Using a satellite dish to book a public wifi hotspot

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Using a satellite dish to book a public wifi hotspot

frankflintstone

15 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 3

#240573 14-Sep-2018 12:46

I'm looking at buying a motorhome that already has a satellite dish on it. As I'm going to live in the motorhome I've also been thinking about how I'm going to have the best (and affordable) internet experience I can get.

I have seen some videos on youtube of people converting satellite dishes so that they boost the signal from nearby wifi hotspots. Has anyone done this on here and would there be a place I could get this done (I live in Christchurch)?

Thanks

JeremyNzl

361 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 74

#2090639 14-Sep-2018 13:09

gowifi.co.nz

xcubed

195 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 17

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2090645 14-Sep-2018 13:20

Rather than trying to use the satellite dish, just get a decent wifi adapter designed for this sort of thing.

There's a nice description of a motorhome wifi set up available at: http://www.yourwarrantyisvoid.com/2018/08/18/networking-on-the-go-creating-a-trusted-wireless-network-in-a-sea-of-untrusted-wireless/

RunningMan

9186 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4840

#2090661 14-Sep-2018 14:01

Mikrotik do a couple of products to use with a satellite dish in place of the normal LNB.

https://mikrotik.com/product/ldf_2

https://mikrotik.com/product/rbldf_5nd

Normally used for a point to point link, but you might find it is good for a weak signal. Alignment and configuration each time you move would be far from trivial through.

The other option using a sat dish is to stick a USB WiFi stick at the focal point of the dish, where the LNB would mount. Again, really depends over what sort of distance you are trying to get coverage.

1101

3141 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1143

#2090757 14-Sep-2018 16:29

Its going to take some extreme hacking, replace the LNB with something suitable , fix polarization issues, dont forget the Fresnel zone as it wont be pointing up :-)

You'd might be better off making a high gain antennae, or using a suitable RC high gain antennae (RC also uses 2.4Ghz on most transmitters)

or
https://www.ab9il.net/wlan-projects/wifi3.html

Then do the same at the other end ....... oh wait, you cant. Its a 2 way signal dont forget.

SATTV

1670 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 658

ID Verified

#2090841 14-Sep-2018 18:21

I think you would be better off using 4G wifi from netspeed, $99 for 120GB, it is portable, uses the Vodafone network so you are not hunting for wifi hotspots.

I presume you will be wanting to be freedom camping a lot, I rented a bach in the BOP last summer, next to that was a freedom camping spot and not far away was a Spark public wifi.

Some of the travellers were telling me a whole lot of the public wifi spots had been removed.

Getting back to what you want to do with the dish, yes it is possible,

Turn the dish upside down as it will be an offset dish and you will not be able to point it down enough otherwise.

You are best to use a USB wifi adaptor as there is no loss in the USB cable.

Dont try and get wifi from too far away, the comercial access points can have up to 1W of power, your USB device will only have 20mW or 0.02W, think of it as the access point is a person with a loud hailer, and you are trying to have a conversation over 100m, you can hear the loud hailer and you have to shout, sometimes they can hear you and sometimes not depending on who else is shouting.

Yes it will work but it is not a magic bullet and will take some experimenting to make sure it is working.

John.

I know enough to be dangerous

frankflintstone

15 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 3

#2091044 15-Sep-2018 11:44

Is netspeed the only provider that lets you move about? I know I could use a phone and make it a hotspot but the plans aren't nearly as competitive as what netspeed has.

Geekzone

Want to support Geekzone and browse the site without the ads? Subscribe to Geekzone now (monthly, annual and lifetime options).

SATTV

1670 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 658

ID Verified

#2091094 15-Sep-2018 14:41

I believe the camping and caravan association have a plan with someone, you could check them out.

Other than that I dont know anyone else.

I use netspeed at home with a vodafone B315, works very well. Roll on Dec 2019 for UFB.

John

I know enough to be dangerous

frankflintstone

15 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 3

#2091113 15-Sep-2018 15:15

Oh thanks for that..here is the link here to their deal https://wirelessnation.co.nz/nzmca-data

an extra 10GB per month over netspeed