TechnoRV "Alfa" Booster and Router Configuration Question

[Medic97]

Dear Forum members, I need some assistance

I am at Stone Mountain Campground for the winter and have a lousy WiFi connection. I purchased the Alfa booster and router from TechnoRV website with hopes of improving my WiFi connection.

After setting things up, I am able to properly connect to the campground's WiFi but unable to get internet access using these devices. I have informed TechnoRV support and they too are stumped and have offered a refund. However, this does not resolve my initial problems and there has to be a simple setting that appears to be escaping us all. Any ideas that anyone can provide will be appreciated.

Has anyone used these devices before? Do they actualy work on other sites? Is there something unique to Stone Mountain? (I doubt this last one since I am able to see numerous other WiFi settings in Network Settings of my laptop belongin to other RVrs.

Please contact me if you have any ideas or suggestions.

Thank you all in advance for your feedback

[WestCoastRV'er]

Originally Posted by Medic97

Dear Forum members, I need some assistance

I am at Stone Mountain Campground for the winter and have a lousy WiFi connection. I purchased the Alfa booster and router from TechnoRV website with hopes of improving my WiFi connection.

After setting things up, I am able to properly connect to the campground's WiFi but unable to get internet access using these devices. I have informed TechnoRV support and they too are stumped and have offered a refund. However, this does not resolve my initial problems and there has to be a simple setting that appears to be escaping us all. Any ideas that anyone can provide will be appreciated.

Has anyone used these devices before? Do they actualy work on other sites? Is there something unique to Stone Mountain? (I doubt this last one since I am able to see numerous other WiFi settings in Network Settings of my laptop belongin to other RVrs.

Please contact me if you have any ideas or suggestions.

Thank you all in advance for your feedback

Not familiar with TechnoRV products but I have the Alfa R36 with a AWUS036NHR USB wifi card for a setup. They are quite simple to use.
Alfa R36 & USB WIFI card

These are the instructions I used for setup.
R36 Setup

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[Medic97]

Thank you WestCoastRV'er for the response. I used similar intructions and also see "Connected" on the status page to the camp's WiFi. But still no Internet access. All network connections also show no internet access. That is the problem.

Are you satisfied with the R36 booster? Has it worked for you at multiple locations?

I need to decide if I will keep this product or return it.

[WestCoastRV'er]

Originally Posted by Medic97

Thank you WestCoastRV'er for the response. I used similar intructions and also see "Connected" on the status page to the camp's WiFi. But still no Internet access. All network connections also show no internet access. That is the problem.

Are you satisfied with the R36 booster? Has it worked for you at multiple locations?

I need to decide if I will keep this product or return it.

If you are not getting any DNS Servers in WAN connections you can try using google's DNS Servers.

8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4

Does the rv park wifi have a sign-in page? start page..
Is it open wifi or do you need to setup a password?

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[WestCoastRV'er]

Are you satisfied with the R36 booster? Has it worked for you at multiple locations?

I need to decide if I will keep this product or return it.[/QUOTE]

This is an upgrade to my existing 8dbi omni antenna, 2 watt sunhans using an old linksys wrt54g dd-wrt router. My new setup is using a 15 dbi flat panel directional antenna with the Alfa R36 connected to the Alfa AWUS036NHR v2 USB WIFI adapter. Only been able to test it at home and work on multiple networks ranging from Open, WPA2 & WEP. Seems to work well as long as the usb wifi is at a different level and as far away as possible to eliminate interference between the two antennas.

Once the weather warms up, I'm going to attach the new antenna to the TV retractable antenna so that I can change the direction from inside the trailer and do testing at my local rv park where I already know my limitations from the previous setup. With the antenna set outside and above most obstacles I believe this should work well. At home I was able to pick up almost 50 networks, which most were locked but it was definitely more than before.

For those that are not technical, WIFI Ranger is a really good option. I really like how you can configure the router to use wifi and hotspots to share all devices. They have many youtube videos and heard good things about their support. The only drawback is cost.

Hope you figure out your problem.

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[Evereddie]

Start with some basics. I assume you are using a laptop. Take the laptop near a wifi spot in the campground (preferably the one you are trying to use) and get on the wifi and then see if the internet works. Do you need a password to use the wifi, and did you enter that correctly? Don't use your booster. This will help narrow down if this is a campground issue or your booster. It's possible that even though the wifi is working the wifi spot you are in has no internet behind it. Talk to officials at the campground as to the status of the wifi and internet. As was suggested in a post before mine it may be that you have to sign in to some page before it lets you have internet. I was in that campground last summer but don't remember much about the wifi. We usually give up on campground wifi and use our hotspot.

Maybe take the laptop to a McDonald's, or Starbucks, or library and try that wifi and see if it works.

[Medic97]

Thanks again for the responsse guys.

The campground WiFi is open and no password is required. I do have internet access as evident by these responses using their WiFi but it is not reliable and drops often. That is why I need the booster to setup my own hotspot/WiFI in the RV. It connects correctly to campground WiFi but no internet access.

[WestCoastRV'er]

Originally Posted by WestCoastRV'er

Not familiar with TechnoRV products but I have the Alfa R36 with a AWUS036NHR USB wifi card for a setup. They are quite simple to use.
Alfa R36 & USB WIFI card

These are the instructions I used for setup.
R36 Setup

.
.
.

Try manually setting the DNS Servers in Step #6 of the easy setup.
DNS 1: 8.8.8.8
DNS2: 8.8.4.4

Another test you can perform is connecting directly to the R36 using a network cable. This would eliminate you internal wifi setup.

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[Medic97]

Just tried that a few mins ago. Still shows "Connected" for status but still have no internet access.

Tried the ethernet cable connecting directly to booster. This does work but I have to be tethered to the device by a 1.5ft of cord. The booster needs to be attached to window in order to have a line of view to campground's access points.

This is what lead me to believe that it must be a setting in the "advanced" config that I am missing. Either that or the router is my problem here.

[WestCoastRV'er]

Originally Posted by Medic97

Just tried that a few mins ago. Still shows "Connected" for status but still have no internet access.

Tried the ethernet cable connecting directly to booster. This does work but I have to be tethered to the device by a 1.5ft of cord. The booster needs to be attached to window in order to have a line of view to campground's access points.

This is what lead me to believe that it must be a setting in the "advanced" config that I am missing. Either that or the router is my problem here.

When you say connected to the booster, to be sure you are talking Alfa R36 and not the WIFI USB device.

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by Medic97

Thank you WestCoastRV'er for the response. I used similar intructions and also see "Connected" on the status page to the camp's WiFi. But still no Internet access. All network connections also show no internet access. That is the problem.

Are you satisfied with the R36 booster? Has it worked for you at multiple locations?

I need to decide if I will keep this product or return it.

From my experience and research, the best WiFi booster out there is the WiFi Ranger elite. I do no own one (yet!) but had the opportunity to use one last year. A buddy who was camping next to us had a WiFi Ranger and his WiFi signal was MUCH stronger than the campground's, so I asked if I could join his LAN.

DW and I were on his LAN with our 2 iPads and Macbook for 3 days. This was in addition to his 2 cellphones, 2 iPads and 2 Laptops that were also on the LAN (you can have up to 10 devices!). We were very impressed! The price is steep, but then again you get what you pay for.

There are other WiFi boosters out there, but what impressed us about this setup is id drop dead easy to setup and maintain! Also, we have just found out that we will be able to buy our WiFi Ranger without the Wireless router because we can use our existing Apple Airport Extreme.

Info: https://wifiranger.com

Hope this helps

[Medic97]

correct; R36 device

[WestCoastRV'er]

Originally Posted by Medic97

correct; R36 device

What version of USB WIFI card do you have. Seems the older firmware version for 36NH would save the network type to 802.11 Ad-Hoc instead of the correct type of Infrastructure.

Another thought would be to ensure you have the most recent firmware for the R36. Be sure to match with the correct WIFI card.

AWUS036NEH/AWUS036NH/AWUS036NHR:
v1.2.1.8

AWUS036H:
1.2.1.2B6

[Medic97]

Thanks WestCoastRV'er. I verified the firmaware a few days ago soon after receiving the device.

[Middleburg Redneck]

Below, is what I use for my set up. Both are on Amazon for around $120.00 with a Prime account. Works well as it gives you your own, secure network in your RV. I am not familiar with TechnoRV at all and the WiFi Ranger line, while a great product, is much more than I want to spend. I mounted the NanoStation M2 on a short piece of aluminum pole mounted to my external ladder and ran the CAT cable through the slideout. I was up and running in about a half hour including install. The configuration directions were quite simple to follow. Now the only issue I have is if the campground's Internet gets spotty. In fact, I have a 5th wheel, with a roof higher than my NanoStation, parked between me and the WiFi source (100 yds or so away) and I am still getting full signal on the NanoStation. The park has no repeaters and relies on the single wireless router that they have in the office. The router is near a window but not in it. I am impressed with the NanoStation's ability to pull in, amplify, and then deliver a wireless signal to me.

1. Ubiquiti NanoStation M2

2. Ubiquiti airGateway, airMAX WISP Customer Wi-Fi Solution, Small Form Factor

[etcmss]

i used the Alfa wifi booster connected to my laptop and it worked just fine after setup. I used the router and exterior antenna and it worked fine after setup.
Have not tried using the alfa and the router.
Suggestions on using the Alfa booster were provided by other users and most indicated getting the unit and its antenna closer to the window, with intent trying to get a stronger signal to the Alfa antenna.
Some of us chose to use the exterior antenna with cable routed inside to the router and then let the laptop connect to it as wireless. Its similar to the ranger but cheaper.