Wifi and Internet

Having internet from the road is important to us for both work and play. Our trailer came with “King Wifi pre-wired”. The extent of this was a antenna cable run from near the TV antenna on the roof to behind the TV. My goal was to have a dedicated wifi router for the RV that could use multiple sources for internet connectivity. All my devices can stay connected to the trailers wifi while only needing to adjust how the router was receiving internet.

I chose a Wifi Ranger Teton as a cost effective but functional option to accomplish my goals. The main downside is due to the router being on the roof changing the SIM card requires climbing up there. I did not use the existing “pre-wired” cable but I did use it to pull the cable for the Wifi Ranger. I used the same location for the cable gland to feed the cable through. I tied it into the DC power and added a power switch to the wall plate that had the “King pre-wired” sticker.

While all the devices stay connected to the same wifi network the following are the different ways I provide internet service to the network as a whole.

• External Wifi networks. An example would be a Campground provided wifi connection. I only need to connect the router and all my devices get internet.
• Internal 4G LTE modem. The Wifi Ranger has its own modem. On our trip to Florida I had it setup with a pre-paid T-mobile SIM that provided 100GB/month of 4G data for $50.
• Tethered via wifi from our truck (AT&T 4G unlimited data $20/month). I can also use my wife or my own cell phone to tether to the router.
• Wired internet. When we stayed for a month down in Fort Myers the RV park provided us with a cable modem for internet service. I was able to use the coax cable input near the TV to feed the modem and use the ethernet cable connected to the Wifi Ranger to provide internet service.

Our RV did not come with TVs so I picked up some inexpensive TCL Roku based TVs during black Friday. I also added large USB sticks to each that let me load a bunch shows and moves that are not dependent on internet streaming.

Update: I picked up a Wifi Ranger Poplar for cheap. It is a internal router that can pair and work with the Teton on the roof to offer internal wifi and wired ethernet ports. I am also adding a Plex server on a small Intel NUC.