Wifi Range

[markopolo]

We were at Five Islands Provincial Park in Nova Scotia and I checked my Asus router (configured as a repeater) for WiFi access points and saw that I was getting a good signal from Five Islands RV Resort. We had driven by them on the way to the Provincial Park so I knew they were not that close to us.

A quick check on Google Earth shows that the access point my router could see was approx 1.5 miles away.



I have an EnGenius EAG-2408 8dBi Omni Antenna mounted on the roof of the van.

Note: Unauthorized use of WiFi access points is illegal in some (maybe most) jurisdictions.

The Five Islands RV Resort WiFi was for guests with an access code only but it did present visitors with the option to view information about the resort. We were up very high in the Provincial Park looking down on the area where Five Islands RV Resort is located.

We were at another campground a few nights later and I asked if they had WiFi and the host said yes but that we would not receive it at our site as it was too far away. Guests would come to the office to get WiFi access. They were going to upgrade the system etc. Our site was about as far away from the office as it could be but I had no trouble accessing the free campground WiFi using the info provided by the campground host with my repeater and exterior mounted WiFi antenna.

If internet connectivity is important to you it is probably worth looking into systems that will extend your WiFi range.

[Davydd]

Could the resort have set up its own repeaters to service the campground?

[markopolo]

Yes, possible. I was thinking that it was because I had line of sight access with just a bay between us. Not much interference. The Provincial Park had no services.

This was our site:

[scroller]

Mark I am wondering if the set up you are using would work for i pads and I phone? And what would be required to make it work and how costly and involved to implement this in our RT

[markopolo]

Yes it would work. I use it with my iPod.
I had to turn the router I had into a wireless bridge: http://www.classbforum.com/phpBB2/vi...hp?f=42&t=1658

There are numerous solutions available and newer equipment too. The device you'd want is known as a "Repeater" or "Wireless Bridge".
You probably wouldn't want to drill holes in your RT like I did in my van!



One problem I've found is with Access points that require you to click "OK" for access. Tim Hortons for example. I don't know of any method to get the repeater to "click" OK. Another challenge is entering the password that the campground gives you. I have to log into the repeater using a web browser (iPod or laptop) and enter the password. The repeater remembers the last password entered so you have to delete it when next connecting to open wifi at a tourist info center for example.

This link should help: http://www.classbforum.com/phpBB2/vi...=11937&#p19102 read avanti's post and his followup posts.

More links
http://hawkingtech.com/long-range-wifi- ... 4_rvs.html
http://www.jefatech.com/category/a050
http://www.radiolabs.com/products/wirel ... v-wifi.php

[scroller]

Thanks Mark I will see what info I can gather on the repeater or wireless bridge. We hope to get away for a month soon all things going well with a stress test I take next week. If I fail that we will likely be sno bound for a while.

[avanti]

We use a Ubiquiti Nanostation directional WiFe antenna/router mounted on the rotatable TV antenna mast. That way we can point the WiFi antenna from inside the van:

[scroller]

I am hoping to be able to use our i pads and I phone without getting too technically involved ,I am fine if I can plug and play but if it's too involved I will need outside help to install. Cheers.Rw

[markopolo]

You could just try them for your first trip. Might be good enough.

My setup is not really plug & play. I have a fair bit of experience in networking so not hard for me but I could see it being difficult if you don't have experience with configuring routers etc.

In the US, another option might be to buy a MiFi type device and use pre-paid data that uses 3G or 4G cell networks. If you go to Florida for a month for example you should be able to purchase what you need at a Walmart in Florida.

$45 for 3 GB of data:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Email-Deliver ... 5/20903085
Looks like it works with this device:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Internet-On-t ... t/38252884

It would be more secure than random WiFi hotspots.

[kellyllek]

Seriously I went through 15gig of cell data last month! LTE has been the only thing that is reliable for me.

It's furstrating that if I pull in to a shopping center my iphone will only see say 3 hotspots, but my laptop will see 20. There is a few ways I can share my laptop connection to my iphone and use it as a repeater, but I really don't want to have to pull out and fire up the laptop everytime I think I might have a chance for wifi.

I also want a plug and play option. I could probably get by with something that brings in the signal the same as my laptop does,though an extended range for both the wifi and LTE (cell) would be really great.

I see a number of USB simple solutions but they won't work for the phone.

right now I use my phone as a hotspot for the laptop on LTE. It has been very reliable and usable, but it adds up data and gets expensive. That said, I've so many places with 'free' wifi are completely unreliable and once I spend like 2 hours driving aroudn town looking! Starbucks and McDonalds are great, but even today the first starbucks I went too; their wifi was out! Sometimes the expense of LTE seems worth it.

Verizon does have a special right now I think; $100 for like 15gigs, but I forget exactly. That's on top of all the other charges. It's rediculous I know, but I post a lot of videos and communicate overseas and I need the reliable connection.