WIFI booster

[charlyhors]

Hi all,

We're presently in a small park, about 30 residents, and it has that rare thing - wifi of adequate range to reach our unit and kinda adequate capacity to stream Netflix.  We generally get pretty good netflix streaming during the day (a bit watery on the colors), but that is when we're doing work and errands.  In the evening, the reception is pretty on and off and frustrating - frequent stops for buffering, etc.  Is there anything we can do on our end to help this - a signal booster, or whatever?

Oddly, I have also noticed that the park network can be quite slow on surfing the web, but still can stream movies.  Does Netflix have some sort of priority on bandwith that could cause that?

[Biker56]

21 minutes ago, charlyhors said:

Hi all,

We're presently in a small park, about 30 residents, and it has that rare thing - wifi of adequate range to reach our unit and kinda adequate capacity to stream Netflix.  We generally get pretty good netflix streaming during the day (a bit watery on the colors), but that is when we're doing work and errands.  In the evening, the reception is pretty on and off and frustrating - frequent stops for buffering, etc.  Is there anything we can do on our end to help this - a signal booster, or whatever?

Oddly, I have also noticed that the park network can be quite slow on surfing the web, but still can stream movies.  Does Netflix have some sort of priority on bandwith that could cause that?

Have you told the office your problem on streaming?

They probably can tell you what to do.

[Smitty77_7]

You might want to Google the steps of Netflix streaming/downloading to your computer. This way you could pick a time later night, or way early in the AM, with less traffic on the WiFi and possibly the network it's on. And store some shows to then play some shows from your computer when you wan to. (HDMI cable out from the computer to the TV screen.). 

If you have pretty good coverage, I down a signal enhancing product like WiFiRanger or Pepwave would help you very much(?). 

If I miss understood, and the signal itself is weak to your devices. Then yes a WiFiRagner would help on that quite a bit. 

Joel is the WiFiRanger expert, so he'll provide you with options. I will share that we do have now our third set of WiFiRanger products (Upgrading along the way, as technology changes.). We have the GOac router/wifi and the EliteAC FM roof top antenna. I've also helped two friends in the last 3-4 months. One is running with just the GOac router/wifi for now (The GOac has a stronger internal antenna, so it can pull in signals better then say a laptop, or other stand alone devices. And he is real pleased with having one device that all of his internal units are attached to (Roku, Laptops, Stereo (Pandora), etc.) - and, enjoys the strong GOac WiFi repeated signal as he can sit outside without any problems on connecting now.). He's going to run with this for awhile, and save up some funds for a Elite AC antenna to be added in the future. The other couple, went with a SkyPro Pack, and are pleased with it. 

Best of luck to you,

Smitty

[Pat & Pete]

Your description is typical of almost every park wifi we've tried . 

Any park wifi handles/provides only so much before individuals start suffering . 

Streamers are the cause of the rest of the parks suffering .

At one park there was a 'camper' that had the equipment to suck up bandwidth for streaming . 

They were asked to disconnect their equipment and only use 'typical' devices . They did and the rest of the park was able to get their emails and do a little surfing .

 

[oldbutspry]

2 hours ago, Biker56 said:

Have you told the office your problem on streaming?

They probably can tell you what to do.

HAHA!  Yeah, I bet they will!  They'll tell him to stop streaming. 

[Devilishjim]

5 hours ago, Biker56 said:

Have you told the office your problem on streaming?

They probably can tell you what to do.

No doubt in my mind  

[Chad Heiser]

WIFI boosters such as the WIFI Ranger and similar devices do nothing to increase the bandwidth available to your devices.  Their purpose is to take a week WIFI signal and boost it to allow you to connect to the signal.

Think of it like this, your device sees there is a week WIFI signal available, but it cannot connect to it because it is too weak or your device sees no WIFI signals at all available to connect to.  Then you turn on your WIFI booster (like the WIFI Ranger).  Your device now sees the original signals that were too weak to connect to as much stronger signals and the device is able to connect to them through the booster.  Also, where your device alone did not see any signals the booster may see signals off in the distance and be able to connect to them which will allow your device to then connect to them through the booster.

None of this actually improves the throughput of any of those connections.  Whatever speed the connection is capable of on the back end is what the speed will be through the booster (in general terms).  The booster cannot improve the throughput of the connection, it can only allow you to connect to weak signals that weren't available without the booster.

[TCW]

Not all Wifi boosters work in the same way. If they connect to your computer wirelessly, every hop in the system decreases the maximum speed of the connection at least some; even if the signal strength is boosted. If the booster is actually working as a more powerful wifi adapter connected directly to the computer, then it may both boost the signal and perhaps increase the connections speed. One advantage of using a booster to connect to a system like those in a campground, which may be repeated to extend throughout the campground, is that it may allow you to connect to an access point closer to the source and thus reduce the number of hops and resulting decrease in speed. In a campground where each AP has its own back haul, a booster may allow you to connect to an AP with less traffic and thus yield greater speeds. In my experience using a WFR, the speed is considerably faster when connected to the booster/router by Ethernet rather than wirelessly. Similarly, connecting the external antenna (boost, Elite, etc.) by Ethernet to the router verse by wireless both eliminates a hop in the system and creates a two radio system that can transmit and receive at the same time versus a one radio repeater which can not.

[charlyhors]

We've been park camping (2/3) and boondocking (1/3) for three and a half years fulltime.   So we are not novices on what parks provide.  We always ask the office before streaming.  Part of this parks appeal is that it is very small - 2 outside rows and a partial center row, and has excellent reveiws for fast cable.  The manager here streams netflix as do many of the residents.  We have streamed many hours of it as well - a season of Longmire, but it is a bit unpredictable.  Sometimes we can stream in the evenings, usually during the day.  It's a bigger capacity wifi than most parks - or just the smaller park itself.  I think a combination of the 2.  

Also, I do believe Netlix must stream priority on this system, as you can run netflix when email or facebook is crawling.  I know his routers have priorities built in.  I use our Verizon mobile hot spot for web surfing - everything but Netflix

Your feedback has been helpful as always, and we are good neighbors.  We do not stream when it would harm others.  

 

[rynosback]

That is cool that management is OK with streaming.  But when everyone is on the network streaming you will have problems.  Think of it like this,

If the campgrounds network is like water.

the campground has a gallon of water per minute coming in.

that means that 8 people can be using a pint per minute with no problem.  That is assuming there is no loss with in the network.

so when more then 8 people try to pull a pint of water per minute, the network is going lag.

I personally find it interesting that any campground would prioritize Netflix over surfing.  As there network would be overwhelmed frequently.

 

As stated be another member, a WiFi Ranger will not help to make the campgrounds WiFi faster.  

[wildmandmc]

ryno. thats a awesome way to put it for those non techy members to understand wifi  bandwidth, signals ect...

[WeBeFulltimers]

The fact that the "manager" streams doesn't necessarily mean that the "owner" is OK with it.

[charlyhors]

We've been park camping (2/3) and boondocking (1/3) for three and a half years fulltime.   So we are not novices on what parks provide.  We always ask the office before streaming.  Part of this parks appeal is that it is very small - 2 outside rows and a partial center row, and has excellent reveiws for fast cable.  The manager here streams netflix as do many of the residents.  We have streamed many hours of it as well - a season of Longmire, but it is a bit unpredictable.  Sometimes we can stream in the evenings, usually during the day.  It's a bigger capacity wifi than most parks - or just the smaller park itself.  I think a combination of the 2.  

Also, I do believe Netlix must stream priority on this system, as you can run netflix when email or facebook is crawling.  I know his routers have priorities built in.  I use our Verizon mobile hot spot for web surfing - everything but Netflix

Your feedback has been helpful as always, and we are good neighbors.  We do not stream when it would harm others.  

 

[Chalkie]

22 hours ago, charlyhors said:

Hi all,

We're presently in a small park, about 30 residents, and it has that rare thing - wifi of adequate range to reach our unit and kinda adequate capacity to stream Netflix.  We generally get pretty good netflix streaming during the day (a bit watery on the colors), but that is when we're doing work and errands.  In the evening, the reception is pretty on and off and frustrating - frequent stops for buffering, etc.  Is there anything we can do on our end to help this - a signal booster, or whatever?

Oddly, I have also noticed that the park network can be quite slow on surfing the web, but still can stream movies.  Does Netflix have some sort of priority on bandwith that could cause that?

I believe you may have answered your own question in a way. You say that in the evening the streaming quality decreases. To me that makes sense as there are likely to be more demands on the network in the park in the evening when everyone is home and the park is bound to have bandwidth limitations. 

As to streaming Netflix even when surfing is slow, Netflix does not really demand much speed to stream. The higher the available speed the better the image quality. Here is what Netflix has to say:

0.5 Megabits per second - Required broadband connection speed

1.5 Megabits per second - Recommended broadband connection speed

3.0 Megabits per second - Recommended for SD quality

5.0 Megabits per second - Recommended for HD quality

25 Megabits per second - Recommended for Ultra HD quality

[charlyhors]

"The fact that the "manager" streams doesn't necessarily mean that the "owner" is OK with it."

As I've said a couple of times here, this park is Unique - 30 trailers, most of which stream, a manger of 5 years, literally no written park rules - just treat your space and neighbors well.  And it's owned by the Why, AZ water department.  Coyote Howls West in Why. 

This park was repeatedly reviewed as having Fast, broad WIFI.  And they do, for a park, with limited occupants. But some evenings do approach the limit of pleasant streaming,  Seems like this park is starting to bump up against it's bandwith limit in the evenings. 

We've never park streamed in Any other park ever, (except for a couple of minutes test), unless hooked to phone or cable lines.  So please let loose of that bone.  We have so seldom been where we can stream - boondocking, or no phone or cable (not worth it for a month or 2 stay).  Now that we will be using this Why park year round, just roaming in the summers, I think we will bite the bullet and pay for an unnecessary land line so we can get DSL for Netflix.  We really are movie and series junkies.  On the road, we'll just use DVD's and books, as we have in the past.

Again, your feedback has been invaluable

[rynosback]

4 hours ago, charlyhors said:

"The fact that the "manager" streams doesn't necessarily mean that the "owner" is OK with it."

As I've said a couple of times here, this park is Unique - 30 trailers, most of which stream, a manger of 5 years, literally no written park rules - just treat your space and neighbors well.  And it's owned by the Why, AZ water department.  Coyote Howls West in Why. 

This park was repeatedly reviewed as having Fast, broad WIFI.  And they do, for a park, with limited occupants. But some evenings do approach the limit of pleasant streaming,  Seems like this park is starting to bump up against it's bandwith limit in the evenings. 

We've never park streamed in Any other park ever, (except for a couple of minutes test), unless hooked to phone or cable lines.  So please let loose of that bone.  We have so seldom been where we can stream - boondocking, or no phone or cable (not worth it for a month or 2 stay).  Now that we will be using this Why park year round, just roaming in the summers, I think we will bite the bullet and pay for an unnecessary land line so we can get DSL for Netflix.  We really are movie and series junkies.  On the road, we'll just use DVD's and books, as we have in the past.

Again, your feedback has been invaluable

Not sure what magic answer you are looking for.  Everyone has stated that to much bandwidth/water in my analogy is being used up causing the network to slow down.  I have been fulltiming for about 3 years myself and stay at a CG every night.  In 3 years I think I have stayed at one maybe two CG’s that I could stream at.  I also prefer smaller CG’s.  Your options really would be to get a WiFi Ranger and try to connect to a less congested open network near you.  Mine has never worked properly, but Joel is work with me to get mine back up and working properly.  Or you can use your data for your needs.  But this will also depend on the strength of that network at your location.

[docj]

22 hours ago, charlyhors said:

Also, I do believe Netlix must stream priority on this system, as you can run netflix when email or facebook is crawling.  I know his routers have priorities built in. 

It's been my experience that this can happen without any special prioritization for Netflix.  What you're experiencing when FB or other sites are "crawling" is what I'll call "click response" which is how difficult it is to get the system's "attention" so it can load the page you want.  That's different from a situation in which a stream is already "flowing" and you're just sitting there viewing it.  Furthermore, Netflix has the best-developed bandwidth-dependent resolution algorithm in the business.  Most people probably don't even notice the variation in resolution that Netflix provides as a way of avoiding buffering/loading issues.  By way of comparison, try streaming a program on Acorn (a service that specializes in British video).  Acorn's ability to dynamically control resolution is far less sophisticated than Netflix's and, as such, it takes much more bandwidth to get a stable video stream.