Enhancing WiFi reception?

[ultrarunner]

One of the places I work is a dead zone unless satellite... I carried a pager for years and never a missed a page anywhere on location.

My immediate neighbor has WiFi set up and gave me his password... it works but just barely.

Did a little experiment...

Apple 6S is basically useless.

Moto G5 plus works better.

Inexpensive HP laptop works the best... it has to be oriented just right.

All are limited geographically...

Question... is there any aux receiving antenna I can buy to enhance reception that work?

This would only be for a couple of hours max each week and a great convenience should someone need to get ahold of me.

 

[WVBill]

There are both aux WiFi Antennas and signal boosters available. You would need probably a directional antenna pointed at your neighbor and a WiFi Access Point in your house.
A place I've done business with in the past is 3Gstore.com, 3G/4G Routers, Antennas, Boosters, WiFi, IP Switches. They have both and good customer service to help you get what you need.

 

[RNeumann]

Lots of options. Google, Amazon or eBay WiFi range extender and let your budget decide and the reviews decide.
The other option is to put an antenna on your neighbor’s side to boost signal. With the laptop getting an OK signal a little range extender is probably all you need though.

If you have an extra router a lot of those can be configured as range extenders.

 

[plowhog]

There are many ways, but some that would work better than others depending on your circumstances.

I'd investigate the Wilson products first, but also consider others. I think Wilson is same as WeBoost now. If I knew more about the topography, or building layout, or distance to the other wifi (is it line of sight or blocked?) that would help. And I am sure K0UA will have ideas.

Wilson Amplifiers | Free Shipping w/ 9 Day Money Back Guarantee

3Gstore.com, 3G/4G Routers, Antennas, Boosters, WiFi, IP Switches

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-PBE...9137326&sr=1-10&keywords=ubiquiti+nanostation

And, if you just need text messaging, this satellite system turns your smart phone into a world wide text messaging system:

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[ultrarunner]

Wow... quick responses.

Properties are small... only a couple of acres sloping to the creek...

My place is unoccupied and a work in progress... power is on.

Neighbor is home all the time... came over while I was working and I commented how there is no cell coverage and I don't have WiFi here... he said cell has always been bad.

He does have Comcast which covers his home and back garden... just off the shelf unit that came when he subscribed... he also has a repeater for cell that works in conjunction with his Comcast... I have a different carrier so no joy there.

Before he made the cell upgrade he would have to stand in his driveway to use his cell.

Anyway... he offered his password for his WiFi and it works OK if I in my driveway and just inside my garage door... anywhere else and the signal is too weak.

I would not want to change anything that is working for him... only looking to enhance my reception during the renovation.

Seen some plug in antenna online that connect to laptops...

 

[plowhog]

Sounds like he is using a feature called Advanced Calling (Android) or the equivalent for Iphone. I sometimes also use that at my rural property, except going through satellite wifi instead of landline wifi. It's not very reliable. Verizon sells a device to enhance this but I have no experience with that.

I'm not sure-- do you want wifi for internet, or cell service, or text? If you had to focus on one or the other, what is the highest priority? If you have at least one bar of service showing on your phone, you likely could make use of the Wilson booster if it was put up on a roof or small tower. Rather than the bar, it's more reliable to read the dB on your phone as you walk around to different locations. As the signal improves or degrades, the dB will raise or lower. On Andriod that is in System>AboutPhone I think.

 

[ultrarunner]

It would be nice to reliably use my laptop on the job and/or smartphone email via WIFI

They both work now but very temperamental… if someone walks in front of the laptop chances are the signal is lost.

Company phone has no Data Plan which is not a problem at work as the Hospital is well covered and not a problem at home or when spending time with the family... WIFI lets me snap a picture and send or receive...

Phone will not do any kind of Text Picture or Attachment and no Data Plan means no email so the set up is dependent in WIFI.

Maybe I was to naïve thinking similar to TV... when Rabbit Ears don't work get a better antenna... either for the attic or roof or tower with a rotator?

 

[SirMaxwell]

It would be nice to reliably use my laptop on the job and/or smartphone email via WIFI

They both work now but very temperamental… if someone walks in front of the laptop chances are the signal is lost.

Company phone has no Data Plan which is not a problem at work as the Hospital is well covered and not a problem at home or when spending time with the family... WIFI lets me snap a picture and send or receive...

Phone will not do any kind of Text Picture or Attachment and no Data Plan means no email so the set up is dependent in WIFI.

Maybe I was to naïve thinking similar to TV... when Rabbit Ears don't work get a better antenna... either for the attic or roof or tower with a rotator?

Ultra Runner, sometimes just an antenna on the receive side will work, sometimes not. Nothings free (although some of the above recs like Wilson seem a bit extreme for what you want). Some topography info would help a bunch.

Basically you are just lucking into your neighbors WiFi as I suspect he has no outdoor antenna, or site boosters, or repeaters or so. Just a simply Comcast box in his house that you can occasionally connect to? If that's the case, you could probably get by with a simple external antenna on the neighbors side (and it would help him), or you could connect an outdoor AP to his router and that would also help him.

Gather a bit of site info, decide on a reasonable budget for what you want, see if the neighbor is okay with adding to his system in a way that will help you both. As others have noted, there are many ways to attack this.

For me, after nearly 40 years in working with, designing, installing, data telemetry and cm level Nav systems, I have seen and done some pretty creative locations around the globe. Bottom line tough, you don't get something for nothing. Antennas alone are only rarely the answer (btw in your TV scenario, remember you are only receiving, not transmitting, in which case the receivers ability to sort multi-path noise is paramount).

Maybe you can simply use something like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HTANYQ...&pd_rd_r=d2baacab-2765-11e9-b0de-212d94c64fa6


Maybe you need to make a bridge, using something like this at each end: https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Nanostation-NSM5-802-11a-Hi-power/dp/B00HXT8KJ4

Anyways, write back and I am sure we can all get you going.

 

[ultrarunner]

I forgot about transmitting... thank you for bringing me up to speed.

Neighbor has just the simple indoor WIFI sitting on a shelf... it works for him.

I also see several secured Xfinity in the neighborhood.

I do pay for business Comcast Service in WA State for my tenant... it is all in my name to the tune of $290 per month... never looked into to seeing if this would allow me to use Xfinity Hot Spots?

Remember I am the person that has never lived in a home with Cable along with Rabbit Ears and a rotary phone... my Internet is DSL

My Washington Comcast contract was the solution to years of wrangling to get service to the remote location... being Business Service opened a lot of doors for a "Price"

My tenant at the time was a physician that reviewed Malpractice Cases and required Internet or it was a non starter.

My unscientific study found the Laptop far superior than either cell phone for picking up WiFi and I was really surprised the Apple 6S was the worst...

 

[Diggin It]

People are mixing terms. Many of the devices mentioned above (Wilson 3G, etc.) are for cell service to amplify their signal. They will not help at all for the type of 'WiFi' you seem to be asking about. It sounds like the neighbor has a wired internet service like cable or DSL with a standard modem/router that outputs a wireless signal. Some of the devices above will work for that since they receive and repeat network traffic. You want to be looking for network devices like Netgear, Linksys, dLink, TP Link, etc.

 

[lman]

I used the item listed below to get internet in my barn about 1/4 mile from my house. I had to connect an old wifi router to it and now I have wifi in and near my barn. You just point the Nanostation at the signal source and it will boost it to obtain usable internet.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DCNRTAG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[TractorGuy]

Do you have power at the garage? If so try getting a GL-AR300EXT router to log in to your neighbor. Then log your stuff into the router. I use one at home on my weak cell internet. Signed goes out 500 ft from router.

Make sure you get the one with external antennas. It's made both with internal or external.

 

[plowhog]

People are mixing terms. Many of the devices mentioned above (Wilson 3G, etc.) are for cell service to amplify their signal. They will not help at all for the type of 'WiFi' you seem to be asking about.

That is correct. It was unclear to me at first if the priority was voice or data. The Wilson amplifier would work for voice, independent of the neighbor, using over the air cell signals *if* the receiving phone has at least one bar to start with. But he specified data is the priority.

Are you able to try a desktop computer instead of a laptop? I ask this as I use several HP all-in-one computers and their wireless access receive capability is very good. I believe its because they put a better antenna inside due to the larger frame. This also explains why your laptop works better than your mobile-- antenna size. That is at least something to try that would not involve the neighbor. Also, there are USB network connections devices that include maybe 10 feet of cable and an external antenna. I've never used one but at under $50 those might be something to try. You could buy one of these, disable your internal laptop wifi, plug in the USB ethernet device (with external antenna) and try it instead. If you have a Fry's electronics nearby they probably have those.

Probably a sure winner is if you can add at least one more device to your neighbor system. If you could add an external outside "Access Point" (similar to a router but internally different), to the neighbor system, placed in an area with clear line of sight to you, that likely would solve your issue. Those are available for under $100 and it would need to plug in to his network via an Ethernet cable. This would likely make a huge difference as you would no longer be blocked by the walls of his structure, and any interference going on inside those walls (electric devices, ovens, etc.)

As stated above, the Nanostation products are excellent. I have no Ethernet cabling outside my ranch residence, so I use the Nanostation M5 from house to barn. Pointed at each other, I get excellent throughput so when in the barn, it seems like I am directly connected to the router. The throughput is so good I can even run video over it.

A Nanostation M5 would also require installation at the neighbor property, pointing at you. Unlike the Access Point, your laptop would not directly receive the signal-- a second Nanostation at your property would do that. You could then plug in your laptop to that Nanostation, or plug your own Access Point into it. I don't remember if the Nanostation offers broadcast wifi (such as to your laptop) or not. I only use my Nanostation point-to-point as a wireless bridge, then I plug Ethernet into each side of it.

Good luck with your investigation. These are always tricky to work out and usually require some tinkering before you get it right.

 

[plowhog]

try getting a GL-AR300EXT router to log in to your neighbor. Then log your stuff into the router.

I was not familiar with this device but I looked it up. First thing, I don't think you are using it as a router. It's recommended not to use a router device, behind another router device. The router at the neighbor is the only one that should be in this Ethernet segment.

This device looks very much like another product I have used called the PepWave from the 3gstore.com. The pepwave is also another option-- although the antenna is not very large. It captures a wifi signal then outputs via a wired Ethernet connection. I have only used one inside my home when I needed wired Internet service to my DVR and I had no internet cable in that area.

Finally, the device you recommend can alternately be configured as a cell phone booster, which is how I think you are using it. But in this application I think he wants internet data, and has no data plan on his phone .....

 

[TractorGuy]

I was not familiar with this device but I looked it up. First thing, I don't think you are using it as a router. It's recommended not to use a router device, behind another router device. The router at the neighbor is the only one that should be in this Ethernet segment.

This device looks very much like another product I have used called the PepWave from the 3gstore.com. The pepwave is also another option-- although the antenna is not very large. It captures a wifi signal then outputs via a wired Ethernet connection. I have only used one inside my home when I needed wired Internet service to my DVR and I had no internet cable in that area.

Finally, the device you recommend can alternately be configured as a cell phone booster, which is how I think you are using it. But in this application I think he wants internet data, and has no data plan on his phone .....

Says it's a router. GL-AR300EXT link. It will connect by wire or wireless. It only has one wired out connection but the wireless works good enough you don't need it unless you require a wired connection for something. I have to plug my security cameras in by wire to initialize them before they will work wireless.

It requires a cell phone charger for power that is not included.

I originally chose it as a way to increase the distance on my wifi while over riding the 5 connection limit I had on a Mobley. The Mobley only saw 1 connection being the little travel router and I log everything on my network into the router. As a perk the router signal carries out 500 feet as I tested it. I now have it logged into a ZTE Velocity Mobile Hotspot device.

I have a set of wifi security cameras out in my field logged into it and it works great.

 

[plowhog]

Says it's a router.

Yes, that is the name of it. But it also has a configurable Wifi repeater mode, so it can be set to act as an access point/repeater. Did you do any configuration on it when installing?

I'm not familiar with Mobley equipment, but if your Mobley equipment is only seeing one connection, that might be how a "router behind a router" could work. I suspect you are either in wifi repeater mode, or the Mobley isn't doing any routing since there is only one device attached. I would guess if you add more things at the Mobley side, having a "router behind a router" could become an issue unless you changed your device as a wifi repeater. It's like having two people directing the same traffic but who don't know what the other one is doing.

Anyway, it is an interesting little device and it could be something (in wifi repeater mode) that could work for Ultrarunner. Thanks for sharing it!

 

[SirMaxwell]

As you will notice, you are getting lots of suggestions, but yet to clarify what you really want to do, or can do. Comes to mind, perhaps you should download a free (or pay if you wish) HeatMap Tool (or APP if you prefer that word). You can get a version for your laptop that will show you all the WiFi in the area, strength, and with a site mapper (heat map) do a quick little site survey of your own and see whats what.

Bottom Line, you may need just an external antenna, maybe a simple WiFi booster at/near neighbor or maybe near you, perhaps an External A/P at neighbor, perhaps a Bridge (device at Neighbor and Device on your side). Remember, any improvement you make on the neighbors side, will be good for him as well. Win-Win.

Grab and app, do a Map, see what you got, oh also the Manufacturer and Model of the existing device.

This assumes all you really want is to attach to your neighbors WiFi, a stronger WiFi signal.

 

[k0ua]

How about something as simple as a passive repeater if it is a next door neighbor. One nice yagi near and pointing toward the wi-fi router of the neighbor. some coax between the houses, and a nice yagi inside your house. No electronics, just two beam antennas and some coax. Yagis for 2.4ghz are very small.

 

[TractorGuy]

Yes, that is the name of it. But it also has a configurable Wifi repeater mode, so it can be set to act as an access point/repeater. Did you do any configuration on it when installing?

I'm not familiar with Mobley equipment, but if your Mobley equipment is only seeing one connection, that might be how a "router behind a router" could work. I suspect you are either in wifi repeater mode, or the Mobley isn't doing any routing since there is only one device attached. I would guess if you add more things at the Mobley side, having a "router behind a router" could become an issue unless you changed your device as a wifi repeater. It's like having two people directing the same traffic but who don't know what the other one is doing.

Anyway, it is an interesting little device and it could be something (in wifi repeater mode) that could work for Ultrarunner. Thanks for sharing it!

The wifi source is of no concern.

Not much setup involved. You log into the router via the ip address and default password provided. Go into the WAN settings and wait for it to recognize an existing wifi connection. Select that connection and enter the password for it. Just like connecting any wireless device to any wifi connection. Then you can use or change the router password and connect to it from any wireless capable device. The source wifi connection just sees it as a connected device. What that device does with the throughput is of no concern. Like any router it divides bandwidth. I can stream video at two devices. If one device is streaming I may experience slower loading web pages at the PC or laptop but it still works okay.

 

[ultrarunner]

I will need to re-read as there are many good suggestions.

I'm afraid if I modify or add anything at the source (Neighbor) that I will be involved anytime should something happen...

Right now I can use my laptop perfectly on his property like his driveway... and this is why he gave me the password.

My laptop gets real shaky when I go inside my barn and the connection drops out all the time and I can only get it with the barn doors open... or near the one window.

My thought is to see if a simple inexpensive device to enhance the signal emanating from my neighbor on my end so it would be strong enough so I could use the lap top at my property reliably...

There is always the option for me to subscribe to my own service but so far I only need 10-15 minutes in a week and basically frugal when it comes to recurring expense...

I do have power and there is a Fry's store that I visit... I bought my laptop at Fry's...