WIFI For Isolated Areas

Hey guys... Back home for a few days and I leave again to head back down to VA for the rest of the week. I made an offer that was accepted on 12 acres right on the Rappahannock river in Fredericksburg, VA. Here's the backyard view...



Actually this is a little walk down the bluff from my property 300 feet above. The view is awesome! I'll be able to hunt and fish right on my property. I can canoe, kayak or tube down the river... Or go up river and put in and come back to my property. It's all hardwood and as peaceful as you can imagine. All you can hear is birds singing and the river rushing by.

I'll get to the point... It is somewhat isolated. I am 1.5 miles down a gravel road in a private subdivision. So that means satellite TV.... But they have NO CABLE access. From what I hear... Not even DSL. So it would seem my options are satellite Internet, which I hear is pretty lame... Or reverse engineering something to fit what I want. My Verizon cell phone gets fairly good reception on the bluff above the river but fairly poor reception right on the river. I was thinking about a possible Verizon hotspot that I could break open and increase the reception by replacing the antenna with something better. Anyone ever do this?

What are others using or building for fast wifi in isolated areas? I figured I would go to the group that I know and trust first rather than poking around the Interent.

The house in MD just went on the market... So hopefully it sells soon!

 

Congratulations! Looks like a beautiful new "homestead"!

I have a Verizon 4510L I use when out of normal range. It has an external antenna jack that works extremely well with a Wilson antenna. Wilson makes all kinds of antennas and signal boosters:

Reduce Dropped Calls, Get Better Cell Phone Signal Reception | Store | Wilson Electronics

The 4510L isn't the latest version of the Verizon MIFI (I believe the only difference is it will hos only 5 other units while the latest will host 10) but I believe it is unique in having the external antenna jack. If you go this route, I strongly suggest getting this high capacity battery from Amazon for about $90 -- it makes the MIFI last for DAYS -- yes plural.

Amazon.com: Mugen Power Extended Battery w/ Battery Cover for Verizon Jetpack 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot / Novatel MiFi 4510L: Explore similar items

Hope some of this helps.

 

While working on land rigs for a year in odd spots they had a cell phone signal booster that had a antenna around the edge of the room. Nothing hooked to the phone and it made my phone jump from no bars to full signal. I know they make all different types of boosters so that seems to be the thing to check on.

 

We use a cheap antenna right now to get wifi in the campground,there is almost no cell service.I have a 14ft cord in a Verizon hotspot running to the TV antenna on the roof with a cheap wifi antenna attached.

Another thing to think of is a directional wifi antenna and booster.

 

Right on man. Looks awesome! Hope everything works out well.

I make wireless phone systems for drilling platforms. The external antenna used are 6dB which are usually mounted on the side of the doghouse, 20-30' above ground level. Toolpushers have told us (the company I work for) that they have made calls from their fishing hole, 1.5-2mi away from the rig.

I have personally used Wilson cell boosters in my vehicles. On wellsites and/or oil and gas facilities the boosters usually give 50-75% increase in signal. Wilson also make booster systems for home/office use.

There are probably better systems/setups, but those are the only ones I have experience with. If you want more info about the 6dB antenna, send me a PM or email.

Congratulations on the land purchase, Baron Von Rickker.

 

Thanks guys... I figured there would be something on the cell side. Most everyone out there uses satellite Internet and that doesn't really appeal to me. I get 3-4 bars out of 5 on my Verizon cell phone so I figured a hotspot with and amp or antenna would most likely be best. The only issue I have heard of with this approach is that it can get expensive as they don't like you streaming stuff over the hotspots... Or you pay for it!

Thanks for everything as usual!

 

Here is an interesting web site. I hve purchased routerboards from them to use in Toughbooks. You could buy a WLAN amp or build a high power router..etc...

Wireless LAN Amplifiers

 

If my carrier can do it...anyone can.

On the south end of my casa is an antenna (dish)..

Said antenna (a dish) is pointed at a dish on Cahto Mountain...where it is reflected to San Hedrin Mountain....there it is reflected to the roof of the office of my carrier.

Ain't perfect but it works for me.

Hey, Rick...what's the maximum elevation there? 6500-6900 here.

 

Hmmm...lack of oxygen sort of explains a few things..


From wiki.....
Fredericksburg, Virginia...Elevation ....... 59 ft

 

Shawn,

I think I'm gonna save up and get this one (from your link):

L-Com HA2410GT-KIT 10 Watt 2.4 GHz Outdoor 802.11g (b/g) WiFi Amplifier Kit

 

Shoot!
No "Add to Cart" button

 

That looks like a special order item....They are a decent company to deal with. I think Azrial has used them before also.

 

Yeah, Flytech is a good company and usually has th cheapest price on Wi-Fi stuff!

 

Elevation is 325 feet above the river. So, no flood threat... ever!

I have a perc test scheduled next Wednesday morning so I will bring my Verizon hotspot out there to play around and see what signal I get. I have been going off my iPhone signal so far for general info.

 

So.... The house sold... But the buyer is going VA and the appraisal came in for $25k less than the sales price!

I said okay... I just want out of MD bad. I used my mom's address for a temp address and already have my VA license and carry permit. I treated myself to a new Glock 19 as a welcome home present! It will be my new carry gun.

The mover will not move flammable or explosive stuff... So I needed to pack up all my ammo. I forgot how much I had bought over the years. A few thousand rounds of 5.56, over 1k rounds of various 9mm, 600+ rounds of .45 LC for my Colt SAA and thousands of rounds of .22 ammo. I have like 15 ammo cans out in the garage waiting to move tomorrow.

We have a little rental we are moving to on Wednesday. It is only 10-15 minutes away from the river property so we will be bale to keep an eye on the build when we get started.

WARNING - You never know how much Toughbook stuff you have until you need to move it all! I've got crates FULL of stuff! I am glad I sent that big box of CF-29 stuff to Ken or I'd really be in trouble!

So I have been making trips down south to start moving stuff in. A lot of stuff I will need to keep crated until I build my shop in the new house. No way I'll set one up in the rental... Maybe a card table to rebuild Toughbooks but that would be about it.

I am hoping (if all goes according to plan) to have my own shop around 24 X 30 or so where I can build a nice shop. I definitely want a lift on one side to work on cars and stuff. But that is going to be around a year from now.

Anyway... I have a WTT in the BST forum... Looking for a laptop for my wife. Since she no longer works her company took back her nice laptop and she grabbed an old Dull that was my mom's old laptop to use for now. It's pretty slow... Check out that thread of you have something to trade... :thumbsup:

 

I bet you'll need the lift for all the Toughbooks:thumbsup:....There will never be room for a vehicle

I sent you a PM on TBT about WIFI...

 

This reminds me of that one time I went bananas with an Engenius AP with a 300-foot long POE cable and a 5-foot 12dBi antennae up a tree. It was a completely silly installation that somehow worked for a short while.