Jefa Tech Repeater

[Mikele]

This post may get a little long, so ill give you jist of it first. JEFA Tech WIFI repeater. In my experience it is junk...Now for the why.

This isn't met to knock or sling mud, just some fyi from first hand use.

I bought this gadget to extend the park wifi range. it works by picking up a weak signal and repeating as a stronger signal. So, in parks where you may be to far for a good signal this is met to "grab" that weak signal and make it usable. I have been next to a WIFI tower and have only been using as secure connection for my devices. We then moved to a new site with a tower next to us again. YAY for us. well that tower went down. I thought no biggie i got this. Not so. After all this gadget is suppose to find the other signals. There are 5 Towers in a direct sight line from me only a max of about 50/75 yards or so away from me . I am able to to scan with 2 smart phones, amazon fire stick, our laptop and a tablet. All of these devices see multiple WIFI signals, but most of em are to weak to use reliably. The repeater however will NOT see them. Even with the outside antenna connected it still doesn't get the number of signals the other devices see. I emailed the company and they were willing to send a new unit at no cost and even sent return postage. Very helpfull. but the new one is no better. After spending 7/8 hours trying to get it to work, i couldnt get this thing to work. I could stand beside the outdoor antenna with a smart phone and connect to the internet, whereas the repeater would not. SO i called asking about a refund and they denied the request. Reason being i had purchased it 6 months ago. Well, thats fine as they have that choice, but for the 6 months i havent needed it. Then when i do need it, it wont work. So be warned or take it with a grain of salt, but im not happy with this purchase at all

 

[I'mdonewiththis forum]

I was under the impression that they were one of the better repeaters to use. Maybe I need to do more research before I purchase one..........

[roy67ss]

_{I had a very similar experience except that I was able to get a refund. It was a waste of time.}

[mhs4771]

We've had ours for a few years now and have had fairly good success with it. I have the outside antenna on an extendable pole to raise it above the RV roof and can generally pickup many more access points than either laptop or smart phone. It can be a bit tricky to get setup and connected but it does a fair job for the price. We could spend two or three times as much for one of the bigger brand names, but Jefa works for us.

[rbertalotto]

I'm using the ALPA 36 available from TechnoRV and couldn't be more pleased. I can barely do email and I had this system up and running in no time. I use it to grab McDonalds, Starbucks, and other WiFi while overnighting in parkinglots or at campsites when too far from the main antenna. Very pleased and TechnoRV is GREAT to deal with.

 

There is an article I wrote about it on my web site

 

www.rvbprecision.com

[mike54]

I also bought the JEFA Tech WIFI repeater I'm not really impressed with it I expected to do a better job of improving the WiFi signal inside my rv I stayed at a KOA with 4 towers without the repeater I got 2 bars with the repeater I got 3 that extra bar isn't worth what I paid for this JEFA Tech WIFI repeater.

[Jack Mayer]

Using "bars" to judge performance in not a good measure. Use speedtest.net to a reliable server. Test with and without the Jefa. ANd also test outside the RV. That will give you a good indication of the performance of the Jefa and what role the RV itself is having in any performance issues. Do about 8-10 tests with each configuration and average them. You will likely find upload speeds improving quite a bit more than downloads....

[samandtheduck]

I have had the JefaTech for years and used it lots with good results. I have an extension pole I attach to the back ladder to get the antenna above the trailer and it gets the signal unless the trees are blocking access. It brings in a strong signal but usually the campground WiFi is useless so not much is gained.