texasbaskets
Frisco, TX
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Joined: 10/06/2003
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Ok, so I am looking at ways to boost my WiFi reception at campgrounds and have three devices online at the same time with of course a minimum investment.
I've boiled down my choices to repeaters and connection sharing over my Macintosh's Airport card both with some high gain antennas attached. There is almost too much information on the Internet to make a hasty decision. Out of the box repeater, router with DD-WRT hardware flash... etc.
Here is my question.
If I understand it correctly, a repeater will actually cut the throughput because it has to be receiving and sending. That said, if I attach a high gain antenna to the Mac (I would think one through the USB port) and share that signal through the Airport card, would I be getting less or more throughput than a repeater using the same antenna? In other words, is the basic principal the same?
What say you hardware gurus?  
I forgot to mention, with the Mac in absence of a WiFi signal, I could connect to my 3g cellphone and share that connection as well, right? I know there are routers that do that, but again the cost is more than I want to spend.
Michael, Kay, and Prissy (The vicious Malti-Poo)
'05 Coachmen SportsCoach SE 372DS a.k.a. "Mana's Cabana"
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weasel4
Alberta
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texasbaskets
No matter how many goodies you install to increase your wireless capability, you are still at the mercy of the Access Point owner. If they don't supply enough bandwidth to their customers you lose.
BTC
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
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christopherglenn
a little over an hour from Yosemite
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don't worry to mych about repeaters, they act like routers, and there are likely to be a dozen or more between you and whatever website's servers you are trying to get to. The problem is the "partyline" wireless uses, as in if 2 transmitters talk at the same time, what to the recievers hear: giberish?? A repeater with wired in the rv, or 2 antennas, 1 high gain outside, 1 "normal" inside would be the second best. using connection sharing you are back in the same boat, you are doubling the traffic to repeat the signals yourself. keep in mind it isn't just your radios, it is all the radios that the basestation can hear, and all the radios your equipment can hear.
Even with a 5 meg cable drop at the park, spread that across 20 or 30 users, and 1 person trying voip or hulu.com and everyones internet speed suffers. If all the park has is dsl, the first and second people may max it out, the next 20 or 30 just make it worse..
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creeper
Richmond Hill, Georgia
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Joined: 12/22/2003
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Yes in repeater mode it will cut the bandwidth in half. What do intent to do? Most people don't come close to maxing out any sort of bandwidth version.
Using WRT it allows you to boost your signal(on certain routers) and set up your own hub inside the RV. I've tried both with and without the repeater and I get the same speeds.
A repeater would be good if you want your own hub, with your own security and have more then one computer. You can set up WRT as a booster and hard wire into it. That way you loose no bandwidth, but again what are you planning to do to max out that much bandwidth?
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stevelv
Living on the island
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Chris
Some of what you say isn't making a lot of sense - you can have a whole bunch of wireless routers/repeaters all operating in the same area because they are 'frequency agile' - they choose their own channels based upon least interference (best SNR).
Also VOIP is low bandwidth not high - the worst bandwidth hogs are peer to peer P2P traffic and video.
A repeater is best placed between you and the base station - that's what they are intended for - there is no real advantage in having a repeater in your RV other than being able to serve multiple PCs.
Whilst a repeater halves available bandwith it will have no affect on your browsing ability - going from 54Mbps to 24Mbps is still 20 times more available bandwidth than the campground WiFi is going to give you in the first place.
High Gain antennas placed up high are your best choices coupled with an external WiFi (airport) adaptor and Connection Sharing. If you can add a 1W amp/pre-amp to the system that will also help.
RV Park Finder
Ex Fulltimers
Repairing/Restoring 1984 Monaco Regent 36' Gas to restart RVing
DH,DW,Jake and Indie
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texasbaskets
Frisco, TX
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stevelv wrote:High Gain antennas placed up high are your best choices coupled with an external WiFi (airport) adaptor and Connection Sharing. If you can add a 1W amp/pre-amp to the system that will also help.
Thanks everyone.
Steve, I think you understand where I am going. I'm not going to boot up any nuclear reactors, just want to understand the principals some.
When you say external adapter, are you referring to the antenna leadin i.e. USB, or is that another device? Where is the pre-amp inserted into the system?
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davelinde
Kissimmee, Florida
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I've done both.
ICS worked, but was a cumbersome way to operate multiple devices.
I use a highly directional antenna connected to a bridge which connects to my router. There is a bit of a dance needed to get the bridge set up initially, but once it's set it works nicely.
You've got me curious about bandwidth being cut. I'd test my setup... but unfortunately my CG wifi is not working today... so I'm running on my aircard.
Dave Lindemulder
Tammy, Mark & Kirsten
04 Dodge 2500 4x4 SLT QC/SB
HO-CTD/48RE - Graphite: Raptor SS nerfs, Prodigy, Reese 16K Kwik-slide, BD X-Monitor, PML Trans pan, PML Diff cover, Firestone Airbags
09 Heartland Cyclone 3210
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stevelv
Living on the island
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Joined: 05/24/2006
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I wrote a small explanation here that may help.
I'm suggesting you bypass the internal airport and use an external WiFi adaptor that has an removeable antenna.
Remove the antenna and add an amplifier in - something like this
Then connect this to an external antenna such as a Cantenna
This should give you the best chance of getting a decent WiFi signal.
Hope that helps
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Makay5
Hershey PA
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Joined: 05/29/2007
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I dont know the distance in which you are planning to connect too. I do know that there are Wi-Fi boosters that will help you pick up extra wireless connections from up to 1000ft away from your access point and also obtain a strong signal. I use the Wi-Fire from hfield technologies. It is a great USB adapter that lets me pick up a wireless connection usually anywhere i go. I dont have to pay $60 a month for those aircards this cost me just $60 for a one time fee and thats all. There are other adapters out there as well but i just know from experience and as a customer that the Wi-Fire worked and helped me connect to the network in which I wanted too.
Jay
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texasbaskets
Frisco, TX
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That should get me started... thanks much to all.
I'll let you know the results.
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