Wifi & TV Signal.

[Notmyvan]

As new to caravanning I am a bit surprised as how camp sites say nothing about lack or TV signal or Wifi availability.
Presumably when you book somewhere its pot luck if you get a signal.
Just checked up today where we have booked for later in September and they say "The signal "may" not reach your caravan.
Which means they know it wont.
What can I get to supplement my Wifi signal.
Will I have to get a Satellite Dish ?
All replied gratefully received.

 

[bertieboy1]

As new to caravanning I am a bit surprised as how camp sites say nothing about lack or TV signal or Wifi availability.
Presumably when you book somewhere its pot luck if you get a signal.
Just checked up today where we have booked for later in September and they say "The signal "may" not reach your caravan.
Which means they know it wont.
What can I get to supplement my Wifi signal.
Will I have to get a Satellite Dish ?
All replied gratefully received.

Caravan club sites booklet tells you that TV sign is "good" or "poor"etc. and if a TV booster is on site..Don't know about WIFI though,they say a site is gold" silver" or "bronze" standard,I would expect WIFI signal to be available throughout the site.
Don't know why they have different standards though.

 

[Len W]

Mobile phone and a DVD player, More than that a pack of cards and bottle of something heady works for me.

 

[Jcloughie]

We just go as prepared as we can with two mobiles on two different networks. TV is by aerial or WiFi. So we should always get something. If all else fails, I have a hard disk with many hours of TV.

Even then, we wouldn't loose any sleep. There is always a book. And I am a poor reader.

John

 

[Woodentop]

Do some homework before you go. Go to
wolfbane.com
and go to UK Reception predictor. Put in the place name or postcode, select distant, put aerial height as 4m and see what you get. Before anyone says it, yes I know it is a bit out of date but will give some indication. If the signal is at or above about 45uV/m you will get a useable signal; if it is much over 50uV/m you are onto a winner. The stations will be shown in predicted signal strength order. If it shows only PSB1, 2, and 3 then the transmitter is a relay; if it shows six channels then it is a main station. Always try to get the main station if you can.
When you get to site look see which way the wardens aerial is pointing and whether the 'prongs' are vertical or horizontal. Point yours in the same direction with the same polarity and get tuning.

 

[Gagakev]

Mobile phone and a DVD player, More than that a pack of cards and bottle of something heady works for me.

I'm with Len here, mobile phone, if it works the wife is happy, I'm not bothered!!
We have a DVD player built in to the TV, but dont take any DVD's!!!
We only have the TV on to watch the news so wouldn't miss it if we didn't get a signal, on that note dont think we have never had a signal.
Dont loose too much sleep over it, its good to talk (and drink at the same time)

 

[Buckman]

I thought the OP was asking about TV signal strength on campsites? We enjoy watching TV together in the evenings as find it very relaxing. We have never bother with taking cards or books with us.

As BB says "Each to their own".

 

[Raywood]

Most sites will state if the signal is good but asking is the best bet. If you are on a site with a dubious signal the staff generally know where it is best so do ask. Modern aerials are far better than older ones and ours can pick up a signal in some dubious locations so that can also be a point. If you have a directional aerial you can download aps to check which way to point it.
Personally for what is on, we would not splash out on a satellite system, but that is a personal thing and even then heavily wooded sites can be a problem. Just had two weeks away and we watched programs only once and had videos on some others.

 

[DavidCamping]

I've often ask when visiting a site if we can book onto a pitch with better signal, then we have a box that converts phone signal to wifi. Failing that though, we have backup DVDs just in case

 

[figbat]

We generally just take pot luck, and if there is decent wifi and/or phone signal it's a bonus. It can be frustration sometimes without a way of doing internet searches to find local places, restaurants, attractions etc but you can usually find this stuff out in the information kiosk or speaking to the staff. We take a TV with us but have only really used it once - to watch England lose the FIFA World Cup final. We have never failed to get a radio signal, although sometimes you have to put up with whatever channel is available.

As a family that watches a lot of TV at home, we don't really miss it when away - card games, board games, reading etc cover the gap.

For wifi we have a 4G wifi router with an EE SIM - deliberately chosen to be different to the Vodafone SIMs we have in our phones so more chance of getting a signal one way or another. The car has built-in wifi too, which we use out and about.

 

[Gozza2]

Some sort of internet connectivity is important to us, Mrs Gozza is self employed and we can really only go away if she can still check her e-mails daily, and sometimes she needs to be able to update her website or do other bandwidth-heavy functions. On our last trip away she was exchanging big video files with the person who was editing the videos for her! For us, it's not about being able to work while on holiday - it's about not having to cancel a trip away when urgent work crops up.

Previously we've always used site wifi, a nearby pub with a wifi connection, or mobile phone hotspots, but I've just invested in a Huawei 5577 mifi device from e-bay, with an external aerial on the roof of the caravan to get the best signal in marginal areas. The aerial cable shares a roof hole waterproof gland thingy with the downlead from the solar panel.

We've not been away since we've had it so I can't yet say how good it is - in fact I need to get the mifi device back from Gozza Junior, who's taken it with him when he went back to university (BT Broadband haven't yet installed in this year's house). But if nothing else it's an extra connection method on top of what we already have.