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Old 04-06-2013, 02:49 PM   #1
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Our RV internet setup

I posted this to my wife's blog. It's about our RV internet setup.
Walkabout With Wheels: I am E-mail, See Me Fly (Sorry Helen Reddy)

Anyone have any comments on where I could improve on this?

Here's the text of the above Blog post........The blog post has photos and links.

=========================================

Hi, I am an E-mail. I just left the computer of a place called Amazon.com.....

I'm holding an important message confirming a purchase made by a customer. In almost no time I arrived at the Google Gmail server.

I'm just going to sit here now until the customer calls for me from his computer. Sometimes I wait here for a long time but this guy had his computer on so I left the Gmail server right away and headed to the customers computer........ but wait....... apparently he is in a motorhome driving down the road right now so HOW am I going to get into his computer?!?!

I made it to a cell tower OK and then flew off towards the motorhome as it was going 60 MPH down Interstate Route 40 in North Carolina.

As I was approaching the motorhome I noticed I was being drawn to the rear of the RV near the top of the attached ladder.
HEY! LOOK AT THAT! There's an antenna! Looks like a 21" Omni RV Antenna w/ Spring Base.

I can go into this antenna very easily but that cell tower was far away and I'm getting very tired.... not... much.... signal.... strength.... left.......

WHOA!! WHAT'S THAT BOOST OF POWER ?
Hey, I'm entering a Wilson AG SOHO 60db Wireless Amplifier.

Wow, I needed that! Now I'm as strong as when I left Amazon. Now I can go anywhere in the RV. But wait... What if the customer is using his smartphone or iPad in stead of his laptop? How do I know which device to go to?

The Amplifier is sending me through a cable and......
AHHH! A very nice Wilson 50ohm Interior Panel Antenna.
This antenna is sending me wirelessly to any device that may be on and ready to receive. That Amp's strong signal is going to the whole front half of the RV now. It doesn't send much signal at all backwards, it's all forward. Sure glad the panel antenna was mounted pointing forward.

So here I am flying forward........ Hmmm... seems there is only one device ready to recieve me....
It's a Verizon Wireless Pantech 4G LTE USB Modem Aircard UML290. This USB modem must be plugged into a laptop. Too bad his laptop will be the only device getting my signal...

HEY, WHAT'S THIS?? The Verizon USB modem isn't plugged into a laptop...
it's plugged into a Pepwave Surf On-The-Go 3G/4G Router.

I went into the USB modem and then into this Pepwave router and it's sending me out on a wireless WIFI signal. HOLY COW! Any device in the RV can get me now... even outside the RV probably!

Finally I'm here in the customers In-Box and I'll just sit here until he clicks me open. WHEW! WHAT A RIDE!!


**LATER THAT DAY**


Now I think he just parked the RV at a Walmart next to a Lowes. I think he's going to reply to my message. OOOPS! He unplugged the USB Modem. Now how am I going to get out of here to Amazon!??!

Now this is NEAT! He switched his router from "Cell" to "WIFI" and he's getting a really fast connection from the Lowes store. Really smart. Now he's not using up the bandwidth that Verizon gives him so he can go online and not wory about the size of his downloads and uploads. He'll probably update his Dropbox and look! The OTHER laptop in the RV is uploading the photos she took to her Blog! Cool!

I wonder how he got that Lowes signal so strong from way over there at the store....?

Oh I see, he has a Yagi Wireless Directional Antenna. That thing sure brings in signals great but he has to point it directly at Lowes... how can he do that? Drive the RV around in circles until it's pointing in the right direction? OOHHHH... I see! He strapped the Yagi Antenna to the batwing TV antenna on the RV's roof so when he raises the TV antenna the Yagi goes right up with it. Then he can rotate it 300 degrees or so from inside the RV using the crank on the ceiling. Now he can point it directly at the Lowes store. Very nice and handy.

So I see that with this setup he can get an internet connection for emails, paying bills, shopping, getting tourist info and the all important Google Maps from anywhere he has a cell signal or a campground Hot Spot WIFI. There are only a few places where he can't get a cell signal or WIFI and those are in remote areas like the Adirondack Mountains or the Desert South West in Arizona, Utah, Nevada etc. I guess he better be careful when he goes to those places because if he needs emergency help he wouldn't be able to contact anyone.... or would he???

This RVer is pretty resourceful. He went and bought a gizmo for just that circumstance.
He got a SPOT Connect device. From what I can tell from his emails (us E-mails can chat with each other in the In-Box) it seems this device has a yearly fee and it allows him to send very short emails to people on his contact list using a Satellite!! NO CELL OR WIFI NEEDED!!! Predefined messages of up to 120 characters, sort of like twitter. and custom "type and send" messages of up to 41 characters. Just enough to call out for help or to let loved ones know they are OK so they don't worry if they don't hear from them for a while like when they boondock in the desert for a couple weeks. They cannot receive messages back, only send them but if something happens it's good to know they can send for help. That device also has a smart phone app to use when sending messages, very handy. They can call for help when out 4 wheeling with that orange Jeep of theirs if they get stuck. You know what they say..... "4 wheel drive is good for getting you farther from help before you get stuck" 8-)

I'm going to have to go now... he just sent me to the trash bin. That's the thanks I get for confirming his purchase of ....... Plastic Star Trek Ears??

***sigh***
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Old 04-07-2013, 05:08 AM   #2
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...... huh?
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Old 04-07-2013, 09:37 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 94-Newmar
...... huh?
A schematic of a series of tubes from an emails perspective.
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Old 04-07-2013, 09:45 AM   #4
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Interesting, but could you disentangle the equipment from the verbage please. It would be interesting to know what kit it is you are using.
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Old 04-07-2013, 09:57 AM   #5
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I thought it was well done.
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Old 04-07-2013, 09:58 AM   #6
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Interesting, but could you disentangle the equipment from the verbage please. It would be interesting to know what kit it is you are using.
See the blog post. it has all the photos and links to all the components....
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Old 04-07-2013, 10:02 AM   #7
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Quote:
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A schematic of a series of tubes from an emails perspective.
HA! Yeah I forgot that the internet is a giant series of tubes.... Good one. Many think it is.. it IS a good analogy though. This blog post for my wife's travel blog was requested of me by her and others so I wanted to be whimsical to make it more interesting for non-RVers who might not realize the limits set upon us by being mobile.

Way better with the photos and links I am sure.

Thanks for reading.

Walkabout With Wheels
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Old 04-07-2013, 10:16 AM   #8
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Cute. Your RV is a clone of mine. Amps, routers, bridge networks, antennas all over.

You asked for suggestions and I just want to add this for those that would consider a 60DB amplifier. Installed incorrectly you can cause interference with the cell company and even other commercial two way radio users. If you do need an amplifier and outside antenna the cradle model by Wilson will help prevent any of those issue and works extremely well. I have bench tested inline amps and the Wilson. The Wilson cradle is my favorite setup. You can use bluetooth for telephone. There are even blue tooth cordless phones you can use if you want more than one place to answer it.

As suggested using a Yagi can be counter productive if not mounted on something that turns. The additional gain is usually not worth the effort.
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Old 04-07-2013, 10:33 AM   #9
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YC1 - back in the day I ran a 3 element Yagi on the flat side right at 60 feet with rotor at the old S&B. Ya think I can go vertical on the Bounder and install a motorized crank to get er in the air? Lol.
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Old 04-07-2013, 11:19 AM   #10
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YC1 - back in the day I ran a 3 element Yagi on the flat side right at 60 feet with rotor at the old S&B. Ya think I can go vertical on the Bounder and install a motorized crank to get er in the air? Lol.
Sure. Get a push up pole and extend it to 20 feet. Guy wire it with 6/20 at each corner. Should look fine and work well. Maybe to well. You will be fighting co-channel issues. Get a commercial moving permit to make sure there are no obstructions when driving to other sites. May have to re-tighten the wires after the move.

What some people will do for just 1 more DB... More power. Arr arr arr
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Old 04-07-2013, 11:29 AM   #11
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Sure. Get a push up pole and extend it to 20 feet. Guy wire it with 6/20 at each corner. Should look fine and work well. Maybe to well. You will be fighting co-channel issues. Get a commercial moving permit to make sure there are no obstructions when driving to other sites. May have to re-tighten the wires after the move.

What some people will do for just 1 more DB... More power. Arr arr arr
I still have my old Turner +3 mic. Maybe I can find a way to work that into my cellphone. CQ.
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Old 04-07-2013, 11:39 AM   #12
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We move to often for any kind of pole and guy wire setup but I may try that if we're way out in the boonies and I can find a distant signal. so far having the yagi on the tv batwing has been great. it turns about 300 degrees. you wouldn't believe how many times the signal is right in the other 60 degrees of rotation that I can't get without moving the rig. Sometime you can't really move if you're in a parking lot along the edge but usually it works well. gotta run a new cable though. the one I'm using from the wifi antenna to the router has a broken fitting and the cable it too big anyway so a shorter one will be better when i can find one.
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Old 04-07-2013, 01:10 PM   #13
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Was really kidding about the pole and guy wires. Just referring to old television antenna masts. An Omni gain antenna works great for me. I do have a yagi available for my Cell phone booster if I need a couple of extra db.
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Old 04-07-2013, 05:05 PM   #14
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Quote:
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A schematic of a series of tubes from an emails perspective.
What? A schematic is a drawing depicting an electronic device using universally accepted drawings of components. OR? What am I missing? You can include a schematic drawing in an email and vice versa.
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