How to Build a Cheap Wi-Fi System to Have Internet in the Car

Many people take medium and long trips in their car almost every day. Either to work, to take your children to school, or to visit family and friends. It is becoming more and more common that, especially the passengers of the vehicle, want to have an Internet connection to be entertained while arriving at the destination. In this tutorial we are going to explain how to set up a WiFi system in the car, using our own mobile and also other additional devices.

We live in an increasingly digital world in which the Internet connection is becoming a basic need. Either to receive WhatsApp, email or use apps. Currently, in many jobs if we do not have a connection, working is a complicated task. We all want to be informed immediately or to be able to entertain ourselves, for this reason, having a Wi-Fi system in the car that offers Internet service to its occupants can be a good idea.

What equipment do we need to have a Wi-Fi system in the car

Without a doubt, having an Internet connection in our vehicle can offer us multiple possibilities. However, drivers must use it with the car stationary or with approved systems that do not distract them from driving. Generally, those who enjoy them are the passengers, but everyone can take advantage of it. With a Wi-Fi system in our car we can do the following things:

Receive emails.
Use WhatsApp and other messaging apps and social networks.
Use our smartphone as a GPS without consuming data from the mobile itself.
Watch streaming Internet videos
Control our home automation devices and accessories such as smart plugs from the car.

As for the devices that we could use to mount our Wi-Fi system in the car we have:

A smartphone.
The mobile router also known as MiFi.
Comprehensive solutions offered by manufacturers

Now we will talk about each of these options, explaining their advantages and disadvantages when choosing each of them.

The smartphone as a Wi-Fi system in the car

One of the main strengths of using our mobile phone is that we will not have to buy any additional device . We simply use our smartphone to offer the connection to other devices with the tethering function. It will not be necessary to remove the SIM card from the phone to use it on another device. This is something that is valued positively, since in many cases, it involves having to remove the case and use a tool to remove the SIM.

In addition, it is easy and fast to use , configuring some basic parameters, in a matter of two or three minutes we have it done and perfectly working in our car. Once configured, next time it will be a matter of a few seconds to have it up and running.

The main negative point is, without a doubt, battery consumption , its consumption is quite high and if we do not have an external battery or car charger, we could be cut off. The other negative point, obviously, is that it has less capacity than the Wi-Fi router in our homes, so fewer devices can be connected simultaneously.

How to use your smartphone as a WiFi router for the car

Configuring our mobile as a Wi-Fi router is really very easy, we can create an access point on our smartphone to have a Wi-Fi system in the car or anywhere. Both in Android and iOS it is done in the Settings section. On iPhones with iOS it’s called Internet Sharing . While in Android it receives the name of Other wireless connections , Connection and sharing or Network and internet .

In this case we are going to use an OPPO brand smartphone with Android operating system. Then we would go to Settings and click on Other wireless connections .

Then we will get an option called Share data over WiFi . Other names it may receive are: Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot, Portable Access Point, or Wi-Fi Access Point, depending on the Android manufacturer you use, they will have called it one way or another.

The next step we are going to do is touch on WiFi data sharing settings , to start the configuration of our Wi-Fi system in the car.

Here we have to focus and configure a series of sections to create our Wifi access point.

We have to look at 4 sections:

Name or SSID : which will be the name of our Wi-Fi network.
Security : check that you have encryption established, the minimum recommended would be WPA2.
Password : establish a password of at least 12 characters. It must include uppercase, lowercase and symbols such as @ or $.
AP band : 2.4 GHz is better for compatibility, since not all devices support 5 GHz.

Obviously, this can be used in the car, at home or wherever you need it as long as you have mobile data.

The mobile Wi-Fi router or MiFi, advantages, disadvantages and which are the best

Another thing we can do to set up a Wi-Fi system in the car is to buy a portable Wi-Fi router or MiFi. One of the advantages is that we can connect at least ten devices without losing performance . In addition, as the vast majority have their own internal battery , we can use it anywhere without having to use an adapter in the car or connect it to a socket. It will also offer us better autonomy and performance , since it is a device designed exclusively for it.

However, it also has a number of disadvantages as we will see below. One is that we have to buy a portable router and if we want quality it can be expensive . In addition, it is one more team that we will have to carry around . Although they are not heavy equipment, we will have to carry it from one place to another. For example, to charge it at home or if we do not want to leave it inside the vehicle to prevent its theft. Finally, there is the problem of the SIM card. If we have an exclusive for it there will be no problem. However, if not, we will have to remove it from the smartphone and put it on the MiFi. The most normal thing when we buy this type of device is to request the Multi-SIM service from our operator, or directly buy another new line with mobile data.

Some of the best MiFi that we can currently find are those of the manufacturer NETGEAR for functionalities and very good value for money, although the truth is that they are somewhat more expensive than other competitive models, because we have a touch screen, and a large amount of configuration and customization options:

If you want a cheap MiFi you will have to opt for the TP-Link that also work very well, some highly recommended are the following:

If you want another brand, the Huawei are also highly recommended since they work really well in the different 3G and 4G networks that we currently have.

As you have seen, we have MiFi in all price ranges, depending on your needs and the wireless speed in mobile broadband networks that you want to achieve, you will have to choose one model or another.