFi access points in the same place and everyone that brings their own WiFi into a park like the "Verizon" poster adds their own interfering WiFi signal and makes the park WiFi less effective.
 

Willym

Well-known member
I use a WiFi booster made by Jefatech. It works very well to increase signal strength. Of course it doesn't increase speed as such, and if many people are accessing a common WiFi router, you have to put up with slow speed/delayed access. Here's a link,

http://www.jefatech.com/category/a050
 
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TXBobcat

Fulltime
I will suggest you call the 3GStore and talk to them. They work closely with RV people and are very knowlegeble about what you need.
I am assuming you don't have an aircard and just want to acces the campground's WiFi. Even if you purchase equipment to access their WiFi you probably won't get a very good internet access in most campgrounds.

When we started RVing I tried to use the campground WiFi's but as stated above there are very few that really work great. I went about overboard for some but when I retired and we went fulltime I had been deskside support for a Dallas electric company and was use to being on the internet all the time. I do almost all my finances throght the internet and need a good internet access. I started out with a Sprint Air card. I found that Sprint was good in some places but not everywhere. I contacted the 3GStore and ordered a Verizon Aircard, CradlePoint router, an amplifier, a couple of antennas. In the beginning I used all the equipment to get a good signal, but now days it is a lot easier to get access, that I don't need the amplifier or antennas unless I am really remote in like a national park.

FWIW
BC
 

westxsrt10

Perfict Senior Member
This is what works for us, it's easy and low cost . (aprox $30 @ Amazon) Buy a thumb drive wifi network usb connection and a 20' usb extendsion cord. I zip tied the thumb drive to a walking stick and zip tied the stick to the outside ladder. This antenna set-up has worked for us at most parks with weak signels.
 

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JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
I use a Verizon 4510 MiFi at our campground and when we travel. Like now, sitting in a Florida resort. Free WiFi is dragged down by the available bandwidth divided by the number of users on it, including kids playing internet games or watching videos. If my MiFi slows down the "free" WiFi, I really don't care. Where did the information come from that a personal MiFi will slow down a public WiFi if it's in the same area?
 

ILH

Well-known member
I use a WiFi booster made by Jefatech. It works very well to increase signal strength. Of course it doesn't increase speed as such, and if many people are accessing a common WiFi router, you have to pull up with slow speed/delayed access. Here's a link,

http://www.jefatech.com/category/a050

I use a repeater that boots the wifi signal. It costs about $40 (one time cost). The advantage of course, is that you use the park's signal, rather than your bandwidth.
 

mlburst1

Well-known member
We use the Pepwave Surf Mini with our older Cradlepoint MBR1200 - excellent at picking up weak park WiFi signals.
 

evolvingpowercat

Well-known member
I use a Verizon 4510 MiFi at our campground and when we travel. Like now, sitting in a Florida resort. Free WiFi is dragged down by the available bandwidth divided by the number of users on it, including kids playing internet games or watching videos. If my MiFi slows down the "free" WiFi, I really don't care. Where did the information come from that a personal MiFi will slow down a public WiFi if it's in the same area?

2.4 WiFi has channels 1-11. Think of WiFi it as 15 lane highway. Your signal is like a very wide vehicle that is 5 lanes wide with the center of the vehicle in the channel # lane. You can think of the vehicle as a half circle where most of the weight (signal) is in the center lane and and least in the farthest out lanes.

If everyone in a RV park including the camp ground would use channels 1, 6, 11 it would minimize the interference. All three can go down the highway side by side and not even touch. However most people don't even know how to set the channel on their wifi. Many things like MiFi do auto channel selection and unfortunately their channel selection choice is often not very good.

If you have a smart phone you can download a WiFi analyzer app which will display on your phone what signals are around you so you can set to a channel that will minimize the interference.

channel 1: -1 + 0 + 1 + 2 + 3 ( note -1 and 0 can not be selected - so the WiFi won't intefere outside the band it is allowed to use)
channel 6: 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 +8
channel 11: 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 ( note 12 and 13 can not be selected - so the WiFi won't interfere outside the band )

When two people with WiFi try to use exactly the same channel then the interference is worst. The farther apart the channels are the better.
The signal on a MiFi will only go about 25 yards in terms of its ability to cause interference. Cradlepoint is high power and can interfere with neighbors 100 yards away, in particular if its channel is set exactly the same as the campgrounds.

To be good neighbors use a wifi analyzer app and set your hot spot 5 channels away from the strongest campground channel and to maximize your own results use a channel that does not have a strong signal from a nearby space.
 
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donr827

Well-known member
Randy, thanks for posting that information. Helps me understand how all of this wifi and mifi work and how we need to be considerate of campers around us.
Don
 

TXBobcat

Fulltime
I hadn't read this thread in the past and just came upon it. I understand the idea of changing channel. My Cradlepoint stays on Channel 9.

I looked up the apps for WiFi on my iPhone and the one I found (Network Analyzer - Techet) said they did not show the channels. A question was asked "Is it possible to display WiFi or 3G Signal strength or more like Networks list, channels and such. His reply was "No. There are no public API functions to do this and it is not allowed to use private iOS calls."

What app will show the channels to help.

BC
 

TGLBWH

North Central Region Directors-Retired
I switched my cell (AT&T) to a mobile share plan that makes my phone a wifi hotspot. Has worked great in several locations so far. I know Verizon also has such a plan
 
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