Looking for combined 4G/WiFi booster solution (1 Viewer)

[tonyblack1964]

I’m looking to purchase a motorhome with a view to spending long weekends in it thoughout the year. I work from home in IT and the goal is to be able to work from wherever I am in the motorhome providing I have a satisfactory internet connection.

I’m aware of the many MiFi (4g) and WiFi booster (i.e. using campsite or local amenity wifi) systems but I’m really looking for a more elegant combined system that enables you to switch between 4g and local WiFi depending on availability and signal strength/quality. I’m aware that this would still entail a requirement for two separate roof mounted aerials, one to connect to local Wifi and one for 4G.

Is anyone aware of any such system?

 

[tonyidle]

Surely once you have the kit installed your device will see both WiFi signals so switching is simply telling your device which to use?

 

[Two on Tour]

The Netgear Aircard 810 I have recently bought can automatically switch from mobile data to a WiFi hotspot if it finds one.

https://kb.netgear.com/30620/How-do-I-set-up-the-WiFi-Offload-feature-on-my-NETGEAR-AirCard-810

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[Lenny HB]

Huawei MiFi units can also be used as wifi router.
Coupled with A Poyntings combined MIMO/wifi aerial would make a good combination.
Personally I wouldn't bother with wifi these days free ones are nearly always overloaded and too slow to be of much use.

Solwise -Poynting 5-in-1 MiMO LTE/GPS/WiFi Antenna - A-MIMO-1 | Solwise Ltd

www.solwise.co.uk

 

[Geistguy]

I use my 4g phone signal to tether my laptop and tablet, extremely rare not to get a brilliant 4g signal with EE. Never yet used up my monthly 60gb allowance which costs me £20 month including calls.

 

[Lenny HB]

extremely rare not to get a brilliant 4g signal with EE.

Depends where you camp our last 6 week trip, over 50% of the places we stopped no phone signals or very slow data, not a problem for us as our MIMO roof aerial would pull in a 3 or 4G data signal.

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[tonyblack1964]

Thanks for the info. Wasn't aware that the NetGear AirCard 810 had the ability to act as a WiFi repeater/booster as well as providing 4g access. That's brilliant. Can I take it that it will do both using a single roof mounted external aerial?

The Netgear Aircard 810 I have recently bought can automatically switch from mobile data to a WiFi hotspot if it finds one.

https://kb.netgear.com/30620/How-do-I-set-up-the-WiFi-Offload-feature-on-my-NETGEAR-AirCard-810



View attachment 358551

 

[DBK]

A Mifi won't boost a wifi signal. What I think would give you what you want is an LTE router which can accept external antenna and ideally has a LAN port which can provide power over ethernet (PoE). From this LAN port you could run a Ubiquiti Nanostation configured as a wifi receiver. If the router can't do PoE you would have to find some other box which can to fit between the router and Nanostation.

I'm not sure how you would swap between the two sources, at worst case you may have to unplug things.

I've got similar components at home but I run them as separate systems. I'll be back there later today and I'll look at how to combine them.

However, with unlimited data deals now available in the UK I'm not sure wifi access is necessary. You should be able to do everything and more securely using broadband and a good external antenna.

 

[tonyblack1964]

Thanks for that but Two on Tour's post above would suggest that the Netgear Aircard 810 does exactley what I need it to do, 4g routing and WiFi offload: https://kb.netgear.com/30620/How-do-I-set-up-the-WiFi-Offload-feature-on-my-NETGEAR-AirCard-810

A Mifi won't boost a wifi signal. What I think would give you what you want is an LTE router which can accept external antenna and ideally has a LAN port which can provide power over ethernet (PoE). From this LAN port you could run a Ubiquiti Nanostation configured as a wifi receiver. If the router can't do PoE you would have to find some other box which can to fit between the router and Nanostation.

I'm not sure how you would swap between the two sources, at worst case you may have to unplug things.

I've got similar components at home but I run them as separate systems. I'll be back there later today and I'll look at how to combine them.

However, with unlimited data deals now available in the UK I'm not sure wifi access is necessary. You should be able to do everything and more securely using broadband and a good external antenna.

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[JustifiedAncient]

I use my 4g phone signal to tether my laptop and tablet, extremely rare not to get a brilliant 4g signal with EE. Never yet used up my monthly 60gb allowance which costs me £20 month including calls.

I'm on exactly the same EE deal, but I've also got an additional EE sim card on the cheapest monthly deal they do (I think £8:50) that I put into the Mifi unit with its roof mounted antenna. I can then transfer as much of my 60Gb data allowance as I need onto the Mifi sim using EE 'data gifting' so the rest of the family can also use it and we all benefit from the better signal from the antenna.

 

[tonyblack1964]

It's really just for situations where no 3/4g signal is available but access to local WiFi is possible.

Huawei MiFi units can also be used as wifi router.
Coupled with A Poyntings combined MIMO/wifi aerial would make a good combination.
Personally I wouldn't bother with wifi these days free ones are nearly always overloaded and too slow to be of much use.

Solwise -Poynting 5-in-1 MiMO LTE/GPS/WiFi Antenna - A-MIMO-1 | Solwise Ltd

www.solwise.co.uk

 

[Two on Tour]

Thanks for that but Two on Tour's post above would suggest that the Netgear Aircard 810 does exactley what I need it to do, 4g routing and WiFi offload: https://kb.netgear.com/30620/How-do-I-set-up-the-WiFi-Offload-feature-on-my-NETGEAR-AirCard-810

I bought mine from these guys.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-...0001&campid=5338547443&icep_item=223772663451

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[DBK]

Thanks for that but Two on Tour's post above would suggest that the Netgear Aircard 810 does exactley what I need it to do, 4g routing and WiFi offload: https://kb.netgear.com/30620/How-do-I-set-up-the-WiFi-Offload-feature-on-my-NETGEAR-AirCard-810

The Netgear Aircard is just a MiFi I think so it will connect to a WiFi signal if it is strong enough, the Huawei ones do the same. However, the WiFi will have to be strong enough that it would also be able to connect to your phone. You will get this at some campsites which have WiFi such a CMC ones but it won't work if you are trying to connect to a WiFi hot-spot say a hundred metres away. Typically many sites have WiFi around reception but you won't be able to connect to this from your pitch unless you have a WiFi booster like the one I mentioned.

 

[Lenny HB]

It's really just for situations where no 3/4g signal is available but access to local WiFi is possible.

A rare event these days but can help occasionally.
I have an Alfa router with a long range usb wifi aerial used it once last year. On the Reil Stallaplatz on the Mosell, data was hopeless (it is along a lot of the Mosell in Germany). There was free wifi with a booster half way down the site, I was right next to it but because everyone was logged on to the booster the net was very slow. Using my long range aerial I was able to connect to the main router at the entrance and got a good signal.

If you are using a laptop you could just use the aerial, not much point in buying the router for ocasional use.

This is the router.

Solwise - USB to Wireless Repeater / WiFi Booster Access Point - WL-USBWIFIRPT-3000A | Solwise Ltd

www.solwise.co.uk

And the aerial.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-...0001&campid=5338547443&icep_item=264506858490

 

[TinaLes]

This guy seems to have found a good solution, similar to Pauls method, its incredible how many devices this device can handle, he seems to need that many, we sure dont, but getting the signal strength in the first place seems to be key.
I always wonder if this regular Vlogger is a Funster?, anyone know?
LES

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[MyrtleGuru]

Like Lenny HB and others we've pretty much given up on wifi, as it is more often than that too slow or unreliable for working. We use almost exclusively 4G now that it is so available and affordable.

With a Huawei mifi (E5577C) and a MIMO aerial on the roof, we rarely find ourselves somewhere unable to get online -- two of us work online in the van quite often. The external aerial helps a great deal in fringe reception areas: even where the phones can't get any signal, we can generally get at least 3G through it. We do however carry a selection of SIMs for different networks. For example, where I am at the moment we struggle to get even 2G on EE, but Three is giving a 4G connection. And in other locations, the situation is often reversed.

On the rare occasions we find ourselves somewhere where we can get wifi with decent speed, we can set the E5577C to wifi extender/repeater mode to connect via the wifi rather than mobile. It does not have a connection for an external wifi antenna, though, just the twin MIMO, but it is mounted high up by a hatch (metal van) and reception is ok.

Some discussions about working from vans in this thread:

Working from a motorhome / campervan

Hi All Very, very much the newbie :) My wife and I have discussed getting a VW Colorado / Transit sized campervan for us and our 2 children for past few months with a view to hiring one for the 1st time this summer for a holiday. As a bod thats worked from home for the last 10 years I also...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[Lenny HB]

On the rare occasions we find ourselves somewhere where we can get wifi with decent speed, we can set the E5577C to wifi extender/repeater mode to connect via the wifi rather than mobile. It does not have a connection for an external wifi antenna, though, just the twin MIMO, but it is mounted high up by a hatch (metal van) and reception is ok.

In post #4 I forgot the Huawei only has connections for LTE aerials, so no point in buying the MIMO 5 in 1 aerial as very few routers would be able to make use of the wifi aerial.

 

[Wissel]

I have a Huawei router, with an Alfa WiFi router attached via Ethernet. Did it this way as already had the Alfa.

Antenna wise, I use this:

Panorama Antennas | Panorama Antennas

Established in 1947, Panorama Antennas is a global leader in the design and manufacture of RF antenna solutions for wireless communications.

www.panorama-antennas.com

Great on 3/4G, okay on WiFi (also does GPS). I also carry a directional WiFi antenna as again, already had it. Tbh I hardly ever swap from using 4G - but as needed for work it's good to have a backup.

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[Off da Grid]

I use my 4g phone signal to tether my laptop and tablet, extremely rare not to get a brilliant 4g signal with EE. Never yet used up my monthly 60gb allowance which costs me £20 month including calls.

You’ve not been to Dorset then, it’s the worst place for a mobile signal.
Stayed in Wales at Pencelli the other year and had 4G on EE at full chat 5 bars I made a point of looking for the mast as I couldn’t believe how fast it was

 

[jezport]

I use my 4g phone signal to tether my laptop and tablet, extremely rare not to get a brilliant 4g signal with EE. Never yet used up my monthly 60gb allowance which costs me £20 month including calls.

Same here but I get 100GB for £20

 

[Geistguy]

That's a brilliant deal, who's it with ?

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[TheCaller]

I always wonder if this regular Vlogger is a Funster?, anyone know?

If he is, he hasn't been reading all the posts on here about lithium batteries. YouTube offered me one of his other videos at the end of that one & as it was about lithium I had a look. Sounds like he got a lot of bad advice & didn't do enough of his own research.

 

[TheCaller]

Same here but I get 100GB for £20

That's a brilliant deal, who's it with ?

That will be Vodafone. I'm not sure if that deal is still available.

Addie can probably point you in the right direction.

 

[Addie]

This guy seems to have found a good solution, similar to Pauls method, its incredible how many devices this device can handle, he seems to need that many, we sure dont, but getting the signal strength in the first place seems to be key.
I always wonder if this regular Vlogger is a Funster?, anyone know?
LES

TinaL PLEASE DO NOT BUY THE NETGEAR DEVICE ON EBAY MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO!

This guy is far from an expert (see another discussion here: https://bit.ly/2TXKOa9 - TheCaller is right) and the device mentioned here to buy from eBay is an Australian Telstra branded device. This device is 'blind' to Band 20 800Mhz which is the most important cellular band for use in Europe as it has the greatest range - 80% of Scotland's coverage is provided by 800Mhz and this device can't receive it!

The item is now out of stock, but it was this unit: <Broken link removed>

It's one thing setting yourself out as an 'Expert' while simultaneously lining your pockets from affiliate (commission links) but when you recommend products for others to buy you have to take some responsibility for those choices and last time I checked over 80 people had purchased and will now be severely disadvantaged by the advice given. There are so many other inaccuracies I gave up counting.

I’m aware of the many MiFi (4g) and WiFi booster (i.e. using campsite or local amenity wifi) systems but I’m really looking for a more elegant combined system that enables you to switch between 4g and local WiFi depending on availability and signal strength/quality. I’m aware that this would still entail a requirement for two separate roof-mounted aerials, one to connect to local Wifi and one for 4G.

Is anyone aware of any such system?

We did have such a system for a period of time but now have discontinued it.

None of the products mentioned in this thread (Huawei, Netgear etc) are WiFi boosters - they are WiFi repeaters at best - the range to which they can extend a signal is limited to how far they themselves can broadcast it. For example, if you could get WiFi in the cab of your motorhome but not in the rear bed/lounge you could balance the device on the dash and it would extend it this way. Other then that, they are if little use- hence why our E5577 has always had this functionality but we don't mention it.

However, in 2020 I really don't think a WiFi booster is a way to go. The cost of getting WiFi around a site is so inexpensive that any site that has the capacity to provide campers a good service has invested in ensuring that it is distributed around the site. There is very little free/open WiFi and if you're looking at streaming you can forget that anyway. The extra money that could be spent on a WiFi booster would be better put towards a data plan, or even carrying an alternative network's SIM to make sure you're covered.

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[TinaLes]

Thanks Addie, dont worry, not too many of us are taking any Vlogger recommendations on technical product seriously without looking at the manufacturers full specs, install requirements,and component compatibility, especially these days as everything progresses so quickly, that will no doubt continue.

Its also a great asset that we have people like yourself on Fun that actually supply and install this stuff and can give a "qualified" opinion on what works, and what has limitations, as you have in this instance.
Carry on the good work, I am sure we all appreciate it.
LES

 

[Mack100]

Are there any opinions or experiences that show if there is any difference in the 3g or 4g performance between the roof mounted antennae or the window mounted ones?

 

[dulvil]

Hurry up I also want to know

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[Addie]

Are there any opinions or experiences that show if there is any difference in the 3g or 4g performance between the roof-mounted antennae or the window-mounted ones?

A roof antenna will always perform better than a window antenna because of the way in which cellular signals are transmitted and are received.

A window antenna may be on the 'wrong' side of your van to the mast, it may be too low to clear obstruction on a horizon and the form factor gives limited scope for gain and separation found between the elements of a roof-mounted MIMO unit.

In real-world terms, a roof antenna has the potential to take you from 'No service' to 'Service' whereas a Window antenna is unlikely to do this and is a compromise for those not wishing to go down the roof option for whatever reason.