I’ve been thinking about this too as we have stayed on 5 different sites in the last month and our 4G signal was rubbish on all of them apart from one. I usually tether my iPad and our firestick to my phone but haven’t really been able to at the sites we have been on without lots of buffering and outages. For example, the site we are on at the minute is only giving me 1 bar of 3G on EE so enough for very slow internet browsing and email but not enough to stream to the firestick.
As far as I can find out, I need a 4G router with a SIM slot and the ability to connect an external antennae. Not all of the portable 4G routers have the ability to connect an external antennae which makes them pretty much the same as tethering to a phone, so no good for boosting the signal, but the ones I have looked at which have a connection for an external antennae are at the more expensive end of the spectrum and probably beyond what I am willing to pay.
I’ll be following this thread with interest to hear from anyone who has managed to find a solution that doesn’t break the bank.
DK168 will know - has a set up fit for “working from home” when on a site. If you scroll through this Equipment forum, there’s a thread they’ve started on 5G/4G (page 2 on my iPhone screen). There are other threads too.
Thank you, I have been looking at router/mi-fi and think this maybe the way forward. They seem to vary in price and reliability quite a bit so will have to do a bit of looking up.😀
Quote: Originally posted by Fiona W on 21/6/2022
DK168 will know - has a set up fit for “working from home” when on a site. If you scroll through this Equipment forum, there’s a thread they’ve started on 5G/4G (page 2 on my iPhone screen). There are other threads too.
Thanks for the tag.
I stayed at a CAMC site in the middle of Thetford Forest, and discovered there was no signal for Three (3), and my data SIM is Three, so my super duper mega expensive 5G external antenna was useless.
EE (my mobile phone) coverage was weak, I struggled to access e-mails on my laptop and phone when I used my phone as a mobile hot spot.
I paid for site Wi-Fi for a week as back up, and that too was touch and go.
In the end, I kind of gave up trying to access work servers using my laptop, and used my phone to access e-mails as it does not download all the e-mails like my laptop.
Video conferencing via Zoom and MS Team was hopeless.
I am kind of annoyed that I did not check for signal coverage beforehand as I did not believe I needed to anymore, WRONG!
Going forward, I shall check mobile signal coverage when I research for suitable sites in future, as mobile signal black holes still exist!!!
In addition, I may need to investigate getting a PAYG data SIM with Vodafone and O2 as back up. Seems a bit OTT, however, I need good internet connection when I am out and about for work purposes.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
BTW, I meant to say in not so many words: one cannot boost the signal when there is none!
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
I have a giffgaff free SIM lying around, and GG's network is O2, so I have unlocked my old phone, signed up to GG and activated the SIM and put some credit in it.
I shall test it during my next trip in July for speed using my old phone as a hot spot.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
As a rule of thumb - get the device be it a phone on tethering or a mifi as high as possible. A few including myself use a strongish fiberglass flag pole or similar to get a height gain of about 6 or 7 metres and it is away from the faraday effect of the caravan or MH and local obstructions. A battery bank for the device should give you a days use if it is sized correctly. I've been using this technique for about 15 years and it is even possible to bluetooth a headset to a phone hotspot for phone calls is areas of poor reception. Its surprising what signal you can pick up even in an area of very limited cover especially if you have a choice of a couple of sims.
------------- 'A sure cure for sea-sickness is to sit under a tree'
Quote: Originally posted by birder99 on 24/6/2022
Its surprising what signal you can pick up even in an area of very limited cover especially if you have a choice of a couple of sims.
Based on my own experience from the last trip in Thetford Forest, since being able to have good internet access is critical to my line of work, I need to better equip myself with a SIM for each of the 4 network providers.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: 4/5G boosters
via mobile 19/6/2022 at 4:30pm
