# Looking for a way to boost the Wi-Fi signal when using the RV



## Janderso (Jun 21, 2020)

Those of you that travel and stay at RV parks know the problem.
We are so dependent on our devices for entertainment and communication while traveling we need a way to stay connected.
It seems most parks are very limited in their Wi-Fi service.
Is there a way to improve the quality of the park’s service?
Thanks for your advice.
Jeff


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## ttabbal (Jun 21, 2020)

You could try putting a directional antenna on the roof. Or an outdoor AP in client mode. Then run the cable inside and connect to a normal wifi AP for your RV.


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## mickri (Jun 21, 2020)

I spent over 10 years living on my sailboat and had the same problem.  I first used a little hawking (sp?) dish.  It was very powerful but as my sailboat moved I would have to constantly re aim the dish.  It also turned out to be not very water resistant and gave up the ghost after one too many rain showers.  I then went to a 360 degree 9db antenna I got off Ebay connected with a small coax cable to an Alfa long range wifi adapter model AWUS036NH .  With both of these antennas I was able to pick up wifi signals as far as 2 miles away from the boat.  Here's the antenna mounted on the stern of my boat.


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## Old Mud (Jun 21, 2020)

This is an option.  I think about little less than $150.





































 

 

 

 

 

 

 



*Alfa WiFi Camp Pro 2 v2 long range Wi-Fi repeater kit - R36A/Tube-(U)N/AOA-2409-TF antenna*
                                                                                                                                                               $139.97





Quantity                      


U.S. buyers- order within  0 hours, 19 minutes and choose FedEx 2 Day at checkout for delivery by 06/24 (Wednesday).

See more: Electronics > Networking

Tags:                                                                                                                        access point alfa feed feed2 router rp-sma

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## aliva (Jun 21, 2020)

Nice boat


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## Dhal22 (Jun 21, 2020)

mickri said:


> I spent over 10 years living on my sailboat and had the same problem.  I first used a little hawking (sp?) dish.  It was very powerful but as my sailboat moved I would have to constantly re aim the dish.  It also turned out to be not very water resistant and gave up the ghost after one too many rain showers.  I then went to a 360 degree 9db antenna I got off Ebay connected with a small coax cable to an Alfa long range wifi adapter model AWUS036NH .  With both of these antennas I was able to pick up wifi signals as far as 2 miles away from the boat.  Here's the antenna mounted on the stern of my boat.
> 
> View attachment 328376




10 years?    

I'm a power boater but know when to tip my cap.   I've lived on the water for short periods of time and cherished those moments.


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## Dhal22 (Jun 21, 2020)

Nice boat btw.


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## Dhal22 (Jun 21, 2020)

Double post.


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## mickri (Jun 21, 2020)

If using usb cables you have to be careful on how long the usb cable is.  After a certain length ( I forget how long) the signal degrades unless you have a special booster cable.

Long term living on a boat is an entirely different lifestyle.  Especially when you aren't at a dock.  I went for one 4 year stretch where I was only at a dock for a couple of days each year.  The rest of the time I was anchored out.   You become very careful with energy usage and water.  Solar panels solved all of me electrical needs.  Water makers were beyond my finances.  So I had to haul all of my water.  If I used the pressure water system my 80 gallon water tank might last 2 weeks.  Using only the foot pump in the galley I could go 2 months on the 80 gallon tank.  I used salt water whenever I could.  Mostly for flushing the toilet.  How much water do you need to take a shower?  11 cups dispensed from a 1 gallon garden sprayer.

I had come back to California and was living aboard in San Diego.  I had decided to take off again.  Spend winters someplace warm and then come back to a cabin in Sierras for the summer.  Boat would be hauled out for hurricane season.  That all changed when my elderly mother needed a place to live.  Plans changed.  Mom's 101 and will turn 102 in August.  If it hadn't been for mom's needs I would never have gotten into this machining madness.  I would be living out on the hook somewhere.

Life was good and the living was easy.  Life is still good but the living isn't quite as easy as on the boat.


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## samstu (Jun 21, 2020)

I have an alpha unit too.  I have smaller antenna not large pole mounted variety.  Not the fastest or most reliable (when stationary, I have to reboot every couple days) but it does work.  

These alpha systems are 2.4 GHz (in and out) band units which is crowded but longer range than most 5 GHz band units.  This seems to be an old product and last firmware dates to 2017 so maybe not the safest either.

There are some Beam forming units which can accept 2.4 or 5Ghz networks and then broadcast in 5Ghz which can reduce network pollution and take advantage of speed of 5 GHz band.  For the real tech saavy DD-WRT open source firmware can give you some performance boost too.  If I was to buy today, I'd at least research a newer / updated unit.  Linksys is one brand to consider.


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## projectnut (Jun 21, 2020)

We had the same problem for years.  We tried half a dozen different signal boosters and finally gave up.  The places we were staying at had obsolete equipment which in most cases was at best 3G.  Not only that most places didn't have enough ports/band width to accommodate anything but checking email.  We broke down a few years ago and purchased  Verizon MIFI Jetpack.  We use it on the road, and even at the family cottage.  Our plan is an older one with 15 gig.  It's not the cheapest in the world, but when you're out in the boonies and want some information, or need to contact someone It's always worked.


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## matthewsx (Jun 21, 2020)

This is very good info for someone in the WiFi business, I was thinking RV parks would be a great vertical market....

John


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## pdentrem (Jun 21, 2020)

There is also whether or not, the camp ground is using something like “Traffic Cop” to control bandwidth.


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## Janderso (Jun 22, 2020)

Old Mud.
You da man dood.
It has great ratings.

Mickri,
Nice boat.

Thanks for the leads guys!


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## Janderso (Jun 22, 2020)

My Dad had a Ford dealership in Lake Tahoe Ca.
He took a 38 foot Bayliner in trade. It had a ten foot beam, twin screws, flying bridge. This would be 1982.
I was dating my wife, dad says, you kids should take the boat out.
Oh man, my wife and I still remember that boat. That night


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## Winegrower (Jun 23, 2020)

Funny, I remember taking vacations to get away from this stuff.


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## Dhal22 (Jun 23, 2020)

Janderso said:


> My Dad had a Ford dealership in Lake Tahoe Ca.
> He took a 38 foot Bayliner in trade. It had a ten foot beam, twin screws, flying bridge. This would be 1982.
> I was dating my wife, dad says, you kids should take the boat out.
> Oh man, my wife and I still remember that boat. That night



Mine was a '98 Maxum, same except 35', I bought in 2000.  The sunpad over the front cabin was used day (and night). What wad your dad thinking?


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## twraska (Jun 23, 2020)

He wanted grandchildren????


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## middle.road (Jun 23, 2020)

Take something like @Old Mud shows above and install it in the vent outside on the roof, which, of course should be covered with one of these:


I had a 31' trailer from 99-2011 (when a hail storm hit) and I had jerry-rigged an omni-directional receiver that I mounted up there outside on top of the roof and ran the cable to a switch which had CAT5 down to a wireless router.
Have to get it outside of the the Faraday cage known as a 'RV'
Worked at a number of campgrounds from Northern Illinois to Florida over the years until the hail storm claimed it.


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## Janderso (Jun 24, 2020)

matthewsx said:


> This is very good info for someone in the WiFi business, I was thinking RV parks would be a great vertical market....
> 
> John


I bet with this COVID 19, people are bypassing air travel and using/buying RV’s. I would bet the next few years we’ll see a sharp uptick in RV travel.


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## projectnut (Jun 24, 2020)

Janderso said:


> I bet with this COVID 19, people are bypassing air travel and using/buying RV’s. I would bet the next few years we’ll see a sharp uptick in RV travel.


I agree Winnebago Industries stock has been at an all time high the last few weeks


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## 7milesup (Jun 24, 2020)

Dhal22 said:


> Mine was a '98 Maxum, same except 35', I bought in 2000.  The sunpad over the front cabin was used day (and night). What wad your dad thinking?



I love Maxum boats.  You guys are in a different league though.  I had a Celebrity 19' for running around the lakes in Northern WI.

We have a lot in common Dhal.  RC stuff, boats, machining, beer, wine.  You should move up here.  The house right down the road from me is going to come up for sale.


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## 7milesup (Jun 24, 2020)

Jeff....

You could look into Uiquiti products.  They make very good products that have much higher performance than the price point would indicate.  They can be a little persnickity to set up but there forums dedicated to their products if you need help.  I have used their Nano Station to shoot wifi out to my shop and it is like having a wired connection.

https://www.ui.com/products/#default


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## kb58 (Jun 24, 2020)

Janderso said:


> My Dad had a Ford dealership in Lake Tahoe Ca.
> He took a 38 foot Bayliner in trade. It had a ten foot beam, twin screws, flying bridge. This would be 1982.
> I was dating my wife, dad says, you kids should take the boat out.
> Oh man, my wife and I still remember that boat. That night


So you made sure that your wife never found out about that. Well played, sir!


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## matthewsx (Jun 24, 2020)

7milesup said:


> Jeff....
> 
> You could look into Uiquiti products.  They make very good products that have much higher performance than the price point would indicate.  They can be a little persnickity to set up but there forums dedicated to their products if you need help.  I have used their Nano Station to shoot wifi out to my shop and it is like having a wired connection.
> 
> https://www.ui.com/products/#default



I've been using Ubiquiti for years now at home and with clients. They are great and unlike my Cisco/Meraki I never get a "license expiring" notice....

John


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## Janderso (Jun 24, 2020)

7milesup said:


> I love Maxum boats.  You guys are in a different league though.  I had a Celebrity 19' for running around the lakes in Northern WI.
> 
> We have a lot in common Dhal.  RC stuff, boats, machining, beer, wine.  You should move up here.  The house right down the road from me is going to come up for sale.


You guys up there in that beautiful state of Wisconsin have great home, land with barns and shop prices!
Your winters are a bit rough though.
My California born and raised brother lived in Sturgeon Bay for one year. He told his new bride, I'm moving back to California, you can come or stay, it makes no difference to me. Nice guy!
He said it got so cold he had to leave his tractor run at night. He was a long haul trucker.
I've been to many of the Northern states, Pa, Upstate NY, WV, VA, OH. Beautiful country!


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## DavidR8 (Jun 24, 2020)

mickri said:


> I spent over 10 years living on my sailboat and had the same problem.  I first used a little hawking (sp?) dish.  It was very powerful but as my sailboat moved I would have to constantly re aim the dish.  It also turned out to be not very water resistant and gave up the ghost after one too many rain showers.  I then went to a 360 degree 9db antenna I got off Ebay connected with a small coax cable to an Alfa long range wifi adapter model AWUS036NH .  With both of these antennas I was able to pick up wifi signals as far as 2 miles away from the boat.  Here's the antenna mounted on the stern of my boat.
> 
> View attachment 328376


Nice Island Packet!


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## Janderso (Jun 24, 2020)

The  Verizon MIFI Jetpack seems to be an awesome unit/option.


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## matthewsx (Jun 24, 2020)

Janderso said:


> You guys up there in that beautiful state of Wisconsin have great home, land with barns and shop prices!
> Your winters are a bit rough though.
> My California born and raised brother lived in Sturgeon Bay for one year. He told his new bride, I'm moving back to California, you can come or stay, it makes no difference to me. Nice guy!
> He said it got so cold he had to leave his tractor run at night. He was a long haul trucker.
> I've been to many of the Northern states, Pa, Upstate NY, WV, VA, OH. Beautiful country!



Ten years in Northern Michigan, just across the lake from Green Bay and I can testify to this. Northerners are a hearty breed but now that we have a place here I can't see spending winters there anymore. That's where a good RV for the summer months might come in handy, or a bigger boat 

John


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## mickri (Jun 24, 2020)

DavidR8 my boat is a Gulfstar 37.  I extended that transom 30".  It is a very comfortable cruising boat.


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## projectnut (Jun 24, 2020)

Janderso said:


> You guys up there in that beautiful state of Wisconsin have great home, land with barns and shop prices!
> Your winters are a bit rough though.
> My California born and raised brother lived in Sturgeon Bay for one year. He told his new bride, I'm moving back to California, you can come or stay, it makes no difference to me. Nice guy!
> He said it got so cold he had to leave his tractor run at night. He was a long haul trucker.
> I've been to many of the Northern states, Pa, Upstate NY, WV, VA, OH. Beautiful country!



I think your brother's a woos.  Winters here in the last couple decades have been downright balmy compared to those of the previous century.  We used to expect 2 to 3 weeks of -20* weather in January.  It wasn't that great for stepping outside in your swim suit, but it did kill off many of the insects we now have to deal with.  In the 1970's and 80's we shuddered every time the weatherman made a forecast for 4+ inches of snow.  In most cases it was 4"+ 12" or more.  In recent years the 4" is more like 1/4".  Back in the day I literally wore out, rebuilt, and wore out again 2 snow blowers.  I finally got rid of the worn out junk and purchased a new 14 hp tracked model in 2014.  So far It's been used about 4 times a season, and more for blowing away the dust than moving any real accumulation.

My wife is a dyed in the wool Wisconsinite.  She used to like to leave the bedroom window open for "fresh air" regardless of the temperature.  You knew it was getting "cool" in the room when the 2 dogs got out of their beds and crawled under the covers with us.  There were times when the glass of water on the night stand was a block of ice in the morning.  

Winter ain't what it used to be.  We used to set our beer in the snowbank and find it frozen solid in an hour.  Now it's hard to find snow deep enough to cover the bottle, and it takes half a day to get it below room temperature.  Around here real men wear shorts and T shirts year round.  We only wear shoes and socks when we "get dressed to go out for dinner".  That's my story and I'm sticking with it!!


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## Janderso (Jun 24, 2020)

mickri said:


> DavidR8 my boat is a Gulfstar 37.  I extended that transom 30".  It is a very comfortable cruising boat.


Squaw Valley, for those of you who don't remember, the 1960 Olympics took place in the Snowy Sierra Mountains of California.
It snows but the cold is not the same as the mid west and we get wet heavy accumulations vs. dry powder snow.
I did live in Lake Tahoe for 5 years and loved to ski at Squaw.
Do I have my facts straight Mickri?
It is a beautiful place.

Oops, I quoted the wrong text.


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## mickri (Jun 24, 2020)

I don't live at the ski resort.  The town there is Olympic Valley.  The community of Squaw Valley where I live is off Hwy 180 on the way to Kings Canyon National Park.  50 miles SE of Fresno and 35 miles NE of Visalia.  It is a beautiful area in the foothills of the Sierras.  Above the valley fog and below the snow describes the area.  It used to be primarily two large cattle ranches.  Sadly the draconian estate taxes of the 60's and 70's forced the families to sell their ranches to pay the taxes.  A developer bought the ranches and subdivided the ranches into mostly five acre parcels.


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## Janderso (Jun 24, 2020)

mickri said:


> I don't live at the ski resort.  The town there is Olympic Valley.  The community of Squaw Valley where I live is off Hwy 180 on the way to Kings Canyon National Park.  50 miles SE of Fresno and 35 miles NE of Visalia.  It is a beautiful area in the foothills of the Sierras.  Above the valley fog and below the snow describes the area.  It used to be primarily two large cattle ranches.  Sadly the draconian estate taxes of the 60's and 70's forced the families to sell their ranches to pay the taxes.  A developer bought the ranches and subdivided the ranches into mostly five acre parcels.


Oh, don't I feel silly.
Sorry everyone.


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## mickri (Jun 24, 2020)

Don't feel silly. You have lots of company. Unless the people are from the Fresno/Visalia area everyone I talk to thinks I live at the ski resort.


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## Dhal22 (Jun 24, 2020)

7milesup said:


> I love Maxum boats.  You guys are in a different league though.  I had a Celebrity 19' for running around the lakes in Northern WI.
> 
> We have a lot in common Dhal.  RC stuff, boats, machining, beer, wine.  You should move up here.  The house right down the road from me is going to come up for sale.




You might (might.....) get me to trade our careers and locations.  I love my career but it isn't flying.   Most of all though I love living in the south.


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## 7milesup (Jun 25, 2020)

Janderso said:


> My California born and raised brother lived in Sturgeon Bay for one year. He told his new bride, I'm moving back to California, you can come or stay, it makes no difference to me. Nice guy!



Ok, no one else asked.... Did she stay or did she go?


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