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dhroberts · 08-29-2016, 06:34 AM

I believe I know correctly that the 4G-X is a cellular booster and the Wifi Ranger is a wifi booster. That is, each is designed for a very different purpose. I am interested in the 4G-X (with SureCall Omni antenna) to boost the signal my ATT iPhone receives - I have been thinking that I could use the iPhone as a wifi hotspot for my iPad, etc.

I have several questions:

1) Does it make sense to consider using both devices? Foe wifi purposes, will the Wifi Ranger work significantly more effectively than the 4G-X / hotspot technique?

2) If using both devices at the same time, do the devices interfere with one another? Do the two devices' antennae need to be kept apart on the AS's roof?

Any other advice most welcomed.

Thank you.

ghaynes755 · 08-29-2016, 10:39 AM

You are correct, two different requirements. Phone as a hotspot works but depends on carrier. With my Verizon, voice shuts off data so if you are on a call data is not working.

The WiFi Ranger would help with distribution of a WiFi signal either from your phone or using a data MiFi device. 4GX boosts cellular. WiFi Ranger (by itself) is the same as any other wireless router but has the ability to interface to a MiFi Device. So do some other routers.

WiFi Ranger with an external antenna (Elite) will pull in weaker WiFi signals and make them usable.

No they do not interfere with each other.

Philip Jones · 08-29-2016, 10:48 AM

Is there no device available that will boost both 3G/4G AND WiFi signals? It would be nice not to have to buy/install two things if one would suffice! Thanks for any advice.

centennialman · 08-29-2016, 10:49 AM

....following

**wulfraat** · 08-29-2016, 11:16 AM

You need both a wifi ranger and a weeboost if you want to boost both wifi and 3G/4G/LTE cellular.

I have both - they are both great products.

I have a very "connected" trailer with 2 IP TVs, multiple devices, etc all requiring internet access.

When public wifi is not available (boondocking etc) I use the we boost unit with antenna cable connected directly to my Verizon jetpack to pull in LTE data/internet from the cellular network. I then tether into my wifi range via USB to supply it with Internet.

All my devices, regardless of the source of Internet (wifi or cellular) connect to my wifi ranger for LAN and Internet gateway.

AT&T allow you to call over wifi now (at least on an iPhone) so I only worry about pulling in a reasonable fast Internet signal... also - the nice thing about the wifi range is that it can combine both public wifi from a campground and LTE internet from a verizon jetpack/ipohne/etc.. for the faster speeds by leveraging both internet sources ...

GMFL · 08-29-2016, 11:42 AM

Me too

369goose · 08-29-2016, 12:19 PM

Also following...thx

wcrockett · 08-29-2016, 12:44 PM

I have the weboost and the wifi ranger. I have not noticed any interference when using both but I seldom use both. If I have a WiFi signal I typically do not need to boost a cell signal and when I have to boost a cell signal I typically have no external Wifi for the Ranger to pickup and amplify. I use an AT&T hotspot with my weboost. I have pasted my Amazon review of the Weboost below:

"I installed this 1st in my RAM pickup truck. It seemed to work okay but I did not do use an accurate test method because I was continuously moving at speeds of 70 mph. I do think it helps the signal but not sure how much. Then I installed it in my 27' Airstream while parked in the mountains in Montana. I had no service or occasionally one signal bar on my iPhone 6 and Netgear AT&T hotspot without it. With it plugged in and the phone or hotspot sitting right by the inside antenna I got 4 bars with good cell service and internet access. But if I moved the phone a few feet away from the antenna the signal dropped to 2 cells, 1 cell or no service at all. This was not expected because it literally was less than 3 feet from the antenna. The best way to use this product is to sit the phone or hotspot on the inside antenna if you have poor service. My AT&T Netgear hotspot worked better that my iPhone 6. It maintained 1 or two bars while a few feet from the antenna but upload and download speeds were very slow. Putting the hotspot right on or a few inches from the antenna gave me 4 bars and acceptable upload and download speeds. I bought a 20 gauge 12"x18" steel sheet from Lowes for $5 to place the outdoor antenna on the roof of my airstream. The Airstream is made with aluminium so the magnetic outdoor antenna would stay on the roof. Tech support also says the antenna needs at least 5"x7" steel surface for best reception. It takes only a few minutes to setup up the booster so I am not going to permanently mount it. I will move it from the tow vehicle to the airstream as needed. Because the phone has to be so close to the antenna a bluetooth connection is the best way to use it to make phone calls."

NWRVR · 08-29-2016, 02:21 PM

Subcribed

dhroberts · 08-30-2016, 06:37 AM

Thanks for the comments. OK, I have decided to go with both the Weboost 4G-X (with the SureCall Omni external antenna) and the WifiRanger Elite Pack FM.

2 questions:

1) Regarding internal antennae: Do I need both a Weboost internal antenna and the WifiRanger GO2?

2) Regarding the WifiRanger: Do you have to be careful regarding the separation of the external and internal antennae as you do with the Weboost external/internal antennae?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

ghaynes755 · 08-30-2016, 10:06 AM

Philip I don't think I have seen anything that does both. I've seen WiFi routers that have embedded cell data capability, you put the sim card in the router, but nothing that also boosts the cell signal. Cell Boosters are tightly regulated by the FCC and carriers. WiFi devices are also regulated but no where near the extent of a cell booster.

lewster · 08-30-2016, 11:25 AM

I did a solar upgrade for a client about a year ago who was using a Cradlepoint (I think that's the name) device that I believe did both thru a multi port dome roof antenna that had 4 separate cables coming from it to the device.

Lew Farber

ghaynes755 · 08-30-2016, 02:59 PM

The Cradlepoint does have cellular built in but is not a booster like the WeBoost products. It would have the benefit, if using a roof mounted antenna, of pulling in a better signal for the cell side.

**wulfraat** · 08-30-2016, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhroberts

Thanks for the comments. OK, I have decided to go with both the Weboost 4G-X (with the SureCall Omni external antenna) and the WifiRanger Elite Pack FM.

2 questions:

1) Regarding internal antennae: Do I need both a Weboost internal antenna and the WifiRanger GO2?

2) Regarding the WifiRanger: Do you have to be careful regarding the separation of the external and internal antennae as you do with the Weboost external/internal antennae?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

Good call...

Quote:

"Do I need both a Weboost internal antenna and the WifiRanger GO2?"

Short answer is yes. 2 different products - one has a wi-fi antenna (wifi ranger) and one has a 3/4G/LTE antenna (weboost). Different products and different radios. Regarding the weboost internal (inside the trailer) antenna to receive the signal from your mobile device for "boosting" - you actually have 2 options - (1) use the internal antenna supplied with weboost - I believe you need to have your device within 18" (eighteen inches) of the internal antenna for best reception / boost or (2) if your mobile device that you are "boosting" has the ability for a hardware antenna you can physically connect the device to the weboost via a simple 3rd party coax cable. I use method "2" for hardwiring my verizon jetpack into the weboost for maximum performance. The cable to physical antenna coax cable required to connect the jetpack to the weboost costed about $10 from easy. obviously if you are boosting an iPhone or what have you these devices require the internal antenna because they do not have the option to connect an external antenna via coax.

Quote:

" Do you have to be careful regarding the separation of the external and internal antennae as you do with the Weboost external/internal antennae?"

Yes. You will want to position the external wi-fi ranger external antenna far from the internal WIFI GO router unit with it's built-in antenna for maximum performance. same for the external weboost antenna - position it as far away from the weboost base/core for best performance.

....that being said my small little weboost and wifi-ranger external antennas are probably only 2-3' linear separation from my internal antenna and it has worked fine, but technically I should have positioned the external antennas farther away.

BoldAdventure · 08-30-2016, 05:30 PM

Buy a Pepwave Soho it has all the features of the ranger, the Wifi Ranger is a seriously over priced piece of hardware for what it is. They are exclusively marketing to people who don't know in the RV world, taking advantage of that, and over charging for a $100 product. And it's not even a very good one at that.

**wulfraat** · 08-30-2016, 07:41 PM

Pep wave is a great product for sure... There is only one downside from what I can tell when I compare to my old school wifi-ranger+sky setup - that the pep wave only has one radio, which would be located inside your trailer. The wifi/sky system has 2 radios - one is physically located on the roof/exterior of the trailer so has the best access to the Internet / WAN / wifi source and a second radio in the wifi-ranger router itself, located inside the trailer, which provides LAN connectivity inside the trailer. The 2 radios are bridged via a PoE physical cable...

That is really the only reason why I liked the wi-if ranger - One would think that the external radio / antenna would have better range than a radio located inside the airstream.

Note that with both routers you still want a weboost in the system to amplify your LTE hotspot signal independently of wi-fi LAN/WAN connectivity....

BoldAdventure · 08-30-2016, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wulfraat

Pep wave is a great product for sure... There is only one downside from what I can tell when I compare to my old school wifi-ranger+sky setup - that the pep wave only has one radio, which would be located inside your trailer. The wifi/sky system has 2 radios - one is physically located on the roof/exterior of the trailer so has the best access to the Internet / WAN / wifi source and a second radio in the wifi-ranger router itself, located inside the trailer, which provides LAN connectivity inside the trailer. The 2 radios are bridged via a PoE physical cable...

That is really the only reason why I liked the wi-if ranger - One would think that the external radio / antenna would have better range than a radio located inside the airstream.

Note that with both routers you still want a weboost in the system to amplify your LTE hotspot signal independently of wi-fi LAN/WAN connectivity....

Well, just to bring you up to speed, the Pepwave has two antenna's, and still for half the cost you can do what you described. The Wifi ranger does not have "two radios" either. That's a misunderstanding of the internal and external antennas.

I just added these two videos highlighting my setup the other day. Same setup you described, internal and external.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJrIH6BD...=boldadventure

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJrKJOUD...=boldadventure

Becuase the Pepwave is capable of wifi over wan you can have the same setup at a fraction of the cost.

**wulfraat** · 08-30-2016, 08:10 PM

I stand corrected! Your setup is bad ass

thanks for schooling me!

Btw my ranger does not use an external independent antenna like your sure call... I used the obsolete "sky" unit which is in of itself a wifi bridge with radio.

But I think your setup with surecall antenna is the way to go....

BoldAdventure · 08-30-2016, 08:33 PM

Yes, I was wrong on that end, they seem to use a setup similar to using a Ubiquiti BULLET with the antenna mounted to it and an ethernet cable. The Bullet is about under $100, so you could still build an identical system for under the $399 or $599 price tag.

For me though, using the dual antenna array allows for the best bang for buck. If I wanted to extend power range, I could use a Bullet on the end of the sure call. But I am LTE 99% of the time and only repeating my own wifi rather than a parks. So I stay on the low end.

Searun · 08-30-2016, 09:02 PM

I had the same questions as you. Ultimately, we decided to go with both the WeBoost 4G-X and the WiFi Ranger--we are very happy with the set-up. We use a Verizon Jetpack that is USB'd into the Go2 Router. Both antenna are mounted on our TV Mast Antenna.

We utilize cellular about 70% of the time and WiFi 30% (rough guesstimates). WiFi Ranger is paying off now as we reached our cell limit in Northern Michigan and are relying on WiFi while mooch docking with family for the next couple of weeks.

I considered going the Pepwave route, but decided against it based on the ease of the WiFi Ranger set-up and their highly rated customer support (I'm NOT an IT guy). Yes, it was more money, but it was a cleaner and easier set-up for an IT novice like me.

So far, I'm pretty happy. We have had some issues with our set-up and WiFi Ranger Customer Support has been incredible. We have contacted them 3x for various issues (all via email) and each time they have solved our problems within hours (including finding problems that we weren't aware of).

So, my 2 cents is you will pay a premium for the ease of set up and awesome customer service, but so far it's been worth it for us.