Pepwave Cellular Router and not the common install

[jd1923]

Any of you getting to know me as a new Oliver owner, might have noticed I'm not the conforming sort!

So, we wanted better cell reception, had the Verizon MiFi before, OMG how do you actually connect an antenna to that junk? Hate Verizon too, but they historically had the best coverage in the west (AT&T is weak out here). Did some research and came across: Mobile Internet for RV & Boats - Unbiased News, Guidance & Education - Mobile Internet Resource Center (rvmobileinternet.com)

After hours of more study, we found: Speed Demon Mobile Internet Bundle – MobileMustHave.com and ended up purchasing this bundle.

There is a thread here of an amazing installation on the rear of the Oliver: Pepwave Cellular Router Installation - Ollie Modifications - Oliver Owner Forums (olivertraveltrailers.com) Thank you @Wildbrew Great work, but fabricating a platform, a permanent installation on the roof of the Oliver? It's not for us. We do not travel with the Oliver enough for this to be worthwhile.

Thinking not only about the HW costs, but ongoing costs of data plans, I needed something not only for camping, but as a backup to my business. Then I found out that T-Mobile has 5G in much of Arizona, even in our small town and more 5G coverage than the rest.

The other thought that concerned me is out here in Arizona and the West in general is the elevation ups and downs, the canyons where we often camp. Why not consider a truck (TV) mounted solution? Often, like last week where we camped at Burro Creek, there was no cell service, no broadcast TV, no AM/FM, nothing. However, when we drove up to the highway we got a signal. Of course, when you drive the truck down the road, you cannot stream TV in the Oliver, but you can make calls, deal with an emergency and get on your laptop to receive and send emails.

I had the installation finished last weekend. I paid an extra $49 for MobileMustHave to configure the router, and they finished up this morning. Got a new T-Mobile Business account setup in the last few days and everything came together today! The Okla Speed Test came in at up to 242 Mbps download and 26 up, numbers likely much better than many have at home.

[mossemi]

Chris and Cherie of Technomadia and Mobile Internet Resources were early Oliver Elite owners.  They moved from a Tab to an Elite before OTT's temporary shutdown and the sold it and moved to a large RV.  They are a great resource for mobile connectivity.

Mossey

[Steve Morris]

11 hours ago, jd1923 said:

After hours of more study, we found: Speed Demon Mobile Internet Bundle – MobileMustHave.com and ended up purchasing this bundle.

I bought the same package in November 2022 during the holiday sale, even before we had our trailer. Mine is mounted in the trailer's attic, but I'm still using the stub antenna. I have the same external mount as you, but just haven't drilled that big hole yet. I'll be mounting mine on the pole mount, but mine will be on thereat awning bracket instead of using a pole.

[jd1923]

1 hour ago, Steve Morris said:

I have the same external mount as you, but just haven't drilled that big hole yet... 

Now that I have this installed in the TV, there is no way I would want it installed in the Oliver. No drilling for the antenna, no 7x7 ft of cable in the attic, and a stronger cell signal to boot. I also use my truck around the county pulling dirt bikes for a day trip and drive 3-4 business trips annually without the Oliver. Now we have Wi-Fi on board everywhere. Works well with the diesel engine running, maybe because it sits much higher. Chris can use high-speed internet while I'm driving.

Yours has been sitting in your attic for 1 1/2 years (had read your earlier posts) and perhaps this year is the time to do it right! You need to make your mount so that it would sit above the A/C and btw running the air may cause some electromagnetic interference to the signal.

They say the Parsec Husky is the BEST cellular antenna and that it does not require a ground plane but would benefit from one. No better ground plane than the steel roof of an extended cab pickup truck! The magnet mount sits tight, just drop it in place. I placed a towel under it until I was sure of position to make it easier to move. With this install all was required was a 1 1/2" square hole in the back panel of the cab behind the rear seat. No Dicor necessary, no caulk, the rubber grommets and housing seal on the Icotek cable entry solution is all you need. I used speed clips for the 4 small bolt holes and 3M VHB tape to mount the Pepwave to the truck cab back wall.

Not just Wi-Fi at your camp, but anywhere and everywhere you drive. I can get caught up on work on my computer, while Chris is grocery shopping, or when we are parked at a restaurant! Think about that.

[jd1923]

Drove the TV today to fill an LP tank for our upcoming camp. At a stoplight I thought why not run "Speedtest by Ookla" again, but this time while driving. Pulled up the app on my phone (phone Wi-Fi connected to the onboard Pepwave router with T-Mobile Business Premium 5G service) and clicked go as the light turned green. The test was bouncing from here to a T-Mobile server in North Las Vegas.

Checked the readings when I stopped for LP. While driving in traffic at 40 MPH I was getting better speed (132 down) than the 100 Mbps service most of America has at their homes. I'm not seeing the 5G symbol on my phone in this area but have in other parts of Prescott. Is 4G capable of this download speed?

On the way back it just started pouring rain for a few minutes. Tried the Speedtest in heavy rain and speed dropped down to 40 Mbps, still quite acceptable. The new tires felt good in the rain too. It's a rare case getting a rain test down here!

There certainly is 5G service in many parts of valleys of Yuma, Quartzsite and the West Valley of Phoenix, where we will travel next week. I will report on how this worked after our next road trip. 

You got to get one of these! 😂

[mossemi]

21 hours ago, jd1923 said:

I'm not seeing the 5G symbol on my phone in this area but have in other parts of Prescott. Is 4G capable of this download speed?

When I was a working man, the best 4G download speeds I ever saw was 78 Mbps.  I never see a 4G or 5G signal strength reading while connected to WiFi on my iPhone.  Try turning WiFi off and then check your 'bars'.

Mossey

[SeaDawg]

This is my 5g speed, outdoors, a few minutes ago, on my 5g s23+ samsung phone:

 

[SeaDawg]

Indoors, I  fluctuate between 4g and 5g, metal roof, uv protection windows. This was 5g. Verizon. Indoors.

 

[SeaDawg]

I thought the first test was crazy, so I tried it again. Outdoors. 5g verizon. 

So, for now, we'll just continue with my phone, as a hotspot.  We don't "work" anymore. Just need a reliable connection.  So, we carry both Verizon and tmobile phones. Most of the time, if there's a signal to be had, we get one. 

Your setup is definitely better for mobile work, I'm sure. 

 

[jd1923]

5 hours ago, SeaDawg said:

This is my 5g speed, outdoors, a few minutes ago, on my 5g s23+ Samsung phone:

@SeaDawg thanks for this data!

Are you in Florida now? The Sunshine State with 8,400 coastal miles, 66,000 square miles of line-of-sight flat land and 22M people, mostly cell phone customers? I know you go to a Carolina home often, but likely not in February and I'm not aware of your Florida location. You should expect these numbers in major metropolitan areas. Prescott is in Yavapai County AZ (population only 240K). Our county is almost the size of the state of New Jersey which has 10M residents, or more if you count the illegals. 🤣

It's amazing to get these speeds up here, at 5400 FT altitude, in the mountains! I was running errands today and noticed the 5G symbol at one point on my phone. Ran the Speedtest and got 332 Mbps! Last year with AT&T we'd get 10% of this speed on our cell phones.

[Steve Morris]

On 1/31/2024 at 11:12 AM, jd1923 said:

Not just Wi-Fi at your camp, but anywhere and everywhere you drive. I can get caught up on work on my computer, while Chris is grocery shopping, or when we are parked at a restaurant! Think about that.

That's a good solution with the pickup. But I'n not going to mount that white antenna on the top of my black Land Cruiser. And there's no good way to get the wires in. I tried solar wires on my similar 4Runner, and ended up coming in the door seal. There's just not a good location on an SUV.

[jd1923]

On 2/5/2024 at 10:13 AM, Steve Morris said:

That's a good solution with the pickup. But I'm not going to mount that white antenna on the top of my black Land Cruiser. And there's no good way to get the wires in. I tried solar wires on my similar 4Runner and ended up coming in the door seal. There's just not a good location on an SUV.

Should have got the black Parsec Husky! 🤣 

I understand given our black GX470, but then I tried towing our EII with it and for me the platform was not stable of strong enough in mountain terrains, so we bought the white Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins. If I was to install one in this SUV. I'd likely run the antenna cable by cutting into the rear spoiler where there is a harness already for the rear center brake light, with lots of room for the router behind the side panel in the RR quarter panel (I was back there last year running rear camera wires for a new Kenwood head). These can be too pretty for an antenna, but the roof rack would hide most of it.

We're on the road this week and the Pepwave router is working great. It sends a strong Wi-Fi 5GHz signal throughout the Oliver, even 20 feet behind it, and everywhere around the campsite!

Good thing we don't own AS trailers. I understand inside those tin cans you need to run a wired Wi-Fi Access Point since a roof-mounted antenna broadcasted Wi-Fi signal will not penetrate the metal hull. 

[Steve Morris]

Yep, the GX is a great vehicle, but not for towing the LE II. The LX is actually better than my Land Cruiser, due to the self leveling system and height adjustment. No need for the Firestone airbags with the LX. 

[jd1923]

While traveling we've used our Starlink Mini often. Though more often with cell coverage we are able to use our our T-Mobile 5G SIM on our Pepwave router. I have also used the Pepwave with 5G service as a backup to our home network. Twice while teaching, in the last two years, our Sparklight service has gone down, and I've logged into the Pepwave Wi-Fi to continue the Zoom class sessions.

Over the last two years, 5G service in our neighborhood has gotten better/faster. I decided to cancel our home cable service which has grown in cost from $40/mo eight years ago to $86/mo lately for 300 Mbps service. I've worked out a complex installation that allows us to be logged into the same Home Network whether we are physically at home or on the road with the Oliver!

To date we have only used the Starlink powered by battery, connecting via Wi-Fi using the built-in Starlink Router. I just finished a more complete installation where we have the Starlink powered by 12-24V DC-DC charger (thanks Geoff) and connected by Ethernet cable to the WAN port of the Pepwave.

This will start to get technical for many of you...

Internet connection comes into Pepwave router by means of the Parsec 5G antenna (priority #1) or when needed by the Starlink Mini via the Pepwave LAN input. The Pepwave can if needed also share bandwidth between WAN connections for greater overall speed.

The Pepwave router will also broadcast Wi-Fi but like any Wi-Fi broadcast it has distance limitations. The Wi-Fi coming from our truck installation by itself will not pass through the garage and the walls of our home to the other side of the house or our lower level where it's half underground. But it does fine more than 100 ft radius around any campsite.

At home, we've been using a Wi-Fi 6 Mesh network, a main with two satellite routers to cover all the area on our 3/4 acre property. Including the Oliver which is parked 100 ft away! Now that we're not using a home-based modem anymore, I thought "How could I repurpose this system connected to the Pepwave?"

I installed the Mesh Wi-Fi main unit in our truck connected by ethernet cable to a LAN output of the Pepwave. It's so cool that when I read the label on the 120V power adapter for the mesh unit, the output was stated at 12VDC 3.5A which means all I had to do was to cut off the adapter and connect two wires to the 12VDC in the truck! I mounted it in the back window behind the rear bench seat, behind the driver's head. Out of sight when driving and good line-of-sight out the rear of the truck. Where our truck is parked most of the time, backed into the driveway, the mesh satellite in my office also has line-of-site to the main.

Our "Home" network is getting 300-400 Mbps down and about 20-50 up from this installation, 5G cell through the cell antenna on the truck! I then parked the truck in the garage where the Wi-Fi signal must travel through 3 walls. We could still stream TV at about half these numbers. Half speed is also about what the Starlink Mini delivers day-to-day. Yeah, good 5G service is 2-4 times faster than the Mini.

I've canceled our cable Internet service. The savings of $86/mo in two years will pay for everything spent in this installation; the Pepwave and antenna, the Starlink Mini and accessories, the converters and cabling, etc. 

Now here's the real kicker! 😎 I setup a home network on the Wi-Fi mesh. We have all of our laptops, cell phones, network printer, TVs etc. all connected to the same "home" network. We also have the TV in the Oliver on the same network. Regardless of whether we are home or away the network login is constant so no need to reconnect ever to another Wi-Fi. If we need Starlink, when traveling, or for emergencies when at home and the cell network is overloaded, just mount and connect the Starlink Mini and it feeds the same home network. If we wanted to connect to a public or friend's Wi-Fi we can also input that to the Pepwave "Wi-Fi as WAN" so it becomes the Internet source for our home network. It's a lifetime, seamless setup! 🤣

So, you might be thinking a router with antenna, the Starlink Mini and a Wi-Fi Mesh could pull a bit of power from your truck starter batteries. Yes, and it will over time. Earlier I had installed a 100W Renogy flexible solar panel on our truck toolbox along with a small 15A Victron MPPT SC. This small solar setup always keeps our truck AGM batteries to 13V+ and powers everything listed above. It also has ample power for our Dometic CFX5 45l fridge in the truck bed! 😎

One exception is when I have the truck parked inside the garage for more than a couple days. So then I connect a battery charger, quick connect leads already installed above the front bumper.

I got done yesterday as the sun was setting and this picture shows it all. Notice the Starlink Mini mounted top right with the small blue power light on. You can see the Renogy panel on the toolbox, the SC is installed inside with outputs to battery and the fridge in a separate circuit. You can see cable looms, going up to the antenna and to the Starlink running across the box. The Mini is removable but the cabling stays. If we ever camp where the Northern sky is blocked where the TV is parked, then the Starlink would be mounted elsewhere, Starlink Wi-Fi login, powered by battery again. We find this is a rare case where we camp most of the time out West.

The Pepwave install was shown earlier in this thread and is behind the rear bench seat below. Lastly, notice the blue light in the truck rear window.  This is the Arris Mesh. I had purchased this mesh network 6 years ago, so it was great to reuse it, no cost. If I was to purchase new today there are better and smaller products available, though this system as a whole works great. We've got more installed in our tow vehicle than most have in their homes and RVs put together. What a great upgrade! 🤣

Edited 1 hour ago by jd1923