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quoteStaying connected
Wi-fi on your caravan or motorhome travels? We all expect it these days, but to varying degrees.
If you’re just going to do some emails and internet browsing, then you won’t need a 5G premium Wi-fi system – instead, a simpler way of making sure you’ve got a good internet signal will suffice.
However, if you’re among the increasing numbers of folk who want to stream TV from the likes of BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Disney Plus or Amazon Prime etc, you’re going to need your own wi-fi solution on board your caravan or motorhome.
And consider how much you use the internet for finding and researching your next holiday destination, or updating social media with your latest adventures whilst on the go, and if you have children and teenagers in tow!
For caravans and motorhomes, you’re looking at four choices of getting wi-fi when you’re on tour:
- Campsite wi-fi
It’s one of the first questions folk ask when they’re making a booking on a campsite: “How’s your wi-fi?” It really does vary from site to site. It might be free or you might have to pay extra. There might be a signal across the whole site, or it might be restricted to just a small area (e.g. the reception block).
At peak times, when you’re sharing with other lots of users on site, you may find reliability drops alarmingly. You could also be restricted to the number of devices you can use (right down to just one). And finally, despite any assurances, you won’t really know how good a site wi-fi is until you get to use it in person.
- Phone tethering
Use your smartphone to connect to other devices via Bluetooth. You may find you rack up extra phone charges this way, bearing in mind the potential to use up lots of data. That said increasingly pay monthly phone SIMs come with lots of data if not unlimited. Netflix say that streaming TV in high definition could use up to 3gb per hour.
- Mi-fi
These are mini, portable routers that will give you access to a single network. Some devices will let you connect up to 10 devices to a single hotspot.
- On-board caravan and motorhome wi-fi systems
Fast and effective, these connect to local networks and will only use data if they can’t access any free wi-fi wherever you are. These cost you more initially – for both the hardware and installation – but could well save you money in the longer term
Caravan or motorhome mi-fi or wi-fi?
You can enhance the internet coverage in your caravan or motorhome with a mi-fi device (sometimes called a dongle). It can be used anywhere there is a mobile phone network.
Or, if you want to go as far as having full internet access – for example – for live streaming films etc, go for a full mobile broadband 4G/5G system.
Both need a SIM card to work which you will need to pat a mobile phone network for data charges.
Wi-fi or 4G/5G?
You can get internet access in your caravan or motorhome using 4G (or, increasingly, 5G) or wi-fi. But, these operate at different frequencies, in turn varying in range and speed. In essence, 4G/5G offers greater all-round performance.
Top motorhome or caravan wi-fi tips
- The UK has four main network providers – Vodafone, 3, EE and O2 – offering varying degrees of coverage around the country. All have their own coverage checkers which can be checked in advance of any long trip to see how reliable signal is likely to be. (Vodafone signal checker, O2 coverage checker, EE signal checker, 3 network checker)
- For travel abroad, do note most providers now have data restrictions in place – again, it’s worth checking with your provider in advance of any extended touring abroad. If you intend to do a lot of streaming when abroad, a local SIM card might be a better option.
You might need to activate such SIMs before you travel. In short, it’s always worth speaking to your mobile phone provider to see what deals it can offer to work best for you on your caravan or motorhome travels
- Meanwhile, if you want to check what kind of mobile and broadband signal you’re likely to get wherever you’re going in the UK, you could also use this from industry regulator Ofcom which looks at multiple network providers: View mobile signal availability – Ofcom Checker
Practical points
- Check if your leisure vehicle has any pre-wiring for an on-board wi-fi system and/or whether there are optional extras available – either factory-fit or via your supplying dealer
- If you’re having an antenna attached to your caravan or motorhome roof, be aware of any extra height it might add
- Cabling of any length could impact on performance of any caravan or motorhome wi-fi system. For example, a 5m long extension cable coming from the antenna that ends being coiled up could easily contribute to signal loss
See our previous article on caravan and motorhome wi-fi and beyond.
Here we take a look at a range of devices to get wi-fi for your caravan or motorhome…
(Note costs shown are for the hardware only and do not include ongoing mobile network data costs)
Star Player #1
Maxview Roam 5G Wi-Fi System
5G coverage is on the increase throughout the UK and, as Maxview says, a wi-fI kit like this helps make you “futureproof”.
The 5G router creates a wi-fi hotspot in your caravan or motorhome, and the omnidirectional antenna uses four cables rather than the usual two – giving you access to maximum speeds.
This kit will also connect to any existing wi-fi – for example, at your home – and repeat the signal. Professional installation is recommended, but it’s a job that is possible if you trust your DIY skills.
Features also include CAT20 router, supplied with 5GB SIM card, 4 x 4 MiMo antenna, maximum speed 3.3Gbps, five days a week technical support, two SIM slots in router (to allow you to connect to more than one mobile network), four ethernet ports, also controllable via app,
Expect to pay £899.99
Star Player #2
Motorhome Wi-Fi 5G Ready Compact Ultra
Very much a specialist in the motorhome wi-fi field, this is the product from its portfolio that Motorhome Wi-Fi says most customers are looking at.
Biggest feature is the Ultra router which is rated CAT12 (rivals can be as low as CAT4 or CAT6, which means speeds even in good areas can be worse than for a mobile phone).
The 4G router here is 5G-ready. It’s also truly portable. You can remove it from your vehicle and use it elsewhere, for example. That could be a particular boon when you’re abroad.
Features also include 5G-ready antenna, 25-50m wi-fi range, 1.44in LCD screen display, quick-mount docking station, smartphone app, motorhome-specific installation kit
Expect to pay £419.99
Star Player #3
Avtex AMR985
Systems like this guarantee you can get online on your caravan or motorhome travels with a fast, reliable internet connection, toggling between wi-fi (eg on the campsite) and the 4G (or 5G) network for the best results.
Star features include the system’s two fully unlocked SIM card slots, allowing you to use whichever card you want on your travels. Avtex says it has partnered with Govivo to offer you O2 data packages that are specifically designed with the needs of caravan and motorhome owners in mind. You can switch between three tariffs and, with no long term contract, you can cancel your monthly payments at any time.
Features also include 150Mbps download speed maximum, omnidirectional low-profile MiMo antenna, CAT4 router with two SIM slots and four ethernet connections, seven days a week support (including dedicated phone line)
Expect to pay £349
Star Player #4
Falcon 4G Combo Deluxe Router
The Falcon 4G Combo Deluxe is a combined internet solution with a router and twin antenna which is mounted on the outside of your caravan, campervan or motorhome, using suction cups or an adhesive mounting pad. It’s fully waterproof and cabling can go inside your vehicle via a window or rooflight.
Its plug-and-play set-up means you can browse the internet and stream your favourite TV shows within minutes once pitched up. You can connect up to 10 devices to the router, and Falcon says it is capable of speeds up to 150MPS.
The router takes a sim card (pre-paid or contract) and is network unlocked.
Features also include Five metre 12V and 24V power lead, 240V power lead, plus crocodile clips to connect to 12V battery, protective carry case, cable tie for mounting on a pole or tripod
Expect to pay £229
Star Player #5
Nighthawk M1 4G LTE Mobile Router
From specialist manufacturer Netgear, this is marketed as “the world’s first Gigabit Class LTE mobile router”. It’s a CAT 16 router with a removable/rechargeable 5040mAh lithium-ion battery. Mains and USB Type-C cable chargers are included, with the router working for anything up to 24 hours between charges.
There’s a 2.4in colour LCD display giving instant information on the number of users connected (it allows up to 20), signal strengths, data usage etc.
Features also include LTE (long-term evolution) CAT16 four-band MiMo router, 1Gbps download maximum (150Mbps upload maximum), ethernet port, parental controls, Two x TS-9 connectors for (optional) 3G/4G antennae
Expect to pay £369.99
Star Player #6
TP-Link M7350
A 4G LTE mobile router with a download speed of up to 150Mbps (uploads up to 50Mbps) that means you can stream anything up to HD movies in your leisure vehicle (subject to your chosen mobile data provider’s network coverage).
It can support up to 10 devices and its built-in battery can provide up to eight hours’ use/48 hours standby. Recharging is via a micro USB cable.
Its micro SD card slot allows up to 32GB storage (card sold separately). The screen shows you all the info you need to know – wi-fi status, signal strength, battery life etc.
There’s also a tpMiFi App that allows you to set your data limits, control which devices can access your wi-fi etc.
Features also include 200mAh battery, internal antenna, micro USB cable, quick installation guide, SIM card adaptors included
Expect to pay £74.99
Over to you…
Got any advice on motorhome or caravan wi-fi or getting the best internet connection when on your travels that you’d like to pass on to fellow leisure vehicle owners. Please feel free to add a comment below.
*NOTE: Prices and links are correct at the time of publication (July 2023)
Updated August 2024
When I am on the road with my caravan, I absolutely need Wi-Fi, especially with the kids! This article nailed it – simple emails or full-blown streams, this friend breaks down techniques such as providing travel advice. Now I’m ready to share my adventures online with no problems!
We also use the KUMA CONNECT PRO like one of your other comments. Superb value for money compared to the competition in my opinion, can’t understand why you didn’t include it as it’s £100 cheaper than the Avtex and Maxview
https://kuma-products.com/
Works everywhere we’ve been so far
There is no wifi on the seasonal caravan site which I use so I bought a mini router from ee which works brilliantly. Because I am on a seasonal site I use a 30 day rolling ee sim contract and pay £15 per month on direct debit for 25GB for each period. As I come to the end of the season I give notice to cancel The next season I only have to pay for the sim which includes the amount I want to spend….in my case £15 per month for the season but there are other choices.
I’ve subscribed to Starlink – it’s quite expensive per month (£65) but you can turn it off when you’re not going to be using it in any given calendar month. I get great signal absolutely anywhere. I mounted a telescopic antennae pole to my bike rack at the back, it clips onto there, takes me about 2 minutes to set up on camp. I get 150mbps minimum everywhere – use it for work a lot – Teams calls Etc, streaming movies (using an Amazon Firestick). I’ll be taking a five week break to France throughout September, but because I run a small tech business I need to be able to keep in touch / still work the odd day. It buys my freedom!
Thanks for sharing Steve
I use a Proroute H685 with Fullband high-gain omni-directional antenna; on a site near Askerswell recently & using EE PAYG SIM, I was getting 43Mbps down, 38Mbps up. The H685 has integral WiFi, WAN/LAN sockets; the LAN one provides Netflix/Youtube/BBC iPlayer/ITVx etc. via my Sony Blu-Ray DVD player. I’m really pleased with this set-up 🙂
I’ve had three years of dreadful internet both the camp Wi-Fi and the practically non existent phone signal. I’ve tried several different solutions none of which worked well. My problem is almost over because EE are installing some new phone masts near to the campsite. Hopefully I will be able to stream something that doesn’t keep stopping.
We use the KUMA CONNECT LiTE – 4G Router Booster Kit along with BroadBand GO in our MH and the system has always given us a good wi-fi signal. So easy to install!
Our site has very poor wifi signal, As I sometimes work from our static, I needed something reliable. Once I had established the best signal 4G/5G network, I got a suitable SIM and a Huawei B535 unlocked dual band (2.4/5Ghz) router from ebay. It works a treat. I have the option to add an external antenna if I wish, but it’s fine for everything I want including Netflix streaming and Teams calls for work.
The unlocked Huaweii is so much better than the locked EE. They might do the same job but it’s nice to have the choice of SIM and pricing.
We’ve had a Huawei mifi for some years now and it’s probably not a very sharp piece of kit any more, but we buy the 3 SIM which gives us 60GB lasting 2 years (any amount anytime and I seem to remember has to be used at least once in 6 months to stay active). It’s still going strong and worked all the way down to Croatia and back this year. Not really tempted to get anything much more (unless we won it of course). One year when UK operators were getting funny about roaming we simply bought a France Telecom SIM and were surprised at how much cheaper it was than the deals on “offer” in UK.
Thanks for the review. I’ll definitely look into it. It really is frustrating if the signal is slow. . I’ll be willing to carry extra weight if it would boost connection,.
I bought a Melon R658U router coupled with the the N519D directional antenna. I’m using it at home at present and it works great but when I take it to my static caravan and try to join the camp WiFi then it is not so great. The issue seems to be that the camp WiFi is open access. You need a password but it is very temperamental in having to open a login page frequently to rejoin. Other users with other setups don’t seem to have the same problem
The antenna is good at drawing in distant signals but is totally unnecessary in my case. Finding an omnidirectional that will work with it is also a challenge. It’s also peculiar that the antenna is dual band but the router is single band. If there was a 5Ghz on site then that could be useful but as yet there isn’t.
My biggest problem with the router though is lack of support from the manufacturer. Anything more than just a basic configuration and you are on your own. Unless of course if there is anybody out there knows how to set one of these up.
We have purchased a static caravan to go in our field, there is no internet!!!
We have 2 x 4G TVs, 2 x mobile phones & 2 iPads? What could we use? It’s for all year round usage? Can anyone help?
There are a few options in this article Julia, including the Nighthawk : https://www.caravanguard.co.uk/news/caravan-and-motorhome-wifi-and-beyond-24067/
Last June I arrived in the UK for the start of a UK and European motorhome holiday (12 month stay) I bought an unlocked TP-Link mi-fi unit. I told the Vodafone sales person that I intended to be in Europe for 9 months and on their recommendation I took out a 12 month contract for an unlimited data sim. After 3 months the mi-fi devise stopped giving me access to the internet (so I thought!) I eventually discovered that the “unlimited” data dropped to 20 gababyte when in Europe and after 3 months Vodafone locked me out.
Lesson – Read the fine print.
I’m still in Europe having chosen to stay here during the ‘virus lock down.
Vodafone customer service has been fabulous and assisted me with extra data on my phone.
Hi wondering if any one can help? I have a static caravan signal is not very good can pick up our on site WIFI but it isn’t very good. What device would be beneficial. Sorry no good at this tech stuff!
Any one help?
Hi I have a Huawei e5577c and a 4g xpol-AD0001 lye antenna which cable do I need to connect them to one another I did get a ts9 cable but it’s no good Phil
Last year we took the plunge and bought a kuma wifi booster kit. We have a static caravan with no Wifi on site except in the site clubhouse where its free,our caravan is sited about 150 yards from the clubhouse and it picks up the free wifi signal no problem, I did not even have to put the booster outside the caravan to get a signal, it also picks up a whole host of other wifi signals from further away.
When in albuferia we use a local data sim, it’s about 17euros for 15 days unlimited data ideal for streaming. But when in the south of France we use a ee data sim with 50GB for £30 per month and cancel after the fist month, but remember to limit the data to 50GB otherwise you will get charged extra which is very expensive.
If any body knows of any think better please post.
Hi Sharon
I used VOIP for many years when I lived in the USA so I’ve become quite the ‘untrained expert’.
The long answer is to buy the Solwise Patriot Wi-Fi booster kit as the router gives you a network port to plug your VOIP phone box into, if you are in a location without wifi you can unplug the usb wifi antenna and use a 4g data dongle instead.
There many be a simple answert too, your VOIP provider should have internet managment for your service and you may be able to simply divert all your calls to a cell phone.
hope this helps
Thanks Dave, that’s very helpful.
hoping someone who is more techy than me can help ? i run a business and use VOIP phones which i usually plug into a modem internet connection at home and used in USA SPain and France. However this year i am looking to travel Europe in our Caravan and also work daily and need to connect to internet and also be able to use a VOIP phone does anyone know what i can use or if even i can do it ? many thanks in advance.
Sharon
Am looking for device so I can have Internet at my static caravan.. Any help please
Some of the devices mentioned in this post should help Terence. Or speak to your park operator to see what boosted services they might be able to offer.
To Paul Allman
You state you purchase 24GB data costing £48 which lasts for 2 years – does this mean you are restricted to using 2GB per month or can it just be used on demand in a short space of time and then purchase another as necessary?
Bang on. If the pipe into the campsite is narrow or overloaded then the booster won’t speed it up. It may enable you to connect to another network, but having a secondary solution like a MiFi works well for us (in fact the MiFi is our primary solution with WiFi a back up). Cheers, Jay
We’re using a combination of WiFi booster and cellular via Huawei with a 4G antenna. We have an Android smart phone which we use to create a personal hot-spot when a particular county’s SIM won’t play with the MiFi. 800+ places and we’ve had Internet (almost) everywhere this way. More info here: http://ourtour.co.uk/home/online-in-a-motorhome-our-2016-internet-system/. Cheers folks, Jay
Sounds great Jay. Thanks for sharing.
Unless you need to connect more than your smartphone and, say, laptop, just tether the phone to the laptop and use your existing mobile data allowance. You can then be online on phone and laptop with no kit or SIMS etc to buy. If your allowance is small or you think you’ll need lots of data, many providers will allow you to increase your limit for a month or buy one off extra data e.g. Tesco Mobile one off data bundle is £5 for 1Gb.
I got my MiFi from the EE shop..it was free and I pay £5.99 a month…if I go overseas, I just ring them for a top up, for that month only…
I think the EE MIFI device others are referring to is the 4GEE WIFI Mini which is £49.99 and probably a typo at £4.95. These EE units may be cheaper to buy but you’re locked to their data packages or charges and could cost you a lot more in data charges then the units reviewed using cheaper provider sims. The article reviews the best units available in my opinion as the TP-Link or Huawei units are unlocked to use any and far cheaper mobile data providers. You can get the TP-Link M7350 unit for £61.21 on Amazon. They are only as good as the provider signal strength in particular areas but you can get a 3 Data sim loaded with 24Gb that lasts for 2-years for about £48 on Amazon. Just buy another when it runs out or get a couple from different providers to get a better chance of a good signal. Here’s another good guide:
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/buying-advice/internet/best-mobile-wi-fi-routers-2017-3656619/#bestmobilerouters
Site wifi is fine until later in the day when lots of users join the network, many of whom try to stream.
The motorhomewifi kit is excellent as is their customer support – but if there is no site wifi – the HUAWEI mifi works well – if there is a phone signal = and 3 customer support works well
And the technology improves steadily
I used EE, they advised me to go …. Pay as you go, can cancel anytime, I bought the little box with sim, I cancelled after hol in plenty of time, they charged me approx £20.00 for month and still charged me half the month after, so it worked out more expensive than just hot spot with my mobile,
Any android or apple phone can be used as a modem. I gave my mifi away three years ago. There are loads of free apps that let you just connect online as you would any wireless router.
What the EE for £4.95 is as I have been looking got it online but can’t find it?
What is this please, looked online but could not find it!
What are you trying to find John?
We use an EE Osprey2 wifi device on a pay as you go basis,And up to now have found it to be very good and at less the half the price of the items you are showing.
Wi-Fi boosters may “boost” the signal but what happens to the bandwidth. If the original bandwidth is low the “boosted signal” will still be low and as such won’t be of any better. Or have I missed something?
The EE at £4.95 is most sensible. Why exclude it from the review?
Thanks for letting us know about the EE device. We simply can’t include all products but please feel free to share a device you have found useful.