Getting a good WIFI signal in your motorhome

 Getting a good WIFI connection in a motorhome

The lack of signal in deepest Exmoor on our last trip came as a bit of a surprise. The area around Llandrindod Wells has also proved tricky for us and it has set us off thinking and researching about WIFI and internet connections in our motorhome.

The pandemic makes us realise how important a secure, reliable WIFI signal is for keeping in touch with family and friends (as you will see in a later post when we have to return from North Wales for a family emergency).

In addition, twice now we have lost TV and WIFI reception on sites around mid-Wales. Although we are not dependent on a WIFI signal for business while on the road, we do want it for skyping, messengering, facetiming and Whatsapping, as well as for researching prospective tour destinations and route planning.  In the future we may also want to download TV materials or use an Amazon Firestick (but that will be a topic for another post in the future).

At the moment, we use my smartphone and its data allowance for accessing everything from email to internet, from Facebook to Skype. When we both want to be on-line – we set it up as a hotspot.

But, how can we stay connected in future in areas where WIFI reception is poor or non-existent?

What are our alternative options?

 

Straight off, we must say we don’t recommend particular products. No one has paid us to endorse any item. In saying that, we may indicate where we have used a product or had friends use it.

 

It seems to us, at the moment, that there are five main options for getting Internet access in Bryony

•        Mobile broadband through smartphone or tablet

•        Inbuilt WIFI/MIFI unit through some form of dish or aerial with an additional subscription plan

•        Using an internet dongle in our tablet or laptop for internet access

•        Using a WIFI booster

•        Using the free WIFI on a campsite (although our experience thus far of this, is rural areas suffer poor broadband signal and whilst we may be able to do emails and some basic web surfing, we won’t be streaming much TV. In addition, we always think there are big security issues with using free WIFI hubs unless you are using a VPN).

 

 

Option One: Using our smart phones and tablet

This is what we do now. We tether my android phone, using it as a personal hotspot WIFI router, on a 4g signal. Maggie can tether her phone, tablet or laptop to my phone (which has the greater amount of data available). My phone allows up to five devices to be tethered although normally Mag just tethers the one device. Thus far we have never used more than 12Gb of data in any one month of touring. But then we aren’t streaming videos or live TV etc. My data limit is 25GB per month. Check how much your contract data limit is before deciding to use tethering as your WIFI strategy and set yourself a data warning limit.

Of course, the draw back to this plan is what we experienced recently on Exmoor and in mid Wales – what happens when you can’t get any signal on your smart phone?

 

You ask your friendly son-in-law, a whizz with mobile devices to give you some alternative ideas, like ……..

Option Two: how to use a MiFi unit?

He very kindly loans us one to try out on our next trip and we get some training in how to remove our sim card and use that in the unit!

He suggests it may well help in low signal strength areas. MiFi’s are standalone hubs that free up your smartphone and allow you to use alternative sim cards or networks. Some MiFi units can be mounted with a quick mount docking station and a roof mounted antenna kit to boost signal quality. You can take it with you to create a personal hotspot wherever you go and can then either take your sim card out of one of your smartphones and use that in the MiFi unit (which is what we did – my card in the MiFi, Maggie’s smart phone staying as it is), or buy an ‘unlocked Sim only deal’ card and insert that (see later in this post about this). A friend uses a Huawei MiFi unit wherever she travels and she can connect several devices to it and because it is unlocked, she can use country specific data sim only card deals. By the way, she also carries a very good power bank as well so that the MiFi never runs out of power at the wrong moment! We occasionally carry a Big Blue Solar Panel in sunny countries, which charges up phones, power banks and MiFi’s!

Below are some links to MiFi 4g routers and roof kits (remember we do not recommend these nor have we received any monies for mentioning them; we merely post some links here for those of you wishing to do further research into the various options in this area)

 https://www.motorhomewifi.com/product/4g-smart-compact/

https://www.motorhomeworkshop.co.uk/product/4g-motorhome-wifi-roof-mounted-antenna-caravan-wifi/

Does your motorhome already have inbuilt WIFI router? It’s worth checking if you are unsure. We say this because when picking up a connection, a MiFi device is not much better than a phone and so it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be any better connected. However, some MiFi devices have (which mobile phones do not) the facility to connect an external antenna.

Bryony, our 2019 Autosleeper Broadway EB didn’t come with an inbuilt WIFI unit. Later 2019 models did! If only we had known! It seems Autosleepers were the first manufacturer to fit 4g roof antenna and routers as factory fitted items. In fairness our dealer did offer an aftermarket mobile broadband option, but we weren’t really listening at that point. A roof mounted cellular antenna fits on your motorhome roof and is very efficient in picking up weak 3,4 and 5g signals. The antenna connects to an internal router which provides a secure wireless connection for all devices in your motorhome, including smart TV’s. If we had one, it is probable that we wouldn’t have been without signal on deepest rural Exmoor last month.

We have found these YouTube videos to be quite informative on this topic as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvzTTActgBs

 

Option Three: using an internet dongle

When I visited schools in rural north Devon in a past life, I’d occasionally use an internet dongle. That is some time ago and I certainly haven’t used one for many years but my reading around them suggests not much has changed. Essentially a dongle is a very small modem which plugs into a USB port on your laptop and allows you to access WIFI or 4g.  You should note data is often limited on dongles and it isn’t as efficient as a MiFi unit.

The blogging couple ‘Gap decaders’ recommend the Huawei E3372 for its reliability.  They also talk about a Wingle – the bigger brother of a dongle which allows you to share internet with up to five other devices. You can access their website here: https://thegapdecaders.com/  (we have always found them to be a great source of information and inspiration for newbies to motorhoming along with Kat at Wandering Bird https://www.wandering-bird.com/ )

 

Returning to the WIFI discussion, when you have decided HOW to get your WIFI signal, then you need to think about Sim cards and network providers. We have made a simple mistake. Both our smartphones use the same provider, so when we are in areas with poor signal, we both suffer! Didn’t see that one coming and felt rather sheepish in rural Exmoor a few weeks ago!! Both of us walking the site and around the Moho holding phones up to the sky – we looked such muppets!

So, top tip, if you are using a combination of MiFi, hotspot tethering on smartphones etc, then use a range of different network/Sim card providers! Choose unlocked devices so you can use country specific Sim cards and also different network providers here in the UK and also when abroad.

 

Option Four: What is a WIFI booster?

It’s a directional antenna, coming as a plug and play motorhome WIFI kit, which can increase the range from which a WIFI connection can be obtained e.g. picking up a WIFI signal from over 1km away. It doesn’t provide the internet connection and you can never be sure of signal strength in a given location until you actually use it. Very useful on campsites where free WIFI is available or for when using BT hotspots. You don’t need a sim card and such kits are compatible with most smart phones, tablets, laptops and smart TVs. A useful tool for increasing the range that a signal can be obtained then, remember that if you are using it to access a campsite free WIFI hub, you may still experience buffering issues due to all the traffic on it and so the booster will be of little use.

There are two parts to the booster – the external antenna to pick up and amplify signals; and the internal router which broadcasts your network. Some do broadcast a secure network to your devices. A directional antenna gives the best results, an omni-directional one has a 360-degree field of view but not the same reach. It can also suffer loss of signal on busy sites.

 

And there we have it, our limited understanding of the options available to us.

Which leads us onto the other issue to address.  How much mobile data do we need for a month’s travelling?

This question has been the subject of much discussion in our motorhome. One of us feels we need unlimited data (despite never having used more than 12GB thus far). One of us, the more rationale one, thinks wasting money on a new contract for unlimited data when we haven’t yet ever used the data allowance we already have, is a true definition of the word ‘stupid’.

So far, we have been able to use our smartphone data contracts and packages with no problem. But then we haven’t travelled for more than four weeks at a time. And we haven’t started streaming live TV or downloading anything from iPlayer for example.

We haven’t yet got our heads around the new EU roaming charge changes either but we would advise that if you are looking at Sim packages and contracts you explore what the new EU data roaming charges might be and whether your provider sets a data usage cap. Some providers will also limit your ability to tether or hotspot. Basically, read your contract small print carefully!

If you are using a smart phone to stream TV, the Gap Decaders recommend you check each service to see how much data an hour of TV uses.

If you connect to free WIFI to download Netflix etc, we would recommend you use a VPN to secure your internet connection. If you haven’t got good smart phone internet security settings, others can see when you are logged onto free WIFI hubs and may possibly be able to access your smartphone or device. A VPN prevents this from happening and whenever we travel abroad, we always use one. We should do when we are travelling around the UK as well (just made a mental note to ourselves to sort this out!).

 

What about SIM card choices?

Our discussions about SIM card choice are based on our non-motorhome-based travels abroad. Bear that in mind when reading this.

We have in the past used contract plans, pay monthly and pay as you go sim cards.

We currently have sim cards which allow data for internet searching and downloading, making calls and sending texts. We can manage data usage and roaming charges by using the smart phone settings.

Our loaned MiFi unit uses a data only sim – it gives internet access and is good for WhatsApp, skype, Facebook video and messenger etc.

There are now Esims, which we haven’t yet used. Basically, you purchase data through an app. Great if you are touring different countries we guess.

Which is best to use?

We have no idea at the moment!  But, based on our previous worldwide travels we would say, until we are clear about EU roaming charges and fair usage policies, we will stay with our contract sims for UK travel and then buy local country specific sim cards for use in the MiFi unit when abroad. Remember that if you follow this option your devices will need to be ‘unlocked’ so that they can accept other country sim cards. (Also remember that this option means you will get a new phone number and all the hassle that comes with it too!)

What we cannot do is recommend any particular provider at the moment. If you are considering this – go to the motorhome groups on Facebook and see what the general consensus is – normally we find that one particular idea / recommendation gets several mentions and we work on the philosophy that the more recommendations something gets – the better it is likely to be. Many people will have completed good internet research about which providers are best and are only too happy to share it with you.

What about when we are ready to start streaming TV?

A contentious issue in our motorhome! Someone is content with just what we can get via the TV aerial and reading decent books. One of us wants to start streaming Netflix but then feels guilty because he is then reading less!  We have briefly discussed the ‘Amazon firestick’ route; once purchased there are no additional costs unless we subscribe to a premium service.

With limited knowledge about this side of things we are reliably informed by our technology obsessed children that we need a strong cellular signal to do the streaming without dropout or buffering and secondly a good data plan which will enable 1 GB usage per hour of TV streamed.

It is clear we still have much to digest on this topic and as our understanding improves, we will add postscript updates to this blog post. In the meantime, if you have some thoughts on the subject which will help all us newbie motorhome owners, please share them in the comment box below.