WIFI in motion

[mountainborn]

Make your Oliver a WIFI Hiotspot !

This article describes a system somewhat similar to the one that Betty and I use. We put ours togather from components bought here and there. This is a complete package, but a bit more expensive. Here is a link to the article:

http://blog.rv.net/2008/10/25/wifi-in-motion-make-your-rv-an-internet-hot-spot/?utm_source=RVN&utm_campaign=RVNeMag&utm_medium=eMail&promo=eMagNov08&logvalue=http%3a%2f%2fcontent.dynamicmessenger.com%2faffinitypid%2f%3fvf7NlZXCLAs4X6zDqnbziYzxg458HVzJv%26

Be sure to watch the video by clicking on the link at the top of the article. The video shows the complete installation with tips for hiding the equipment out of the way.

Now this begs the question, "why pay for two different internet connections, one at home and one for out on the road" ?

Why not park your Ollie near your home, he, he, I'll bet it already is, and supply the home with wifi signal from the ollie.

Most of us leave our Ollies plugged into shore power while at home, so having the wifi system powered up all the time isn't an issue.

Note that while towing down the road, the wifi signal area goes with you and can be used from the tow vehicle while in motion. It is pretty cool to be able to minimize the streets & trips map program to the system tray, while at interstate highway speeds, bring up the internet, and check gas buddy to see where the cheapest gas is in Amarillo Texas, fifty miles before getting there. Gas Buddy will even bring up it's own map to show you which exit, ect..

We put our system togather from parts bought from various sources, mostly eBay, for about $600 and it plugs up a bit differently.

The 3G technology that we are enjoying across the nation is great, but is soon to be eclipsed by 4G which is currently being called WIMAX. Your equipment won't have to change to be able to use it, but your coverage areas will just be much larger. So if you use a system similar to this one, it will only get better and better when 4G phases in !

[technomadia]

I was unfortunately unable to view the link because it require subscribing to the site first.. so I wasn't able to see exactly what the set up is.

 

 

However, we have been having a mobile wifi hot spot since we set out almost a year and a half ago.

 

 

We use an Express Merlin EX720 card from Sprint, which gets 3G and are now dirt cheap to buy.. just your monthly contract fee.

 

And then for making it into a wifi hotspot, we have a CradlePoint CTR-350 that acts as a router too - which sell now for just $100. We just also installed a MacMini as a media server to play movies & music via (we didn't get the default entertainment system with our Oliver) and as a wifi back-up server for our laptops. Both of our laptops are MacBook Pros, which can also rebroadcast from the EX720 card to make the laptop a wifi hotspot.

 

 

The biggest problem is all of the data caps that these so called 'unlimited data' plans have started implementing. 5GB / mo is really not all that much.

 

- Cherie

[mountainborn]

Hi Cherie ! Congrats on the Kitten ! I got the first heads up about it on twitter.

The broadband caps are a pain for those of us that are multimedia nuts. I think that the providers are getting rid of their 3G cards, ect., because they already have the fourth generation products in the manufacturing stream. Our personal plan is to ride the 3g wave until the cost of 4G comes down to a competetive level. We tend to not pay the premium for cutting edge technology, but stay just below that in the "sweet spot" created by sales promotions ect..

Please post pix of the Paciffic N/W ! It is so beautiful there.