Mifi unit, WiFi antenna or both

[andyjanet]

Hi all, we have a locked mifi heawei 3G unit does anyone have the newer unit with aerial connectors? How do you get on with it we ar3 also considering getting a WiFi antenna do they work and can you recommend one for iPhone use help pulling me hair out trying to decide, thanks andy

 

[REC]

We used a huawei unlocked mifi and the signal was variable. Then got a better one and used it with and without an antenna, can't honestly say there was a huge amount of difference to the signal. What made a difference was buying a different SIM card!! Have no iPad so can't help! Lots of wc's have the more expensive antenna on their vans but not us:sad:

 

[witzend]

For wifi I use a antenna similar to THIS and when it's plugged in it adds to the number of signals and doubles the strength of the strongest one.
I have recently purchased a Huwei 5577 mifi and am pleased with the signal it receives which is much better than my phone gets at home so haven't tried a external Ariel
My phone is 4G capable but haven't got the signal very often when abroad so wouldn't worry about upgrading to 4G

 

[shortcircuit]

I use this WiFi Outdoor 2.4Ghz Antenna Aerial Signal Booster Laptop Computer USB Powered | eBay along with an Alph R36 and can pick up many wifi sources.

I appreciate this is different from the MiFi unit and am interested that the new unit allows an aerial to be connected although not sure how effective.

I also have a Hauwei unit but it is really no different than using your phone to provide a hotspot.

Edit. I stripped the above aerial and fitted it inside a status tv aerial, which we do not use, and so easy to use.

 

[RoaminRog]

Hi you two! I have taken the 3 sim out of our mifi and have placed it in my Ipad Air. We havent travelled too far afield but have always had a good signal.
Chris can tether her iPad to mine, so we both have a good signal in the van.

 

[andyjanet]

Hi you two! I have taken the 3 sim out of our mifi and have placed it in my Ipad Air. We havent travelled too far afield but have always had a good signal.
Chris can tether her iPad to mine, so we both have a good signal in the van.

Hi Rog do you also have a WiFi antenna directional?

 

[jagmanx]

All 3 (x2)

1 Mainly I tether to my smartphone which uses a Giff-Gaff sim card.
I either just use it directly or connect my laptop or tablet if I want a bigger screen

2 I have a USB booster aerial which will find many signals including BTfon
But it can only be used with a laptop

3 I also have a Mi-Fi which I used before I got a smartphone
But a useful backup with a different simcard (eg Three)


The x2 as I use all 3 items (below) all of which can use the phone or the Mi-Fi

A) Smartphone for simple stuff

B) 10in Tablet for planning (maps me) and marking locations

C) Laptop for various spreadsheets and my trip log
Also for transferring photos and video to a hard-disk (external)

Many would say OTT but I liken them as follows
A - electric screwriver
B - Cordless Drill/driver
C - Corded power drill

 

[Nabsim]

EDIT: This is 3/4G related, not picking up WiFi that may be nearby!

I did quite a lot (and still do) with mobile data for work. We have various combined ADSL/vDSL and SIM data modems so if your broadband goes down it falls back to SIM data as you are doing with your MFi devices. We also have a need to provide workers with a way to connect to the internet when out of the office, this is the bit that is what you are all doing.

Firstly, if where you are does not have a phone signal then it doesn't matter what you have with a SIM card it won't work. You would need some expensive satellite setup and the data satellite we have used can be down if its too cloudy, rain, snows or is there is a S in the day it seemed!

Next most important is that you can receive whoever signal is available where you are. You will all have been in places where you have a poor signal but someone else has full bars, the way to get that is have a SIM card that will roam. That means it will switch from poor signal on say an EE mast to a strong signal on a 3 mast or anyone else who is better. If you type roaming data SIM in to Google you will find lots of companies who offer these so if you need it look for the best deal for your usage in countries you are travelling in. The companies we have used deal in blocks of 100 SIM's minimum so no point posting here. If you have any connection to a communications company you may find they will provide you with a suitable SIM or two though.

It then comes to how and what you need to connect. If you only use a single smartphone or tablet/SIM enabled computer then put the SIM in and away you go.

If you want to connect to more than one device you would normally either use some sort of wireless device that takes a SIM card (MiFi type) or turn your phone into wireless hotspot (also called tethering).

At work we no longer use MiFi or 3/4G dongles to connect to the internet we just tether our phones. Everyone who needs to do this has a company iPhone although our Android fans say you can do exactly the same with them. When there was a mixup a year ago Christmas with my home broadband switching I put my phone in the window (extremely low to no signal area) and could just get 1 bar, this allowed both me and Caz to connect our macs and use the internet. As a guide our home broadband is under 3mbps (yes when you stop laughing we are in the sticks) and the phone on 1 bar was much quicker than our broadband.

So: Check if you can tether, if so you dont need a MiFi or anything else, UNLESS you have a large area to cover and won't be in line of sight of the phone you tether to, then get a MiFi or similar.

If you have used aerials on a MiFi and have any data that can actually prove it has made a significant difference I would be interested in seeing it as I have some installations that may benefit. In our experience aerials have made little to no improvement except in situations where the SIM card/wireless signal is shielded or in a metal box (I kid you not).

Lastly, I am no expert in this. I do systems and server support for a small company and as such we are expected to have an answer to everything and to provide it for nothing. If money is no object there is kit that will make a difference but for most folks we haven't found it yet but as I said if someone HAS then I would like a pm

 

[Deleted member 58274]

Antennas

Can I just add....people need to differentiate between the two issues...

There's antennas that connect to (some) mifi boxes to boost 3G/4G phone signals from masts.
(Ours has no antenna but nearly always gets a signal when I pop it in the Skylight !!)

Then there's antennas that are for boosting already existing wifi.
(We have one that connects to laptop...useful for pinching free wifi from pubs etc...having had a pint first to get the password LOL )

Maja

 

[TJBi]

Like witzend, I have a Motorhome WiFi iBoost Pro D8 Directional System, and have generally found it to be extremely effective. The support from the supplier is also very good. They now also offer a permanently mounted roof aerial, which offers advantages in terms of less to do to set up each time you want to use the system, but the ability to position a non-fixed aerial where required on the vehicle in order to achieve good line of sight to the WiFi source is very useful, so I would not favour the fixed aerial option.

 

[Nabsim]

Thats why I edited my reply Maja, I realised some may not realise I was only discussing 3/4G SIM signal. I couldn't see where to add/edit a title for the post when I went on edit so just made it bold at the top

 

[andyjanet]

Thanks for all the reply’s,
We have 30gb monthly on our Tesco iPhone but on recent travels around wales and Scotland the signal was very patchy we have only four months ago signed up to a two year contract for this service and were looking for an alternative internet source for Tesco poor areas, whilst in fort William the Nevis center had free WiFi but this was just out of range from the van hence we were wondering about a WiFi aerial to pick up the signal better whilst close to free sources. ( iboost)
Our haewea mifi unit is old and locked to 3 on 3G so was also wondering about the newer 4g unit with the extra aerial to improve signal strength.
My head is saying just buy another 3G 24gb card for the three network and make do with the items we already have but let’s see what my wallet says at the end of the month

 

[Nabsim]

I have used wireless extenders and access points to push signals further but not done anything like you are asking to boost an incoming signal so can't offer any advice on that part sorry. There are a lot on here that do this who can though as I have read posts, I also have not done anything on hacking into other wireless so again cant help.

With the too low/no 3/4G signal though in my experience you need a SIM that will automatically roam. In the UK it used to be a company in the isle of man who provided them for UK use but cant remember who. the roaming that the UK providers offer is normally only when abroad and doesn't swap between different providers in the UK. Best thing is search for UK data roaming and see what comes up unless anyone knows a company that does it in the UK

 

[witzend]

There's antennas that connect to (some) mifi boxes to boost 3G/4G phone signals from masts.
(Ours has no antenna but nearly always gets a signal when I pop it in the Skylight !!) Maja

I have found that the hauwei mifi gets a lot better signal than my phone using the same network with both, Good idea to put it outside

There's uTube videos on unlocking Hauwei's so you could try a different sim before buying a new unit

 

[maxi77]

I use this WiFi Outdoor 2.4Ghz Antenna Aerial Signal Booster Laptop Computer USB Powered | eBay along with an Alph R36 and can pick up many wifi sources.

I appreciate this is different from the MiFi unit and am interested that the new unit allows an aerial to be connected although not sure how effective.

I also have a Hauwei unit but it is really no different than using your phone to provide a hotspot.

Edit. I stripped the above aerial and fitted it inside a status tv aerial, which we do not use, and so easy to use.

We use a similar aerial along with the USB wifi hub supplied by these people. Solwise - Wireless USB Dongles, Adapters and Panels | Solwise Ltd. Their kit cost much less than Motorhome wifi who seem very expensive. It can pull in signals hundreds of meters from the source. In the UK we tend to use a 3 mifi mainly because most of the places we stop there is no free wifi available. The 3 box is excellent and we can watch TV in places we cant get a signal on our phone or TV aerial. In Portugal at the moment we use a monthly contract with Vodaphone Portugal which we activate when we arrive and de activate when we leave with no penalty. In general we find paid for wifi on sites far to expensive for what is often a poor quality connection so prefer now to use mifi

 

[Tezza33]

I use an Iboost Pro and I also have a Huawei E5577, using both I have never had a problem getting online either here or in Europe.
Late last year we had to stay at my MIL's in Hertfordshire and she lives in an area where there is a very poor 3G signal and no 4G, to make matters worse she only has one small TV so I ordered a Solwise WiFi repeater
and a USB WiFi antenna,
this was a more expensive than some other models but it can be attached to a pole, they work together pretty good and at last I could receive FON signals from a long distance, that took care of the WiFi but I also bought a 4G LTE Antenna
using this with the mifi I managed to get a 4G signal for the first time.

Comparing the Iboost Pro to the Solwise repeater and Kuma long range antenna there was no difference in performance, with the Iboost it works out of the box and you get full support even long after the warranty has expired, the Solwise/Kuma has to be set up yourself so not recommended if you have no experience, if you just want WiFi on a laptop the Kuma just plugs in to a USB port, I needed the repeater so that I could use an Amazon Fire TV box.

 

[Deleted user 48797]

We have this 4G Roof Antenna & B315 Router | Motorhome WiFi
We decided upon this instead of a satellite system for touring Europe, it's hard wired in and switched - but we usually leave it on. Recently back from 3 months touring France, Spain and Belgium and the signal we received everywhere was only 3g but fast enough to watch iplayer, Amazon Prime, Netflix and TVCatchup. Yes you need data cards but the reception everywhere was perfect also when using a Chromecast dongle. We can surf/email, watch TV in the lounge, or on a tablet in bed. Plus we have our phone 4g contracts as well.

 

[Admin]

I now use EE as the main provider of Internet access for my motorhome. I have found them to be the fastest and most reliable service. I get 200GB of data for £60 per month as a retention deal on their 4GEE home broadband service. (you are allowed to use it in your motorhome)

The equipment I use is made for professional installations.

Teltonika RUT955 Router (£180) link to details
Poynting MIMO 1 Antenna (£175) link to details





You need to drill a hole in the roof to mount the antenna as it needs a ground plane (40cm).

It has dual sims so you can have a pay as you go back up sim from another provider.

It also supports an external hard drive and internal microSD card for file sharing or your movie database


I know this is not a cheap option, but it works well and allows wifi use both inside and outside the vehicle. I use multiple wifi channels to allow other people to use my data. As an example whilst we were in the Outer Hebrides Annie and Chalky had no signal at all, I set up a separate wifi zone for each of them with their own SSID and password. You can set different data transfer rates and data limits for each zone. You can also block certain content and file types (like video streaming).

There are lots of extra features of this unit like vehicle tracking and control, I have not yet explored those features.

I am going to make a video about this at some point.

 

[peter palance]

we are looking

We used a huawei unlocked mifi and the signal was variable. Then got a better one and used it with and without an antenna, can't honestly say there was a huge amount of difference to the signal. What made a difference was buying a different SIM card!! Have no iPad so can't help! Lots of wc's have the more expensive antenna on their vans but not us:sad:

we are looking for one but know wich one pj help please help thank you

 

[Nabsim]

I am going to make a video about this at some point.

That looks interesting, wonder if its this type they fit in cars now with internet and wireless hotspot/onstar? Look forward to that video