Internet connectivity

[Betsy]

HELP! We just completely renovated our 1967 Safari, and have created the coolest short-stay vacation spot. Here's the problem! We are only 30 feet from our internet router and cannot get connected! We have great service outside of the camper, but nothing inside. What do we have to do to get service? We can't get service on our phones, TV, computer, NOTHING!
Someone please tell me how to resolve this. Do we need an external antenna? If we do, what brand do you recommend?
Our first guest is in 4 weeks, and I am in a bit of a panic!
Thanks!

[Rich Jenkins]

Can you not simply buy a 30’ length of Cat 5 Ethernet or coax cable and relocate your router inside your camper?

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Ok, this gets complicated pretty fast ....

Do you want your guests on the same network you are on? Do you mind them (potentially ) hacking into your devices? Since you both are "inside" the firewall this is worth thinking about.

On cable TV, is it ok if your guests order pay movies on your account? Since I don't know your setup, I have no idea if your cable works this way.

If you have phones, how much does long distance cost you? How about international long distance ....

A "normal" hotel goes into some fairly fancy hardware to deal with this sort of stuff. That "log on with your room number" stuff is only part of it.

Bob

[richard5933]

I used an older version of this guys setup to fix the same problem in my coach, which is also a metal skinned vehicle, and now use on our Airstream. The problem you're having is that the WiFi signal is not penetrating the skin, and his method uses an antenna you place in a window facing the WiFi to set up a private WiFi network inside your Airstream.

Once you get this set up, all your devices connect to your own network and are not connecting directly to the exterior WiFi. You only have to make one connection to the network, and once that's done everything else you've previously connected comes along for the ride.

This is how we connect in campgrounds to their WiFi, as it helps pull the signal inside the Airstream and connect in a safer way than direct connection to the WiFi. The private network provides a safety shield against others seeing your devices and connecting to them as easily.

His blog post: https://www.outsideourbubble.com/bui...for-under-100/

And the YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGLwwREDzNQ&t=0s

[Betsy]

Originally Posted by Llando88

Can you not simply buy a 30’ length of Cat 5 Ethernet or coax cable and relocate your router inside your camper?

I wish, but we are using a connection inside another building.

[BT2513]

If you have a second router lying around or can borrow one, take it inside the trailer and put it into bridge or repeater mode. If you can locate the wifi signal, then this secondary router will be able to rebroadcast your wifi inside the camper. If the signal is still too weak, then you will either need hardware external to the adjacent building or you'll need to lay some cable to the Airstream.

Its possible that all you need is a more powerful access point installed on the exterior of the building. But if you can't even get cell service inside the camper, then I'm not sure exactly what is happening in your case - there could be some other complicating factor. Laying some Cat6 cable and bringing it into the camper is pretty fool-proof.

However you end up accomplishing this, you should consider putting this connection on a "guest" network with some level of protection to your home network. Most modern routers can do this if you read the manual.

[SlowPokePete]

Just a question, as I have not thought of the "Wi-Fi" inside the Airstream issue until reading this...

We have an unlimited data plan for our cell phones.

Could we use a phone as a Wifi hotspot inside the trailer?

SPP

[richard5933]

Originally Posted by SlowPokePete

Just a question, as I have not thought of the "Wi-Fi" inside the Airstream issue until reading this...

We have an unlimited data plan for our cell phones.

Could we use a phone as a Wifi hotspot inside the trailer?

SPP

You can, but you might run into the same problem. If the tower is nearby you'll likely be okay, but if not you might find that the signal inside the trailer since it has a metal skin. In that case, you can get an antenna system to bring the cell signal inside the trailer.

[Fungus]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

Ok, this gets complicated pretty fast ....

Do you want your guests on the same network you are on? Do you mind them (potentially ) hacking into your devices? Since you both are "inside" the firewall this is worth thinking about.

On cable TV, is it ok if your guests order pay movies on your account? Since I don't know your setup, I have no idea if your cable works this way.

If you have phones, how much does long distance cost you? How about international long distance ....

A "normal" hotel goes into some fairly fancy hardware to deal with this sort of stuff. That "log on with your room number" stuff is only part of it.

Bob

I installed a network at home that is entrerprise-class using Ubiquiti hardware. It’s not as expensive as you’d think. The learning curve was low but I’m a retired software developer. I have two hardwired with CAT6 ceiling-mounted POE-powered access points inside the house and two more outside the house. The signal easily covers my one-acre lot except in a couple of areas in which the signal gets clobbered by stucco walls. I also have a mesh access point to provide a better signal at my irrigation controller. Inside the trailer I have no problem with WiFi signal from an access point that is ~50 feet away and in line of sight to the trailer. The network also allows me to set up a heavily-restricted guest network that has no access to other equipment on the network.

[mayco]

We use our cell signal for TV and internet. I installed a We-boost cell signal booster and have gotten cell service at every place we have camped since. Many of those places we had camped before installing the booster and couldn’t get a reliable signal. I’m super happy with the booster.

[BT2513]

Originally Posted by Fungus

I installed a network at home that is entrerprise-class using Ubiquiti hardware.

This.

I'm running a Microtik router and Ubiquiti Access Point in my home and get excellent wifi in my camper out in the driveway. My AP is in the middle of an all brick home too.

[Rich Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Betsy

I wish, but we are using a connection inside another building.

I’m not sure I understand. This connection you are using, it is yours, correct? I mean, you can’t unplug it, move it 30’, and tie it back to the original point with either a coax or Ethernet cable as appropriate? That is by far the easiest solution to your problem.

Adding a mesh, or setting up a point to point wireless bridge repeater with a couple parabolic antennas is wayyyy beyond what you should need to go 30’.

30’ of attenuation at 5Ghz/2.4Ghz, even inside a big Faraday cage like an Airstream, really should allow ‘some’ access, to any decent WAP these days.

What kind of router (exact brand, model number) are you using?

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Fungus

I installed a network at home that is entrerprise-class using Ubiquiti hardware. It’s not as expensive as you’d think. The learning curve was low but I’m a retired software developer. I have two hardwired with CAT6 ceiling-mounted POE-powered access points inside the house and two more outside the house. The signal easily covers my one-acre lot except in a couple of areas in which the signal gets clobbered by stucco walls. I also have a mesh access point to provide a better signal at my irrigation controller. Inside the trailer I have no problem with WiFi signal from an access point that is ~50 feet away and in line of sight to the trailer. The network also allows me to set up a heavily-restricted guest network that has no access to other equipment on the network.

Hi

You and me both .. (except I needed more AP's for this and that).

By the time you get all the access points and the POE feeds to them along with the cloud key (or whatever) to supervise them there is a bit of hassle and cost. If your switches / routers don't support VLAN's that would need to be addressed as well. In the OP's case, you still need to get an ethernet cable out to the trailer for the AP that goes inside the trailer.

Is it secure out of the box? Mine is, I'd bet yours is. It's not 100% clear to me that a random Joe setting it up for the first time would get all of the pesky details like VLAN assignments right. He certainly could, it's not rocket science.

Indeed secure is a relative term. This is not a bank. You don't need to fight off a hacker army of thousands. Secure simply means "good enough". In this case some though is required, but not a bunch of insanity.

A real simple answer might be a second cable modem / cable feed on a separate account out in the trailer .... The local cable company might or might not be happy ( or even able ...) to put one in.

Bob

[thiel]

Easiest solution would be to purchase a "mesh" wifi kit, then locate one of the nodes inside the airstream but with line of site to your house, out of a window. Many of them come with a guest network setup built in, so that will help too.

[Fungus]

At my son’s home while driveway camping, I have excellent Wi-Fi connectivity inside the trailer 40 feet from the access point.

A couple of possibilities came to mind recently.

1. Your access point antenna power could be low. Log into the router and see if you can boost the antenna power. Sometimes the routers userid and password are shown on its technical label.
2. You could have interference from nearby networks using the same channels. Scan for other networks nearby. Log into the router and switch the channels being used.
3. Run wifi SweetSpots to determine the strength and throughput of the signal outside the trailer.
4. I like the idea of a mesh router that has line-of-sight to the trailer.