Extreme Wi-Fi for RV, trucks, travel trailers, motorhomes, boats, yachts, buses, vans and cars
Purpose and Objective:
Achieve a much stronger Wi-Fi connection for RV, trucks, travel
trailers, motorhomes, boats, buses, vans, cars and in hotels with
weak Wi-Fi signals.
Why:
The built-in antenna in
modern laptop/netbook is inadequate when it comes to
Wi-Fi in challenging mobile environments. For example, in Wi-Fi
campgrounds, Wi-Fi truck stops or boat marinas, the distance often
exceeds Wi-Fi's operating range of 300-feet open air. Trees absorb
signals and vehicles (metal) block signals. The situation is much
worse when the laptop is inside a vehicle (vehicle body shields Wi-Fi
signal). The hi-tech gadgets outlined here are near-magic in solving
those problems.
Similarly in
hotel/motel/buses/airports/airplanes, some rooms/seats may have weak
Wi-Fi signal, these hi-tech gadgets can help.
These
gadgets enable you to acquire a stronger Wi-Fi connection (hence
faster data throughput), improving your Wi-Fi reach and enhancing
your on-line experience. This diagram
shows signal (and speed) improvement when using a high gain
antenna.
Some campgrounds or marinas have properly engineered
and installed Wi-Fi "base stations" for adequate coverage;
others use a consumer-grade Linksys/D-Link wireless router, radiating
with just stock antenna, or "internal
antenna".
Where:
RV
parks, Wi-Fi campgrounds, Wi-Fi-equipped
long-haul buses, truck stops, boat marinas, Wi-Fi enabled rest
areas, restaurants, fast food chains (US McDonalds, Carl's Jr/Del
Taco/Jack in the Box), US airport,
non-US airports, some convenience stores,
coffee shops, some Canadian Tire stores, pubs and bars, visitors
welcome centers, some public buildings (e.g. Calgary's City Hall),
some shopping malls, some downtown buildings, Barnes & Nobles
book stores, some gas stations, etc.
RV-Park or marina owners
wanting to setup a Wi-Fi hotspot, see this
link.
It can be frustrating trying to decipher what really works. Some blogs on this subject only result in a small improvement. Hopefully this resource article will tilt that balance. I use the symbols [1] [2] [3] [4] to indicate the four basic components that are needed.
Antenna is an essential component. There are two basic antenna
types: omni-directional and
directional. Also see this
diagram.
Omni-directional (or
simply Omni) means the antenna receives wireless signal from any
direction with equal sensitivity. This should be your main
antenna.
Directional antenna is very sensitive in one direction
(analog to a flash light's beam). Directional antenna can be
purchased as a spare antenna.
Use the directional antenna when
stationary, and the direction of the Wi-Fi source is known. See this
application example.
A
term used by antenna engineers is dB (or dBi, or Decibel), which is
an index of the gain or sensitivity of the antenna. The higher the dB
the better, but there is size and cost limitations associated with
high gain antenna. If you are interested in the intrigue and
mathematics of Decibel, check it out on Wikipedia.
(Prices are taken from vendors web sites for
approximate guide only)
For RV, trucks, vans or cars, a
magnetic-mount 7 dB omni yields a
good connection at 600 feet (line of sight & no tree
obstructions).
This antenna has low profile and low wind
resistance. It comes with a 5-foot cable.
"Wi-Fi Booster
Antenna" from eForCity (www.eforcity.com)
product ID CNOK5161A103 ($5).
"7
dbi Magnetic-Mount omni with 1.5-meter cable to RP-SMA-male"
(10.5 inch height) from Data-Alliance
of Nogales, Arizona ($8).
MRO Electronics
Calgary/Edmonton/Vancouver (www.mroelectronics.com)
part number MR2400C11 (9 inch height, $18).
For large RV or
large trucks, consider
7 dB omni antenna with N connector, product
code 24-7M, from Invictus Wireless.
8 dB (17 inch height) omni
antenna, SuperPass Model Number SPDG16O
($43), or
8.5 dB (24 inch height) "Antenna: 8.5dBi omni
Stainless Steel Mounts. N-female connector" from Data-Alliance
of Nogales, Arizona ($20),
9 dB (25 inch height) SuperPass Model
Number SPDG8O
($59).
These antenna use weather-proof N-type
female connector
Directional antenna with higher gain is
suitable for longer range/stationary use. You need to point the
antenna at a known Wi-Fi source (similar to a vehicle headlight's
beam). See this application
example.
SuperPass Model Number SPAPG16
gives you an awesome 16 dB gain [20-degree beam width] ($42).
SuperPass SPAPG16 uses weather-proof N-type
female connector
Antenna should be mounted outside your
vehicle, free of obstructions from metals (because metal blocks Wi-Fi
signal). Preferably on the roof.
For the magnetic-mount 7 dB omni antenna mentioned above, a 5-foot
RF-cable and connector already came with it.
For the 7 dB omni
antenna mentioned above (product code 24-7M), you need to add a mount
(product
code MN90-N) which has 10 feet RF-cable already came with it.
For
other outdoor antenna, you need a "N-male
to RP-SMA" cable to work with the USB dongle [3] below.
Do
not excessively bend or kink the RF-cable.
SuperPass "N-male
to RP-SMA" RF-cables of various lengths. Use the shortest
RF-cable to bring the RP-SMA connector "indoor" to minimize
signal loss. You can make up for distance using USB extension cable
[4]. Price for a 10-foot (3 meters) cable is $16 at
SuperPass.
Trendnet LMR200 (2 meters; 6.5 feet). You can
order Trendnet LMR200 ($18) from Dell
Canada website. Part number is A2793225
Data-Alliance
of Nogales, Arizona has a 3-meter "N-male
to RP-SMA' cable ($11), description is "pigtail cable
adapter RP-SMA male to N male 3-meter cable".
This is a critical component of the system. Not all USB dongles
are made equal, some have superior performance over
others.
-TP-LINK's
new high power USB Wi-Fi adapter is TL-WN7200ND
.
It handles IEEE 802.11n/g/b standard and it has high power
output.
-An older, but popular USB Wi-Fi adapter is ALFA AWUS036H
(IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11g)
-ALFA AWUS036H-V5
is essential the same as AWUS036H but this V5 model has a higher
transmitter power.
-ALFA AWUS050NH
is a new USB
Wi-Fi adpater which handles IEEE 802.11n/g/b standard.
TP-LINK TL-WN7200ND is quite new and is
very hard to buy from North America. TP-LINK signs up distributors
around the world at trade shows, but the "distributors"
they sign up do not really carry stock nor distrubute their products.
Hopefully this stupidity will change when TP-LINK's president takes
notice; TP-LINK dominated the China market, but virtually unknown in
North Amercia because of the fundamentally flawed distribution
mechanism.
For ALFA USB Wi-Fi adapters, you can find them from
Data-Alliance
of Nogales, Arizona or Invictus
Wireless in Oregon.
You may need a USB extension cable to connect the USB dongle [3] to your laptop/netbook. The TL-WN7200ND comes with a mini-USB cable so you may not need a USB extension cable. The maximum length for a USB cable is 16 feet. If you need more distance, simply add one or more active USB extension cable to extend the total length.
Geeks call it "USB 2.0 extension
cable, Type A Male to Type A Female".
You can buy USB
extension cable from any computer store, e.g.
at NCIX
www.ncix.com, 6
feet SKU #16285 ($4)
at eForCity (www.eforcity.com)
6 feet PCABUSBX0033 (white) or PCABUSBX0034 (black) ($4)
at Home
Depot 10 feet Belkin model F3U134-10 ($13)
at Bestbuy
www.bestbuy.com
6 feet SKU#6801017 ($27)
Here is a graphics of what it looks
like when you gather all the components [1] [2] [3] [4] before
installation.
For laptop use in hotels with weak Wi-Fi, see this
setup
For longer distance,
replace the 5 dB antenna above with a 7dB antenna, or use a 9
dB directional patch antenna.
Here is a photo
of my Dodge Caravan, with a 7 dB magnetic-mount omni plus a 14 dB
directional antenna deployed.
(The directional antenna is deployed
to boost Wi-Fi reach when the mini-van is stationary in
campgrounds).
You should disable the built-in wireless network card or else Windows will use the weaker built-in wireless network system, hence all the work you've done above becomes a waste. To disable the built-in wireless network card, you can do that either in software (Control Panel, Device Manager) or in hardware (e.g. most modern laptop has a slide switch to enable/disable the built-in Wi-Fi system).
TL-WN7200ND includes a modest performance 5 dB omni antenna. You
can discretely take them and use it in hotel/airports/airplanes to
boost the signal if necessary. See this
setup.
In flight Wi-Fi Internet
is deployed on planes at Delta Airline, Alaska Air, AirTran,
American, Virgin America, United and Southwest. Air Canada and US
Airways are next to deploy in-flight Wi-Fi.
© 2009-2010 Nicholas Fong
GPS co-ordinates 49.2238, -122.9748 49°13'26" -122°58'29"
Last revised: November 02, 2010
Wi-Fi Extenders, Wi-Fi boosters
