Camper Wifi - DIY?

[ebowman]

Hi, I tried searching but couldnt find anything specific to what Im looking for.
I have a 2020 Aspen Trail travel trailer. The trailer came "pre-wired for Winegard Connect 2.0" and I see the power button for the wifi which lights up when pressed.

Im not interested in a cell connection where I have another monthly bill. If I need to use my phone as a hot spot then I will, but what I do want is to be able to pickup campground wifi better than I can with my laptop alone.
My two thoughts are 1) buy the Connect 2.0 system (currently out of stock) and use it only as a wifi extender with external antenna or 2) do a DIY wifi system with Ubiquiti hardware.

Does anyone have any experience with both? How good is the Connect 2.0 system? And do I need to purchase some kind of router with it too?

[franktafl]

Either way, you will be depending on the quality of the park’s system and also if they do traffic shaping and restrict streaming video (like my last park). Also, if they allow streaming video, I can bet that their data stream would be affected by the other folks attempting to stream video.

IMO the best way is get your own system (cellular) or if you re going to stay in one place, look into STARLINK!

[ATCguy]

Pretty much agree with Frank's comment above.

I had a WiFi repeater/extender on my rig, and it really didn't do a lot for me. While parks are finally beginning to get into the 21st century, and upgrade their systems a bit... it seems they are mainly just adding antennas in the parks (for more access points than just the pool or main office), but not increasing their bandwidth.

They install these systems during the off-season, when the park/campground isn't crowded... get great coverage & high speeds, and call it a day.

But then the park gets crowded in-season... and all of the sudden, while you've got a great signal at your campsite, you & the other 50-100 campers there with you are all competing for same crappy bandwidth that they didn't upgrade. So when you try to bring up a website, it still takes 2-to-3 minutes to upload & update, like the old crappy AOL dial-up service we endured back in the 90s.

In my opinion, if you don't want to invest in your own WiFi plan... your money would be better spent on installing a cellular booster to use your phone as a hotspot at places far away from cell towers.

[ebowman]

Thanks for the info. I really dont want to have my own internet service if I can avoid it. This would be used for work (my wife and I) and streaming TV on rainy days. We have a permanent site so the camper never moves and we can use it anytime we want all summer.

With a cell plan, even with unlimited data, we could quickly go over the allotted data limit - even without factoring in cost. Starlink is a good idea, but I dont want the monthly bill. The monthly cost of this camper/site is high enough as is, I really dont want to add more.


That said, I do think I need to find out what the campground wifi is like with good connection. Maybe I'll take my laptop to the picnic tables outside the store and see how fast things are with a solid connection. If its good, then at least that gives me something to shoot for. I know I cant do much about all the other campers saturating the network.

thanks again.

[ATCguy]

Originally Posted by ebowman

…That said, I do think I need to find out what the campground wifi is like with good connection. Maybe I'll take my laptop to the picnic tables outside the store and see how fast things are with a solid connection. If its good, then at least that gives me something to shoot for. I know I cant do much about all the other campers saturating the network….

Again, piggybacking on what Frank said… even if you do have decent service, you should check with management to see if they’re going to throttle you. They can usually monitor each IP address for how much they’re using the service… and if they determine you’re using too much, will cut you off.

In almost 7 years of full time RVing, I can count the number of campgrounds & RV parks I could stream in on one hand… and they were usually VERY expensive resort style locations. I can almost guarantee that in most places you will NOT be able to stream with satisfaction, especially if trying to watch anything in HD.