Extending my wireless signal without 110 or an inverter.

[AZ Landshaper]

Hows this done?
I use my weekender as an office. I park near starbux and public libraries but have to be up against the front door to get a decent signal. Ive seen antennas for this type of thing but cant comprehend how they work. Mind you I am not a tech guy in any way. My 14 year old has surpassed me on the tech front like Usane Bolt passing a man with a walker.

Is it possible to pull public wifi from these joints while 100 yards away from the building. My phone will connect to my comp but thats an expensive option in regards to my data plan being quite limited.

wha'dayasay?

Oh yeah. Gracias.
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85 Weekender w/ EJ22
Previously
64, 71, 72, 73, 76, 81, 84, 85 & 87 Campmobiles and Westfalias
and a 67 bug.

[djkeev]

I don't have an answer for you but my first thought is that these type of places with free WiFi want you you come in and BUY something to consume as you use their free signal.
They probably have no interest in those outside using their signal.

Dave
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Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[DanHoug]

you need a USB wifi adapter that has an external antenna port and then add a high gain directional antenna. you'll need to aim the antenna at the establishment providing wifi, it should be outside the van, and up high as possible.

$200 in parts should get you on your way for the USB adapter, cable adapters, cable, and directional antenna. the directional antennas usually come with a pole mount and a 3/4" aluminum rain fly pole works well.

if have the 4G/LTE dongle to supply your wifi, if it has an external antenna adapter the same parts other than the USB adapter are used except you 'sweep' the area for strongest signal, locating on a cell tower.

you may also use an omnidirectional antenna on a suction or mag mount, again best to use outside the van. you'll get less gain with an omni but not have aim it at the establishment.
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-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[Gizmoman]

Set up you phone as a mobile hot spot. Ask your 14 year old how.
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82 Vanagon Westy - AAZ 1.9 TD, HE200 Holset, WAIC, 27.75 dia tires, Electric power steering, 5-speed AAP w/.078 5th
Oversize spare carrier - stock location (no longer for sale).

[Abscate]

Doesn’t have data plan to cover, discussed in post

We use a WiFi’s antenna to beam cable around four houses and split bill, even though it’s Communism

About $200 for hardware.
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[Gnarlodious]

I have a vertical WiFi antenna out the top of my van, it gets a great signal. It is a 5dBi gain Pulse NMO5E2400B and fits into a NMO standard hole. The coax terminates in a RP-SMA Female port. I have a tiny Ubiquity airGateway in the ceiling that runs in Bridge mode on 12v. It has an ethernet cable running into my computer.

That may be overkill for your needs. A simple USB WiFi dongle may suffice. I have one attached by a magnet glued to the window. I only resort to the big unit when I am some distance away.

The sad fact is, wireless data plans have become so common that mobile WiFoi technology has stagnated. I don’t think there has been any good new products for 5 years.
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Vanagon ’83 diesel AAZ w/Giles injection, 5spd 4.57R&P+TBD and a '78 diesel Rabbit

[DanHoug]

and just putting the USB wifi dongle on the end of a 6' USB M-F extension cable can do wonders... it gets the antenna away from the RF of the computer as well as allows you to position it higher.
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-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[silversync]

Ah yes, check out the infamous Pringle can WiFi extender, has been around for over 15 years.

How To Make a Wi-Fi Antenna Out Of a Pringles Can
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-make-a-wifi-antenna-out-of-a-pringles-can-nb/
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[AZ Landshaper]

I appreciate the words of advice. I’m too cheap to up my phone data. I already pay way too much for my phone. If you have spent an hour in one of these joints you know there are lots of non paying surfers in there. Now the library has little to sell. Either way I’m more comfy in the van doing estimates listening to my tunes.

Thanks again. Have a great weekend. Stay warm.

Jay.
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Support Small Business.

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85 Weekender w/ EJ22
Previously
64, 71, 72, 73, 76, 81, 84, 85 & 87 Campmobiles and Westfalias
and a 67 bug.

[Paulbeard]

OT for this forum but maybe there are cheaper phone options… I only have cell service (no land line/home phone) and pay less than $50/month, well under $40 for the past couple of months. It would go up if I was on the road but if it doubled, I will be paying less than when I was with one of the big telcos…
_________________
Currently -> Frida: 87 Tizian Red (mostly) Vanagon GL Westfalia w/ 2.0L ABA conversion
Formerly -> Steward of a 73 Super Beetle (Beater) and 67 Beetle 1300 (Little Max) both names by POs

[AZ Landshaper]

My phone is through my business and serves 6 phones. The change would be a big pain as well as my marketing is related and attached.
I’m looking at a unidirectional antenna.
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85 Weekender w/ EJ22
Previously
64, 71, 72, 73, 76, 81, 84, 85 & 87 Campmobiles and Westfalias
and a 67 bug.

[jimf909]

[beanjammin]

Long time lurker... 1st time poster. I'm a geek, this topic scratched my itch enough to finally create an account.

DanHoug's suggestion of using a USB wifi adaptor and a directional antenna is definitely the easiest option and can be done for much less than $200. Searching Amazon for "wifi directional antenna" turned up this for $30CAD and it looks like it includes everything you'll need (antenna, usb wifi adaptor, usb cable). The one linked to wouldn't be stealth, and you'd probably want to come up with a way to easily mount/remove it as needed rather than keep it up. Around here flags like this litter the streets shortly after the local team bows out of the playoffs and look like they'd work well for an easily set-up/removed window antenna mount.

If you search for "wifi directional antenna" you'll see there are many other options, just be sure you get a USB wifi adaptor that plugs into the antenna and a usb cable that goes from the adaptor to your laptop and you should be good to go. The USB cable can be up to 6m long so you should be able to get your antenna pointing where you need it while still lounging in your VW.

I have been planning to do a somewhat more ambitious variation on this that you might want to consider. By the sounds of it you'd need to lean on your 14 year old, but if s/he's up to it it might make a good project. The basic idea is to turn the VW into a wifi hotspot / media server that you can connect multiple computers/phones/etc to and when you're in the range of a wifi access point you would have internet access and when you're not you'll still have access to the local media files.

It would use the same directional antenna set-up as above plus a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ ($35USD), a 12V to 5V DC power adaptor ($10CAD) a microSD card (price varies with size) and optionally a tv/computer monitor, keyboard and mouse.

The Raspberry Pi is basically the innards from a low-end smart phone and is used to run Open Source Media Centre, which is based on Linux. OSMC provides the kodi media centre (mp3s, videos, etc.) and with a little extra configuration using the instructions here will create a wifi hotspot using the Raspberry Pi's built-in wifi adaptor. It can be set up to automatically connect to open wifi access points so that whenever you are near one you will automatically get an internet connection.

The Raspberry Pi draws between 2.5 and 12W so shouldn't kill the battery too quickly. There is a power related gotcha in that the Raspberry Pi can't be powered off without first being properly shutdown or you risk corrupting the filesystem. I haven't tried it yet, but something like the solution here or here ought to work without drawing any power when the key is off or having to manually shut it down.

Maybe it's finally time for me to get going on this... thanks for getting me thinking about it again (and finally creating an account on thesamba).

Cheers,

- Ben

[AZ Landshaper]

Hey Man
Great 1st post. Very helpful contribution to the site (or at least to my post which is as usual off topic).
Thanks for taking the time to ring in and answer my Q.

I appreciate the links. This is a foreign language to me but I knew it was possible. You have made assembling the parts and pieces a lot easier on me.

Have a great night.

Jay
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Support Small Business.

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85 Weekender w/ EJ22
Previously
64, 71, 72, 73, 76, 81, 84, 85 & 87 Campmobiles and Westfalias
and a 67 bug.

[Jake de Villiers]

[vanagonjr]

[Abscate]

[?Waldo?]

[Abscate]

Most TOS probibit you sharing your wifi with others. Some do not.

It is not theft, it is breach of civil contract.
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.ssS!

[?Waldo?]

Who are the 'others' you aren't supposed to share your wifi with? I've had friends stop by and log onto my wifi. Am I in breach? What if they park their van in my driveway and log on, breach of contract? Sounds like nonsense to me. I'm not even going to try to read the fine print...