Replace cell booster antenna

[Wayfinder]

Has anyone replaced the cellular antenna on legacy Elite 2 (2016)?  I have a new antenna and wondering how easy it will be to pull through the new cable using the old cable.

[SeaDawg]

Can you just use the old cable?

[Wayfinder]

@SeaDawg the new antenna has this small coax (SMA?) connectors. The old antenna on the Ollie is the tiny magnetic type. Pic attached. 

[Mainiac]

I was able to 'snake' my new cable by using the old cable. The "secret" was to make sure there was no sharp edges where we spliced the cables together. The splice was a simple, but secure, wrapping with multiple layers of slippery electrical tape.

[ScubaRx]

I personally use string trimmer line (STL) as a pull wire. It's slick and won't snag on anything, the tensile strength is beyond what most people could break with their bare hands and it has very little stretch in the lengths I use.

Beginning on the roof, I would cut the connector off and wrap the STL around the old coax (for about 8 inches or so) and attach with electricians tape, then gently use a pull-pull, see-sawing method (takes two people) to work it backwards from the roof and into the trailer. When done, the old coax is gone, leaving the STL inside the trailer. Don't cut the STL from the reel once you have it completely through, just attach the new coax to the STL, again with electricians tape. That way, if the new coax slips off the STL during the pull there will still be a way to start over. You can pull the new coax back to the roof and reattach it to the STL.

I would pull it through from the roof top down into the trailer, the same direction you pulled the old one out. When all is good (in place and tested) you can pull the STL back out and rewind in onto the reel.

If this procedure is used in an area where you might want to pull future wires, I cut the STL somewhat over twice the distance to be pulled and coil up both ends and leave it in place. Saves a lot of cussin' next time.

[GraniteStaters]

I butt spliced my antenna when I broke the original clearing snow but when we get back from our current trip, I will be terminating the original cable in with SMA male and female to allow easy replacement down the line.  I bought an an antenna with higher gain to hopefully improve performance when signals are there weakest.  I may also add an internal antenna where we use our phones the most too.  Leaving the original in its current location above the dinette.  

[Wayfinder]

@ScubaRx, thanks for the great idea.  I did find that the original WeBoost was shot.  I got "lucky" and was able to replace the old one with the new.  The power supply was also within .5 volts and was able to power the new.  Though both external and internal antennas seem to work "well enough", and like @GraniteStaters mentioned, I too am wondering if the better cable and newer external antenna will provide minor improvements.  The old internal antenna is in quite a useless location, over the dinette table between the lights.  Using a Network Cell monitoring app on the phone, I see that the best signals to the phones or a hotspot/puck is basically touching the front of the internal antenna.  Better yet, simply Velcro the hotspot next to old internal antenna.   You cannot do that with the antenna over the table with a cell phone in hand.  Even three feet away you will lose valuable signal strength with these booster antennas.  I'll likely create a video about that on YouTube when I have time.

Other option: I'm considering using strong double-sided tape to hang the new internal antenna in "nearly" the same location as the old one, but much closer to the window where a dedicated hotspot can rest on the window shade frame and nearly touching the antenna.  That should work great, as it does with my phone now.  The hotspot will broadcast throughout the trailer  and outside, freeing up my phone for chatting and moving around.  Tomorrow, I visit Verizon for a dedicated hotspot.

Pics to following later.