Sharing Campsite Wifi

andrew149 · Sep 29, 2016

One thing that annoys me on some campsites is they charge per device for wifi, we have two teenagers who like to keep upto date with Social Media and I need to keep in contact with work meaning we normally need to pay for 3 x wifi passes. However speaking to someone on a campsite last month I have now invested in a pocket repeater meaning I now only need to pay once and then can share my wifi with upto 10 people, I just plug it into the inverter socket and job done, the repeater only cost me under £20 so is a good investment as I can also use it in hotel rooms. Works a treat :bananadance

MattBW · Sep 29, 2016

I use something similar cost me about £60 all in.

A Solwise USB Rocket with a Solwise USB Wifi repeater, plugs into the 12v or mains socket and greatly extends the range and strength of signals that aren't close. The repeater gives a wifi hotspot.

I use it with Fon hotspots and have found wifi even when none was available on the sites. It creates a little hotspot that everyone else can connect to.

Deskman · Sep 29, 2016

Since roaming costs will be nihil from next year on the Dutch t-mobile made the the EU bundles twice as big. For € 14 I get 1GB fast mobile internet. And I prefer to have my own connection instead of pricey, unsafe, slow end flakey shared wifi from the campsite. In the most parts of northern Europe there is virtually G4 in the middle of nowhere. In France the results may vary...

I normally use my iPhone also as a personal hotspot so my laptop and my wife's phone are also connected.

NB: while a hotspot delivers wifi, all functions that are disconnected while on mobile are active. Running a bunch of app updates on your roaming bundle is no good idea.

Verzonden vanaf mijn iPad met Tapatalk

AlanH99 · Sep 29, 2016

I buy 3Gb Sims for £10 and use a MiFi dongle. Seems to work fine but I've not compared costs against other ways of getting WiFi.

I'll be watching this thread to see if I'm spending too much.

WelshGas · Sep 29, 2016

Many campsites have free WiFi in certain areas, often around reception. I use the iBoost, similar to @MattBW . It has a powered directional aerial with booster so that I can log on to the free WiFi signal upto 1-2kms away and the system creates a local hot spot for upto, I think, 10 devices. Also uses the free Fon system which is very common in France and Spain and U.K. If you are a BT broadband customer then you are also a Fon member. Otherwise if no free WiFi then I use a 3 mifi hotspo as 3 have no roaming charges in many countries. That has worked well in the USA.

Velma's Dad · Sep 30, 2016

AlanH99 said:
I buy 3Gb Sims for £10 and use a MiFi dongle. Seems to work fine but I've not compared costs against other ways of getting WiFi.

I'll be watching this thread to see if I'm spending too much.

We're recent converts to a MiFi router and it's proved a big hit for Cali travel. You can of course use a tethered phone, but the Mifi box (ours is a TP-LINK M7350 - about £75 from Amazon) seems to get a much better signal than any of our phones.

Mrs VD loves it for planning ahead (stops, campsites, things to see, monitoring traffic ahead on Google Maps - much better than the satnav - etc) on her iPad while on the road. And it avoids the faff of getting onto wifi connections at stops. We also pocket it to use when away from the van (eg at a lunchtime cafe) as it's only about the size of a box of Swan Vestas.

First-off I bought a 4G SIM card from EE which was about £20 for 6GB and which you have to use up in 90 days. I'd be interested in any better deals for next time... although TBH I'd be happy to pay the £80 a year for the general convenience (well in the UK anyway).

T6 CFO · Sep 30, 2016

Velma's Dad said:
We're recent converts to a MiFi router and it's proved a big hit for Cali travel. You can of course use a tethered phone, but the Mifi box (ours is a TP-LINK M7350 - about £75 from Amazon) seems to get a much better signal than any of our phones.

Mrs VD loves it for planning ahead (stops, campsites, things to see, monitoring traffic ahead on Google Maps - much better than the satnav - etc) on her iPad while on the road. And it avoids the faff of getting onto wifi connections at stops. We also pocket it to use when away from the van (eg at a lunchtime cafe) as it's only about the size of a box of Swan Vestas.

First-off I bought a 4G SIM card from EE which was about £20 for 6GB and which you have to use up in 90 days. I'd be interested in any better deals for next time... although TBH I'd be happy to pay the £80 a year for the general convenience (well in the UK anyway).

Three do 12GB for £30 12 months from first use which I've got to try in the VW car stick.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/ya/r...reorder_params=B004K2XO1G,202-4661374-5065907

Mi-Fi sounds good

Mike

methley · Sep 30, 2016

...or £24 from here https://www.mymemory.co.uk/SIM-Cards/3/3-PAYG-4G-Trio-Data-SIM-Pack-Preloaded-with-12GB-of-Data

T6 CFO · Sep 30, 2016

methley said:
...or £24 from here https://www.mymemory.co.uk/SIM-Cards/3/3-PAYG-4G-Trio-Data-SIM-Pack-Preloaded-with-12GB-of-Data

Nice discount. Will check there again if I stick with it and need a new one.

Valuable thread as this is such a fast moving area.

Mike

Velma's Dad · Sep 30, 2016

T6 CFO said:
Valuable thread as this is such a fast moving area.

Yes it's just saved me about £55! (12 GB/year should be plenty for general web stuff on the road, and for anything heavyweight I'd just wait until I was on someone's wifi!).

MattBW · Sep 30, 2016

T6 CFO said:
Three do 12GB for £30 12 months from first use which I've got to try in the VW car stick.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/ya/ref=yo_ii_bia_view?ie=UTF8&ac=bia&reorder_params=B004K2XO1G,202-4661374-5065907

Mi-Fi sounds good

Mike

I am also with three on my mobile. I pay £17 a month (30 day term) for my phone which comes with 12gb each month. Interestingly if your phone can be used as a hotspot you can use that 12gb for other devices without any restriction. Does hammer the phone battery though.

T6 CFO · Sep 30, 2016

MattBW said:
I am also with three on my mobile. I pay £17 a month (30 day term) for my phone which comes with 12gb each month. Interestingly if your phone can be used as a hotspot you can use that 12gb for other devices without any restriction. Does hammer the phone battery though.

Yep got a similar deal with three for my phone. Like you say battery life is the issue and quite often have my charging pack along as well, especially on my bike or out on foot for the day.

Mike

bigmac77 · Sep 30, 2016

methley said:
...or £24 from here https://www.mymemory.co.uk/SIM-Cards/3/3-PAYG-4G-Trio-Data-SIM-Pack-Preloaded-with-12GB-of-Data

Nice find. I'm going to buy a couple should get me through the next few trips.

Thanks.

WelshGas · Sep 30, 2016

bigmac77 said:
Nice find. I'm going to buy a couple should get me through the next few trips.

Thanks.

Cheaper, a little, on eBay.

Skylark2.0 · Sep 30, 2016

We have wifi where ever we go with the built in router in the glovebox.
Brilliant and the special receiver picks up a great signal.
It came with the van and we love it.

Sharing Campsite Wifi

andrew149

MattBW

Here to help

Deskman

AlanH99

WelshGas

Retired after 42 yrs and enjoying Life.

Velma's Dad

T6 CFO

Mike

methley

T6 CFO

Mike

Velma's Dad

MattBW

Here to help

T6 CFO

Mike

bigmac77

WelshGas

Retired after 42 yrs and enjoying Life.

Skylark2.0

The adventure with Starlight Expess begins

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