User Tag List

Results 1 to 6 of 6
  1. #1
    Site Sponsor
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Posts
    189
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Want a WiFi booster but not holes in roof

    We recently stayed at the OBX RV park in Kitty Hawk NC and absolutely loved the place. Super clean and quiet with super friendly staff. But the luck of the draw in our spot we got a spotty WiFi signal. Outside the camper and anywhere else in the park the signal was fine. This has happened in other parks so I am considering getting a WiFi booster. But I’m really not a fan of drilling holes in my roof to snake a cable through. Are there any boosters at a reasonable cost that don’t require this? Thanks.
    "Never give up, Never slow down, Never grow old, Never ever die young"
    (James Taylor)

    2019 Grand Design Reflection 320MKS
    2012 GMC 2500HD
    B&W Turnover ball
    Anderson Ultimate Hitch

  2. #2
    Site Sponsor
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Wisconsin
    Posts
    311
    Mentioned
    2 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    I’ve been using a King WifiMax for almost a year now. It can be used with either an external antenna or with one attached to the unit itself. It’s easy to setup and use. When the RV resort’s WiFi signal is weak, I can get a real improvement in accessing their signal. And of course, it won’t cure narrow bandwidth. I’ve been pleased with it. I mounted it on top of the hutch in our Reflection 337RLS.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	D2059FF6-2349-4112-9EAF-A1ED52E7346D.jpg 
Views:	35 
Size:	892.1 KB 
ID:	22306

  3. #3
    Rolling Along cookinwitdiesel's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2019
    Location
    Wyoming
    Posts
    650
    Mentioned
    7 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    You may not necessarily have to drill holes if you are creative. There are a lot of existing holes already there. Some trailers have a cable channel from the roof to the basement already labeled for satellite cabling.You can also probably get from the living space into the basement easily enough and then from the basement either to the bottom and out by the ladder for an antenna pole or to the roof through a cable channel.

    Just a matter of how hard you are willing to work with the install. For wifi radio, the Ubiquiti airMax line is very well regarded, you want a Nanostation M2 (or Loco M2 but the loco has a weaker radio/antenna and less range/power).
    2019 GMC Sierra 3500HD Denali Diesel DRW (Crew Cab | 8 Ft bed | OEM Puck System | Curt Gooseneck Ball for OEM Puck | Timbrens on rear axle)
    2019 Grand Design Solitude S-Class 3740BH-R Fifth Wheel (Onan 5500W LP Generator | MORryde CRE3000 and HD Shackles/Wet Bolts | 3x MORryde Cross Members | 8k Axles and Disc Brakes | Sailun S637 ST | Reese GooseBox 20k 2nd Gen | Splendide Stackable Washer and Dryer)
    Full Suite of Victron Energy Products (2x 5k 24v Quattro Inverter/Charger | 2x 25.6/200 LFP Smart LiFePO4 Batteries | 2880w of Solar Panels across 4x MPPTs | Cerbo GX)

  4. #4
    Big Traveler boyscout's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Toronto, Canada
    Posts
    1,974
    Mentioned
    54 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Captain Skippy View Post
    We recently stayed at the OBX RV park in Kitty Hawk NC and absolutely loved the place. Super clean and quiet with super friendly staff. But the luck of the draw in our spot we got a spotty WiFi signal. Outside the camper and anywhere else in the park the signal was fine. This has happened in other parks so I am considering getting a WiFi booster. But I’m really not a fan of drilling holes in my roof to snake a cable through. Are there any boosters at a reasonable cost that don’t require this? Thanks.
    If you're generally happy with park wi-fi except in an occasional bad spot then the booster may help at times. However have you considered that the problem may not be you?

    In our experience it's not you, it's them. We used a professional-grade antenna / radio (the Ubiquiti Nanostation M2) mounted high on a pole off the ladder at the rear of the trailer, and after completing fairly-technical setup with our router we likely had one of the best connections in the park, better than any booster would give us. Despite this, for us the wi-fi was not reliable or fast enough pretty much everywhere we traveled in the southeastern U.S..

    We've had much better luck with a small MiFi device purchased from Verizon (other cell companies have similar devices) and using a cell data plan for internet access. The monthly fee does make it a more expensive option than just trying to boost the bad signals in RV parks, but for us it's worth it to get reliable and reasonably fast internet.
    Mark - 2018 Solitude 310GK - 2017 F-350 diesel SRW short box - Pullrite Superglide hitch

  5. #5
    Site Sponsor
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Posts
    189
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    These are all good ideas. Unfortunately I have an older Verizon plan that only has 6 gigs of data. That may be changing too. Charter Spectrum offers unlimited data for $45 per line...using Verizon towers.
    "Never give up, Never slow down, Never grow old, Never ever die young"
    (James Taylor)

    2019 Grand Design Reflection 320MKS
    2012 GMC 2500HD
    B&W Turnover ball
    Anderson Ultimate Hitch

  6. #6
    Big Traveler boyscout's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Toronto, Canada
    Posts
    1,974
    Mentioned
    54 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Captain Skippy View Post
    These are all good ideas. Unfortunately I have an older Verizon plan that only has 6 gigs of data. That may be changing too. Charter Spectrum offers unlimited data for $45 per line...using Verizon towers.
    Your thread came to a sudden end with this post of yours, which unfortunately I didn't see until just now when I got an alert drawing me back to the thread.

    In case you haven't yet figured out what you want to do, I'll clarify something. Those recommending using cell data plans are hardly ever talking about using the data plan already on your phone, the 6Gb that you mention above.

    It is *possible*, yes, on many cell phones to provide a "hotspot" that (usually) one other device can attach to and connect through it to internet. However it's not usually the fastest service and - as you're already concerned about - it can burn through many cell phone data plans pretty quickly.

    Instead, for about $200, you can purchase a separate "MiFi" device from Verizon and other cell phone companies. When you purchase the device, you set up a data plan for it with the cell phone company. There will be a monthly fee depending on what plan you purchase, but most of the plans offer a lot more than 6Gb of data. The MiFi devices also let a number of your devices connect securely at the same time... your phone, your computer, your wife's phone, etc. Our MiFi supports fifteen connections at once - all more securely than most boosted park wifi systems

    Some, like one we purchased from Verizon, include *unlimited* data and fastest-possible speeds. We prepaid $65 per month for ours at the beginning of this year, which is not cheap but it gave us WAY better internet service than we got from any of more than two dozen park wifi systems we'd tried. The data plans and prices are changing all the time; you can likely find one that meets your needs and budget.

    Hope this is still useful for you. Good luck.
    Last edited by boyscout; 09-25-2019 at 04:07 PM.
    Mark - 2018 Solitude 310GK - 2017 F-350 diesel SRW short box - Pullrite Superglide hitch

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

DISCLAIMER:This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Grand Design RV, LLC or any of its affiliates. This is an independent site.