Setting up Wi-Fi in our trailer?

[PC Red]

We have a Micro Minnie and will be hosting at a park for about 3 months. I’m not a real techy and would like to see what’s involved in setting up Wi-Fi in the trailer since the park doesn’t have that.

Normally we don’t watch tv on our shorter trips and don’t take our laptop since we have our phones and use cellular data when needed. Since we’ll be away for a longer period, we’d like to have a laptop or similar device available.

Any information would be helpful.
Thanks
P

[rk911]

Originally Posted by PC Red

We have a Micro Minnie and will be hosting at a park for about 3 months. I’m not a real techy and would like
to see what’s involved in setting up Wi-Fi in the trailer since the park doesn’t have that.

Normally we don’t watch tv on our shorter trips and don’t take our laptop since we have our phones and use cellular data when needed. Since we’ll be away for a longer period, we’d like to have a laptop or similar device available.

Any information would be helpful.
Thanks
P

your options for independent wifi are limited. easiest is to use your cellphone or tablet as a 'hotpot' but that can get expensive fast and you'll need to be in range of a cell tower. we have a Verizon hotspot device (separate from our phones and tablet) which, allegedly, provides unlimited wifi. current cost is $70 p/m. there are other options like that out there from other providers. we chose verizon because where we travel we're always within range. we don't stream since we have a sat dish. not sure if this option is available to new subscribers but as I said other providers have similar plans.

there are ways to extend the range of your hotspot but they include adding hardware to the interior and exterior of your RV. irv2 is loaded with information about this as is rv.net.

another good resource is https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/news/

Elon Musk has put thousands of small sats in orbit called Starlink https://www.starlink.com/. this was just approved for mobile and RV use so you should check that out.

[creativepart]

This is a MASSIVE topic with much to learn.

Here's a small start - but do more digging the internet has zillions of resources for this info:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VcyqwknLeA

[creativepart]

And, to simplify this for you. This may be your best bet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZfRs_F56Lw

[PC Red]

Thanks for the information. Watched some of the YouTube vids and will continue to work on this.

Again, thanks for the direction on this topic.

PC Red

[SunriseMtl]

For what its worth, I went through this exercise this June on our trip around Vermont. I bought a USB Cellular modem from ATT and a SIM card along with $50.00 a month no contract data package. My intention was to use this in our rv for browsing and making reservations and email. I coupled it with a small portable router by TP Link. In theory, a nice little package that would provide coverage in our RV and out under the awning for my wife and I .Would definitely be much less expensive than the roaming charges I would incur due to being from Canada.
Well not so. Despite being told my the ATT online people and then again by the people at the ATT Store where I picked up the SIM card, that ATT had coverage EVERYWHERE in Vermont, they did not. It barely worked. I got service when I was near some of the large cities and nothing not one bar most other places.
SO, maybe it would have been better with another provider, maybe not. Just do yourself a favour and make sure that there is good signal where you are going to be spending some time.

[creativepart]

Here is the FCC 4g Coverage map for the US. It includes all major carriers.

https://fcc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/web...bc88a0d1bdd25b

Check it out to see what DATA coverage is like where you are headed.

SunriseMtl, I think you'll see quite a bit of Vermont without a lot cellular service. But it looks like Verizon has the most of any of these.

[PC Red]

Thanks for the information. I have Verizon and data is accessible where I’m going. For what I’ll be needing the cellular service will be fine rather than going through all the “changes” that trying to hookup a Wi-Fi system would involve. A tablet will work fine and it’s got the unlimited data through Verizon.

Thanks again!
PC

[Marine359]

We just hotspot. Make sure when you choose an unlimited data plan that it is truly unlimited. Many say they are unlimited, but throttle you when you go past some kind of barrier, like 30gb. We found we had to pay way more than we wanted for a true unlimited plan. But now we don’t suffer the ignominy of running out of data in the middle of a trip. We have eschewed purchasing expensive gizmos for WiFi or cell range extension because we’ve talked to enough campers who’ve told us they regret the purchases and feel the money was wasted. With any cell range extenders, no matter how good they are, there must be a detectable signal. We often camp in places where there is no signal at all. When that happens we settle in to book reading, and if necessary, a drive into the closest town with a Starbucks. JMO

[PC Red]

Yes We have an unlimited plan that does slow down some when we hit a limit depending on other users operating in the area. I can live with that, and yes, there are these things called books that I seem to recall from days gone by��.

Thanks for the response.
PC