Part 2: RV Wireless

So for me I decided that reconfiguring my devices every time I changed RV Parks was not going to work. Also, its not good from a security standpoint. I decided to setup my own RV network.

This is Part 2 of a three part series

• Part 1: Triple your download speed
  • Overview: In part 1 you connected your laptop via ethernet to the client router to connect to the internet.
• Part 2: RV Wireless (This article)
  • Overview:  In part 2 we connected a wireless router in place of your laptop so we could get back to wireless freedom but keep the download speed.
• Part 3: Reducing cellular data dependance (living on 20GB but using 500GB of data)
  • Overview: In part 3 we will add a network storage device to start hosting and serving our Movies, TV Shows and Music so we can reduce our cellular data usage

Required Equipment:

1. New Wireless Router (Buy a good one with 802.11ac) you’ll probably spend $100.00 plus
   1. ASUS AC1750 Router is a good pick because its dual band 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz (cellular usb backup)
2. Wireless Bridge / Client Router
   1. Engenius Bridge 202EXT
3. Ethernet cables (3 of them preferably the new flat ones)
   1. Flat Ethernet Cables

If you followed Part 1 this is where I discuss why I chose to start using a Client Router for connecting my laptop to RVPark internet. This allowed me to maximize my connection by reducing the dropped packet and retransmits. Because I was able to focus the signal in and out of the RV through a window. Bottomline is that I tripled my download speed with a $75.00 device.

What all do we have to configure:

1. Client Router – This is used to connect to the internet source / RV Park Wireless / Starbucks / whomever is in range
2. Wireless Router – This is for your phones, tablets, laptops and printers
3. Ethernet Cables – Run an ethernet cable to the client router from the WAN port on your wireless router once both are configured

Wireless Router Configuration:

1. Power one Wireless Router (ASUS from above if thats what your purchased)
2. Follow instructions for how to setup new router
3. Make sure to create a wireless network name
4. Change the password to something you can remember. I like to use letters and numbers as in the following
   1. Password: 42RV2HELP (It doesn’t have to be a cryptic string of letters, numbers, special characters)
5. For the next part I recommend changing the default IP of the Wireless router to be 192.168.10.0
   1. You may have to open advanced wireless settings and also set the IP of your wireless router to 192.168.10.1 which is also in the advanced “LAN” settings if using ASUS
6. Now your internal Network is done

Client Router Configuration:

1. Configure device into Client Router mode
2. You will need the following:
   1. Wireless network name (SSID):
   2. Wireless network password:
3. You will want to configure a rescue wireless network if using the Engenius device recommended above. Its not covered in their manual but I’ll take screenshots and add it to this article later today.

Step 1 in this process is configure the new Wireless Router. I named the Wireless network “RVHelp” on the Wireless Router and set a password. I then configured all of my devices to connect to RVHelp.

Step 2 is to configure the Engenius device in my example. I configured this device to be Client Router mode and in their software it allows for you to configure a private network so you can connect directly to the device in case of problems. I set this up with a wireless network named “Rescue” with a different password. Once I show up an RV Park with wireless internet. I connect my laptop to Rescue and configure it for connecting to their wireless network. Once it connects my devices connected to RVHelp will have access to the internet via the Engenius device.

Basically what I’ve done is connect the Engenius device to my Wireless router via its WAN port it looks like Im connected to a cable modem or DSL modem etc… I won’t have the same bandwidth but it will work better than connecting each device individually.

In wireless router mode the device connects to the internet using its WAN port via ethernet. The clients will use the internet that is provided via the Ethernet cable by connecting wirelessly to the device.

This allows me to take the Wireless Router above “RVHelp” and connect all my devices internally. This allows us to leave the settings on our current devices the same. It also puts an extra layer of defense between my devices and other devices on the RVPark wireless network.