Test drive - SuperUSB wifi

I've been trying out a new model of Crane's SuperUSB Wifi III antenna for the past several days and am happy to report that it works great.  The park wifi where I am (Pumpkin Patch RV near Bangor, ME) is pretty good so it's not a real rugged test, but the signal strength jumped from 2-3 bars to a full 5 bars. Perhaps more important, an additional 5 wifi sources appeared on the list, indicating the SuperUSB III was indeed pulling in signals from further afield than the built-in wifi on my HP mini desktop.

TheSuperUSB III comes with a 15 ft USB cable and sports two USB plugs on the end - the 2nd one to provide additional power for extra range. Crance claims usable signals at up to one mile if there are no obstructions. The  wifi antenna is rugged and waterproof for outside use and comes with a choice of four mounting methods - suction cup,  hook and loop (velcro), a lanyard for hanging or a simple plastic wire tie. The suction cup just slips onto the antenna so can be easily removed again. I ran the cable outside via the slide opening and used the suction cup to stick the antenna to a side window at head height. Didn't have to get it way up in the air here, but I'm sure that would help in some locales.

The SuperUSB supports wifi B, G and N and is compatible with WEP, WPA, WPA2 and WPS security. It comes with software for both Windows and Mac. It is an omni-directional antenna, so no aiming required.

I got the SuperUSB from www.rvledbulbs.com, who is a sponsor of this site. It sells for $99.95

http://www.rvledbulbs.com/category-s/52.htm

http://www.ccrane.com/antennas/wifi-antennas/super-usb-wifi-antenna-3.aspx

We recently installed one on our motorhome before a trip to Wyoming, Montana and Alberta.  In many of the parks that said that we would have to come to their office to get WiFi we received a great signal from our site with the antenna. In fact, we often times got free signals from motels 2-3 blocks away.  In parks where we used to get 2 bars, we got 5 bars with the antenna.

This may sound like a dumb question, but - is there enough free wifi out there that is just a little/lot out of range of a regular wifi adapter to make it worth while to have one of these if we already have Verizon and AT&T 3G MiFi's?

If we could frequently use free wifi instead of our MiFi it would cut down on overage charges (we are heavy data users), but how long to recover the $100 up front?

TIA,

Frank

The availability of free wifi varies greatly, so there is no real answer to that. I have a 3 GB data plan (only $30) for my Mifi and that's enough for 9 months out of the year, but this antenna helps me avoid overages when I am relying heavily on the cell modem. But my overage charge isn't much either, so the financial aspect is questionable.

Many parks have wifi but it is all but unusable from most sites, e.g. you have to walk up to the office or rec room to get a usable signal. The amplified antenna helps overcome that inconvenience.

I use it when I can to reduce the overall load on the modem, especially if I need to download something big like a major software update or maybe a movie.

After reading Gary's experiences with the C. Crane Super WiFi antenna, I decided to give it at a try. I can report, it indeed does work and very well at that. Our site for visitors gets little to no signal when the leaves on on the trees between the house and the site - about 100 yds, two buildings  in direct line of sight as well as many trees. I took the Crane antenna and my MacBook Air over to the guest RV site. Just using the MacBook Air, I could not even detect the WiFi at all. When I plugged in the Crane Super WiFi antenna, I got a 75% signal strength and was able to get the same response to internet sites that I experience right inside the house.

I am looking forward to using this antenna in cmapgrounds where I have had marginal WiFi in the past.

Another option is one of Ubiquiti's products like this one.  At our ranch I have two outbuildings that have internet (the house and barn) which is fed from the Internet point of presence at the shop and I use patch antennas and Ubiquiti's Bullet screwed onto the antenna's N connector, and in one case, I use their Nano station which is the antenna, radio and operating system in one little package.  They are extremely reliable and highly configurable (as in not exactly plug 'n play.)

With the Nano station (for one example), you could feed a wireless router which would then provide your own little WiFi hotspot.

Depending on which Ubiquiti product you choose, you could have ranges of a mile or two (or more.)

Gary RV Roamer said:

I've been trying out a new model of Crane's SuperUSB Wifi III antenna for the past several days and am happy to report that it works great.  ...
The SuperUSB supports wifi B, G and N and is compatible with WEP, WPA, WPA2 and WPS security. It comes with software for both Windows and Mac. It is an omni-directional antenna, so no aiming required.

I got the SuperUSB from www.rvledbulbs.com, who is a sponsor of this site. It sells for $99.95

http://www.rvledbulbs.com/category-s/52.htm

http://www.ccrane.com/antennas/wifi-antennas/super-usb-wifi-antenna-3.aspx

Click to expand...

I am confused as to just what this product is.  Is it a USB-powered antenna that boosts the signal around your laptop so your laptop's wireless can pick it up or is it a complete USB-powered wifi adapter that has an antenna attached to it?

[quote author=AllegroRV]
I am confused as to just what this product is.  Is it a USB-powered antenna that boosts the signal around your laptop so your laptop's wireless can pick it up or is it a complete USB-powered wifi adapter that has an antenna attached to it?[/quote]

The latter.  It is a USB powered Wifi adapter with an antenna.



Edit: Moderator added missing end-quote tag

As Tony says, it's a wifi adapter that includes an external omni-directional antenna and plugs to your computer via USB cable.

I thought it must be, since it came with software, but the links called it a "wifi antenna" rather than a wifi with antenna.  Thanks.

Do you still like it?

I've tried it in two parks, one of which had rather poor wifi coverage (I have stayed there before). The SuperUSB worked great, bringing in a solid signal from all three of the park's wifi antennas (one in each loop of the park).  I don't know if this brand is any better than similar products, but it works fine for me.

Very useful thread
Thanks

I tested out Russ Mahoney's at Cummins Des Moines and found 6 new wifi stations and the Roadway Inn .5 mile away.  I ordered one and it arrived here from Amazon before we did.

I bought an Engenius wifi adapter when Gary recommended it a couple of years ago.  I came close to buying this one, too, but in looking around I decided to go with this less-expensive Alfa unit instead.  I tried it out this past weekend and was very impressed, particularly with the panel antenna.  It has directional sensitivity, as opposed to the unidirectional stick antennas.  In one direction, I was able to pick up ~11 other wifi networks versus 3 with my builtin laptop wifi.  I did have some trouble reading the driver disk that came with it, but was eventually able to do it with some effort.  That was good since I couldn't get the Alfa driver download web page to work.

I have the Alfa model too, but just the 2 vertical antennas, and it's an excellent device.

Ned; I would imagine that this would not be any help at all with my frequent "No Internet Access" message?
Do other people not have that problem at campgrounds?

Elly

Elly, it won't resolve your "No internet access" problem but will allow connecting to weak WiFi access points where the built in adapters won't.

I'm no expert but the basic technical specs of the Alfa and the Crane device look close enough to not matter as far as antenna gain and sensitivity goes.  I too ordered the Alfa device but via Ebay so it'll be a while.  I also ordered a USB powered directional panel just for grins.

One difference is that the Crane can be mounted outdoors.

I also picked up an Engenius panel device a while back which is powered by Power Over Ethernet and is outdoor capable.  The setup screens are almost identical to that of any Wireless Access point.  As it is directional I think that's all I'll need for outdoor use. 

I didn't bother to get a WiFi Yagi as I strongly suspect that is too directional to be worth the trouble.  Looks good but I suspect, unless you had line of sight with the WiFi antenna, you'd spend too much time fiddling with the direction of it.  And if you had line of sight you probably don't need it as a panel device would work anyhow.

Once all my devices show up I'll do a bit of a comparison of all of them.

Most of the USB adapters (and built in ones too) use the Realtek RTL8187 chipset so performance differences are mostly in the antenna design.  A good omnidirectional antenna works the best in most cases.  Only in extreme conditions is a directional antenna needed.

And most RVers don't want to bother to align a directional antenna - and re-align if it accidentally gets moved a bit.

I wasn't trying to imply the Crane SuperUSB is the best wifi antenna made - just that it's performance is excellent and it's convenient to use. I also have an Engenius, but I think the SuperUSB outperforms it, even without hooking up the extra power line for max gain. Perhaps that's because it is readily usable outside and gets a better signal to start with. I haven't tried a side-by-side comparison, though.