How to select and create the best internet hub for your caravan and campervan

The internet. It’s a thing – and everyone wants it – Everywhere - So here are our top tips on creating an internet hub in a leisure vehicle.

First step is to decide how you want to access the internet. There are two main ways. The first way is to get access using the caravan park’s (or café’s) Wi-Fi service. To maximise the benefit of this, you will need a Wi-Fi booster. The way the booster works is that it can pick up the caravan park’s Wi-Fi signal from further away than your phone/ipad can – This allows you to access the park’s Wi-Fi when you are parked at the other end of the site. It also allows everyone in the van to access one single account (rather than having to pay per device).

Wi-Fi boosting is great for when you are at a location which is broadcasting Wi-Fi. But when you are going bush and will not be near a Wi-Fi signal, you will need to create your own internet Wi-Fi hub by connecting to a mobile phone network. We call this a 4g internet hub. This setup consists of an aerial which can be external or internal, which connects to a device within the vehicle. You insert a sim card into this device and then it creates your very own Wi-Fi signal in the van. Anyone in (or outside) the van with the password can then access the internet via Wi-Fi – just like at home.

For 4g internet hubs, there are other considerations:

Coverage – As we are all aware, the mobile networks in the UK offer a variable service depending on where you are. You can check coverage on each of the networks websites.

https://www.o2.co.uk/coveragechecker

https://www.vodafone.co.uk/explore/network/uk-coverage-map/index.htm

https://ee.co.uk/why-ee/mobile-coverage

http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Network/Coverage

This is great for the UK. Some of the networks also offer EU and International coverage depending on where you plan to travel to. Always  check with your phone provider before switching on roaming.

Usage – Again, take time to understand the benefits of each network. Three for example, includes a service called ‘Go Binge’ on some of their plans – this provides unlimited data for some services such as Netflix. 

What Kit do you need?

Ultimately, it comes down to two main parts – the box in the van and an aerial. You can use an internal aerial or external  and external is always going to get a stronger signal. Once the aerial is plugged into the 4g router (the internet device in the vehicle), you insert a sim into the device (just like a mobile phone) and then the unit can connect to the mobile network and creates a new private Wi-Fi network for everyone in the vehicle to connect to. It’s as simple as that.

See our range of internet hub products. Click here to view

Posted by Grassroutes
5th June 2018

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