iBoost & effect on other users (1 Viewer)

Sep 11, 2014
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I shall try to ask this in simple terms. I understand supply and demand and that in the evening many campers are using t'internet for TV, streaming, whatever and therefore quality/availability of WiFi signal will drop.

Here's the question - if there are, say 100 'units' of WiFi and 100 users parked at the same distance from the base then in theory everyone gets 1 unit. With me so far??

Now, if 50 of the users have iBoost (other wifi amplifiers are available) so their signal is stronger and they're quite possibly using more than one device, is this at the expensive of the have-nots?

In other words do the 50 haves get 90 'units' leaving the poor old have-nots to tear their hair out while the signal drops in and out but mainly out?

Reason for asking is we're away without an iBoost (not yet committed) and I may have no hair left by the time we return :eek:

Karen
 

Bertie Bassett

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If you're using the communal CC wifi there's little hope of getting any meaningful download speed (in my experience).
 

DBK

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You won't be able to steam TV from any normal campsite wifi if that is what you are talking about. A bit of browsing and looking at emails will be the limit. You don't need an iBoost though they are a great bit of kit. If necessary you just go and sit by reception with a beer if that is where the signal comes from and do your surfing from there.

Or get a MiFi and use Three Feel at Home, assuming you are in the right countries.

Beaten by BB!

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Bertie Bassett

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You won't be able to steam TV from any normal campsite wifi if that is what you are talking about. A bit of browsing and looking at emails will be the limit. You don't need an iBoost though they are a great bit of kit. If necessary you just go and sit by reception with a beer if that is where the signal comes from and do your surfing from there.

Or get a MiFi and use Three Feel at Home, assuming you are in the right countries.

Beaten by BB!
Ah hah but you beat me to the useful bit......3 at home/mifi etc(y)
 
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Not at CC @Bertie Bassett and we don't want to stream TV @DBK but I think others do gobble up bandwidth with whatever they do. Just saying (y)

We've got a 3 MiFi and not finding the coverage in Spain all that great. Also if a site or campers top has free WiFi its good not to eat into our own data allowance.

I was trying to work out whether the iBoost snaffles the WiFi signal in the way I suspect, or doesn't it work like that? I mean, I know how it works but not its affect on total bandwidth.

Ah yes, the font, it started out teeny tiny so I just picked a number.

Karen
 

Bertie Bassett

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Not at CC @Bertie Bassett and we don't want to stream TV @DBK but I think others do gobble up bandwidth with whatever they do. Just saying (y)

We've got a 3 MiFi and not finding the coverage in Spain all that great. Also if a site or campers top has free WiFi its good not to eat into our own data allowance.

I was trying to work out whether the iBoost snaffles the WiFi signal in the way I suspect, or doesn't it work like that? I mean, I know how it works but not its affect on total bandwidth.

Ah yes, the font, it started out teeny tiny so I just picked a number.

Karen
Be interesting to know the answer but as a techno knob I can't help...sorry. :)

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DanielFord

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OK I think you may misunderstand the purpose of the iBoost. It will give you better reception to the site WiFi, and set up an internal private LAN for your devices. However, all of your devices on that private LAN are dependant upon the connection that was provided to the iBoost. The site router will determine the QOS (quality of service) to each connection. So in your example, 100 people accessing, your iBoost is one, you have 5 devices sharing that 1/100th of the service, your download speed isn't going to be exceptional!
If you want to stream video etc. get a MiFi, as has been suggested earlier, site WiFi is good for emails and light browsing only in my experience!
 

irnbru

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I've been to two places recently where the iboost has picked up a signal but not good enough for a connection. Have had to move that close that I can pick it up on my phone without even using iboost. So for me I'm not so convinced it's as good as I thought. Hit n miss I think.

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Bertie Bassett

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And I blame this for my porkies, but note the magnifying glass so it was only a partial porkie.:LOL:
tmp_21682-20160130_1828281140454329.jpg
 

Bertie Bassett

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I've been to two places recently where the iboost has picked up a signal but not good enough for a connection. Have had to move that close that I can pick it up on my phone without even using iboost. So for me I'm not so convinced it's as good as I thought. Hit n miss I think.
Re antenna for the mifi, I bought a £9.99 job off Amazon....the difference in signal reception is surprising. Never without some sort of signal with the antenna but have found I need to check the connection into the mifi from the antenna regularly.(y)
 

Lenny HB

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The iboost or any other router/aerial combination only boosts the original signal, if there are 10 vans with 2 people in each both logged on via a router/iboost that is 20 people logged on, if there are no routers/iboosts in use and the 20 people are using their devices connected direct there are 20 people logged on, same number of connections either way.

What is more of a problem these days is everyone has a smartphone usually with the wifi turned on and if the network is open the phone unknown to their owners is downloading data using up bandwidth.

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Don Quixote

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Not long enough, but a little common sense helps..........
In simple terms - the more users downloading video the slower it gets.... I hope this helps


Nothing to do with iBoost or how close you are to the base station. If the free internet is not fast enough ( the wireless speed from the router )you will not get fast internet.


Before the Internet bandwidth becomes a factor, users must contend with local bandwidth. Wireless routers advertise 54mbps for 802.11g networks, and up to 300mbps for 802.11n networks. However, a single wireless network shares this maximum bandwidth among all devices connected to that wireless network ( that's you ) A single user on the wireless network can, in theory, transmit/receive at 300mbps on an 802.11n network. However, five users on that same network, communicating at the same time, could only theoretically achieve 60mbps. So divide by 100 users and you see the problem.............. NO watching TV not a chance.
 
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andy63

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I've been to two places recently where the iboost has picked up a signal but not good enough for a connection. Have had to move that close that I can pick it up on my phone without even using iboost. So for me I'm not so convinced it's as good as I thought. Hit n miss I think.
Hi sandra... try mounting the antenna as high as you can on the van... It should defiantly bring the signal into your van sooner than you can get it with the phone... but you do need relatively unobstructed line of sight... try higher mount with antenna...
Ta andy.
PS. . The ferry wifi is ok here lol..
 

irnbru

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Hi sandra... try mounting the antenna as high as you can on the van... It should defiantly bring the signal into your van sooner than you can get it with the phone... but you do need relatively unobstructed line of sight... try higher mount with antenna...
Ta andy.
PS. . The ferry wifi is ok here lol..
Short of mounting it on a pole Andy, wifi around only 80 yds away yet couldn't log on until we sat on top of it by which time we could both log on with our phones. I slipped up last time you visited. Next time we meet up I want us to do an iboost comparison to see if mine is working correctly.

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andy63

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Short of mounting it on a pole
Haha..cause that's exactly what I did with mine...sits about one and half meters above my van roof..

But yes would be nice to get to bottom of what the effective range is and what really effects that range..
 

Don Quixote

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Not long enough, but a little common sense helps..........
Short of mounting it on a pole Andy, wifi around only 80 yds away yet couldn't log on until we sat on top of it by which time we could both log on with our phones. I slipped up last time you visited. Next time we meet up I want us to do an iboost comparison to see if mine is working correctly.
The reason could be as simple as the access point will only allow so many to connect at one time. I have sat 2km away from an access point and connect without problem and on others cound not connect and I could see the aerial from the MH window. At Malvern last year, so many were connecting to one chaps wifi ( bt fon ) that I could not get in so moved my iBoost around to other direction and connected for the whole event.

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Eamless

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That wouldn't explain how we could get on via our phones wifi and not via iboost.
Your phone is connecting to the Internet by cellular. I boost is connecting by wifi to an access point. An iboost is just an overpriced old version ubiquiti nano station loco M 2. You can buy the updated version for about £40 anywhere. But with cellular prices dropping all the time why bother. ' free internet' is slow and insecure. 4g cellular is fast and secure and you can get a lot of data for the price of an iboost.
 

sdc77

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That wouldn't explain how we could get on via our phones wifi and not via iboost.
Well it could .. because your phones wifi was probably on the site wifi before you switched your iboost on. Ours would be.
I think it's either you're not using your iboost correctly or its faulty.
 

irnbru

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I think it's either you're not using your iboost correctly or its faulty.
I'm beginning to think the latter. Hopefully there will be someone at the Chester rally I can compare with.
 

sdc77

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Your phone is connecting to the Internet by cellular. I boost is connecting by wifi to an access point. An iboost is just an overpriced old version ubiquiti nano station loco M 2. You can buy the updated version for about £40 anywhere. But with cellular prices dropping all the time why bother. ' free internet' is slow and insecure. 4g cellular is fast and secure and you can get a lot of data for the price of an iboost.
We can use 20gig of 4g easily in about 10 days. At that consumption it can get expensive. The iboost is a useful piece of kit that has its place for sure. I know there are similar set ups but the iboost does work simply out of the box and that suits a lot of people. Why pay for 4g if you don't need it.

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DanielFord

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I think the easiest way to explain bandwidth distributed around a LAN, imagine it isn't a mysterious internet thingy, but a hose connected to a tap. A finite amount of water comes out of the tap. from that tap you connect it to a junction which serves 10 hoses, the pressure is severely reduced amongst those 10 hoses. From one of those 10 hoses you connect another 10 hose adaptor, I think you can see where I am going with this....
 

Eamless

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We can use 20gig of 4g easily in about 10 days. At that consumption it can get expensive. The iboost is a useful piece of kit that has its place for sure. I know there are similar set ups but the iboost does work simply out of the box and that suits a lot of people. Why pay for 4g if you don't need it.
4G is just faster internet speed. we pay no more for 4G than 3G. At the moment in Italy we pay € 30 PAYG for unlimited data per month, all delivered super quick and super fast. And you will never download 20G in 10 days over a free Wifi point. The iboost is just a over-priced ubiquiti nanostation aerial/bridge that in certain circumstances can boost a signal from an insecure and slow access point.
 

DanielFord

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4G is just faster internet speed. we pay no more for 4G than 3G. At the moment in Italy we pay € 30 PAYG for unlimited data per month, all delivered super quick and super fast. And you will never download 20G in 10 days over a free Wifi point. The iboost is just a over-priced ubiquiti nanostation aerial/bridge that in certain circumstances can boost a signal from an insecure and slow access point.
That is a good point, everyone who is struggling with site wifi, if you have a smartphone, switch off the wifi and go to 4G, and check out the download speed on 4G, then compare with site WiFi, you'll be surprised. 20mb download is not unheard of with 4G!

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