Weak WiFi signal in caravan. Will a bridge work?

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JPower83

JPower83

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May 24, 2014
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Hi, I have the situation where in my caravan I get a very very weak signal from the clubhouse which provides Free WiFi for all guests.

Now I obviously have no way of boosting the signal at the source but I'm looking into other ways I could improve the signal strength. (no 3G either btw)

Would it be possible to get a powerful external antenna (any advice on which appreciated) then connect this to a device (wireless bridge?) with an antenna input and this device can then repeat the signal and send out a stronger WiFi signal using it's own smaller antenna/s?

Is it this simple I'm sure I'm missing something? Any help would be much appreciated as I feel i am going round in circles and have no idea which bridge if any would achieve what I want.

Many Thanks
 
Solution
JackNaylorPE
When I hear "Caravan" on this side of the pond....this is the 1st image that comes to mind

http://www.dodge.com/en/grand_caravan/

Second is this.

http://www.fleetwoodrv.com/



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It will likely help to some extent. Pretty much as long as you can see the clubhouse you likely can get it to work but if you try to go really far you generally need directional equipment on both end. Because you get some signal already with normal antenna it increases the odds.

I would use a outdoor bridge device. Something engenius or ubiquiti. You would the hook the ethernet from the outside to a router or a AP inside to provide the wireless signal to your inside devices. Both companies also make devices that have a bridge and a AP using different radios in a single box these tend to be kinda expensive. These try to send the signal into the building via wireless rather than ethernet. Still you have to have some form of wire to get power to the outdoor unit so you might as well use ethernet and use a internal AP/router
 
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maybe, that is a 5g unit most wireless is 2.4g. The antenna you list will not directly attach without a adapter and it is designed for 2.4g. On top of that you really don't want to use a omni antenna for this application and the device has a built in directional antenna.
 
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Whoops I meant to link the 2.4 version, well spotted!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Startech-Outdoor-Wireless-N-Access-Point/dp/B00I4OME2G/ref=sr_1_7?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1407233974&sr=1-7&keywords=outdoor+wireless+access+points

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-150Mbps-Wireless-Access-Point/dp/B00CQHHO1S/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1407233974&sr=1-2&keywords=outdoor+wireless+access+points#productDetails

Both these ones do seem to support the attachment of external antennas which I'm guessing will be better than using the 12dBi in built aerial, if so would you recommend using a directional one as I know where the signal is generated from (clubhouse)?

Something like this maybe?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-ANT2424B-2-4GHz-Parabolic-Antenna/dp/B002EIF2OK/ref=sr_1_8?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1407234299&sr=1-8&keywords=outdoor+wifi+antenna

Once again thanks so much for the advice
 
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If you are looking at something that big for antenna look at
http://www.amazon.co.uk/AirGrid-AG-2G20-throughput-Ethernet-Attention/dp/B00CX1UT32/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1407234807&sr=1-2&keywords=airgrid

This unit has 20db gain and the bridge all built into one.

I have not used tplink or that other brand. I generally use engenius enh202
http://www.amazon.co.uk/EnGenius-ENH202-Outdoor-300Mbps-Warranty/dp/B006M1PKWY/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1407234965&sr=1-1&keywords=enh202

I linked amazon because you did but these prices are a little on the high side.

In any case if you like the tplink units I would start with just the device itself and see if the built in directional antenna are good enough. Going to large parabolic antenna tends to be a pain because of the physical size of the devices. If you are looking to go that route though you are best off using something like
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bullet-M2-HP-BULLETM2-HP-long-distance/dp/B00DTS6H2K/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1407235328&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=bullet+ubiquti

These devices directly mount to the same connector as the large antenna you link with no adapter. If you were to go with a 24db gain antenna and this radio unit you would be at about the largest thing you can buy and still be legal....technically it is over the limit for what you are doing with it.

You have to be careful. Beefing up one end does not always solve the problem. At some point the distance is too much and you must use directional equipment on both ends.

I suspect very strongly since you can get signal with a non directional antenna already even the 12db directional antenna will be all you need.
 
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Excellent I will try the TP Link unit on it's own first then, they are a well known UK brand and are generally pretty good. I'm using Amazon because I need the equipment for Friday and I have a prime account meaning I will get them in time. All a bit rushed but I must have something in place for Friday as I wont be able to travel up there again and the people who use it in the mean time keep asking for WiFi.

Anyway all really good advice, I understand everything much better now :)
 
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It's not a moving caravan it stays put
 
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