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Getting WiFi in the hangar..


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Not sure if any of you guys are internet experts, but I figured I'd ask.  

I have a TV set up in my hangar with a Chromecast. To send anything to it I have to use my phone as a mobile hotspot, and contort around, and I can get it to work. However, I burned through my 20GB of hotspot data in a few days. That's not going to work.

If I step outside my hangar, I can connect to a Cox WiFi hotspot. So, somehow, I want to set up a router that will receive data from Cox, but also connect to my Chromecast and cheapo laptop I've got. Then I have 'free' internet and a WiFi network that the Chromecast requires.

So, how can I make this work? I can't get signal inside the building, signal is either too weak or too degraded from all the metal. I think I can probably sneak an antenna on the roof, but it would have to be smallish and unobtrusive. But the major issue is, I don't have a modem. Somehow I've got to run the whole thing off the WiFi hotspot.

Is this possible???

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10 minutes ago, ragedracer1977 said:

Not sure if any of you guys are internet experts, but I figured I'd ask.  

I have a TV set up in my hangar with a Chromecast. To send anything to it I have to use my phone as a mobile hotspot, and contort around, and I can get it to work. However, I burned through my 20GB of hotspot data in a few days. That's not going to work.

If I step outside my hangar, I can connect to a Cox WiFi hotspot. So, somehow, I want to set up a router that will receive data from Cox, but also connect to my Chromecast and cheapo laptop I've got. Then I have 'free' internet and a WiFi network that the Chromecast requires.

So, how can I make this work? I can't get signal inside the building, signal is either too weak or too degraded from all the metal. I think I can probably sneak an antenna on the roof, but it would have to be smallish and unobtrusive. But the major issue is, I don't have a modem. Somehow I've got to run the whole thing off the WiFi hotspot.

Is this possible???

You need a better antenna on your router.

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9 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

You need a better antenna on your router.

Well, yes. But even then, how do I 'build' a completely wireless network?

Edit: to be clear, I don't have a router at all right now, I'm just talking about connecting with my phone or ipad

Edited by ragedracer1977
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Some routers can function as repeaters, but if you happen to have a normal wifi router, you can get a wireless access point like this.   It receives a wifi signal, routes it to an ethernet cable that you plug into your router, and voila!
 

OK, maybe not voila.  The setup on the WAP is pretty tricky, and there's a lot of fiddling with LAN IP and subnet #'s, so it's not for the faint of heart.  In addition, the WAP would need to be outside, so you'd have to put it in something waterproof.  Still, if you have anyone halfway network savvy who has time to putz around with it, it is doable.

 

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So that ‘Cox WiFi hotspot’ means there’s somewhere on the airport near you that has Cox service with a Cox router.  Cox supplies them bandwidth that doesn’t count against their quota to create a city-wide(ish) WiFi network.  But if they cancel their cox service then your WiFi access goes away. 

You can get a WiFi repeater device, or a router that can act as a client of the Cox router, but either device will require you to put an antenna outside to get a signal. 

When I lived in CA I had line of sight to my hangar 2.5 miles away. I had 2 Ubiquiti wireless Nanobridge antennas to shoot wireless over to the hangar from my house. 

I have a similar situation with my current hangar. City WiFi is a few hundred meters from the hangar... if I put an antenna on the roof then I could have ‘free’ hangar WiFi. 

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If I understand this correctly...

1) you are using your cell phone as the source of info...

2) you blue tooth or WiFi the info to your chromecast enabled lap top...

3) In the middle of watching CNBC your cell phone decides it is clearer to use the nearest cell tower instead of using the WiFi you thought you were connected to...

4) You get a bill or a warning that you are running low on data minutes....

5) you need to find the setting for what apps are allowed to use your data and what apps are WiFi only...

6) nothing like telling the kids they have used all the data to find out your cell phone is doing it to you....

7) even at home where the WiFi is on and strong.  The cell phone has a mind of its own...

We have WiFi coverage for about half of the airport... cell coverage for the rest...

 

Check your settings...

Best regards,

-a-

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16 minutes ago, carusoam said:

If I understand this correctly...

1) you are using your cell phone as the source of info...

2) you blue tooth or WiFi the info to your chromecast enabled lap top...

3) In the middle of watching CNBC your cell phone decides it is clearer to use the nearest cell tower instead of using the WiFi you thought you were connected to...

4) You get a bill or a warning that you are running low on data minutes....

5) you need to find the setting for what apps are allowed to use your data and what apps are WiFi only...

6) nothing like telling the kids they have used all the data to find out your cell phone is doing it to you....

7) even at home where the WiFi is on and strong.  The cell phone has a mind of its own...

We have WiFi coverage for about half of the airport... cell coverage for the rest...

 

Check your settings...

Best regards,

-a-

Close,  but not.  The chrome cast device requires WiFi.  So I have to make my phone a mobile hotspot.  The chrome cast connects to my phones wifi, which then uses my mobile data to stream the content.  

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19 minutes ago, SantosDumont said:

So that ‘Cox WiFi hotspot’ means there’s somewhere on the airport near you that has Cox service with a Cox router.  Cox supplies them bandwidth that doesn’t count against their quota to create a city-wide(ish) WiFi network.  But if they cancel their cox service then your WiFi access goes away. 

You can get a WiFi repeater device, or a router that can act as a client of the Cox router, but either device will require you to put an antenna outside to get a signal. 

When I lived in CA I had line of sight to my hangar 2.5 miles away. I had 2 Ubiquiti wireless Nanobridge antennas to shoot wireless over to the hangar from my house. 

I have a similar situation with my current hangar. City WiFi is a few hundred meters from the hangar... if I put an antenna on the roof then I could have ‘free’ hangar WiFi. 

There’s something like 42 hotspots close according to the map.  I see 3 networks on my phone that are “provided” by cox.  

Whats a WiFi repeater?

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23 minutes ago, jaylw314 said:

Some routers can function as repeaters, but if you happen to have a normal wifi router, you can get a wireless access point like this.   It receives a wifi signal, routes it to an ethernet cable that you plug into your router, and voila!
 

OK, maybe not voila.  The setup on the WAP is pretty tricky, and there's a lot of fiddling with LAN IP and subnet #'s, so it's not for the faint of heart.  In addition, the WAP would need to be outside, so you'd have to put it in something waterproof.  Still, if you have anyone halfway network savvy who has time to putz around with it, it is doable.

 

So, I obviously won’t have any access to the settings of the network I’m latching on to.  Would that matter?

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It only matters if it requires a password. 

Repeaters work the same way as when ATC asks you to relay a message. You have line of sight to ATC and the target and relay the message between them. Repeaters are generally a bad idea because WiFi is radio... it basically works the same as keying the mic, only one radio can talk at a time, just that WiFi broadcasts for tiny fractions of a second.   

A cheap repeater will receive and send on the same channel... effectively halving the bandwidth of that channel because each message is transmitted twice.  A more expensive repeater will send and receive on different channels.  The best repeater would let you mount one antenna remotely (outside) to receive the signal then rebroadcast locally (inside) and vice versa. 

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9 minutes ago, SantosDumont said:

It only matters if it requires a password. 

Repeaters work the same way as when ATC asks you to relay a message. You have line of sight to ATC and the target and relay the message between them. Repeaters are generally a bad idea because WiFi is radio... it basically works the same as keying the mic, only one radio can talk at a time, just that WiFi broadcasts for tiny fractions of a second.   

A cheap repeater will receive and send on the same channel... effectively halving the bandwidth of that channel because each message is transmitted twice.  A more expensive repeater will send and receive on different channels.  The best repeater would let you mount one antenna remotely (outside) to receive the signal then rebroadcast locally (inside) and vice versa. 

It does require a password,  of sorts.  You connect to it, then you get a prompt from a webpage to login.  Once it’s done, though, you don’t have to do it again.

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6 hours ago, ragedracer1977 said:

Well, yes. But even then, how do I 'build' a completely wireless network?

Edit: to be clear, I don't have a router at all right now, I'm just talking about connecting with my phone or ipad

 

Put one of these outside your hangar on an extension cord:

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-N300-Range-Extender-EX2700/dp/B00L0YLRUW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1541593270&sr=8-3&keywords=wifi+extender

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It only matters if it requires a password. 
Repeaters work the same way as when ATC asks you to relay a message. You have line of sight to ATC and the target and relay the message between them. Repeaters are generally a bad idea because WiFi is radio... it basically works the same as keying the mic, only one radio can talk at a time, just that WiFi broadcasts for tiny fractions of a second.   
A cheap repeater will receive and send on the same channel... effectively halving the bandwidth of that channel because each message is transmitted twice.  A more expensive repeater will send and receive on different channels.  The best repeater would let you mount one antenna remotely (outside) to receive the signal then rebroadcast locally (inside) and vice versa. 


You have any examples of the latter described products? My airport has WiFi but my hangar is out of range of the signal. I’m sure I can convince the airport manager to allow me to hang an external antenna, the question is which one.

I’m currently running motion detecting security cameras and a Verizon hotspot box. That works fine for triggering an alert but if I used a live stream camera the cost would be really high.


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1 hour ago, Marauder said:

 


You have any examples of the latter described products? My airport has WiFi but my hangar is out of range of the signal. I’m sure I can convince the airport manager to allow me to hang an external antenna, the question is which one.

I’m currently running motion detecting security cameras and a Verizon hotspot box. That works fine for triggering an alert but if I used a live stream camera the cost would be really high.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

I would bet it's not out of range... you just dont have line of sight to their broadcast antenna.  Find out where their broadcast antenna is, then you can buy an antenna to stick on top of your hangar and point at the broadcast antenna.

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10 hours ago, ragedracer1977 said:

So, I obviously won’t have any access to the settings of the network I’m latching on to.  Would that matter?

Maybe.  You'd need to be able to find the main router address and DNS addresses to set up the WAP.  Then you'd need to set up a different network address on the sub network, and figure out how to forwards various ports across the connection.  Like I said, not for the faint of heart, but probably doable (and cheap).

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The first step, and maybe you've don this, is go over close to the wifi location and see if you can get online with a phone or laptop there. If you can, because it's an open network, the next step is to just extend the range with an antenna and router to your hangar. 

I'm about to do this at my hangar as well. We have free wifi in the FBO building. But it's just a bit too far for me to reach from my hangar. I'll be happy to send a parts list and instructions once I get mine done.

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2 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

The first step, and maybe you've don this, is go over close to the wifi location and see if you can get online with a phone or laptop there. If you can, because it's an open network, the next step is to just extend the range with an antenna and router to your hangar. 

I'm about to do this at my hangar as well. We have free wifi in the FBO building. But it's just a bit too far for me to reach from my hangar. I'll be happy to send a parts list and instructions once I get mine done.

Would be interested in this as well. 

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10 hours ago, ragedracer1977 said:

It does require a password,  of sorts.  You connect to it, then you get a prompt from a webpage to login.  Once it’s done, though, you don’t have to do it again.

The WAP I posted can be set up to provide login information to the main network.  You set it up once and then it logins each time it reconnects automatically.

The main danger is setting up the WAP local network with the same network number as the main network.  This will cause brainlock.  Usually, the main network is something like 192.168.1.#, so you'd want the local router to be using something like 192.168.2.#.  There are a number of websites out there that detail the process, usually people who are trying to connect their DirecTV satellite receiver to a LAN via a WAP.

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4 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

The first step, and maybe you've don this, is go over close to the wifi location and see if you can get online with a phone or laptop there. If you can, because it's an open network, the next step is to just extend the range with an antenna and router to your hangar. 

I'm about to do this at my hangar as well. We have free wifi in the FBO building. But it's just a bit too far for me to reach from my hangar. I'll be happy to send a parts list and instructions once I get mine done.

Our FBO is in the same boat. Keeps saying, "Eventually, we will have wifi to all the hangars!" Considering where my plane is at, is 1 hangar away from being the furthest point away, I"m willing to expedite the process... Especially since there's snow on the ground already, below freezing temps, and it's a 25 minute drive to the airport to turn on an engine heater.  

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22 minutes ago, ragedracer1977 said:

Just the antenna wouldn't help.  I have to create a network that's fed by the free wifi

If you used the WiFi repeater or extender then you would have your own WiFi hot spot in your hanger that was an extension of Cox WiFi. You could use a better antenna to get a better signal from Cox. I would just get the extender and see if you can get a good signal from Cox with the built in antenna.

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