Hey guys, looking for some recommendations on getting some sort of WiFi booster or system for our Rv. Most campgrounds have it but very very weak. Thanks guys!!

 

My experience in campgrounds is not only is the signal weak but the throughput is horrible. All the signal booster in the world won't help lousy throughput. I've been sitting 10' from the WiFi antenna with a solid signal and still couldn't get much done.

 

I've got the Alfa wifi-camp pro 2, but can't recommend you buy it. I had lots of problems getting it to work.... I could see about 25 networks , but all were too weak to connect to except the two networks in my house ( 20 feet from my trailer). Messed with it for hours, finally called my computer nerd friend for help. In the end I threw their repeater in the trash. I do still use the antenna from the kit, and honestly, it works awesome. I have to bring a windows 10 laptop camping and set that up as my repeater. I have now used it for two camping seasons. I have only camped once where there is free wifi out in the campground. Usually, the campgrounds we have gone to will have free wifi, but it is only at the office or store. Well, I can say I have no problem pulling in the wifi from the office / store from anywhere we've stayed in the campgrounds. Originally, I wanted to return the Camp Pro 2 kit, but it was shipped straight from Taiwan ( purchased on amazon), so return shipping cost was ridiculous.


I made a mast out of a piece of 2" pvc and an extendable painters pole (that you would screw a paint roller onto the end). This allows me to get the antenna well above my A/C, even though I never need to raise it up that high. I attached that to a bracket I made from a few metal pieces leftover from other projects, which bolts to my tongue.

I guess in reality, I love the antenna from the kit, but since that is all I was able to use, the kit was over-priced to me.

 

You would do better either with a air card or tether your cell phone to your lap top

 

My experience has been similar to what HRTKD said. Signal good or signal bad, the pipe into the campground is usually horribly undersized.

I've had the best luck tethering my RV's Wifi repeater/travel firewall to my phone then letting everyone get in through it. Like EDC8008 said plus the travel router.

 

I agree, I always laugh at 'speeds'. Speeds are useless when the highway is only a hair wide. I'll take a fat log (bandwidth) over speed everyday. Usage is a killer, you probably will have best luck at the campgrounds early morning, when everyone is still asleep. That's when I get my daily emails and Forum browsing done.

 

I am the least tech person ever, is there a product I can mount to my trailer so I have my own WiFi? I saw something dish had but didn't really mention WiFi.

 

Easy and fast to use your cell phone for a personal hot spot. For I-Phone, it's just in the settings and when you enable it just use the provided password. It should be similar for other phones also. Just can't use the phone while doing this.

I'm not very computer savvy either but after I saw this done once it's so simple I could do it.

 

Wife and I have had good luck since switching to Visible as our cell provider and using it's unlimited data (including hotspot) feature while RV'ing. Visible is owned by Verizon and uses Verizon's 4G towers. Service for an individual is $40 per month and each additional person added to your 'party plan' (up to 4 total) reduces every party plan member's bill by $5 per month. There are 3 of us on our plan so our cell bill is $30 per month, each. Again this includes unlimited everything. We routinely watch our Hulu channels, including stored DVR content, by connecting a laptop to our Visible hotspot and then cabling the laptop to the TV's HDMI port. Like any data/streaming service, you will have occasional freezes, but certainly it's more than adequate for camping....even when signal strength is '1 bar'. Standard internet connectivity for web browsing, email etc. using this method has also been really good. The caveat with Visible is that during periods of peak use, regular Verizon traffic will take precedence. I have never really noticed this being an issue. We've been subscribers for about 8 months and so far so good, including a recent cross country trip.

 

I looked at this option https://wifiranger.com , if I were "full-time" I would go this route.

 

Throw out everything you have right now and start over. I live in an area that is just now getting fiber optic and I have tried every type of WiFi, internet option out there and have always come back to the most consistent and fastest internet access for the house and travel. The unlimited, unthrottled hotspot. They are available all over e-bay for $55 to $65 /month. I even did away with my MacBook and switched over to an iMac for the house. When I hit the road I grab the iMac, iPad, phone and my AT&T hotspot, mount the iMac to the trailer TV swing down mount and hit the road. With my phone, iPad and hotspot in the cab we can do anything we want or need to and at night the electronics go in to the trailer and we can take care of business, watch TV or anything else we need to do over the hotspot. The only one I have found that works anywhere is the AT&T unlimited, unthrottled through one of the many vendors on e-bay. Stay away from any other carrier. These accounts are all grandfathered business accounts and perform flawlessly. No more elevated blood pressure trying to connect to someone else’s antiquated system or spending time constructing some rube goldberg antenna and booster system. The only time I have had issues was in a CG where cell phones did not work either. It was down about 200’ in a shear sided valley with tree covered ridge lines surrounding it. Beautiful CG and provided a nice couple of days away from “civilization”.