Verzon wireless signal booster

[Ramblin Roadrunners]

Hi All, I thought I would pass this information on. I have Verizon cell coverage. I was having trouble with poor signal for my phone and jet pack. I bought a signal booster form 3G store.com. http://3gstore.com/ Excellant service and product help. I did not order on line. They encourage you to talk to a rep to get fitted to your need. I bought a Wilson Sleek 4g Universal Signal Booster # 813426. It raised my phone signal from 2 bars to 4 bars. You can use it with your Jet Pack or phone.

I also bought a Pepwave Device Connector # DCS-GN. It is used to boost the FREE internet wireless signal that you are using at the RV park. It has a 2000 ft range. This is used when you are too far from the RV Park office and can't get a good signal. I have not tried it out yet. I will keep you posted.

Ramblin Roadrunners
Jay D.

[spindrift]

Good deal. Thanks for sharing. I'm investigating what set-up to use for our internet connection right now. Getting ready for our trip out west.

[BasilFawlty]

I have done some research and hope to get things tested by next week.

This is where I am so far:

1. Network
Since bot me and my wife are (as you might know now!) Apple fans we decided to set up our own network inside and outside the RV ourselves using a Apple Time Capsule with built in router (able to communicate in the faster 802.11 N and AC. We can then use our Apple TV inside our own network, do back ups and use our remotes.

2. WiFi
There is a bazillion of solutions out on the market. many of them just too complicated and hard to configure and even hard to understand. I came to the conclusion to keep it simple.
Many of the RV Parks have a) Slow connection b) Bad coverage
The connection is nothing I can do anything about. If 30 people are sharing a 5Mb line it is enough if only one or two decide to stream i.e. Netflix then the rest 28 will get excessively slow connection. No boosters or amplifiers in the world can take care of that problem. What can be improved though is to try to catch whatever weak signal there is and amplify it. My thinking after listening to many people and reading a lot of information is: Get a large antenna, get a good radio at least 0,5Watts, DONT let the radio do anything else than just catch and amplify the WiFi signal. There are omni directional antennas and directional. not sure what works best yet - ordered both. I decided to go with Ubiquiti Platinum HP2 made for marine use. Better insulation than the old plastic one. You connect it direct to the antenna, then to a box inside the RV that receives the amplified signal and gives it power.

It has NO built in radio that has to broadcast the signal secondary to the computer/iPad etc. Signal comes out in a ethernet cable that connects to the AppleAirport/Time capsule.

So every unit, antenna, amplifier, airport does its own job and what it is made for. Seems clean and easy to understand. There are two bands - 2 and 5 mHz. If the RV Parks transmitter/access point is broadcasting 2mHz the signal will travel MUCH longer than if it is set for 5mHz. I understand that 5mHz is more used inside houses to be able to provide a faster speed and more secure connection. The equipment I bought is based up on the fact that RV Parks is using 2mHz and my experience so far it has been used as of 100% of the time. And again, it does not really matter if your equipment can handle 4, 8, 30, 54 or 300 mb/s. All public spots including RV parks most likely has maybe 25-50 to share. And if ten people/computers/iPads are using it at the same time speed is not an issue.

3. Cellular

Have been looking at several systems - think that Wilsons new (not out yet) is going to be the best. It amplifies the signal (ALL carriers INCLUDING 4G/LTE!) outside via an outdoor antenna, then repeats/broadcasts it inside the RV via a small antenna that has to be placed away from the outdoor one to avoid feedback) the RV.

Depending of the signal you start with you get 2-5 bars. The area it covers is depending on the actual starting signal. If no signal no use. But I have very often seen 1x on my Verizon, useless speed but still a signal. And if I can turn that in to at least a usable 3G it will be ok for me. Negative thing is that here in the US it is hard to buy unlimited cell data. The only one that offers that is as far as my research shows, Sprint. But they are also known for being excessively slow very often.

Lets see what happens now when they just got a new huge investor. Sprint also don´t like when you tether your unlimited data so if you are going to follow the rules you can only use it on your phone. My choice today is Verizon based on my traveling in the US and their LTE is very often fast and reliable. ATT lets you both talk and use your iPhone as a hotspot, Verizon does not but I think I can live without it.

Thats where I am now, I will post more info in this forum when I know how things work out.

It is interesting to see how big difference there are between different providers of hardware, some just seems to know everything while others are more honest and just gives you the facts so you can use your own brain to decide. When it comes to money I must say I don´t really care if something costs 200 or 400. If I am going to live full time in a small box, I would like to have the latest and greatest in technology - good or bad - others have to judge ;-))

[spindrift]

BF... maybe I misunderstood but you can use a Verizon Droid as a hotspot. This option is in the "all settings" area of my Droid. Very convenient as I can have my laptop with me while on the road and simply turn on the hotspot when needed.

[BasilFawlty]

I was not really answering your post, just added some of my experiences that I published in the wrong forum earlier, not so used to blogs/forums before I joined this one!

But what I understand is that Verizon charges you 120 per year plus tax for every additional device. If I use the iPhone as my hotspot it will stop being a hotspot when I get an incoming call but I really don't care about that.

I also understand that Sprint does NOT let you use your phone as a hotspot.

Not sure about ATT but they don't have unlimited so I did not check them out.

[Ramblin Roadrunners]

Verizon chzrges you for the addition usage if you over contracted time. I also bought time with the Jet device. I think if I get this richt we have 4 gigs shared between 2 phones and another 6 with the Jet. I have used the Iphone as a hot spot.

Ramblin Roadrunners
Jay D.

[Ramblin Roadrunners]

I have not measured the speed of the up and down load. I do know it goes from snail to jack rabbit. I do have a app to measure speeds; havn't thought to use it for that.
Jay D.

[Steve & Linda]

Ok, showing my age and ignorance here but what is a Jet Pack?

[Ramblin Roadrunners]

Verizon Jet Pack is a wireless modem for internet that works from your phone carrier for data service. It cost a little more than regular internet service if you use it full time and spend a lot of time on the internet. If your not on the internet much its cheaper. Its very portable for full timers.
Jay D.

[atom ant]

Silly

[sinder]

I've had good luck pulling in weak Wifi signals with the BearExtender plugged into my MacBook AIr USB port.

[Oriana]

You can also get a Verizon Jetpack from 3rd party retailers for less cost. We use Millenicom, which I believe gives 20G of data for under $70/month with no contract or other bundles.

We also have a router, which we sync with the Jetpack and can use up to 10 devices within about 600'. As previously mentioned the Jetpack works on the cellular networks. Speed varies depending on the number of local users.

They also have 2 common frequencies - 2MHz & 5MHz. Some older equipment can' t sync with the faster 5MHz frequency.

[Steve & Linda]

RR: Is this Jet Pack different than a Hot Spot?

AA: I was going to make a "Jetsons" reference....just knew if I didn't somebody would jump in with something!

[BasilFawlty]

Oriana: Have you had the possibility to compare Millenicom with Verizon? In my research I tried to understand how they could provide service/data on Verizon's network to a better price. Some people in other forums THOUGHT that Verizon were given priority before Millenicom users on Verizon's towers but they were not sure. Other people said that Millenicom users were throttled down to 3G while verizon users could see LTE/4G at the same location on their devices. Do you have any experience of this?

[Ramblin Roadrunners]

Oriana, I've been taken again. I didn't look for cheaper. We are also trying to keep the paper trail footprint down so that we are not paying to have mail forwarded around to us when fulltiming.

I think the Jet pack is a stand alone that is more powerful, can be left on all the time, better suited for multiple users and kind of acts as a router.

I have heard of the Millenicom. I do not know much about it. I hear it does about the same for less.

This is all good information.

Thanks,
Jay D.

[Oriana]

Originally Posted by BasilFawlty

Oriana: Have you had the possibility to compare Millenicom with Verizon? In my research I tried to understand how they could provide service/data on Verizon's network to a better price. Some people in other forums THOUGHT that Verizon were given priority before Millenicom users on Verizon's towers but they were not sure. Other people said that Millenicom users were throttled down to 3G while verizon users could see LTE/4G at the same location on their devices. Do you have any experience of this?

We are picking up a 4G signal. I have heard that in the event of bandwidth restrictions we will be affected before Verizon customers.

Only requiring the service while we are in the U.S., we are OK with these possible limitations. The no contract and monthly service, as and when we need it, works for us.

The only additional cost is an activation fee, which is paid to Verizon every time we return to the U.S. and re-initiate service.

[Oriana]

Originally Posted by Ramblin Roadrunners

Oriana, I've been taken again. I didn't look for cheaper. We are also trying to keep the paper trail footprint down so that we are not paying to have mail forwarded around to us when fulltiming.

I think the Jet pack is a stand alone that is more powerful, can be left on all the time, better suited for multiple users and kind of acts as a router.

I have heard of the Millenicom. I do not know much about it. I hear it does about the same for less.

This is all good information.

Thanks,
Jay D.

Jay - affirmative it can be left on continuously. If on battery it lasts less than 15 hrs, so normally leave it plugged in and charging.

On 4G you can connect up to 10 devices, but on 3G only 5 devices. The front display panel tells you how many devices are attached. The range is reasonable - probably 20 to 30', as we keep it up front in the LR & my wife has used it in the bedroom.

We also have a router, which increases the range significantly. My one suggestion is get a router and/or network card that works on the 5MHz band.

Millenicom is based in Portland and is primarily web based. You can order directly from them, they set up a device and mail it to you. On receipt, plug it in and enjoy the WWW.

[Ramblin Roadrunners]

Thats great input.
Thanks
Jay d.

[BasilFawlty]

Thanks, make sense.

[atom ant]

I have an old Jetpack that I threw in the camper after I found out I can use it as a router so I can at least print to wireless printer. I can still connect 10 devices, even though it has no service.

I'm thinking with the Hopper I can still watch TV on a tablet or something, even if we have no 4G service. Other than that, I have absolutely no idea if there is a reason to do that - but just interesting to know it works.