MY PROJECT Getting motorhome WiFi for under £100

Pete Green installs a budget WiFi system

Recently I read an article regarding installing WiFi for motorhomes/ caravans. The article was well written but seemed quite involved and expensive, too.

It got me thinking about cheaper alternatives as my wife and I do like our TV box sets, etc. It has to be said that I find it irritating that a lot of sites charge extra for WiFi and, even then, it tends to be substandard and slow and, often not adequate for streaming.

So, I went on to research for an hour or so online and my son gave a few pointers, too.

Eventually, I opted for an unlocked version Huawei E5577 portable WiFi router at around £55. This enables me to use any SIM card provider.

I then looked for a WiFi aerial to boost the signal. I chose a 4G mobile broadband antenna on eBay from China at £18.99. It arrived relatively quickly, too.

I contrived a sturdy wooden base for the aerial with wood offcuts and the aerial is already mounted on a bracket, which allowed me to easily attach it to the wooden base with screws, adding rubber feet to prevent unwanted surface scratching.

I then ordered a Smarty SIM to try the system out, which arrived the following day. There are varying amounts of data available on a monthly basis, with no contract, so I can choose which package suits my needs, possibly changing between them as I need.

I can also auto-renew my deal online or simply renew as and when I need it. I chose the £10 deal, which gives 30Gb of data.

I had everything I needed to get on with the installation, setting aside an afternoon to sort it out. Fortunately, we already have a smart TV, which connects to the internet and handily has Netflix and Amazon apps preinstalled. Alternatively, there are plenty of WiFi-enabled streaming devices available along with various Android TV boxes.

The Huawei router clicks open to allow the SIM card to be inserted. Placing the broadband aerial on the roof was easy as we have a skylight in our Swift Corniche 604.

Leading from the aerial are two long wires (long enough for any motorhome/caravan), which firmly connect into the back of the router. The router is rechargeable, but I found it convenient to leave it plugged in.

It took around 10 minutes to get it up and running after entering the router name and password on the TV settings. It was as simple as that. Really fast and easy to install.

When we went away several days later it was thoroughly tested and it worked a treat – we were able to watch around 12 hours of HD content on Netflix and Amazon Prime with no buffering whatsoever.