TrailManor Owner's Forum - View Single Post - New Tech for Cell Phone Boosters & Antennas

**Bill** · 08-06-2022, 08:58 AM

Back to basics. The problem with iPads, cell phones, and the like, is that they are very small devices and therefore have very small antennas. Small antennas don't pick up signals well (they have low efficiency or low gain), and therefore the strength of the signal available to the electronics in the device is small. This is made worse by the fact that the TM is a metal box, and metal blocks signals. And further, although an amplifier can increase the signal strength of an outgoing cell or wi-fi signal, it can't do much with a very weak inbound signal.

So the first thing to do is get an antenna outside the TM. Get it up as high as you can. And if you can get an antenna with some gain (aka sensitivity), it will be even better.

Years ago, in the era when campground wi-fi systems were terrible, I bought a wi-fi repeater from a company called JefaTech. Aside from the box of electronics, it came with a monopole antenna with a gain of +8.5 dB (that is a good number) shown in the attached picture. I got a 5-foot length of 1-inch PVC pipe and another 5-foot length of 3/4-inch PVC pipe which would slide inside the larger one. I bolted the antenna to one end of the small pipe, and slipped the other end inside the large pipe so that it could slide in and out. This gave me a collapsible 10-foot mast. Cheap and easy. I then put a couple plastic cable loops on the outside of the TM, where I could drop the base of the mast into the loops. The result was that I could position a very good antenna outside the TM, several feet above the roof. I ran the cable into the TM under one of the flaps, and it made a lot of difference.

In my case, I bought the entire JefaTech repeater assembly, which was kinda pricey. But the antenna itself is much less expensive. Be aware that antennas cover a given frequency band, so you may need one for wi-fi (2.4 GHz is good), and another for cellular use. But either one could be mounted on the TM's crank-up TV antenna mast.

At that time, I posted a picture of the assembly. I doubt that the picture is still there, but if I can find it I will link it. There is still a lot of discussion of wi-fi repeaters at the end of 2011 and into 2012, search for the word "booster". And there is an article in the TM Technical Library at

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...ad.php?t=12478.

Bill

08-06-2022, 08:58 AM	#4
Bill Site Team Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: The mountains of Scottsdale, AZ, and the beaches of Maine Posts: 10,104	Back to basics. The problem with iPads, cell phones, and the like, is that they are very small devices and therefore have very small antennas. Small antennas don't pick up signals well (they have low efficiency or low gain), and therefore the strength of the signal available to the electronics in the device is small. This is made worse by the fact that the TM is a metal box, and metal blocks signals. And further, although an amplifier can increase the signal strength of an outgoing cell or wi-fi signal, it can't do much with a very weak inbound signal. So the first thing to do is get an antenna outside the TM. Get it up as high as you can. And if you can get an antenna with some gain (aka sensitivity), it will be even better. Years ago, in the era when campground wi-fi systems were terrible, I bought a wi-fi repeater from a company called JefaTech. Aside from the box of electronics, it came with a monopole antenna with a gain of +8.5 dB (that is a good number) shown in the attached picture. I got a 5-foot length of 1-inch PVC pipe and another 5-foot length of 3/4-inch PVC pipe which would slide inside the larger one. I bolted the antenna to one end of the small pipe, and slipped the other end inside the large pipe so that it could slide in and out. This gave me a collapsible 10-foot mast. Cheap and easy. I then put a couple plastic cable loops on the outside of the TM, where I could drop the base of the mast into the loops. The result was that I could position a very good antenna outside the TM, several feet above the roof. I ran the cable into the TM under one of the flaps, and it made a lot of difference. In my case, I bought the entire JefaTech repeater assembly, which was kinda pricey. But the antenna itself is much less expensive. Be aware that antennas cover a given frequency band, so you may need one for wi-fi (2.4 GHz is good), and another for cellular use. But either one could be mounted on the TM's crank-up TV antenna mast. At that time, I posted a picture of the assembly. I doubt that the picture is still there, but if I can find it I will link it. There is still a lot of discussion of wi-fi repeaters at the end of 2011 and into 2012, search for the word "booster". And there is an article in the TM Technical Library at https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...ad.php?t=12478. Bill Attached Thumbnails __________________ 2020 2720QS (aka 2720SL) 2014 Ford F-150 4WD 5.0L Bill's Tech Stuff album