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Old 02-02-2019, 05:53 PM   #57
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That being the case we just need to make sure the aluminum in the roof is grounded to the chassis and we should not have to worry about a ground plane for roof mounted antennas.
This would not be a very good ground plane. Normally the ground plane is attached to the shield of the coax at the feed point of the antenna so as to present low impedance to the transmitter and simulate a dipole. In the case of a magnetic mount on a car, it utilizes capacitive coupling to the skin of the car through the antenna base but is less efficient vs direct connection.

Also the ground plane is usually arranged to radiate out from the base to create the proper mirror image, again an ideal ground plane is a solid conductor spanning to infinity in all directions.

The the antenna would need to be placed right on top of a frame member and the outer shield of the coax connected to the frame member there.

Also the framing of a motorhome does not act very much like a faraday cage as the openings are too much larger than the cell frequencies involved, for a cage to block the holes must be much smaller than the wavelength. So for the most part a fiberglassed skinned rv is pretty much a transparent structure for radio waves assuming no metal skin layer.
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Old 02-06-2019, 06:44 PM   #58
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More thoughts and observations about optimizing Verizon LTE-A performance in a motorhome. Since moving my entire PepWave system, including antennas, to the roof it has become obvious to me how important it is to make sure the high frequency Verizon LTE Band 4 is to Verizon cellular data performance.

First, some background I have gathered cruising around to various message boards on this subject. Verizon operates it's LTE system on 4 Bands: 2 (1900MHz), 4 (1700/2100 MHz), 5 (850 MHz) and 13 (700 MHz). Based on observations by various users on message boards, it appears the majority of LTE traffic on Verizon operates primarily on Bands 4 and 13. This agrees with my observations looking at my system. I have never seen any other Bands than 4 and 13 since getting my PepWave with Verizon SIMs.

What is not obvious and not documented anywhere on the Verizon websites is that it appears the Verizon network is set up to preferentially lock on to the high frequency Band 4 in most locations. Based on my experience, now confirmed by other Verizon users on message boards, it appears Band 4 is selected very often when better performance is available on the local frequency Band 13. No one seems to understand why this is happening but it could have something to do with the capacity of various cell towers on certain Bands. I have seen this behavior many times as my NA sits in a hangar. It will most often lock on to Band 4 with mediocre speeds but sometimes for no obvious reason it will lock on to Band 13 with double or triple the speeds. At first I thought this was happening because of local tower congestion but my hangar is located in a rural area of the desert not near any major population center. I know where the tower is located. There are no major population centers within range of that tower. It is all farmland.

Why is this important in a motorhome? Well as we are seeing it is hard to get a good signal to a cellular modem down into the motorhome when operating at the higher frequencies. This issue is just as important for anyone using a smartphone or hotspot located inside the motorhome without any outside antennas.

LTE-A does help with this problem, apparently, since in my experience the PepWave is typically aggregating both Band 4 and Band 13 when LTE-A is active. The catch is apparently LTE-A will not activate until both bands being aggregated have sufficient signal strength. So it is very possible the much higher speeds available with LTE-A band aggregation are being missed if the high frequency Band 4 is not getting to the PepWave with sufficient strength. This appears to be further complicated as I am seeing Band 4 almost always placed into the Primary slot when LTE-A is active while the low frequency Band 13 is placed in the Secondary slot.

Much of this is just informed speculation and observations based on my experience and the experience of other folks studying this problem who have posted on the internet. It all suggests that when it comes to Verizon's implementation of LTE-A those of us using this service in a motorhome must find a way to optimize Band 4 signal strength to the cellular modem for best performance. Roof mounting the cellular modem with a very short antenna lead appears to be the only way to handle this unique situation.

Would enjoy hearing other folks experience with LTE band selection on Verizon.
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Old 02-07-2019, 07:14 PM   #59
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Mobile internet

Sounds like a lot of work.

I Purchased the Verizon mobile hotspot and pay $20 a month. We are able to stream movies and use Internet on our phones while driving with no problem. The Wi-Fi ranger sky pro is garbage.
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Old 02-08-2019, 10:05 PM   #60
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I haven’t done extensive testing because I haven’t had many lte-a areas. But I’ve seen similar behavior on the mofi. And it won’t aggregate unless there’s sufficient traffic.
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Old 02-09-2019, 10:42 AM   #61
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I have been looking at the Pepwave BR1 for my fifth wheel. My biggest concern is on the Wi-Fi side if the network is filtered like one having a splash page that you have to enter the username and password to connect. Have you had any experience with your BR1 and connecting to a filtered network?

Thanks
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Old 02-09-2019, 10:44 AM   #62
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I have been looking at the Pepwave BR1 for my fifth wheel. My biggest concern is on the Wi-Fi side if the network is filtered like one having a splash page that you have to enter the username and password to connect. Have you had any experience with your BR1 and connecting to a filtered network?

Thanks


My last CG had this and it worked great. WiFI ranger ironically would not.
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Old 02-09-2019, 10:45 AM   #63
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I have been looking at the Pepwave BR1 for my fifth wheel. My biggest concern is on the Wi-Fi side if the network is filtered like one having a splash page that you have to enter the username and password to connect. Have you had any experience with your BR1 and connecting to a filtered network?

Thanks
Yes, and there is no problem. Your phone or laptop will present this page when you first use it and once you login, all other devices will work without the login reappearing.

To the campground or wifi provider, you appear as a single device no matter how many you actually have.
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Old 02-09-2019, 12:48 PM   #64
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Being an original road warrior from the 2g and 3g days I always like these interesting cell or wi-fi solutions for RV's. I once parked next to a guy who had $3000 worth of antennas on his RV so he could 'borrow' wi-fi from local casino's and businesses up to 3 miles away. Each to his own.

My biggest add-on was to get a Wilson 4g/lte booster cradle and a 12 foot telescoping pole to use as a mount for an external antenna for my NetGear Momentum data-connect device I have been using for the last 7 years. Using my ATT service got stronger and faster every year since 2012, usually in the 3-10 mbps down / .5-3mbps up, and somtimes in the 25mbps range. But about two years ago, we started noticing that even in good signal area's the speed and signal strength was markedly dropping. I attributed it to, too many folks streaming TV's and movies.

Now, I think my old equipment was to blame. Parked here in Sun City, AZ, speed and bars were down on our phones and data-connect device. Ok to use, but not what we would like. I decided to take advantage of a resurrected ATT limited time offer to get a new ZTE Mobley hotspot. A device designed to plug into the OCD-II port in my Jeep.
At $20/month for unlimited LTE internet, 5 users per hotspot, no other costs, hard to pass up. (I did buy an Amazon supplied 12v power adapter to use in the RV)

It was a real challenge to get the unit, special numbers to call, multiple reps to talk with, several tries to get the order done, trips to local store, back to phone calls, bad SIM, etc. But with lots of perseverance, I have it installed and working.

Right out of the box, so to speak, turned on, all default settings, hooked up to internet, ran a speed check. I was shocked, first try, and confirmed later, 30mbps down, 30mbps up. And the signal strength showed more bars than my phones did.

Didn't try optimizing its location, orientation, nothing, it just works. I haven't tested its broadcast range yet, but can access it from one end of the motorhome to the other end.

So there are lots of fancy solutions to get internet into your RV, but sometimes it is very simple.
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Old 02-09-2019, 02:14 PM   #65
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Just a reality check for all those getting good internet coverage with cheaper, simpler solutions for cellular data coverage.

I have a $200 Verizon MiFi 8800L. This is one of the first MiFi devices to offer LTE-A functionality. In the right place and the right time this device, inside the coach, will achieve dazzling download speeds often much higher than my externally mounted PepWave with LTE-A modem. It is all about location.

In a motorhome the reason you want to optimize reception is for those times when you are not in a location with good cellular coverage.

A typical example is when you pull into a campground far from the nearest cell tower with campground WiFi that is near useless (in my experience this is the typical scenario outside of major population centers). In these situations it is common to see my MiFi device inside the coach with little or no signal while the externally mounted PepWave modem has connected to a distant cell site seeing speeds more like an old DSL modem (ie 4 to 6 Mbps). Not great for streaming but ok for browsing and most often far better and more reliable than "borrowing" the campground WiFi.

So the added cost and complexity of these more expensive solutions is really to make sure you can get internet coverage in rural areas. If your travels find you in or near major population centers, in your motor home, a MiFi device or tethering from a smartphone or tablet will likely meet your needs with far less cost and complexity.
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Old 02-09-2019, 03:13 PM   #66
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So the added cost and complexity of these more expensive solutions is really to make sure you can get internet coverage in rural areas. If your travels find your in or near major population centers, in you motor home, a MiFi device or tethering from a smartphone or tablet will likely meet your needs with far less cost and complexity.

This. And sometimes that’s not even enough. Here on Big Pine Key, Verizon is 70 down 30 up at 4 am but 2 down and 3 up at 8pm. Since I’m here for 4 months, I had Comcast install cable internet for me (I have a cable modem hooked up to my coax). Even that has had issues because their network gets noisy and problematic with so many RVs connected and introducing noise into their system.

Att and T-Mobile are even worse here.
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Old 02-09-2019, 07:51 PM   #67
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Just a reality check for all those getting good internet coverage with cheaper, simpler solutions for cellular data coverage.

I have a $200 Verizon MiFi 8800L. This is one of the first MiFi devices to offer LTE-A functionality. In the right place and the right time this device, inside the coach, will achieve dazzling download speeds often much higher than my externally mounted PepWave with LTE-A modem. It is all about location.

In a motorhome the reason you want to optimize reception is for those times when you are not in a location with good cellular coverage.

A typical example is when you pull into a campground far from the nearest cell tower with campground WiFi that is near useless (in my experience this is the typical scenario outside of major population centers). In these situations it is common to see my MiFi device inside the coach with little or no signal while the externally mounted PepWave modem has connected to a distant cell site seeing speeds more like an old DSL modem (ie 4 to 6 Mbps). Not great for streaming but ok for browsing and most often far better and more reliable than "borrowing" the campground WiFi.

So the added cost and complexity of these more expensive solutions is really to make sure you can get internet coverage in rural areas. If your travels find you in or near major population centers, in your motor home, a MiFi device or tethering from a smartphone or tablet will likely meet your needs with far less cost and complexity.
I have the same issue with Verizon towers. I have the latest mifi with a mimo antenna and can get five bars but one tower will be 4 to 6 MB and I have driven to different towers just to compare and some towers will be 30mb or better. I am assuming that it just depends how many people connect to the tower. The campground we stay at for the summer has WiFi that you have to pay for but it runs 40mb or better and we have not had any performance problems. Usually we get the normal poor WiFi at the campground if you can even connect.
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Old 02-10-2019, 08:18 AM   #68
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Old 02-10-2019, 09:25 AM   #69
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This. And sometimes that’s not even enough. Here on Big Pine Key, Verizon is 70 down 30 up at 4 am but 2 down and 3 up at 8pm. Since I’m here for 4 months, I had Comcast install cable internet for me (I have a cable modem hooked up to my coax). Even that has had issues because their network gets noisy and problematic with so many RVs connected and introducing noise into their system.

Att and T-Mobile are even worse here.
Obviously an oversubscription problem, not a reception problem. We see the same thing in the Palm Springs, CA area in the Winter. The folks at Quartzite reported serious oversubscription problems this year. Fancy equipment will not solve this problem.
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Old 02-11-2019, 08:02 AM   #70
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Alternative

I plan to implement something similar to what Dave Bott did in his coach - Using VPN bonding with two carriers.

https://outsideourbubble.com/fast-rv...t-vpn-bonding/
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