New Mobley Timeout Solution

[Matt D]

I posted pieces of this elsewhere, so please forgive the duplication..

We have successfully used a ZTE Mobley for years, set to no timeout. Frankly, I think it goes months between shut downs. It’s so reliable, I carry it for work and rarely use public WiFi, even in hotels.

The bar for acceptable performance was set.

Fast forward to the latest offering of Mobley, and much to my disappointment it has failed to remain on for any seriously useful length of time. At best, we’re seeing a 2 hour timeout, but frequently cannot achieve that.

Members have experimented with any manner of research, diagnosis, trickery, and I think even one case of witchcraft, to coax the Mobley into achieving the performance of the early devices.

I think I’ve got it.

First, I ordered what must be the 3rd or 4th adaptor..

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The power save is set to 2 hours, which is the current maximum choice available with the latest firmware push.

Next, I tried several combinations of small low output AC adaptors, and plugging directly into a USB capable AC outlet before stumbling on to a workable solution.

I use a typical Apple iPad AC Transformer, plug the “High Power” 14.5V USB adaptor into the Transformer, and the ZTE Mobley into the “High power” adaptor.

The markings on the Transformer indicate 5V 1A.

The test runs with this setup have exceeded 26 hours, and will likely continue to succeed as long as there is power.

Keep in mind, this Mobley isn’t connected to anything except the Internet, with zero clients and no data usage. This test Mobley also was not physically disturbed during the tests, resting untouched until test completion.

My unscientific conclusion is that it’s all about the incoming voltage to the Mobley, nothing else.

I have yet to determine exactly how much voltage is coming from the adaptor, but evidently the amount provided is adequate to exceed the low voltage cutoff, permitting continuous operation.

It’s a little cobbled together, but I hope this helps,

-Matt

[Gary.Jones]

Matt

Well, your assumption that it has something to do with voltage is probably the most widely held assumption of the hundreds of readers of the Mobley forum out on the web. People assume that when the alternator is on in the car the voltage is in the mid 13.5 volt range, and when the car is not running, it is in the 12.0 volt range and it is that difference that is important in telling the new Mobley that the car is no longer running. So, you might be right, and have a good solution. Please keep us all abreast of what you are finding.

My finding is that it appears to have to do with throughput.... When the Mobley was just handling Dee and my phones and pads while we were in the coach and that was about it, then the most recent software push from AT&T was turning it off to inactive 4 or 5 times a day. Then I realized that my coach software (Vegatouch) was wracking up huge data use on my 15 Gig "Unlimited" MIFI account and this was because my coach seems to be talking to VegaTouch "central" all the time. So, because I was sick of it using up all/most of my Verizon MIFI allocation, I moved the coach over to the Mobley and now it doesnt time out for weeks at a time.

I also have a TempStick in the coach which is connected to the Mobley, and I can check it easily from my phone, and if it is still reporting temps in the coach the Mobley is working and staying connected. I guess I could check all my VegaTouch systems too to see if it is working.

I'll bet there are more than one "fix" for the Mobley.

Gary

[Milehghcty]

My Mobley will stay on for weeks/months on end. Sometimes I just unplug it for a while just to give it a break. I have the latest firmware. I have in plugged into an adapter I bought off Amazon. I'm normally not a heavy user though and rarely exceed 20gb p/month and most months a lot less when we are not traveling.

[Isaac-1]

The issue is that the Mobley looks for voltage fluctuations as a sign it is connected to a running alternator. The Mobley does not draw a constant current while running, it bounces around like crazy drawing between about 30 - 200 ma most of the time depending on activity, even when seemingly idle it is all over the place. When connected to unregulated or poorly regulated power supplies this change in amp draw will result in voltage sags, and jumps which makes the Mobley think it is in a running car, so does not go to sleep. The same sort of voltage dips and spikes may be occurring if you plug the fully regulated USB 5-12V up-converter adapter into an under powered USB power adapter. In this case the voltage coming out of the USB AC power adapter sagging on overload, so that the USB 5-12V up-converter is then momentarily dropping out of regulation.

[Dutch Star Don]

We've had the Mobley for about two years. It works fine, but occasionally shuts down, maybe every 2-3 days. When stored at home, we disconnect it to keep our computers from wanting to switch to the Mobley versus the house internet.

"Isaac-1".....may have provided some good info why ours stays on. I have the Amazon adapter and plug it directly into a USB port I added to the coaches 12 volt system.

[Tom78418]

I vote for the throughput theory. We have a 2017 so the VegaTouch does not connect to the internet as many found doing so keeps a small data data stream over the internet. I connected a Roku at continually updates its program guide and that did it. Seems the steady albeit small amount of data flowing has ended the connection issue.

[MRUSA14]

Could be that it stays awake if it sees data throughput OR voltage level/fluctuation.

[Isaac-1]

Data alone on a known stable power supply will not keep the Mobley awake, instead it is more likely that data on a marginal power supply causes enough amp draw variability and therefore enough voltage fluctuation to keep it awake. I spent a few days doing voltage level testing on one of the 2019 batch of Mobley's on a test bench variable DC power supply a few months ago, and found nothing would reliably keep it awake except voltage fluctuations. I tried stable voltage up to about 16VDC, I tried putting it at different angles, I tried motion taping it to the top of an oscillating tower fan, ...

[Tom78418]

I'm impressed. That is some detailed testing. I have been tempted to move the SIM card to my PepWave MAX-BR1 router where the Verizon SIM is installed, but I don't want to give any excuse to AT&T to drop the account. I was one of those fortunate to get a Mobley in the beginning. After the forced update, I don't thing there is much difference between the older and the 2019 Mobleys.


I did learn a valuable lesson leaving the Roku on for data trickle That seems to work fine, but I learned to keep the remote protected while traveling. If is an RF remote and somehow a bump, bounce, or other while we were on the road started the Roku channel. Continuous movies and ate the Verizon data plan. It was set up in the PepWave router as the primary and Mobley secondary. Verizon is faster and Mobley is good enough to keep up with Jack Ryan and Star Trek on CBS.

[Matt D]

The reason this became important was that we’ve had a few internet outages at the house and attempted to use the newer Mobley to stream media unsuccessfully.

The “old” Mobley will stream media without interruption.

As of now, the “new” one has remained on for around 3 days with my cobbled together setup.

While I understand why AT&T changed the firmware, I can still gripe about a large company reducing the capabilities of a fairly old device (technologically speaking) that has seen a huge surge in popularity when they were likely considering removing it from the marketplace.

A case of biting the hand.

-Matt

[Tom78418]

There was no objection from Verizon when I moved the SIM to the PepWave MAX BR1 router. No issue with streaming. I guess we’re lucky to have the original Mobley, but I assume the latest update sets it equal to the newer Mobley version. In our setup the PepWave router connects to the Mobley by WiFi and streams media without interruption. While it shouldn’t make a difference, I’m wondering if streaming media from the Mobley through a router bypasses streaming restrictions.

To clarify, the PepWave router connects to Verizon with the SIM installed and the Mobley via WiFi. I can change the priority order which provider it connects to or connect to both and load balance data.

[buddy110]

Originally Posted by Matt D

I posted pieces of this elsewhere, so please forgive the duplication..

We have successfully used a ZTE Mobley for years, set to no timeout. Frankly, I think it goes months between shut downs. It’s so reliable, I carry it for work and rarely use public WiFi, even in hotels.

The bar for acceptable performance was set.

Fast forward to the latest offering of Mobley, and much to my disappointment it has failed to remain on for any seriously useful length of time. At best, we’re seeing a 2 hour timeout, but frequently cannot achieve that.

Members have experimented with any manner of research, diagnosis, trickery, and I think even one case of witchcraft, to coax the Mobley into achieving the performance of the early devices.

I think I’ve got it.

First, I ordered what must be the 3rd or 4th adaptor..

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The power save is set to 2 hours, which is the current maximum choice available with the latest firmware push.

Next, I tried several combinations of small low output AC adaptors, and plugging directly into a USB capable AC outlet before stumbling on to a workable solution.

I use a typical Apple iPad AC Transformer, plug the “High Power” 14.5V USB adaptor into the Transformer, and the ZTE Mobley into the “High power” adaptor.

The markings on the Transformer indicate 5V 1A.

The test runs with this setup have exceeded 26 hours, and will likely continue to succeed as long as there is power.

Keep in mind, this Mobley isn’t connected to anything except the Internet, with zero clients and no data usage. This test Mobley also was not physically disturbed during the tests, resting untouched until test completion.

My unscientific conclusion is that it’s all about the incoming voltage to the Mobley, nothing else.

I have yet to determine exactly how much voltage is coming from the adaptor, but evidently the amount provided is adequate to exceed the low voltage cutoff, permitting continuous operation.

It’s a little cobbled together, but I hope this helps,

-Matt

Hoping to replicate this with mine. I can't get more that 20 minutes before it times out. Adaptor ordered.

IIRC, when I plug mbley into my ob2 port in my truck it does not time out.

I will report back with some results

[Tom78418]

In understand your theory regarding incoming voltage, but possibly it is a combination of power source and data. I keep a Roku connected to the Mobley as a client. As a test since this thread topic began, I disconnected Roku client and the the issue of auto disconnect began. Interesting is the Mobley would not turn off, but would stop accessing the internet. My Mobley uses the same 120VAC adapter I bought nearly 2 years ago. Once the Ruko was reconnected, the Mobley has remained connected.

[Victory Blue]

Similar to Tom, I use an adapter that’s 2 years old with the Mobley connected via USB to an Asus AC1900 router. The Mobley stays connected.