Re: RV Wireless Solution

On Jun 11, 6:02 pm, RobbieWinter <RobbieWinter.2s1...@no-
mx.wirelessforums.org> wrote:
> Hey,
>
> Last year I bought an RV and my wife an I have been travling across the
> nation since. We have a laptop and found that we had trouble picking up
> the wireless networks offered by the RV parks because of low signal
> strength. I looked for product to help increase the range of my laptop
> and came up with a nifty solution. I used a USB wireless adapter with a
> removeable antenna, and combined it with a strong outdoor antenna that I
> mounted on the roof of my RV. The products I used were an 'HWUG1'
> (http://www.gohawking.com/store/produ...roducts_id=237) and
> an 'HAO9SIP'
> (http://www.gohawking.com/store/produ...roducts_id=208) from
> Hawking Technologies. I have been very happy with this configuration
> for about a month now and just wanted to share with my fellow RV'ers.
>
> Rob
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> View this thread:http://www.wirelessforums.org/showth...lessforums.org



Great solution. I have a rig like this too for problem places.

Steve

On Thu, 14 Jun 2007 08:10:31 -0700, seaweedsteve
<seaweedsteve@gmail.com> wrote in
<1181833831.716374.22150@o11g2000prd.googlegroups. com>:

>On Jun 11, 6:02 pm, RobbieWinter <RobbieWinter.2s1...@no-
>mx.wirelessforums.org> wrote:

>> Last year I bought an RV and my wife an I have been travling across the
>> nation since. We have a laptop and found that we had trouble picking up
>> the wireless networks offered by the RV parks because of low signal
>> strength. I looked for product to help increase the range of my laptop
>> and came up with a nifty solution. I used a USB wireless adapter with a
>> removeable antenna, and combined it with a strong outdoor antenna that I
>> mounted on the roof of my RV. The products I used were an 'HWUG1'
>> (http://www.gohawking.com/store/produ...roducts_id=237) and
>> an 'HAO9SIP'
>> (http://www.gohawking.com/store/produ...roducts_id=208) from
>> Hawking Technologies. I have been very happy with this configuration
>> for about a month now and just wanted to share with my fellow RV'ers.

>Great solution. I have a rig like this too for problem places.

The problem with that solution is signal loss in the antenna cable,
which can greatly reduce the effectiveness of the external antenna.

Better to locate the access point as close as possible to the antenna.

My own preference is something like the
Hawking HWU8DD Hi-Gain USB Wireless-G Dish Adapter
<http://www.gohawking.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=140>
* The USB cable has no signal loss, and can be extended with active
extension cable(s).
* The directional nature of the antenna has the added benefit of
reducing wireless interference.
* I've good success with this in marine environments, and recommend it
in the Wi-Fi on a Boat wiki (link below).

One caveat is that it's not a permanent solution. The unit is stored
inside, and only placed outside when needed, aimed at the desired access
point. I use heavy duty Velcro to make the outside mounting secure.

Another caveat is that the Mac isn't supported. An alternative that
solves that problem is to use a wireless Ethernet (client) bridge like
the Buffalo Wireless-G High Power Ethernet Converter WLI-TX4-G54HP.
<http://www.buffalotech.com/products/wireless/wireless-g-mimo-performance/wireless-g-mimo-performance-ethernet-converter>
* Ethernet cable likewise has no signal loss.
* PoE (Power over Ethernet) can be used to avoid a separate power cable.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

On Jun 14, 10:35 am, John Navas <spamfilt...@navasgroup.com> wrote:
>
> The problem with that solution is signal loss in the antenna cable,
> which can greatly reduce the effectiveness of the external antenna.
>
> Better to locate the access point as close as possible to the antenna.


Agreed. The Bridge is the way to go in this case, and most efficient
way is to mount it by the antenna.

One could use a rootenna : http://pnt.zoovy.com/product/ZZ-R2T24W-15

or keep the existing antenna just mount it in an enclosure:
http://pnt.zoovy.com/product/ENCTEL with a pigtail to the antenna.



Still, the last time we went around about doing this with RVs, it was
pointed out that the vibration on a mast could be significantly worse
than keeping the bridge inside.

Considering that, I lean towards suggesting low-loss coax and keeping
the bridge inside the RV on the shortest possible coax cable.

I'll get more specific:

1) Get a wireless bridge like the Buffalo John mentioned:

http://www.provantage.com/buffalo-te...p~7BFLO025.htm


2) Use low loss coax from the antenna thru the roof or however you run
the current USB and keep the bridge inside. LMR400 loses only .25 db
per meter at 2.4Ghz. At 30 feet, that's under 2.5 db loss. And the
shorter the better.

http://pnt.zoovy.com/product/LMR400CUSTOM
http://www.gohawking.com/store/produ...roducts_id=162
http://cgi.ebay.com/Hawking-HAC10N-N...QQcmdZViewItem

With a 12 to 15 dbi antenna, you still net plenty of gain and have a
decent coverage pattern.

Perhaps the antenna you already own will work fine. You have it, it's
installed, try it first. If not, something like this will make up
for the cable loss:

http://pnt.zoovy.com/product/ES24-14 or a backfire antenna


3) use any wireless router or AP inside the RV for local wireless
coverage. The current fav is the Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 wireless router,
but there are plenty of cheaper ones if you are on a tight budget.

Here's the budget wireless router of the moment:
http://www.gohawking.com/store/produ...products_id=34

I have no idea if the Hawking is any good at all. The Buffalo is
good.

Locate your AP by the window to cover an area outside as well.

I believe this is an excellent solution for getting wireless coverage
to the inside of your RV.

Steve