Let's imagine you are a full-timer. Perhaps young family or a retired couple. You arrive at a campground tired from a 400 mile drive. You check in and get the login to join the public wifi network. You park your RV, get settled and then pick up your phone to join the network. It works as it should. Then you attempt to join on your laptop for more web browsing or to complete overdue work. It doesn't work. The public network only allows one device to join with the login given at the time. So you disconnect your phone and join with your laptop. Meanwhile, other members of your party are looking to get on, too. It's a hassle and certainly not a good start to a camping stop. Most RVers and campers in the modern world can relate to this scenario in some fashion. There has to be a better way.
Meet WiFiRanger. "I'm a problem solver. When I see something that can be done better, I figure out a way to do it," says Kelly Hogan, owner of WiFiRanger. WiFiRanger takes the hassle out connecting to public networks at RV campgrounds in a variety of ways. Their slogan is "Security. Simplicity. Automation," and these areas are all addressed with the WiFiRanger.
Hogan started WiFiRanger in 2010, though his roots in technology go back much further than that. "I used to work for the big companies, like Oracle, and then moved out into consulting. After 9/11 in 2001-2002, I started to think about working with wireless, which wasn't very popular back then," Hogan recalls. He thought of different markets such as airports, hotels and things like that. "I realized that a market that didn't have much happening in it was the RV park market," Hogan says, "So I started NomadISP and started installing wifi networks in parks." A lot of the technologies that are used at RV parks, his company invented, and he built the company into servicing 550 properties throughout the United States. Travelling around in different RVs, most famously a 23' Airstream, he would go and stay at parks, hook up networks, and test and improve his product.
After doing this a few years, he started to see limitations to wifi networks and the problem solver in him kicked in again. "I realized that having a router-like device on top of an RV would help with a lot of obstructions to WiFi signal," Hogan says, "At the same time, people started bringing wireless printers and gaming devices into their RVs and needed a smart router to connect all of these devices efficiently." He started building some prototypes in 2006-2007 and tried them out. His product worked well, but they decided to sit on the idea for a while so the hardware being developed in the tech world could catch up to make the price point competitive.
The first version of WiFiRanger was "early, primitive and a big splash," Hogan says, "Because it was a need that really existed and we invented the product to address it." Before starting WiFiRanger, Hogan sold NomadISP to a company called TengoInternet, which now provides to about 1,300 parks. Hogan still provides intellectual property to TengoInternet, meaning that connecting WifiRanger to these parks that use TengoInternet is very seamless and innovation is much easier because they all come from the same source.
So what exactly does it do? A LOT. Security-wise, it encrypts all data that is being used by an RVer on a public network (such as credit card info and identity info) and keeps information safe. Simplicity-wise, it makes just about everything easier when dealing with the internet. It has the ability to keep everything connected at the same time without having to choose which device is online. Also, there is a single place to act as login for all the devices. Therefore, every device that is associated with the WiFiRanger will all be authenticated with the click of a button on one device. "WiFiRanger's roots have to do with gaming devices, actually," Hogan says, "Because many gaming devices do not have a native browser where you can authenticate a public network. So we put the authentication process into the WiFiRanger so the internet will be authenticated already before it gets to the device." Automation-wise, it connects to the network that is the strongest, including cell phone networks. "You can manage speed and data usage through WiFiRanger and use data only when the wifi drops below a given speed," Hogan says.
So what's next for WiFiRanger? There are currently about 55,000 units in the field and they expect that to grow. Though they still make products for individuals to install on their RVs, the RV makers have gotten word and started installing the WifiRanger in their factories on certain models as a standard. “The Generation X’ers and Millennials that are starting to buy RVs basically expect to have a network available, so the manufacturers are installing them on RV models that appeal to this group,” Hogan says. WiFiRanger caters to each of the RV manufacturers and puts unique touches on each of them. The RV manufacturers also get capabilities, such as a management network to restore networks to default and troubleshoot issues from the factory.
“It’s interesting because we ship WiFiRangers out to RV manufacturers in the midwest by the pallet-load from here in Meridian, Idaho,” Hogan says, “And then I see the new RVs from those manufacturers pull into the RV dealer across the street from us with the WiFiRanger on top.” The problem solver in him may be thinking again.