XPost: sci.electronics.repair, alt.comp.os.windows-10   
   From: G6JPG@255soft.uk   
      
   On Mon, 4 Apr 2022 at 10:22:44, mike  wrote (my   
   responses usually FOLLOW):   
   >Friend uses an RV where campgrounds have varying degrees of wi-fi and   
   >cellular signal depending on the campsite chosen.   
      
   Answering from UK, where things may be different.   
   >   
   >He asked me for advice where I would like to ask GENERAL questions of you.   
   >   
   >The first is for cellular which is whether they sell a cellular repeater for   
   >use not at a home but in an RV that moves to different places?   
      
   I presume that means for the mobile (UK)/cellular (US) network, i. e.   
   'phone coverage. I've never heard of such a repeater, though I can see   
   it might be plausible, in places where (say) a good mobile/cellular   
   signal might only be available at the peak of the chimney/roof or   
   something. Would presumably be nothing to do with the campsite owner   
   though (unless s/he has some arrangement with the network provider to   
   actually provide a base station/tower/whatever).   
      
   >I suspect not   
      
   Being somewhat at a disadvantage never having seen one, but trying to   
   think about how such a thing would work, I can't see why it would be   
   different for a home one versus an RV one, other than possibly what   
   power it runs on. Do such repeaters themselves connect to the   
   mobile/cellular network, and then act as a "base station" for any mobile   
   below them? Do they contain a SIM (or hardwired identity - I gather   
   SIMless 'phones are commoner in US [they're almost unknown here]), or   
   would they just relay any and all signals? Either way, I can't see   
   they'd be different for home and RV.   
      
   >, so then the rest of the questions are related to wi-fi.   
      
   By which I take it you mean a facility provided by the campsite owner   
   for the convenience of campers.   
      
   >For distance, is it true that 2.5GHz travels farther (assuming obstructions)   
   >than does 5GHz? Noise shouldn't be a problem in a campground but distance   
   >is.   
      
   As Dan has said, in theory, 2.5 is less obscured by obstructions than 5;   
   conversely, in built-up areas, it's far more likely to be noisy -   
   microwave oven leakage, security cameras, and many other things. In what   
   I would imagine to be the rural location of most campsites, that might   
   be less the case though. On the whole the 5 GHz band is more recently   
   developed, so connections on it are likely to be faster/higher capacity   
   than the older band - if they work at all.   
   >   
   >The power supply can be the batteries of the RV or 120VAC at the campground.   
   >The laptop has an ethernet port on the side. And he has an old router too.   
   >   
   >But his main problem is amplifying weak signal which most of the time he   
   >says exists at the check-in desk but it's too low to be useful (phone calls   
   >or wifi) at the camping spot.   
   []   
   I've no experience of active devices (actual amplifiers), or horns. I   
   have seen multi-element Yagi aerials (like a rooftop/pole-mounted TV   
   aerial, but with more elements - which is practical as the dimensions   
   are shorter; they're about a foot or two long) for the 2.4 GHz band;   
   they might exist for the 5, I've not looked. Not very expensive (I think   
   $5-$30); I think one of the main makers is Swan, who I think are   
   Australian (though their products are widely available online, certainly   
   in UK and I would guess in US). I would think it worth trying these out   
   before spending hundreds of dollars. The main practical difficulty is   
   how you connect them to the computer; they generally have a lead ending   
   with a little gold connector (F type I think it's called); laptops with   
   built-in wifi ('phones ditto) tend not to have an external socket. USB   
   wifi dongles that have a "rubber duck" aerial, it's often removable   
   leaving a suitable socket: such dongles are very cheap (few bucks,   
   especially if not dual-band).   
      
   Personally, I'd experiment with such a yagi aerial (buying such a dongle   
   if necessary - you'd need to disable the laptop's built-in wifi, or it   
   might be OK to leave it on, as it almost certainly won't receive   
   anything a long way from the site office).   
   --   
   J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf   
      
   so that the vendors can "serve you better". As if you were a tennis ball, I   
   guess. - Wolf K, in alt.windows7.general, 2014-7-21   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)