MiFi vs WiFi booster?

[PamJohnZephyr]

After two days of researching WiFi boosters I come across something called MiFi. Supposed to be its own WiFi hot spot and helps boost cell service too? Now I'm more confused that ever. My wife and I are recently retired and plan to spend a good amount of time on the road. We would certainly want to have reliable internet service.

Anyone out there use this MiFii gizmo? If so, how does it compare to the WiFi boosters?

[timfromma]

I use the wifi hotspot feature on my phone. I don't really care for public hotspots.

[seakayaker]

Originally Posted by PamJohnZephyr

After two days of researching WiFi boosters I come across something called MiFi. Supposed to be its own WiFi hot spot and helps boost cell service too? Now I'm more confused that ever. My wife and I are recently retired and plan to spend a good amount of time on the road. We would certainly want to have reliable internet service.

Anyone out there use this MiFii gizmo? If so, how does it compare to the WiFi boosters?

A MiFi is now almost slang these days for a small black box provided by your mobile phone carrier. It charges via cable just like a cell phone does. When you power it on, it connects to your mobile carrier (AT&T, Verizon, etc) and also creates a WIFI network which your laptop, tablets, etc can connect to. You may have to pay for the device as well as pay for additional "data" with your mobile phone carrier.


Here's some bullets that may help:


* MiFi will provide coverage equal to the coverage provided the mobile phone carrier providing the MiFi. So...if the campground you are in has poor coverage for your carrier...the MiFi coverage for internet access will also be poor.
* If your campground provides either NO Wifi or POOR Wifi, then MiFi becomes an attractive option.


Cutting to the chase... What would I do (and what I actually do):


* I don't have a MiFi device. However, I have "hotspot" service which I can turn on "at will" on my phone. Most carriers offer this as an add-on for about $20/month. When I enable it, it does the exact same thing as a MiFi and it uses my data plan. This can get expensive in a hurry if I'm streaming video, music, etc. The advantage is that it provides access just like the MiFi and I don't have to fool with a separate MiFi device (I already have the phone). I use this whenever the campground I'm in doesn't supply their own WiFi.
* I also have a Ubiquity Nanostation which I use essentially as a range extender. It allows me to connect to WIFI networks as far away as 2 miles (if open field). I have it connected to a Ubiquity Air Gateway which creates the WIFI network in and around my TT. This is more secure than using the campground's network directly (I use this gear to connect my WiFI network to theirs in order to get out to the internet). This is the preferred method to achieve internet access for all my devices because: 1) it uses the campground's internet connection which I'm already paying for 2) for most campgrounds I've been to the speed is anywhere from fair to good. I've not encountered problems streaming music or video.


Getting into the weeds about how to configure a Ubiquity Nanostation and Air gateway is a bit beyond what I'd want to do here but if you have a knowlegable IT guy or gal, I can get them the instructions which I follow.

[Rich.M]

Mifi is a cellular device that acts as wifi hot spot so you can get on the internet with your wifi devices. They require a cellular plan with data. They used to be more common but now many cellphones can hotspot wifi. It may be more efficient and cost effective to get a cellphone that can hotspot like an IPhone. Mifi will not boost cell power, there are cell boosters for that. Cellular data is fine for general internet but don't use for Netflix or video. Too expensive.
A wifi booster will increase the range of your wifi device in a campground but wont get you on the internet if no wifi available or slow bandwidth.
We have both a wifi booster and a cellular booster. Our IPhone can hot spot and acts like a mifi. Overall the most reliable way to get on the internet is to hotspot with the phone. Cell booster is only needed in very remote areas or to increase speed in borderline areas.
Wifi booster only gets used when great campground wifi or parked outside of stores with wifi traveling. Occasionally there is enough bandwidth for video but that is not common.

[PamJohnZephyr]

Thank you, Seakayaker. The booster/gateway set up is what I feel will work best for us. We don't stream anything, really. Just need to keep the DW connected with her FB peeps and banking. I found a MiFI for about $30 that claims "free" data (up to a point). But hey, if we can't connect, we can't connect. That's what the scrabble board is for!

[seakayaker]

You should be fine with that with one caveat. Keep in mind "you get what you pay for". If the MiFi is from a carrier that has poor coverage, then you'll get exactly that "poor coverage". In general, I find Verizon to have the best coverage. However, they are also the most expensive : ( Cue the popcorn for the Verizon haters now : )

[gectisme]

We use a Verizon MiFi 6620l and have been happy with it. It uses the Verizon Cell Towers to get 4g LTE data at a cost of $120 month for unlimited data. We found that $120/month plan on ebay and basically rent the plan from a company that specialized in that kind of service. You can’t get an unlimited 4g LTE data plan from Verizon anymore, (at least not at $120/month). We also use my work iPhone as a hot spot quite often and that works well too. We check here on this forum, search the internet and call ahead to the campground to find out if they have good Verizon coverage and so far, it has worked well.

I need good bandwidth, (1mb is doable but 3mb or higher is preferred), for me to be on the road and working, so boosting campground WiFi is not a solid solution. What we have found so far is the Campground Wifi and WiFi networks near Campgrounds are usually not very good and many times the campground's WifI is only on part of the day/evening.

[conceptumator]

Some things to remember, regardless of what device you choose to use:

1. Internet service in a campground is a single connection. Think of it like a pipe bringing water to the campground. Depending on the size of the pipe, if your neighbors are showing, your water flow is less. The only way to get more flow is to get a bigger pipeline with a bigger source of water - not going to happen. In other words, you can magnify the signal to the campground's WiFi all you want, but it's still not going to speed up your internet. Only so much data goes through that line and it's all being shared by every user on the network. To top it all off, if you get one person who decides to try and stream a movie, the entire campground can be shut off from anything due to their hogging of the bandwidth.

2. Beware of data plans for using your MiFi type connections. Take AT&T for example. Not all of their data plans will let you use the Hot Spot feature of your iPhone, etc. That statement is especially applicable to the new "unlimited" data plan for those folks using AT&T and DirecTV. The "unlimited" plan not only throttles your bandwidth down after a certain amount of data is used, but it does not support use of your hot spot feature. What that means is that only devices you are specifically paying the monthly fees for will have internet connection through the system. You cannot get internet on your laptop computer by hooking to your phone's hot spot as the hot spot is not supported. Be very aware of the restrictions before signing up for anything.....VERY aware. And don't depend on what the sales person tells you!

[RudysWorld]

I use both. They are entirely different animals. Wifi booster will help if you have access to wifi such as at a campground or near a business that provides free wifi like a coffee shop or big box store. Mifi is using cellular data and you would have to have a data plan from your cellular provider so this would be available anywhere your cellular carrier has data service. Hope this helps. Good Luck!

[Telstar]

I have a dual port Amped Wireless range extender with one antenna on the roof to connect to the campground wifi and one in the fiver to connect to our devices. If that doesn't work I turn on our AT&T hotspot.

[Jon A]

Jack Mayer and his wife, Danielle, and been full timers for 13 plus years. Jack has a website in which he shares a multitude of information from his experience and knowledge. One section deals with the information that you are seeking.

Communication

I learned everything from Jack and from Chris & Cherie at Technomadia. Their web site about EVERYTHING RV communication is RV Mobile Internet Resource Center.

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/

I've configured my systems as they have because I do business on the road as a full timer. Dependable connectivity is a necessity for me.

WiFi
WiFi Ranger Elite Pack https://www.wifiranger.com/

Cellular Booster
weBoost Drive 4G-X https://www.weboost.com/

Cellular Moblie Hotspot https://www.verizonwireless.com/internet-devices/
Verizon Jetpack® 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot—AC791L

Work your way thru this stuff and it will hopefully help make sense of all the confusing information.
Jon

[timfromma]

I use Foxfi. It enables the wifi hotspot feature on Android phones without requiring a subscription. The data used is billed against your phone's data plan.

[ependydad]

I have a couple of articles that might help you, PamJohnZephyr:

Start here, I describe my boosters and network setup and what I use when:
Cellular, wifi, and networks – OH MY! | Learn To RV

And then move onto here to read about cellular mobile internet options:
Mobile Internet on the Road | Learn To RV

Hope they help.

[mwaite49]

I’m on my daughters family plan so I try not to use my cell phone as a hotspot.
I use a straight talk Mobile Hotspot (ZTE Z288L) 4G LTE that I got from Walmart for $39.99.

This has worked for me while traveling. I got this particular hotspot because it connects to the Verizon network. We travel primarily in the west and Verizon has much better coverage. I purchase data service cards at Walmart or online to add data. The good part for me is that I only buy data when I’m camping. The bad part of this system is that the data runs out in 30 or 60 days and doesn’t roll over.

I use wi-fi at campgrounds, or coffee shops, and the hotspot when I can’t receive wi-fi. I purchased a Bear Extender wi-fi booster and plug it into my laptop’s usb port. It increases the quality considerably at campsites and hotels where the wi-fi signals is less than desirable.

The hotspot and wi-fi booster have worked for my situation, moderate wi-fi use when I’m traveling. As you can see on this thread there’s lots of alternatives.
______________________

2016 R-Pod 179
2014 Ram 1500 4X4

[PamJohnZephyr]

Thank you everyone for the great info! I believe that I am actually understanding the technology available and don't feel nearly as intimidated now. You are all appreciated for your experience, knowledge and willingness to share. Merry Christmas to all, and to all good travels!

[Mdaniels4]

Our campground WiFi is poor. I did use an verizon mifi and that worked well for our sprint phones. I think we get poor WiFi because the transmitter is in one place and doesn't broadcast with sufficient strength. I wonder if they could add some additional routers to expand that? My service is att, and when at the camper the 4g is ok, barely, so getting an att hotspot, or using my phone as a hotspot wouldn't be that effective. I'll probably continue the verizon hotspot. It's my sister in laws that we rent from her for the summer.

[DrippingDuo]

We use Verizon MiFi (bought it outright) for a $10 per month use fee. You can stop billing for up to 90 days a year. The cell phone has its own hotspot, so the MiFi is for the laptop - don't hook up your cell phone to it, it uses too much data. If not using the laptop, turn it off to save data usage. Decide to continue using our local service for now and MiFi when on the road only until we gain experience and proficiency.

[Mdaniels4]

Originally Posted by timfromma

I use Foxfi. It enables the wifi hotspot feature on Android phones without requiring a subscription. The data used is billed against your phone's data plan.

So. Did install foxfi and it worked well. However. Big however. My phone noted that an unidentified 3rd party could be watching ALL networked traffic from all attached devices. So I clicked on it and then there was a list of trusted certificates that could have access. There were alot. Many overseas. Including the China information network. This really concerned me, so I've deleted the app as a result. If someone can really know that all my data isn't being broadcast I might consider reinstalling it. But right now to be honest it scares me.

[RverAnn45]

I must be the only RVer who was sucked into the expense of MiFi. My first version (2 years ago) failed. It was sold as 4 G but after we left Minneapolis and went into 3 G, it never worked again. Two months later in Idaho, a Verizon store told us that MiFi version was faulty and gave use a new one for a 2 year contract. I cannot wait to have this contract be over. There have been some good suggestions on this thread.

[timfromma]

Originally Posted by Mdaniels4

So. Did install foxfi and it worked well. However. Big however. My phone noted that an unidentified 3rd party could be watching ALL networked traffic from all attached devices. So I clicked on it and then there was a list of trusted certificates that could have access. There were alot. Many overseas. Including the China information network. This really concerned me, so I've deleted the app as a result. If someone can really know that all my data isn't being broadcast I might consider reinstalling it. But right now to be honest it scares me.

I went in and turned off all those certificates.