WiFi booster & free public WiFi

Bobemuzzy

Active Member
http://www.wifirfexpert.com
We live in an area where subscribing to a network like Verizion, ATT, etc. gives us a poor signal. It is not worth the time or money to have a subscription. We have a private provider we use for our WiFi here at home in Hartselle, AL. When we are on the road and at an RV campsite we can use the RV campsite WiFI which often times has a poor signal strength or no WiFi at all which forces us to go to use the WiFi at McDonald's or other public places that supplys free WiFi.
I have been looking for a system that would boost the RV campsite signal with out spending a fortune. I found a kit on Ebay.com that is sold by WiFi Experts (WiFi antenna 18dBi YAGI +ALFA R36 + G) ($153.99 free delivery no tax) which gave me signal boosting and a lot more. It will find free public WiFi signals out as far as 4 miles from your present site. There is a lot more to the unit which I don't need. I installed the kit into my Landmark an tested the setup at the Florida rally. I was able to boost their campsite WiFi and I hookup and used a public WiFi. I then went to the Georgia rally and boost their campsite signal. I an very pleased with the kit. YAGI antenna, booster, modem, all cables and wires, file CD antenna metal bracket, installation instructions comes with the kit The cable plate mounted to the roof I bought separate.
 

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TxCowboy

Well-known member
That looks like a great item to have! The website is now showing the price as $149.99. :)

I wonder if it is possible to modify the mount so that it attaches to the top of the ladder with quick releases. I have a rear living room so passing the cable to the router through window and screen would be very easy as opposed to drilling a hole in the roof.
 

etcmss

Well-known member
your first picture shows 2 Alfa units-one is the wireless router attached to the antenna and the other is a unit to plug into the computer----so why do you need both?
I have the wireless unit connected to an external antenna, like you did, and it provides wifi to our laptop and other wireless devices.
Its a good setup but just wondering why both? Gary
 

Bobemuzzy

Active Member
your first picture shows 2 Alfa units-one is the wireless router attached to the antenna and the other is a unit to plug into the computer----so why do you need both?
I have the wireless unit connected to an external antenna, like you did, and it provides wifi to our laptop and other wireless devices.
Its a good setup but just wondering why both? Gary
I believe one is the router and the other is the booster.
 

wdk450

Well-known member
That looks like a great item to have! The website is now showing the price as $149.99. :)

I wonder if it is possible to modify the mount so that it attaches to the top of the ladder with quick releases. I have a rear living room so passing the cable to the router through window and screen would be very easy as opposed to drilling a hole in the roof.

E Bay lists just the antenna for almost $200! I really like the idea of using your TV antenna as a rotatable base for the directional antenna.

I just bought a Wilson 4G cradle amplifier kit ($83 E-Bay) for my Verizon hotspot and Jitterbug phone. It boosted the hotspot incoming signal from 1 to 3 bars, and made the phone where I can now make calls from my Bighorn, here at TT Lake of the Springs in Oregon House, California. This is just with a little stub magnetic mount antenna I have on a sheet metal square glued to the rubber roof.
 

gslabbert5119

Well-known member
Beautiful setup Bill, the only thing that I would do differently would be that the rig support B/G & N which would give you both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, then switch out the network adapter as well. This way if there is extra bandwidth you can use it.

The question becomes, do you ever run into 5GHz networks in the rvParks ?


 

travelin2

Pennsylvania Chapter Leaders-retired
WiFi booster & free public WiFi

In our travels the past 2 yrs we've found that just because a park offers "free" wifi (nothing's really free, it's in the fee you pay) that although a signal exists the bandwidth is so narrow we usually just use our phones and data plan to check emails and other media. I did buy an external antenna for the laptop which helps improve the signal strength but the speed limitations still exist.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

wdk450

Well-known member
Re: WiFi booster & free public WiFi

Bob:
I am going to "borrow" your mounting idea for a similar cellular antenna I am buying to add to my booster cradle. See: http://www.ebay.com/itm/370696349010?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT . This has a 51 inch boom. I plan to mount pvc pipe vertically to both wings of the TV antenna to support the cell antenna, more than 2 wavelengths above the TV antenna. I don't use the TV antenna, as I use satellite all the time.

BTW, I wasn't happy with the performance of the original short stub magnet mount antenna supplied with the booster cradle kit. I had an old cell antenna that is longer, but had the wrong connector on it. So I decided to cut the coax and transplant the connector to the old antenna. While doing this, I put an ohmmeter across the connector and read a short. On these basic Marconi whip antennas, you should read an open. I traced the problem down to the way the connector was assembled (and evidently not tested by Wilson) at the factory. I took the connection apart, re-assembled it, and then it measured open (center pin to shield) like it should. Putting this connector on my older cell whip antenna got me a little better performance, but not up to what I expect.

Another By The Way: I started all of this current round of cellular internet problems thinking if I had ANY connection at all with the tower, I should get good internet speeds. My WiFi was showing 2 bars, which I thought was acceptable, but I was getting less than 1 MBPS speeds downloading or uploading. I made a stink, and had the Verizon people check out their tower, not for signal strength, but for internet slow speed. I was finally told that my problems with slow internet speed was due to poor signal strength. I didn't believe this, but checked it out by driving with my WiFi hotspot and laptop in my truck to the nearby village where a tower locator website said the tower was. Well, with 5 bars of signal, the internet connection whizzed along. Lesson learned.
 
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