Weak or No Cell Service or Wifi

[njfishing]

Just went camping up in the Adirondaks in a fairly remote campground with no cell service. We did have wifi but only at the campground office. For cell service I had to jump in the car and drive 5 miles to pick up a tower. Nothing at the site...

That certainly was a mixed blessing. I do love the solitude but since I own my own business, I kinda felt out of touch. It would have been convenient to have some sort of connectivity at the site to make an occasional call or get on wifi at our site or be reachable if any emergency issues came up with work or family.

One thing I did find out is if you have wifi but no cell service, you can use skype to make calls to any landline or cell phone by purchasing credits or subscribing for a month or more... See that here.... https://secure.skype.com/en/calling-rates?expo365=empty

What I am however wondering is if any of you are using wifi or cell service boosters with any success?

Thanks

[5picker]

Originally Posted by njfishing

Just went camping up in the Adirondaks in a fairly remote campground with no cell service. We did have wifi but only at the campground office. For cell service I had to jump in the car and drive 5 miles to pick up a tower. Nothing at the site...

That certainly was a mixed blessing. I do love the solitude but since I own my own business, I kinda felt out of touch. It would have been convenient to have some sort of connectivity at the site to make an occasional call or get on wifi at our site or be reachable if any emergency issues came up with work or family.

One thing I did find out is if you have wifi but no cell service, you can use skype to make calls to any landline or cell phone by purchasing credits or subscribing for a month or more... See that here.... https://secure.skype.com/en/calling-rates?expo365=empty

What I am however wondering is if any of you are using wifi or cell service boosters with any success?

Thanks

Cell & WIFI repeaters (boosters) will not boost a signal that isn't there.

I understand we've become dependent on technology but unfortunately, a lot of places in the world have not (nor can not) keep up with coverage necessary for always being in touch.

I find it interesting that many folks have a hard time realizing that.

[Flybob]

I have a cell phone booster (Weboost) however, be aware that it will boost a weak cell signal ( ie 1 bar to maybe 3 bars) It can not create a signal from nothing. If there is no service, it will have nothing to boost. Also many cell phones have a menu item to use wifi for calls when no service is available, you may try looking for that that option on your phone. Cell service is nice, but part of the reason one goes camping is to get away from the daily distractions. If you do decide to go with a dell phone booster, be sure to get one that covers all the frequencies, otherwise you could be stuck with one or two carriers.

[Martsing]

These boosters use their own larger integral antenna which can access signals that a handheld device simply can't access. They will also retransmit your own cell phone signal BACK to the tower. So, instead of your cell phone constantly searching and using more power to hand shake that just in range tower it simply stays connected to the booster in your camper. The booster does all the heavy lifting. If you have a need for a cell phone signal a booster can help BUT as has been stated it can't boost a signal that isn't there.

Personally, I have a wifi booster but have not had the need for a cell phone booster.

Marty

[rsdata]

many remote campsites have little to NO cell service, and if it does it is probably Verizon that covers the area... not ATT or Sprint...

[ForestWalker]

Originally Posted by rsdata

many remote campsites have little to NO cell service, and if it does it is probably Verizon that covers the area... not ATT or Sprint...

"Can you hear me now?"

[Dano1955]

If there is wifi at all but no cell service you can still use your normal phone to make calls. Just enable wifi calling in the settings, connect your phone to the wifi signal, and dial.

This works on android, not sure how the toy phone handles it.

[BamaBob]

We have both a WiFi Ranger (WiFi Booster and whole-RV campsite router and point of presence) and a WeBoost Drive 4G-X RV (Cell Booster). They both do different, but complimentary things.

WiFi Ranger - Best in class means of boosting weak campground or nearby public WiFi signals. We have pulled in signals from as far away as 1 mile with very good connectivity.

Having said that, be aware that connecting to the WiFi signal and having usable bandwidth are 2 separate issues. For example, last year at the FROG International Rally, I was able to lock on to the fairgrounds WiFi with 5+ bars. However, I was using their WiFi router along with 1,000 of my new best friends, so you can imagine what my bandwidth was like (In fact, we rarely use public WiFi, unless it is the only game in town).

What I REALLY like best about the WiFi Ranger is that it establishes a single point of presence for our Motorhome with whatever WiFi signal we are connecting to. This has several advantages:

• Some CGs will only issue 1 password per RV and you are expected to "share" the password among all your devices. This is really inconvenient when all my wife and I want to do is check email. With the WiFi Ranger we have our own WiFi network at our campsite - the WiFi Ranger logs on to the Router and broadcasts the signal to our iPads.
• We have an Apple TV, printer, scanner and large mediaserver for movies music and TV shows - all shareable on our internal network.
• The WiFi Ranger is a great Firewall to open WiFi Networks! In fact, this is the biggest reason we went with the WiFi Ranger (brand). The WiFi Ranger creates a secure WPA2 encrypted network for all our devices, a firewall to block out others, and has a feature called SafeSurf to encrypt all our data while using public WiFi networks. So, even if there is no WiFi signal, anything going on in our network is secure.

Cell Booster. We use the WeBoost 4G-X with the new specialized RV Antenna to boost Cell Signals. In our application, however, it is very rarely used to boost Cell Phone signals. What we use it for is to boost the signals received by our cellular WiFi hotspots

With the boosted cellular signal, our hotspots can then receive a strong cell signal which translates to really (really!) good data speeds (usually 10-20 Mbps down and 5-11 Mbps up) More than adequate to stream Netflix or Apple TV. In addition, since our iPhones can do Cellular over WiFi, in the event that we have good WiFi but no cellular (because of carrier) we can always use our iPhones over our WiFi network.

Be aware though, if you are only a 10-20 night a year camper this may not be for you - the hardware alone for our network was a little over $1,000 bucks

If any have questions on setup or other technical issues, I'm happy to help!

[Cypressloser]

Originally Posted by BamaBob

We have both a WiFi Ranger (WiFi Booster and whole-RV campsite router and point of presence) and a WeBoost Drive 4G-X RV (Cell Booster). They both do different, but complimentary things.

WiFi Ranger - Best in class means of boosting weak campground or nearby public WiFi signals. We have pulled in signals from as far away as 1 mile with very good connectivity.

Having said that, be aware that connecting to the WiFi signal and having usable bandwidth are 2 separate issues. For example, last year at the FROG International Rally, I was able to lock on to the fairgrounds WiFi with 5+ bars. However, I was using their WiFi router along with 1,000 of my new best friends, so you can imagine what my bandwidth was like (In fact, we rarely use public WiFi, unless it is the only game in town).

What I REALLY like best about the WiFi Ranger is that it establishes a single point of presence for our Motorhome with whatever WiFi signal we are connecting to. This has several advantages:

• Some CGs will only issue 1 password per RV and you are expected to "share" the password among all your devices. This is really inconvenient when all my wife and I want to do is check email. With the WiFi Ranger we have our own WiFi network at our campsite - the WiFi Ranger logs on to the Router and broadcasts the signal to our iPads.
• We have an Apple TV, printer, scanner and large mediaserver for movies music and TV shows - all shareable on our internal network.
• The WiFi Ranger is a great Firewall to open WiFi Networks! In fact, this is the biggest reason we went with the WiFi Ranger (brand). The WiFi Ranger creates a secure WPA2 encrypted network for all our devices, a firewall to block out others, and has a feature called SafeSurf to encrypt all our data while using public WiFi networks. So, even if there is no WiFi signal, anything going on in our network is secure.

Cell Booster. We use the WeBoost 4G-X with the new specialized RV Antenna to boost Cell Signals. In our application, however, it is very rarely used to boost Cell Phone signals. What we use it for is to boost the signals received by our cellular WiFi hotspots

With the boosted cellular signal, our hotspots can then receive a strong cell signal which translates to really (really!) good data speeds (usually 10-20 Mbps down and 5-11 Mbps up) More than adequate to stream Netflix or Apple TV. In addition, since our iPhones can do Cellular over WiFi, in the event that we have good WiFi but no cellular (because of carrier) we can always use our iPhones over our WiFi network.

Be aware though, if you are only a 10-20 night a year camper this may not be for you - the hardware alone for our network was a little over $1,000 bucks

If any have questions on setup or other technical issues, I'm happy to help!

This is exactly what we're going to install, everything else is just monkeying around and throwing good money after bad. I have a Smoothtalker in the truck but that's not doing me any good in the rv.

Save

[rp53]

i love it when we have no cell service when camping, to me that is what its all about ...
Getting away. fortunately if for some reason I have to make a call i just use my onstar sat. phone

[babock]

Originally Posted by Dano1955

If there is wifi at all but no cell service you can still use your normal phone to make calls. Just enable wifi calling in the settings, connect your phone to the wifi signal, and dial.

This works on android, not sure how the toy phone handles it.

Depends on your carrier. Only a few carriers support this. If you have both the carrier that supports this AND a phone that supports this, you can do it. If you were referring to iPhone when you said toy phone, yes it supports wifi calling.

[JLeising]

Google Hangouts dialer works on Android. No carrier dependency - even works without a SIM card.

[Mountndream]

Originally Posted by njfishing

Just went camping up in the Adirondaks in a fairly remote campground with no cell service. We did have wifi but only at the campground office. For cell service I had to jump in the car and drive 5 miles to pick up a tower. Nothing at the site...

That certainly was a mixed blessing. I do love the solitude but since I own my own business, I kinda felt out of touch. It would have been convenient to have some sort of connectivity at the site to make an occasional call or get on wifi at our site or be reachable if any emergency issues came up with work or family.

One thing I did find out is if you have wifi but no cell service, you can use skype to make calls to any landline or cell phone by purchasing credits or subscribing for a month or more... See that here.... https://secure.skype.com/en/calling-rates?expo365=empty

What I am however wondering is if any of you are using wifi or cell service boosters with any success?

Thanks

not sure why anyone would buy this when all of the big carriers allow Wi-Fi calling for free on their phones. ALL iPhones 6 and above on the AT&T, Verizon and Sprint allow this. Android has their own form, but even then the carriers above have their own version of WiFi calling

[babock]

Originally Posted by JLeising

Google Hangouts dialer works on Android. No carrier dependency - even works without a SIM card.

Or from your PC itself if you have a headset. I have used that before. Of course the number you call from is a Google assigned number. Doesn't really help for incoming calls to your cell number.

[babock]

Originally Posted by Mountndream

AT&T, Verizon and Sprint allow this. Android has their own form, but even then the carriers above have their own version of WiFi calling

I was unaware that those carriers offered it now. It used to be only T mobile and Google Fi.

[Dano1955]

Originally Posted by Mountndream

not sure why anyone would buy this when all of the big carriers allow Wi-Fi calling for free on their phones. ALL iPhones 6 and above on the AT&T, Verizon and Sprint allow this. Android has their own form, but even then the carriers above have their own version of WiFi calling

I might get a cell service booster just to use my hotspot. Tried on on t-mobile but it was worthless in most places. Planning on switching to att for service. Better almost everywhere.

[babock]

Typically, if I am in an area where there is no cell service, there is a 0% chance I will get wifi from anywhere.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by babock

Typically, if I am in an area where there is no cell service, there is a 0% chance I will get wifi from anywhere.

We've been in three different campgrounds this summer that had zero cell service but wonderfully good WIFI.

[Oaklevel]

We get no cell service at our house but maybe we can get wifi and could get calls from what I am hearing just not with a flip phone......... Never worried about either at campgrounds........

[formerFR]

we've traveled over 75,000 miles over the last 3 years, even into Alaska, and Canada, of course... We all 4 have AT&T, which works well in this area of the western NC mountains, but our previous Vz was non-existent here.
Before Alaska, we switched to the new Unlimited Plus plan, from a 16gb plan. While it costs $50 more, overall, the Plus plan provided INCLUDED services in Canada, and with unlimited data we had no worries - no extra charges, no changes needed, even though it roamed several different carriers while traveling thru there.

We have had a WifiRanger for several years, and it works well, in most situations, especially if you have one of those 'parks' that limit you to a single connection, usually because they use a 'paid' service like Tengo, not one I care for too much. The antenna picks up signals from much farther away than your laptop or phone can, and it provides an easy single point to connect to.

We also recently picked up a $75 Cell Booster for where we are currently parked. The AT&T signal is here, and it's 4gLTE, which is excellent, but it will 'come and go' depending on where you are standing on the property. The booster is an exterior antenna to provide better reception, a 'booster' device, and an interior antenna to send the enhanced signal to your devices. The devices don't know any different, they are just receiving a boosted AT&T cell signal, not like Wifi where you have to 'connect'. Now we don't have to worry about losing the signal while online, and the speed is consistent.

The environment for technology and business, which I do also, is terrific in today's environment - but we still take a lot for granted. There are areas that you will never receive a cell signal. There are areas, campground, and even rv parks, where there is no 'wifi' or internet infrastructure. Having said all that, though, we were pleasantly surprised at the number of places in Alaska and NW Canada that DID provide us a connection, either cell based or internet wifi, but anytime we did not have either it was a little uncomfortable, though it was only for a day or two. We survived.

In the future, as Satellite technology works easier, and becomes more affordable and more convenient, it may take over as the technology of choice. Our satellite antenna is a thing of interest, as just thinking about how it 'connects' with a satellite in orbit around the earth, many hundreds or thousands of miles away, is thought provoking.
When a simple and portable Satellite INTERNET antenna becomes available, it will change the RVing lifestyle. Whether it arises from the cell based companies, or the satellite based companies, remains to be seen. Maybe from neither...

I feel for RV park owners and Campground management, they are fighting a hard battle to keep us satisfied as technology changes faster and faster. In the past it was 'why don't they have 50a hookups?', then it was 'why don't you provide Cable TV?', then it was 'why don't you have a landline internet hookup at each site?', then 'why isn't your internet faster?', then 'what do you mean, you only have Wifi at the office?', then 'why is your Wifi so slow?', 'why is so hard to connect to?', 'why are you limiting me to a single 'coupon' to connect?', and lastly... 'why are you CHARGING me for Wifi??!!!!'..... I feel for them, it's a losing battle.

Some have decided to try to manage it, while many others have decided that it's no longer their issue, but the customer's. And it's true - many of us now have cell data and satellite tv, though we'll still complain that there is no cell signal here and too many trees to see the satellites!