USB Wifi Antenna for free internet on the road.

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What is the router you're going to use with it?
 
Ned, for not a lot more than the Pepwave Surf Mini, the Pepwave Surf Mini On-The-Go supports "WiFi as WAN", as well as 3G/4G USB cell modems with auto failover. Unless you need additional Ethernet ports, no additional router is needed.
 
Ned said:
What is the router you're going to use with it?
Click to expand...

I can't find it - bought while in VA working on rental house - probably Netgear WGR614 Wireless-G 54Mbps Broadband Router (Walmart's cheapest).

Joel
 
Dutch, I know about the On-The-Go version but I have both wired and wireless devices connected to the router.

Joel, that should work just fine.  Plub the Pepwave into the WAN port but do read the manual carefully, it does take some time to configure the first time.
 
I recently installed a Pepwave on our system.  I bought it from the 3G Store which had a good set of installation and configuration instructions on their web site.  Without those instructions, I would have been pestering Ned for help. 

With the Pepwave, all of our devices connect to the router.  I don't have to reconfigure things like the TIVO and the printer when we move and change internet sources.

Jeannine
 
Jeannine, thanks for the input, makes me feel confident.  Guess I'm going to have to read the fine manual, I hate that!

The 3G store shipped almost instantly & I should have it Wednesday.  And I found the Router.

Joel
 
Joel,

The tiny "manual" that comes with the Pepwave is more confusing than helpful.  I downloaded a PDF document titled "PepwaveSurfConfigurationGuideFinal" from the 3G Store support site.  It gave me all the info I needed.  Good luck!

Jeannine
 
the trouble with park wifi is its pretty slow if it has too many users and especially if there doing vidio downloads etc
Note to the OP.I would think if internet is needed to run your business as u say and I assume your home schooling your kids would u not be much better served with Verizon 4g network station
 
Chet18013 said:
Check out this thread:

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php?topic=45798.msg429925#msg429925

I've got the Crane and it really works great.
Click to expand...
receiving a siganl is one thing but as i said park wifi systems are slow because of small band width and too many net users
 
So, got the Pepwave Surf mini today.  I walked into the trailer with it about 30 minutes ago and am using my new AP to access the forum.

Didn't need the additional instructions that Jeannine pointed me to and that I had download.  The 81/2x11 brocure was a little cryptic but I muddled through.

Don't need the router.  The Pepwave Surf mini creates an AP.  My laptop and Nexus 7 are happy puppies.

I'm sitting in the backyard.  When I go to a campground I'll have to reconfigure the font end but the back end won't change, so we will have to teach Camille's laptop about the new network only once.

Thanks Ned

Joel
 
Joel, I like happy endings :)  If you have all wireless devices, then the Surf Mini is indeed all you need.  Since I have several wired devices, I still need the router.
 
This comes up alot. I wrote a post on my blog about RV internet which was focused on Mobile WIFI through wireless carriers but I did some research on boosting signals as well and tacked the issue of multiple devices needing to be connected. The simplest and least costly option is to use the Crane US3 Super USB Wifi Antenna 3 as several have mentioned above (highest rated and best performing). Then grab the CradlePoint PHS300 Personal Hotspot which can be connected to the USB antenna to split the signal for all your devices. All for around $150 shipped!
 
I guess I am lucky, I have a laptop and it connects to virtually everything wherever I am...I agree some campgrounds can be a hassle with slow weak connections and when that happens I pull out my Verizon Wireless Hotspot and I am good to go!

I am on the internet everyday since it is part of my "work"....so very important that I can get a decent connection for emails and file updates and also to work on web sites.

There is nothing special on my laptop - just what came with it....which is a Antheros wireless G / N adapter....

Good luck on all the additional hookup stuff...

Jim

 
joelmyer said:
So, got the Pepwave Surf mini today.  I walked into the trailer with it about 30 minutes ago and am using my new AP to access the forum.

Didn't need the additional instructions that Jeannine pointed me to and that I had download.  The 81/2x11 brocure was a little cryptic but I muddled through.

Don't need the router.  The Pepwave Surf mini creates an AP.  My laptop and Nexus 7 are happy puppies.

I'm sitting in the backyard.  When I go to a campground I'll have to reconfigure the font end but the back end won't change, so we will have to teach Camille's laptop about the new network only once.

Thanks Ned

Joel
Click to expand...

My Pepwave Surf Mini's name is Bawt.

Campground #1, free wifi, Bawt hooked up automagicly and worked perfectly.
Campground #2, free wifi, Bawt hooked up automagicly and worked perfectly.

Trumbo Point Campground, paid wifi, when you connect you get a log in screen, login and the door to the internet opens.
Bawt searched & searched but couldn't find the internet.  Got out the enet cable & instructions and manually configured Bawt to connect to campwifi.

With laptop connected to campwifi, I login and can surf the web.

With the laptop connected to Bawt, I login, but can't connect to any web pages.

Help please

Joel

 
I would contact the Pepwave support people about that.  It may be because you're using the Surf Mini as an AP but that's just a guess.
 
The park I'm in now uses Time Warner FIOS to feed their homebrew wi-fi.  Talk about fast - if no one's on I can see 11 Mbps on my Net Meter.

Even during peak times the speed seldom drops below a few hundred Kbs.

Here's a link to Net Meter.  It gives a graphical display of your connection speed, and statistics on your total usage.  If I have a marginal wi-fi signal, it's useful to watch the throughput as I adjust the antenna.  Sometimes a difference of just a couple of inches in antenna placement can make a big difference in speed.

http://www.hootech.com/NetMeter/
 
So Ned,

I went back to repeat the login process & capture the screens so that I could intelligently describe the problem to the Pepwave support folks.  & wouldn't you know it, it works now!

duh

Joel
 
Another useful tool for adjusting a WiFi antenna is Inssider.  I gives a real time display of signal strength for all visible access points.
 
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