Poor wifi

[GF1]

I am a seasonal pitch in North Devon and the site WiFi is intermittent. I am thinking of installing a modem with SIM card. Advice please on:
Internal or external?
Need for an antenna?
Which equipment is recommended?
The set-up needs to provide a good signal for my mobile phone, smart TV and laptop. Not all at the same time though.
Any advice or articles on this would be much appreciated.

 

[RogerL]

How good is the signal on your mobile phone when you're in the caravan - if it's good, you could use it as a hotspot - if it's poor, you need to research which network gives the best signal there.

 

[GUMPY]

Which site?
It will make a huge difference.

 

[CustardAvenger]

I am in a similar situation, site WiFi being "rural" and much slower than available 4G. I just used my large cellular data allowance and phone to downloaded programmes to whatever app, then used device screen mirroring to my FireStick to watch on the TV.

Only time this fails, is if I can't download a film/video and need to stream; phone can't handle doing both downloading and mirroring at the same time so it's unwatchable. However, I don't really use it like that much, so investing in a fixed solution isn't on my list of priorities.

Good videos on the subject and on how to install the Avtex WiFi device. But it needs a hole in the roof for the antenna.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7Kb8lAcHAw
&

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfQcxJVbUsg

How good is the signal on your mobile phone when you're in the caravan - if it's good, you could use it as a hotspot - if it's poor, you need to research which network gives the best signal there.

Excellent point - You can use the Mobile providers website to view their coverage maps. e.g. O2: https://www.o2.co.uk/coveragechecker

 

[GUMPY]

Most of the coverage checker maps are embarrassingly inaccurate once you get out of major conurbations.
For a fixed site the first thing I do is look at cellmapper to see if there is a mast close by, then if not the best way is to get a SIM from all of the three networks using their cheaper outlets, Giffgaff, Smarty and 1p mobile and compare signal strength and throughput for each.
Another thing is router placement, I am in rural Ireland at the moment trying to set up a system in an isolated farm house. It's taken half a day to find the best place for the router, I ended up with it less than ten feet from where I started and the signal strength was pretty much the same but the speed went from 5-7mbps to 50-60mbps.
It's not an exact science 🫣

 

[Jcloughie]

Sites could provide better. Right now I am an a cross country train, York to Cheltenham. I bet there is more than 1000 people on it. More than 50% tapping away, lots for work. And the WiFi is not bad.

So it is possible.

John

 

[birdman101]

We just take out wireless 3 Hub from home don’t bother with landlines, and never failed anywhere. We used it onsite at Woolacombe only 3 weeks ago, just as if we were at home

 

[GUMPY]

We just take out wireless 3 Hub from home don’t bother with landlines, and never failed anywhere. We used it onsite at Woolacombe only 3 weeks ago, just as if we were at home

Similar to what I do but I have a second router and SIM as I need there to be an internet connection at home whilst I am away.

 

[IanB1485]

I bought a data sim off smarty and a Falcon SN-F4GAR mobile 4G router it comes with either a mains power supply adapter of a 12V -cigar socket . I liked the fact its weather proof and can stick to the outside of a caravan and has external antennas, its got excellent reception on several sites and good wi-fi for our phones. I got it off cash converters (second hand but in excellent condition). there are others such as a Teltonika units and Avtex although they don't have suckers to attach to the caravan body. the Falcon is available from various suppliers . The thing I struggled with was buying a pay as go data SIM , even though they all say "you only pay for what you use" its costing me £6 a month for the SIM even though its currently switched off and will be all winter I know it's not a lot but still it is a contract if it is renewed every month!.

 

[IanB1485]

Another thing is router placement, I am in rural Ireland at the moment trying to set up a system in an isolated farm house. It's taken half a day to find the best place for the router, I ended up with it less than ten feet from where I started and the signal strength was pretty much the same but the speed went from 5-7mbps to 50-60mbps.
It's not an exact science 🫣

I know what you mean about router placement , I once spent several hours doing the same at Morrisons Oldbury , it has a structural steel roof which played havoc with the routers signal ( we had software which monitored it for us)

 

[Mr Plodd]

Have you thought about Starlink? Not cheap, but very reliable, and speedy.

 

[GUMPY]

Have you thought about Starlink? Not cheap, but very reliable, and speedy.

Personally whilst I think the technology is great nothing would induce me to pay money to Musk.
Besides which a lot of the time I get 50mbps download speed 500gb/pcm for £2.50 a month what pay more ?

 

[Mr Plodd]

Personally whilst I think the technology is great nothing would induce me to pay money to Musk.
Besides which a lot of the time I get 50mbps download speed 500gb/pcm for £2.50 a month what pay more ?

That I understand, but you were not the person who started the thread or asked the question, so not the person I responded to