Getting Good wireless at Parks

As we move from RV Park to RV park one of the biggest challenges     is getting good Internet service.

We carry with us a Verizon Mifi Card and it does a great job but it is very expensive to use.

Most of the parks we go to have Free Wifi Internet access but a common complaint is that the parks have horrible service and it does not really work that well.

Our first goal is to optimize that signal being provided by the park and use it (because it is free).

We tried some new technology (To us) on this trip and it is working beautifully.

A friend of mine loaned me his Hawking Wifi Repeater with a 20 foot cable and a 9DBi Antenna.

We are at Sanlan RV Resort in Lakeland, FL and there are repeaters for the wifi all over the park but we still were getting lousy or very, very spotty service in the bus. As I checked the connection to the parks wifi I was never getting over 30-40% connection the park wifi

The Hawkins Wifi repeater will connect to the Park Wifi and then create a new Wifi network in the bus that you can use.

I first setup the Hawkins wifi repeater inside the bus and made the connection to the Parks wifi. I saw an increase from 30-40% up to 40-50%. A marked improvement but not enough to really improve the connectivity.

Next I connected the extended antenna and ran it out of the bus and stood it up around 4 feet in the air. This brought the connectivity up from 40-50% to 50-60%. Still better but not good enough for a solid connection.

I then climbed up on top of the bus and took the antenna and zip tied it to the Over the air antenna.

Performance was remarkable. We now are seeing 100% signal and getting solid internet service in the bus. Albeight the park internet is not super fast (2 mb up/2 mb down) but good enough to do the things we need to do.

By getting the antenna up in the air above the bus we are getting direct line of sight to the repeater in the park.

Here is the equipment we are using

• Hawking Technology Dual Radio Smart Repeater
• 30 foot Extension cable
• Hawking Technology 9DBI antenna

This antenna is an Omnidirectional Antenna (Which means is not pointed. it searches in a circular pattern.)

I am also interested in getting this antenna  – Hawking HiGain Directional Antenna

It is my guess that if you wanted to “aim” the antenna for a long distance it likely would ever do better. My father-in-law stays at the same place and it is one that I have recommended to him to try.

Antenna connected to the Over the Air TV Antenna

Long term I will be investigating how to build this into the bus so we don’t have to set it up every time we go out

Let me know how you are getting great internet service