Community Forums

TravelSmiths · 12-03-2020, 03:45 PM

I am installing a poynting cell roof antenna on my 2014 Entegra Aspire 44B. Any ideas where would be the best area to come through the roof and access inside the coach to connect to my pepwave router ? I am a little afraid of drilling through the roof in the wrong place. I was thinking of the front by the AM/FM radio antenna? Hoping I could access that from behind the passenger side upper control panel. Help from anyone that has completed this kind of install would be appreciated

Gary.Jones · 12-03-2020, 04:54 PM

There are people on here who have done what you are interested in doing.... you are just going to have to wait until they look at the threads and are able to make a contribution.

Gary

Fast E · 12-03-2020, 06:03 PM

I fed my XM cable through the AM/FM cable into my '98 Fleetwood Discovery. Using non shrinkable caulk to seal the cable. Depending on where you want to place your new device, select an existing location where a cable or wire is entering the unit and go from there.

Good luck.

schad · 12-03-2020, 07:57 PM

I asked Entegra the same question and they recommended going in through one of the existing rooftop mushroom vents instead. That way all you have to do is reseal.

Grower15 · 12-03-2020, 08:43 PM

Some have drilled through the back of the front cap then used a marine grade fitting to make it water tight. This gives you easy access to either of the front cabinets (over the driver/ passenger). Also, this location protects the fitting from direct wind/rain while driving.

GeezerViz · 12-03-2020, 11:30 PM

I'm thinking of doing the same thing. Please let us know what you end up doing and any lessons learned. I don't have a TV in the front, but there is a cabinet with an outlet in its place. I was thinking of putting a pepwave in there.

brobox · 12-04-2020, 04:07 AM

Rick, Here are a few photo posts that might help. One is using the existing roof vent.
https://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/mou...ml#post4198209

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/mou...ml#post4405714

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/wif...ml#post3944174

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/wif...ml#post3944549

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/roo...ml#post2754196

bsaldeen · 12-04-2020, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TravelSmiths

I am installing a poynting cell roof antenna

I know you’ve probably already got the antenna, but I installed the same antenna for the PepWave in our old Monaco. When we got the Anthem I just put the PepWave in the compartment to the right of the overhead TV. Reluctant, like everyone, to punch a hold on the roof.

Have never perceived a problem with bad reception in the Anthem that I thought an external antenna would fix. My feeling is that antenna doesn’t have a lot of gain vs the built-in antennas (especially when the PepWave is in that cabinet—mounted somewhere else and it might be a different story).

Certainly the PepWave doesn’t always work, but only when we’re really in the boondocks (and no cell reception on the phones either).

We use dual SIMs though...that helps a great deal. When one is bad we just flip services.

My 2¢.

GeezerViz · 12-04-2020, 07:27 PM

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what a pepwave does. My understanding is that it is a router. If it's not connected to an external antenna, can it still pick up distant cell signals and campground Wi-Fi for rebroadcast inside the coach?

bsaldeen · 12-05-2020, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeezerViz

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what a pepwave does. My understanding is that it is a router. If it's not connected to an external antenna, can it still pick up distant cell signals and campground Wi-Fi for rebroadcast inside the coach?

I think we're on the same page...

Pepwave makes a lot of stuff, and the Poynting antenna is commonly sold as an accessory for the MAX BR-1---it's a cellular/wifi router. The MAX BR-1 has 4 removable antennas already on it, a pair for cellular and a pair for wifi. (plus there's another for GPS). The $200 Poynting replaces all those antennas.

In the Monaco, I got the Poynting antenna concurrently with the Pepwave and installed it. In the Monaco, the Pepwave was in a cabinet above the toll window, where the circuit breakers are in the Anthem. I never used the Pepwave without the Poynting antenna in the Monaco. We had the Monaco for a year.

When we got the Anthem, I just pulled the Pepwave out of the Monaco, re-installed the original antennas that came with the unit, put it in the passenger-side cabinet by the TV and started using it, thinking I'd get a new Poynting antenna later and install it. A year of using it full-time in a variety of settings---it seems to work as well as it did in the Monaco (with the Poynting installed)---enough that I don't feel like buying a $200 antenna and punching a hole in the roof.

If the Pepwave is buried deep inside the coach, you probably *would* benefit from an external antenna. My MAX BR-1 is only a couple of feet below where the external antenna would be (albeit without a layer of fiberglas in the way).

For the OP, if he's *already* got the Poynting antenna---no big deal, just install it. It'll probably help a little--just don't expect any miracles. ;-)

The MAX BR-1 is, by far, the most reliable thing in coach. That sucker is bulletproof. Wish they made RV control systems.

GeezerViz · 12-05-2020, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bsaldeen

I think we're on the same page...

Pepwave makes a lot of stuff, and the Poynting antenna is commonly sold as an accessory for the MAX BR-1---it's a cellular/wifi router. The MAX BR-1 has 4 removable antennas already on it, a pair for cellular and a pair for wifi. (plus there's another for GPS). The $200 Poynting replaces all those antennas.

In the Monaco, I got the Poynting antenna concurrently with the Pepwave and installed it. In the Monaco, the Pepwave was in a cabinet above the toll window, where the circuit breakers are in the Anthem. I never used the Pepwave without the Poynting antenna in the Monaco. We had the Monaco for a year.

When we got the Anthem, I just pulled the Pepwave out of the Monaco, re-installed the original antennas that came with the unit, put it in the passenger-side cabinet by the TV and started using it, thinking I'd get a new Poynting antenna later and install it. A year of using it full-time in a variety of settings---it seems to work as well as it did in the Monaco (with the Poynting installed)---enough that I don't feel like buying a $200 antenna and punching a hole in the roof.

If the Pepwave is buried deep inside the coach, you probably *would* benefit from an external antenna. My MAX BR-1 is only a couple of feet below where the external antenna would be (albeit without a layer of fiberglas in the way).

For the OP, if he's *already* got the Poynting antenna---no big deal, just install it. It'll probably help a little--just don't expect any miracles. ;-)

The MAX BR-1 is, by far, the most reliable thing in coach. That sucker is bulletproof. Wish they made RV control systems.

Thanks for the info. How much improvement do you think you get with just the Pepwave? Where I live during a normal summer season, I get about 1 bar cell signal which is basically too slow for anything. Should I expect another bar or better?

jherrin99 · 12-06-2020, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TravelSmiths

I am installing a poynting cell roof antenna on my 2014 Entegra Aspire 44B. Any ideas where would be the best area to come through the roof and access inside the coach to connect to my pepwave router ? I am a little afraid of drilling through the roof in the wrong place. I was thinking of the front by the AM/FM radio antenna? Hoping I could access that from behind the passenger side upper control panel. Help from anyone that has completed this kind of install would be appreciated

I added an external antenna to my roof for my cell phone booster years ago. I installed it though the roof above the passenger seat window. The cabinet above the passenger seat gave me easy access to the roof after removing the plastic panel. Once you remove that plastic panel there is enough slack in the wiring to pull the panel out enough to give you access to that area. I think it was about 1/2" hole which I drilled from the bottom up. From that point you should have no problem running the antenna wires into the front cabinets.

bsaldeen · 12-07-2020, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeezerViz

Thanks for the info. How much improvement do you think you get with just the Pepwave? Where I live during a normal summer season, I get about 1 bar cell signal which is basically too slow for anything. Should I expect another bar or better?

The Pepwave MAX BR1 doesn't really boost anything, so it's hard to talk about improvement. The big advantage of it is that it's commercial quality and has two SIM slots. For me, I still do freelance work, so having solid Internet is essential. We rarely are in a spot where both ATT or Verizon doesn't work. The BR1 can auto-switch between providers. Because we have truly unlimited data plans (no throttling, no nothin') we don't use park Wifi much.

So in your case, if you're there for a while, you might put an antenna on a mast, and get it up in the air a bit. Putting the Poynting antenna (for the Pepwave) on the roof probably won't be a marked improvment (IMHO).

Another option would be to find out what other folks are using, and switch providers. Usually one or the other (ATT or Verizon) works. Or maybe in your case it's some other network. In any case, switching providers might be your best option.