Hilux Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 I have looked back at a few threads on this topic on which there are a number of things suggested. Could anyone make a recommendation on what they have bought to boost the Wi Fi signal in a motor home when far way from the base signal. I use a conventional lap top and I am looking for something I can plug into a USB port, with perhaps an external antenna. In the UK I often use a mobile which can deliver a hot spot, if I can't connect to site Wi Fi. However, in France this proves to be expensive and I prefer to use site WiFi or free WiFi. Thanks for reading and I look forward to replies. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddies104 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Hi Suggest to go on eBay , put in wifi booster, and lots come up...we use one that plugs into the USB but does not gain a great deal, maybe 30% increase... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barryd999 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Get in touch with Addie at www.motorhomewifi.com He is a member on here as well as the other forums and a motorhomer himself. I have on of his directional antennas and its superb. They tend to come in two forms. Directional which means you have to point it roughly in the direction of the wifi signal or omni directional which is generally a short pole / aerial. The advantage of directional is that it has much greater range but is more of a faff to tune in. The omni has less range but is easier to tune in and can usually be permanently mounted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 The Rocket is a good cheap omnidirectional adapter only 20 quid or if you want better performance directional ones are better but more of a fiddle to get set up they range in price from £40 to over a hundred. Have a look at Faculty-x site, a range of usb adapters there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airstream Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Hi, If you want a booster that realy works read this extract from a sister forum "here has been a number of threads on WiFi extenders. Just bought this from ebay: 41dBm Mini Desktop WiFi USB Booster Planar Antenna Set | eBay UK It's a USB wifi booster that comes with two antenna, the first a rubber antenna that gives omni direction (all around) and a flat planar antenna that is directional, a bit like a dish. For £23.99 inc p+p I think it's great value and took 8 days to arrive from Hong Kong. For example, in my dining room I went from 4 wifi base stations to 12, one going from very poor to excellent. The Planar antenna gave even more. So how does it work in the van? I parked up in Llandudno, using the laptop I got a couple of signals, when I used the booster with the omni I got loads of signals, including Bt Openzone, the cloud and Mc Donalds. With clear line of site from the top of the Great Orme, I used the planar antenna on my dashboard, I could get signals from Anglesey if I pointed the antenna at Anglesey or Loads from Llandudno itself if pointed there. The planar antenna could do with a plastic box if it's to be left outside for any time, it comes with a mount and I just fixed that to a piece of ply. One word of caution, the booster uses a lot more power than the internal wifi so the battery of the laptop won't last as long. Looking around the internet, there are conflicting reports as to the maximum power output a wifi should be, these boosters are between 5-10 times the recommended power. Not a problem if you are away from anything, but use them at home and you could start to cause problems with other wifi users locally. Rule is: only use it if you need to, anyway, it flattens your battery quicker when in use." Good luck Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limerick Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Barryd999 - 2013-07-21 10:10 AM Get in touch with Addie at www.motorhomewifi.com He is a member on here as well as the other forums and a motorhomer himself. I have on of his directional antennas and its superb. They tend to come in two forms. Directional which means you have to point it roughly in the direction of the wifi signal or omni directional which is generally a short pole / aerial. The advantage of directional is that it has much greater range but is more of a faff to tune in. The omni has less range but is easier to tune in and can usually be permanently mounted. Would agree with Barry. I got the iBoost and find it great on sites where the internet is not available all around the site.I then set up a hotspot within the van and can have 2 laptops and a satellite box connected at the same time.I think they cost £160 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airstream Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Hi, Link to the above booster http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/41dBm-Mini-Desktop-WiFi-USB-Booster-Planar-Antenna-Set-/120673400998?pt=UK_Computing_Boosters_Extenders_Antennas&hash=item1c18b1f8a6 Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 One thing to check with whichever you decide to buy - make sure it will work with whatever version of Windows you have on your laptop as not all will work with the latest versions (7 or 8). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Airstream - 2013-07-21 3:58 PM Hi, Link to the above booster http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/41dBm-Mini-Desktop-WiFi-USB-Booster-Planar-Antenna-Set-/120673400998?pt=UK_Computing_Boosters_Extenders_Antennas&hash=item1c18b1f8a6 Ray I like the look of this but being a bit of a duffer when it comes to understanding the mumbo jumbe techy bits can anyone guide me please? I use an ipad which as we all know does not have a usb connection. When away and I can't get a wifi link - which is pretty well all of the time - I use either a mifi dongle or an android smartphone to get a mobile phone internet connection but much care is needed due to the consumption of lots of mbs of data very quickly. Can I use this device to wirelessly connect the ipad to the wifi signal, either via the phone or dongle which both have mini usb connection points, in much the same way that the smart phone and mifi dongle can be wirelessly tethered for the phone signal? Does that make sense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 That's a good point Mel. I have a wifi extender which worked well with windows 98 but will not work with Windows 7 so the Hong Kong one at £24 seems interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilux Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 Thank you for your helpful replies. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 What you are looking at Tracker is a booster that connects to a laptop and only boosts the signal to the laptop and it is not a router to which you could connect your iPad. As above "Get in touch with Addie at www.motorhomewifi.com " and all the info is there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Thanks, kind thought, but at £160 it would take a darned long time to rack up that much data usage with a tethered smartphone as I only want to check emails whilst we are away and I can quickly grab items off the internet if I need info. Everything else is for when I'm bored or don't want to read and that alone ain't worth £160 to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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