wifi booster

[hoffy]

can anyone tell me if these things work or a waste of money?im going to camp at a campground where they say the wifi sucks and wondering if anyone has experience on what to use brand ,style ,etc

thanks

[Crabbypatty]

This depends on many things. There is no one size fits all. In Cg's with trees and obstructions like bath houses and other rvs, can really degrade a signal. Not to mention the person next to the antenna who is streaming net flix while the dw is on face book...Bandwidth is like a water pipe and depending on the size of the pipe depends on how much signal goes through it. We camp in remote spots so we boost both the wifi and the cellphone. Amplifiers and very importantly outside antennas. Sometimes no matter what you do, you get squat. So we bring dvd's movies, read books or start a campfire and enjoy it.

[vermilye]

pianotuna wrote:
vermilye,

Which specific Ubiquiti Nanostation unit do you have?

M2

[Mommalu]

I got tired of my hubby standing on the roof of the rv to get a signal (work). So for 2017 Christmas I bought him a Wilson cell signal booster. It works with our Verizon cell service as a hot spot, has one exterior antenna on the top of the ladder (13' up) and an interior antenna by the booth dinette. He states it adds one bar to his usual service. Verizon has MN very well covered but some of our state park campgrounds have no or 1 bar service. This has improved and we can virtually always text and often have enough service for internet use. Hope that helps.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

It has to do with 90% of folks not wasting time looking at technical help that may not be helpful at all. As I originally said 'unfortunate'.

And what has your most recent post got to do with wifi boosters?

Seattle Steve wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Unfortunately the gentleman is using mac. They are now down to 9.73% market share.

Seattle Steve wrote:
If you are interested in a good explanation of wifi boosters and how to put together your own system, this guy is probably the best on youtube. He does talk fast, so you might need to watch it a couple times, especially if the subject is new to you.

David Bott Explains RV wifi boosters

What does that have to do with wifi boosters?

[Acampingwewillg]

For a few years now, I've used the "Rogue Wave", I placed the antenna atop my Crank up TV antenna to give it some height. I just checked prices....wow, they've gone up! Anyways....it does just an OK job. It will take a weak signal and make it stronger but as pointed out, most campground Wi-Fi sucks anyways. If I happen to be in a Walmart parking lot while the wife shops, it does the job picking up Walmart's signal from where I'm Parked.

Once again, I think improving your Cell signal/Hot Spot signal is what I'm aiming for and the WeBoost will be in my future.

[Seattle_Steve]

pianotuna wrote:
Unfortunately the gentleman is using mac. They are now down to 9.73% market share.

Seattle Steve wrote:
If you are interested in a good explanation of wifi boosters and how to put together your own system, this guy is probably the best on youtube. He does talk fast, so you might need to watch it a couple times, especially if the subject is new to you.

David Bott Explains RV wifi boosters

What does that have to do with wifi boosters?

(That's a rhetorical question. I do understand that your self-esteem issues require you to validate your tech decisions at every opportunity, regardless of whether or not it has anything to do with the subject at hand.)

BTW- Besides using a Mac, he also RVs in a Tiffin Allegro Bus 45, so he has obviously made good choices in his life and can afford good stuff. He doesn't have to settle for using second-best. 🙂

[pianotuna]

Unfortunately the gentleman is using mac. They are now down to 9.73% market share.

Seattle Steve wrote:
If you are interested in a good explanation of wifi boosters and how to put together your own system, this guy is probably the best on youtube. He does talk fast, so you might need to watch it a couple times, especially if the subject is new to you.

David Bott Explains RV wifi boosters

[Seattle_Steve]

If you are interested in a good explanation of wifi boosters and how to put together your own system, this guy is probably the best on youtube. He does talk fast, so you might need to watch it a couple times, especially if the subject is new to you.

David Bott Explains RV wifi boosters

[pianotuna]

vermilye,

Which specific Ubiquiti Nanostation unit do you have?

[vermilye]

While I prefer using a Mobley or Jetpack to connect to the internet through a cell tower, there are a few places where a WiFi booster is the only way to connect from your site (Rio Grande Campground in Big Bend National Park, for example). The best WiFi boosting system I've used is a Ubiquiti Nanostation connected to an AirCube. The combination lets me connect to a WiFi station as much as a mile away.

As others have noted, if the campground WiFi is slow, the booster will rarely help.

[myredracer]

CG wifi? Fuggedaboutit...

In the beginning when were newbies, we bought an Alfa brand wifi booster. Waste of money and did NOT help. Ended up giving it away.

You will find out pretty quickly how bad CG wifi is. If many kids there, when they get up in the morning and start streaming, it kills the already BAD wifi. Many people have to go to a CG clubhouse where it's close to the antenna to get a better signal, but even then it can be a painful struggle.

We've been using a Verizon mifi hotspot for years now. Last year DW used her phone as a hotspot a few times. Depends on your data plan too since you can suck it dry pretty quickly depending on what you're doing on the internet. Sometimes the Verizon or DW's cellphone signal can be quite weak in some locations, like the Oregon coast for ex.

[Lwiddis]

I find signal boosting is rarely the issue in a campground. Complain to management about bandwidth...write negative reviews...consider a governmental report since you weren’t provided with what was promised and charged. Raise heck.

[Matt_Colie]

Duplicate deleted.

[Matt_Colie]

Hoffy,

If others say the WiFi sucks, then take that to be an understatement...

For many years now, campground WiFi systems have been both poorly implemented (the regular case with older) and overloaded (the case with most).

If you really need internet, your only hope is to bring your own in the form of either satellite ($$$-latency problems) or a cell signal hotspot (as mentioned above). If the campground is remote, a repeater or booster may be needed. Depending on where you are in the country, sometimes even that is just not enough.

Oh yeah, the carrier counts for a lot too. Do not believe the "We use XXX towers" line, I will not take the time to tell why here and now.

Good Luck.

Matt