WiFi - One of the most important utilities an RV Park provides.
When we are not out exploring, we enjoy being in our RV, surfing the net, and staying in touch with those on FaceBook, etc.. Although a while back it was not quite so enjoyable due to less than perfect WiFi reception. We would pull into an RV Park, setup, and find that the WiFi was not very good. You know, no youtube, music, you know the real important stuff.
Our friends over at WiFi Ranger heard of our disappointments, and sent us this a WiFIRanger EliteAC Pack.
So today we will tell you about our experience with it.
Lets face it, one of the most important things to an RVer is our WIF. After all don't we all want to Stream Music, watch shows, video’s, and visit the web sites that we want. What more do we really need to understand right?
OK, I probably do need to tell you a little about WiFi.
So lets try to make things really simple. Our devices, need to connect to the internet. But where exactly are they trying to connect to? They need to connect to the RV Parks WiFi router and network. So in our case, the router was some distance away, inside the club house, behind a brick wall, just to name a few obstacles. It would be better if it the parks router was on the roof, but I’m pretty sure this WiFi device is not made to go outdoors, as its a typical "home" router, rather than a specialized device made to the outdoors.
So lets look at the second issue with where it is located. From where the router is located its pretty tough to see all of our RV. In fact, we really can barely see the very front end cap of the RV, and we don’t try to watch our videos, and listen to music from the tongue of our RV now do we. So with all that distance between us and the access point, as well as all the metal, wood, and brick, as well, the signal can be pretty bad, sometimes even non-existent.
WiFi Ranger EliteAC Pack is designed to help with this issue.
Basically the pack consists of two elements.
First is the WiFiRanger Go2AC access point. This is a router that goes in your RV, that all your devices attach to.
The Go2AC, connects to the EliteAC antenna located on the roof of the RV, some assembly required of coarse.
Now we first tried placing the antenna at the top the ladder, but it made it to difficult to get on and off the roof of the RV, so we ended up installing it mounted to the HD Antenna mount.
So why does a WiFiRanger help?
Because the antenna is located high above the roof of the RV, it can hear more signals compared to if you were in the RV. Less interference, and more power make it a much better method to attach to RV Park routers.
It also helps that the roof antenna, is connected via cable to the Go2AC access point, eliminating the interference of the walls, and such of the RV.
So if I go into our bedroom normally without the aide of the WiFiRanger EliteAC Pack, and try to connect to the parks WiFi, I can’t even see it on my list. What’s that guy on TV say - “Can you hear me now?” NOPE
But if I use WIFiRanger, I get 4 bars, great reception, and WiFi as if I was across the street and in the club house sitting next to the access point.
Its Just that easy to use Folks
The instructions are pretty easy, and available on-line at WiFiRanger, including how to setup and use the admin screen.
The product takes less than 5 minutes to power up when you arrive at each RV Park.
Once you are powered up, you simply go to the admin screen and choose the parks WIFi network, and put in any login information that they may have given you.
Your devices connect to the Go2 so you do NOT need to set them up with each RV Park. That alone saves a lot of frustration, especially when the park tells you you are allowed only one device.
From there you are good to go !
We think this is one of the best products one could get to deal with many of the WiFi issues in RV parks. Does it solve all WIFi issues, no, but it goes a long way to improving many !
So tell us what you think in ExtremeRVing.com , and we will see you next time as we explore more RV related products on the road.
Cons
- Most RV's do not have preconfigured open access to roof for antenna cabling
Pros
Devices connect to access point in RV so no configuration necessary at each device with each new RV park
Devices connect to access point in RV so no configuration necessary at each device with each new RV park
- Single device connects to RV Parks
- Ability to use Cellular connection if no RV Park WiFi Signal available