Rogue Wave WiFi Antenna

[cmarq]

I am very confused and would like to hear from users of the Rogue Wave antenna. I am in Connecticut and spend a lot of time in a state park on the shoreline. There is a Mcdonalds and Dunkin Donuts within two miles that have WiFi. After reading all the blogs in FMCA and Good Sam I decided to purchase the Rogue Wave (I know there are many people saying build your own) I am willing to pay for the plug and play aspect. I called Land Sea in Fl today to order one. They tell me it is doubtful it will pickup any signal. I came away feeling it will only work with line of sight and close. I would like to hear from anyone using one what they can pickup and range.

Thanks

[wolfe10]

We have used the Rogue extensively, particularly this winter when on the sailboat-- kind of hard to get the 35' sailboat right next to a land based Wi-fi antenna.

I would say that it MATERIALLY BOOSTS the signal. Will it "leap tall buildings at a single bound"? No. Wi-fi signals are basically line of sight. If you are going over a hill, etc it is not reasonable to expect any booster to do that.

But, I have found the Wave to be equal to or better than any other boosters others were using. AND I ASKED-- remember, as moderator of this website and on a boat for the winter in the Bahamas, Internet access was critical to me. I had to stay "on-line" as well as be able to hunt lobsters!

If you want a turn-key booster, I do recommend the Wave. Can a computer geek build one himself for less money-- probably. But, I never built a radio from a kit, computer from a kit or booster from a kit-- and have no interest in doing so. Now, give me a diesel engine, suspension............

Brett

[steve@switzland.com]

Will these antennas work in a motor home?

[wolfe10]

Will these antennas work in a motor home?

Steve,

Short answer is YES. We have used it inside the motorhome and even down stairs in the sailboat-- we used it all winter on the sailboat in the Bahamas to stay connected without having to lug the laptop into a marina.

Clearly, you can pick up more distant hot spots the higher and less obstructions there are, but the antenna/booster is quite a lot stronger than any antenna built into a lap top that you don't have to get carried away with antenna placement.

Brett

[smokeater75]

I had a rogue wave antenna shipped to our motorhome site in Indio California this past March. I set it up on a pole so that it was sitting 15ft. up in the air. from the antenna I could see the club house with the Wi-fi hot spot approximately 100 yds away. I could not pick up any single from the club house. There are 3 Star-bucks within 2 miles as the crow flys from where we are and I could not pick up any signal from them. There were lots of places showing up,certainly more than were showing without the antenna but they all required a pass-word.I talked to the people at Wave- Rogue and they were sorry that it didn't work out for me. I sent it back with no problems and bought myself a rocket stick that plugs into my lap-top and now have wi-fi just about everywhere. Try it and see,for me it just didn't work. Good-luck

[wolfe10]

I had a rogue wave antenna shipped to our motorhome site in Indio California this past March. I set it up on a pole so that it was sitting 15ft. up in the air. from the antenna I could see the club house with the Wi-fi hot spot approximately 100 yds away. I could not pick up any single from the club house. There are 3 Star-bucks within 2 miles as the crow flys from where we are and I could not pick up any signal from them. There were lots of places showing up,certainly more than were showing without the antenna but they all required a pass-word.I talked to the people at Wave- Rogue and they were sorry that it didn't work out for me. I sent it back with no problems and bought myself a rocket stick that plugs into my lap-top and now have wi-fi just about everywhere. Try it and see,for me it just didn't work. Good-luck

Clearly, if a hot spot is encrypted, no booster will get you in. The job of any antenna/booster is to bring in a signal. Whether you can connect to that signal depends on whether their site is protected or open. Sitting right here at the house, I can pick up 15 hot spots. But, all but two are neighbors and they are password protected. In the motorhome or boat, this is less of a problem, as many public wi-fi sites are not encryption protected.

[vtbigdog]

The distance you can expect a signal is directly proportional to the type of antenna you are using. An Omnidirectional antenna looks like a stick and is designed to be able to receive a signal in any direction. This is good for line-of-sight. If you want to pull in distances farther than that you need an uni-directional antenna that you can point in a specific direction. In Florida this winter, I could see three Wifi sites. Using an omni-directional antenna I could see 25 sites. One of them was a McDonalds about 1/2 mile away. I couldn't connect to it. Using a uni-directional antenna I pointed it at McDonalds and was able to connect to the Internet.

[smokeater75]

The place outside of the clubhouse at outdoor resorts in Indio Ca. was only 100 yds. from the antenna, which was a clear and unobstructed view.This signal is not encrypted and the Rogue Wave antenna would not even show that the site existed. I spent 30 minutes on the ph. with a gentleman from Rogue Wave just to make sure that there was no problem with the instalation,according to him I had done everything right. Like I said try it and see.Smokeater75

[wolfe10]

The place outside of the clubhouse at outdoor resorts in Indio Ca. was only 100 yds. from the antenna, which was a clear and unobstructed view.This signal is not encrypted and the Rogue Wave antenna would not even show that the site existed. I spent 30 minutes on the ph. with a gentleman from Rogue Wave just to make sure that there was no problem with the installation,according to him I had done everything right. Like I said try it and see.Smokeater75

You are right-- definitely something wrong. In fact at that distance, you should have been able to pick up a signal with no external antenna at all.

Brett

[smokeater75]

You are right-- definitely something wrong. In fact at that distance, you should have been able to pick up a signal with no external antenna at all.

Brett

According to the person I talked to at Rogue-wave,he said that some hot spots drop off within a few feet of the hub. Maybe this was the case at outdoor resorts. The funny thing was I was picking up the signal from the RV park next door which was probably a half mile away from where I was parked, of course it was encrypted.

[wolfe10]

According to the person I talked to at Rogue-wave,he said that some hot spots drop off within a few feet of the hub. Maybe this was the case at outdoor resorts. The funny thing was I was picking up the signal from the RV park next door which was probably a half mile away from where I was parked, of course it was encrypted.

The fact that you COULD pick up a signal from the RV park next door would indicate to me that the Wave WAS working properly.

Like you, we have been in RV parks with some good and some really poor Wi-fi coverage. A booster can only do so much. If the park's signal is dropping/coming back as we have had in several parks, no booster in the world would keep you happily on-line.

Brett

[-Gramps-]

I recently installed Wifi for a Motorcoach resort covering 21 acres. It took one gateway (ap) and one remote hub to make it all work. It works great. So if any rv parks want help just let me know.

[GilJohnson]

This may be a dumb question. Are you sure the WiFi system that's in clear site is not 802.11a or 802.11n? Looking at the Rogue Wave specs it only supports 802.11 b/g.

I tried the original WaveRV system that's quite similar and didn't find the improvements to be significant. I see there's WaveRV II out now and it supports 802.11n. The WaveRV has it's own drivers, so it may not work with all operating systems. They make claims of operating at distances of up to a mile.

[lennich]

What is a rocket stick? we are talking basics here please..

[johnfv2]

I installed A SoHo from Wilson with their outside trucker (to pull the signal in) Antenna and their inside

wall (to relay the boosted signal to our cell phones and printers) mount antenna. Haven't had a problem

with it. Normally 1 bar will boost up to 2, 3, or even 4 bars. I'm using it in conjunction with our cell phones and

our Verizon WiFi card. Also if someone is trying to use their cell phone in a low signal area they'll walk over to

the outside of our Coach and use my booster signal to get their calls completed. I also use our WiFi card as a

Bluetooth to connect our computers to the wireless printers.

[dehocker]

My advice is to get a card from your cell phone supplier to connect to the Internet and e-mail services. I use a Mi-Fi from Verizon and it works great! It is encrypted which means no one else can hack into my data, very important if you are doing on-line banking or using a credit card, the public Wi-Fi sites are generally not encrypted and are dangerous!! The Verizon unit becomes a Wi-Fi hot spot for up to 5 users and is encrypted. No way would I go back to using a public Wi-Fi hot spot. You are almost always within range of a cell phone tower and can even use it while travelling in your RV!

[Guest BillAdams]

While I also prefer to use my own internet connection, there is nothing unsafe about using your own computer connected to an open wi-fi network when you are doing your banking or accessing any other secure site. Look for the website to start with HTTPS (The S at the end is critical and stands for Secure). Once you have this connection you can feel completely confident that the information being transfered between you and the site is absolutely secure and unhackable. The caveat is that you must be using your own personal trusted computer. Don't try this at a local library computer or any other computer you don't own as keyloggers can be installed which will record every keystroke you make.

[mclavey]

I use a Buffalo HP (WHR Hp 54G) I use this one because it has an external antenna connection and a built in amplifier:

http://www.amazon.com/Buffalo-Technology-Wireless-G-Antenna-WHR-HP-G54/dp/B000AOKTJ8

With a high gain antenna attached to router and placed on the RV roof or a smaller antenna on the dash.

http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=416

The best looking (I have not tried it yet) I have found is :Ubiquiti Bullet M2 High Power.

There are several modeles of this device, different frequency range , make sure it is wifi they can be found at many suppliers across the country , just google it .

http://www.ubnt.com/bulletm

Processor Specs Atheros MIPS 24KC, 400MHz

Memory Information 32MB SDRAM, 8MB Flash

Networking Interface 1 X 10/100 BASE-TX (Cat. 5, RJ-45) Ethernet Interface

You will also need an antenna to attach to it.There are many on Ebay this one is omnidirectional :

this is a good low cost wifi antenna (on Ebay for under $20 at times)

http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=416

Or a directional one:

http://www.buffalotech.com/products/wireless/wireless-accessories/14-dbi-high-gain-outdoor-directional-antenna/

Or an omnidirectional :

http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=52

[Jon796]

This is for increasing your own signal, not for pulling in a public signal.

Before (or after if you want) you spend money on antenna's for your router, you can download a second parties firmware for your router to turn up the output signal of your router. The FCC sets a limit the router's maker can turn it up to, but if you use a 2nd parties firmware like "Tomato" you can really increase the output, making your signal go further out. Do a search for for your router's model number if your model isn't listed to work with "Tomato".

[mclavey]

No ,,, I set this up with DD-WRT software ... it has a setting for repeating the signal of the campground.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

I don't often need the external antenna, only when the signal is week.

[vtbigdog]

The Bullet M2 can be setup either way so you both are right. I have one and it works wonderfully in pulling in a stronger campgroung signal...as well as the WiFi at a McDonalds 1/4 mile away.

[mclavey]

What do you use as an antenna with the bullet m2? Do you know if the bullet will run DD-WRT software ?

thanks Marv.

[vtbigdog]

Go to http://www.ubnt.com/ to read all about it. I have an omnidirectional antenna attached to mone.

[mobiletaskmaster]

The Rogue Wave antennas are okay, but there are options if you don't mind some DIY work and have an inexpensive USB wifi adapter handy. For a couple of years, I have had excellent long distance wi-fi connectivity using a modified parabolic satellite dish with a USB wi-fi adapter mounted at the focus. Much like the long range wi-fi antennas web page - you might do very will with something like that. For mobile connections, there's a helical that is very good and doesn't take up as much space compared to the parabolic antennas.

Cheers!

[WoodLark]

I realize this is an old topic, but I figured I would throw in my .02 worth anyway.

I am brand new to the forum (don't even have my motorhome yet, picking it up Monday). I traded in a trailer on the motorhome. In the trailer, I used a setup very similar to mclavey. I have an omni-directional antenna mounted on an 8 foot pole which I inserted into a flagpole socket on the trailer tongue. The antenna was connected to a Buffalo router running DD-WRT software in the "repeater" mode. I then connected my computer, printer, etc. to the router. I have had very good results with this setup. When I get the motorhome, I plan to mount the antenna to the roof ladder.

Everyone should keep in mind that wi-fi hot spots are not created equal. How good is their antenna? How much power are they running to broadcast the wi-fi signal? How good is the receiver they are using to receive your signal? All of these things can make a big difference in you ability to reliably connect to the internet, and none of them are under your control.