Wifi Booster Tube on the roof

[Martsing]

Ok,

I am getting a Wifi booster tube and am thinking about attaching it to the batwing. How tough is it to run the cable down the fridge vent? Once I get it into the vent how do I get it out? Or should I just attach it to the ladder on the stern? All the electronics are in the back anyway.

Marty

2016 Rockwood 2703WS
2011 F150 EB

[jgourlie]

Let me know what you find out....I am having those same questions myself

[WestCoastRV'er]

I ran mine down the same hole as the TV cable. Just removed the 4 screws on the plate, ran the wifi cable and resealed with dicor. I have a directional flat panel 2.4Ghz 14Dbi from simplewifi attached below the TV antenna. So far it works great.

Antenna:




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[jgourlie]

Originally Posted by WestCoastRV'er

I ran mine down the same hole as the TV cable. Just removed the 4 screws on the plate, ran the wifi cable and resealed with dicor. I have a directional flat panel 2.4Ghz 14Dbi from simplewifi attached below the TV antenna. So far it works great.

Antenna:




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Do the wires flap on your roof at all?? Where I live it is windy ALL the time so I was wondering if I had to eternabond down the wires or not.

[WestCoastRV'er]

This is an old photo. Yes I used eternabond to secure the solar cables. You can secure the wifi cable to the TV antenna.
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[RailwayRog]

wires in connector are for the following antennas, cell phone booster, wifi booster and FM

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by RailwayRog

wires in connector are for the following antennas, cell phone booster, wifi booster and FM

I thought we went camping to "get away from it all!" ???

[jgourlie]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

I thought we went camping to "get away from it all!" ???

Not in 2016

[Martsing]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

I thought we went camping to "get away from it all!" ???

I go backpacking to get away from it all

Marty

[Martsing]

Great information folks. I think for the short term I will simply mount it on my ladder and run it in a window. Long term though I want to get it onto that bat wing and run it in through a more permanent position. FYSA, I am not mechanically inclined. I stare are things for days before I start a project


Marty

[itat]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

I thought we went camping to "get away from it all!" ???

Some do. Some full time. Some work from their RV. Some use their RV as a motel room on the road rather than "camping".

[53flattie]

Forgive my ignorance... Will this 'wifi booster' amplify the campground-provided wifi signal? My family and I have noticed that lots of CG's offer wifi, but it really depends on where you are (in the campground) as to whether or not you can get a signal strong enough to use.

If this device will remedy that problem, I'm interested.


2015 Rockwood 2306
2015 Tundra CrewMax

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

I thought we went camping to "get away from it all!" ???

We don't camp- never have in the fifth wheel. It's our rolling hotel room and we use it as basis for traveling. That was always true for us but especially so now that it's my actual home and where my home office is.

Originally Posted by 53flattie

Forgive my ignorance... Will this 'wifi booster' amplify the campground-provided wifi signal? My family and I have noticed that lots of CG's offer wifi, but it really depends on where you are (in the campground) as to whether or not you can get a signal strong enough to use.

If this device will remedy that problem, I'm interested.

That's exactly what it'll help improve. Basically it lets you "see" and communicate with networks that are further away.

But, the thing to remember- it can't make slow campground wifi faster; you're still at the mercy of the speed of their internet. The best test is to walk to where the campground wifi is broadcast from and connect from there- whatever speed it is at that location is what you'll be bringing into your camper.

[itat]

Originally Posted by ependydad

But, the thing to remember- it can't make slow campground wifi faster; you're still at the mercy of the speed of their internet. The best test is to walk to where the campground wifi is broadcast from and connect from there- whatever speed it is at that location is what you'll be bringing into your camper.

And this is the most unfortunate part. Around here, if they have wifi, the speed is barely acceptable just for emails. That forces you to use cell phone data which is ridiculously expensive up here.

I don't think we've ever setup camp in a location that's within a mile or two of a place like McDonald's that would have faster public wifi to access.

Hopefully, at least the KOAs will start improving their wifi speeds. Smaller private campgrounds and provincial parks will likely never offer it throughout the campground.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by itat

And this is the most unfortunate part. Around here, if they have wifi, the speed is barely acceptable just for emails. That forces you to use cell phone data which is ridiculously expensive up here.

Around here, it's generally the same - campground wifi is terrible. Cellular data is generally expensive (though, I think nowhere near what you are paying) AND there are still options for attaining unlimited data.

Now that I have an unlimited plan, I don't even try the campground wifi. I bought a wifi booster and have it as part of my arsenal, but other than 1 night at a Walmart, I haven't actually used it (though, I do regularly use the router it came with and LOVE it).

[jgourlie]

I have been watching this thread with great interest. My situation is that our private family campground is located in the middle of a small town. It is surrounded by houses on all sides situated on a couple acres of land each.

With the great distance between each house I am needing something that can reach at least a mile, 2 would be best to get to the town's free wifi connection or the local church's free wifi.

Am I asking to much of these devices to get this to work for my situation??

[rsdata]

flat panel WIFI booster antennas are directional, you need to point the flat panel at the source of the signal... that said a mile or two is difficult to get unless the sender of the signal is also using a directional antenna and pointing it in YOUR direction... any trees or buildings in the way will completely block the signal. You might get 100-200 yards using a directional flat panel antenna to "see" a typical non-directional signal, but throughput speeds might not be very fast.

[Blackhat6mike]

Originally Posted by jgourlie

I have been watching this thread with great interest. My situation is that our private family campground is located in the middle of a small town. It is surrounded by houses on all sides situated on a couple acres of land each.

With the great distance between each house I am needing something that can reach at least a mile, 2 would be best to get to the town's free wifi connection or the local church's free wifi.

Am I asking to much of these devices to get this to work for my situation??

Yep, I think you are asking way too much at "a mile or two". My unit will pull in wifi from a max of 1/4 to 1/2 miles away, but not always a strong enough signal to use.
I got a signal from a restaurant 1/4 miles away from our CG which was on A1A right on the beach and nothing between us. It was usable, but only 2 bars out of 5. Still, it beat having to burn up our data plan on the Jetpack.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by Martsing

I am getting a Wifi booster tube and am thinking about attaching it to the batwing. How tough is it to run the cable down the fridge vent? Once I get it into the vent how do I get it out? Or should I just attach it to the ladder on the stern? All the electronics are in the back anyway.

I'm way late to this game with answering the original question, but that's exactly what I had done by a RV repair shop.

Here's the roof:


They came in through the fridge vent and into a cabinet above the fridge. It had a false rear wall that they busted through (not very gracefully, I might add). I had a buddy do some additional wiring done and he took pictures of the back wall removed. It's hard to see what's going on, but basically it's a mess of wires from the ceiling into this cavity:




And then I established a "tech cabinet" above my kitchen cabinets for my various hardware:

[Martsing]

Just to report that the booster tube and the wifi repeater from Techno RV worked flawlessly over the weekend. The wifi at the Hatteras KOA was pretty good without the booster but since the repeater was already set-up and our devices already recognized it all I had to do was log into the KOA wifi and we stayed connected all weekend.

So far so good.

Marty
2016 Rockwood 2703WS
2011 Ford EB SCAB