Extending Wifi - How far can you go?

Antares · 03-30-2015, 07:48 AM

Previously posted in the IT social group. Reposting with more information in the general forum since nobody uses the social group.

So far my wireless setup has been pretty simple: My router turns on when the trailer is plugged in, I turn on my hotspot on the phone and instant internet coverage is provided to all local devices. The second router is required for our wifi-enabled baby monitors that need to communicate directly. The phone hotspot feature does not work well as a router for LAN based applications such as this. This setup works pretty well, until I walk out of range with my phone, or are camping somewhere with spotty 4g coverage. Yes, my phone has been held hostage in the truck just because there are more bars there.

Most of the campgrounds we visit have free wifi at the camp store. I think there is a missed opportunity to be able to tap into these hotspots that can be up to a mile away.

My initial idea was to buy a couple cheap (~$25) repeaters and place them in bath houses or power pedestals of empty sites between me and the wifi source. I nixed this idea due to complexity of setup and the risk of theft of the equipment.

My second option was an outdoor range extender. I considered these a couple years ago but I had some concerns about it frying whoever came near it. While looking at newer models, I found in particular the Ubiquiti NanoStation M2 which has a nicely directed antenna profile and advertised 8 mile range and no issues with being overpowered. It also acts as a router, so I can configure whatever devices I need to on my own LAN and not rely on the questionable networking configuration of the remote hotspot.

I purchased the Nano late last year and started some testing at home. On a normal day, with the device indoors, I can get a site survey of 50-60 other networks, compared to my normal router that can see only 8. The range is impressive, and I used to to connect to an unsecured Nest thermostat half a mile away. This being in a wifi-conjested suburban area.

While the Nano seems like it will do the job of reaching out to grab the hotspots, it's directional antenna makes it a poor choice to act as a repeater. An omnidirectional solution would be needed for wireless clients to connect to the LAN. for this purpose, I selected the Ubiquiti Picostation. It is an outdoor router just like the Nano, and has great range for an omnidirectional antenna device.

Both devices are powered by 12-24v POE, and ideally they would be mounted outside for best signal quality. I had initially thought of mounting both on a temporary flagpole that could be put up every trip and attached to the bumper. My thoughts then turned to that existing rotational antenna mast I already have on the roof. Since I would need an ethernet cable up there for power, I started researching the possibility of using the existing coax as a pull cable to bring the ethernet up. Then it hit me, this is an amplified antenna, and it already has 12v power going to it when I push the amplifier button on the TV panel! I would just need a way to convert amplified antenna coax to POE. No commercial solutions were available, so I brought out the soldering iron and made my own injector.

Setup is simple, you put the antenna mast up and rotate it to the general direction of the external hotspot. You power on the routers, then connect your device. A quick config on the Nano tells it what hotpot to connect to. I have not tested at a campground yet, but I will report my findings after the first trip.

OhioMark · 03-30-2015, 08:25 AM

Antares,

Thanks for all the homework and reporting back. I'm finding my 4G hotspot on my AT&T phone surpasses the free hotspots for speed. Is your goal to hit the closest Starbucks vs. the campgrounds lousy service?

Antares · 03-30-2015, 08:35 AM

My goal is to get away from using my phone's 4G hotspot and use the campground wifi, even if it is slower. I want to detach my phone from being a critical part of the network stack. Too much time was being spent keeping the hotspot active or reconnecting it when I came back from a hike or something. The cost of a dedicated hotspot device makes one not worth it in my opinion.

johnboytoo · 03-30-2015, 08:51 AM

interested !!!!

as I now do a verizon aircard, but it's an old 3G and supports one device ok

campingcpl · 03-30-2015, 11:31 AM

We use the Verizon Jetpack MiFi 4G and it works great for us. You can have up to 10 devices connected to it. We paid like $50.00 for it and it's only $10.00 extra a month on our cell plan. Since it's totally portable we can use it in the vehicles with the laptop instead of searching things on our phones. It's also WPA2 secured which is a lot more secure then connecting to a local wifi hotspot not to mention the speed is a lot faster then using a hot spot that might have 100+ people using it. This works the best for us because a lot of the places we stay don't have wifi anyway.

8iron · 03-30-2015, 09:17 PM

Unfortunately no matter how strong you manage to receive the campground wifi it will probably still be slowwwww. Just too many connections on a basic system.

Antares · 03-31-2015, 04:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 8iron

Unfortunately no matter how strong you manage to receive the campground wifi it will probably still be slowwwww. Just too many connections on a basic system.

The thing about Ohio is that the wifi does not extend to hardly any campsites. Heck, it doesn't even make it to the dump station. Not very many people are on it so it tends to not be saturated.

At several campgrounds they have big fancy lodges with high quality wifi. These parks we always happen to be camping directly across the lake, so I can get a better connection with line-of-site over the water.

OhioMark · 03-31-2015, 05:44 AM

I know you said you've not tested it yet, but may we ask what your total investment was? I'd like to compare to my current 4G service. I pay $200 a month for 5 phones on a shared 30GB data and unlimited voice plan. Most of the time I get decent service with AT&T.

Your right on the money about campgrounds with weak signals not being saturated. I found that once I get a connection the performance is ok.

Antares · 03-31-2015, 06:56 AM

About $160 total for both routers and the parts needed to make the POE injector. I make my own ethernet cables from a spool so I didn't include that cost, but ethernet cables are cheap.

jakesz28 · 07-17-2015, 08:55 PM

How is this working? Have you tested it? I am thinking about ordering the NanoStation M2

jakesz28 · 07-25-2015, 09:03 PM

I gave this a try. I did not attempt to mount it yet. I knew where I am camping it was a slim chance of working. This camp ground is just to big and no line of site. I am 4000' from one WiFi spot and 4300' from the other.

I had the nano station M2 on an extended pole (left over from the pool vacuum). I was only able to see one secured signal. I was hopin to connect to the camp grounds wifi.

The wife and I used 10 GB of data last month.

Bert · 07-26-2015, 09:39 PM

This is a topic I'm very interested in. We are 26 days into our summer trip and have been in a few areas with no cell service. So having the ability to get wifi without walking up to the office would be great. I've read up on a few systems but they are all pricey. The boating industry uses extenders a lot because wifi may not reach your location on the dock. I can't find the article but when I do I'll post the unit many people are using.

johnboytoo · 07-27-2015, 07:50 AM

subscribing as I too am interested enough to see about upgrading my old slow air card

but I am not going to be soldering - so if you want to build me a solution, think about the business opportunity - I'll invest !

jakesz28 · 07-27-2015, 09:00 AM

I am sure what I bought would work great at other sites. I basically did the same thing as the original post except mine is not mounted at this time. I was thinking of having a ladder mounted on the back and using an extendable pull mounted off the ladder.
That way the cord can be ran inside the outside kitchen. The POE supply would be hid in a cabinet in the cupboard.

Antares · 08-11-2015, 08:24 AM

Quite honestly this hasn't been working as well as I had hoped. Only on one of our trips was I able to pick up the campground wifi - about 800 meters away - but their router was not working right and no internet to re-broadcast. This last trip was one where I was sure I would be able to pick up signal from across the water about 3km away but I think it was obstructed by foliage.

In order to get it to work I think I will need a taller pole to get above some of the foliage, or maybe mount it to a drone?

The Nano was working great as a non-internet connected network in all of these cases so we could have the baby monitor running and connect even 3 sites away when we were visiting friends.

CaptinCamper · 09-09-2015, 05:39 PM

This is my first post; so here goes. What you need is a directional antenna like a rootenna. I buy from radiolabs.com . At any rate you will need a network bridge to put inside the antenna. I recommend buying a Linksys WET54GS5 Bridge - 5-port - 802.11g, If you buy from radio labs they can get you the correct size antenna connection; since you will be unplugging the normal antenna and connecting it inside the Rootenna. The WET54g will connect to the access point from the RV Park. Your access point will connect to the WET54g and broadcast the signal. This is simply building a long range, directional bridge to the access point. This setup is good for up to 3 miles Line of Sight to any available access point.

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