Cell phone & Internet Service While Traveling

[cbr046]

WeBoost is good but you can do as good or better for much less expense.  I came up with this setup that works very well in fringe areas: 

It needs an anchor at the bottom.  If in soil I use a stick of rebar.  For uneven surfaces there's 2 T's at the bottom so the bottom of the staff can float above ground.  I haven't come up with a solid anchor for hard surfaces.  None of the joints are welded so the antenna can be pointed.  I don't have a clean way to get the cables into the coach without a cracked window, etc. 

Here's the order list:

Wilson antennas - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J14YEHQ/

SMA cable 25 ft - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J62BQRL/

SMA to TS9 pigtails (0 degree) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08JYNQJVB/

SMA to TS9 pigtails (90 degree) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L6847R9/

PVC pipe, various connectors, adapters, etc.

It's actually kind of a pain to set up for 2-3 days . . . . And my primary source of time wasting has been Dish Network (although FuboTV may change that).  There are omnidirectional roof antennas for (3 db?) less gain and I probably should have gone that route.  And yes, 2 antennas are better than one (if your receiver has 2 inputs).

- bob

 

[jacwjames]

Thanks Bob

Definitely a lot cheaper, will do some checking. 

Omni directional would be good. 

I already have a cable going the roof where the antenna is mounted so may be able to use that cable and mounting. 

 

[Ivan K]

Out of desperation while at a beautiful spot in ND last year, I experimented with our cell booster to get any sort of signal. While I got a bar or two with my Wilson yagi antenna pointed at the nearest tower (nothing with the omni antenna) there was no useable throughput and calls couldn't be received. It might ring but drop. Then I just bungeed our Mobley on the post right behind the directional antenna and we got useable internet. We still use the Mobley while on the move because it's so convenient but Starlink is now our primary device for internet and Wifi calls while we spend 90% of our stays at awesome off-grid BLM and Forest places out west. Heck, we are right outside Moab now with no good cell service. The booster is just not useful to me anymore. Just my experience.

[Georgia Mike]

I am just completing a 6 week trip all over the country and I use a Mofi 5500 with a pepwave 4x4 MIMO Antenna with  carrier aggregation. It has preformed great and we have been in some areas with terrible service and always had good internet with the Mofi

[jacwjames]

4 hours ago, Ivan K said:

Out of desperation while at a beautiful spot in ND last year, I experimented with our cell booster to get any sort of signal. While I got a bar or two with my Wilson yagi antenna pointed at the nearest tower (nothing with the omni antenna) there was no useable throughput and calls couldn't be received. It might ring but drop. Then I just bungeed our Mobley on the post right behind the directional antenna and we got useable internet. We still use the Mobley while on the move because it's so convenient but Starlink is now our primary device for internet and Wifi calls while we spend 90% of our stays at awesome off-grid BLM and Forest places out west. Heck, we are right outside Moab now with no good cell service. The booster is just not useful to me anymore. Just my experience.

No doubt in my mind that I'd go with Starlink if I was full timing, ain't there yet. 

So looking for the next viable option.

[jacwjames]

I received the Visible SIM card today via FedEX, pretty impressive. 

Visible had already confirmed that my phone number had been transferred and would take affect after I got the phone up and running.  So I went through that process, which was pretty easy.  I downloaded the APP on my phone before I started and then followed the prompts which included removing the old SIM card and installing the new one.   It helped being connected with my laptop on the house hotspot so I could look up on the website while I was finalizing the connection. 

I also tested the phone hotspot, seemed to work good, pretty quick to connect to a website but hadn't tried to do and HD streaming.

I did call my old carrier and they confirmed that the number was transferred which automatically canceled my plan.  My wife is going to stay with T-Mobile while I give Visible a good test.  As of now I have 3 bars of signal with is much better then I had with T-Mobile.

I am waiting for the small travel router that I ordered and I'll hopefully get that up and running soon. 

Still checking on a booster of some sort but need to get one soon so I can get it hooked up before my trip. 

[cbr046]

Visible includes mobile hotspot with unlimited data at speeds up to 5Mbps (which isn't all that fast), limited to one device. When the network is experiencing heavy traffic, your data may be temporarily slowed.  Which is exactly what happens at weekend events - the local tower is overrun. 

Deep in Visible's Legal Terms and Conditions (who reads that?) is "You're "roaming" whenever your wireless device connects to a network outside your coverage area or connects to another carrier's network, which could happen even within your coverage area. Your data service may be limited or slowed when roaming."  You still get "unlimited data", but your Hayes modem might be faster.  https://www.visible.com/legal/terms-and-conditions 

All that negativity aside I'm willing to try it.  $25 is pretty cheap, except now I'll need a new phone $$.  You can check if your phone is acceptable here - https://www.visible.com/shop/compatibility  You'll need your phone's IMEI (it's in phone settings).  Problem is my accountant says I have to give up the $150/ mo satellite . . . . FuboTV may solve that. 

@jacwjames what happens when you step away from the RV while your wife is streaming a dog show or uploading pictures her ribbons of Best in Show?  (and then the fight broke out LOL).   Keep us posted. 

Sorry for the rambling.

- bob

[jacwjames]

4 hours ago, cbr046 said:

Visible includes mobile hotspot with unlimited data at speeds up to 5Mbps (which isn't all that fast), limited to one device. When the network is experiencing heavy traffic, your data may be temporarily slowed.  Which is exactly what happens at weekend events - the local tower is overrun. 

Deep in Visible's Legal Terms and Conditions (who reads that?) is "You're "roaming" whenever your wireless device connects to a network outside your coverage area or connects to another carrier's network, which could happen even within your coverage area. Your data service may be limited or slowed when roaming."  You still get "unlimited data", but your Hayes modem might be faster.  https://www.visible.com/legal/terms-and-conditions 

All that negativity aside I'm willing to try it.  $25 is pretty cheap, except now I'll need a new phone $$.  You can check if your phone is acceptable here - https://www.visible.com/shop/compatibility  You'll need your phone's IMEI (it's in phone settings).  Problem is my accountant says I have to give up the $150/ mo satellite . . . . FuboTV may solve that. 

@jacwjames what happens when you step away from the RV while your wife is streaming a dog show or uploading pictures her ribbons of Best in Show?  (and then the fight broke out LOL).   Keep us posted. 

Sorry for the rambling.

- bob

My plan right now is to give it a good test.  If it works my wife said she'd give it a try also.  At that point I'd probably just get a 3rd phone and plan to be able to keep in the RV and have it as a backup.  

When my wife goes to dog shows she only takes ~1/2 of the herd and I stay home and watch the rest.   The Anatolian Shepard requires a very large crate that takes up a lot of space, much more then the smaller crates the two Curly Coated Retrieves used.  With the rest of the required crated there's just not any room and I just don't enjoy being confined like that.  Not my cup of tea anymore.  So it really wouldn't be an issue but it would be nice to have an extra Visible phone to travel with, that way we could use the WiFi features of the MicroAir thermostat and can monitor temps etc.  Would eve consider putting in a wireless security camera to monitor the coach and dogs. 

[jacwjames]

So I have switched my cell phone over to Visible. This process was fairly seamless, ordered the SIM card and it arrived via FedEx the next day. Followed the instructions on switching out the SIM card and the phone activated no problems.  So far the Visible phone seems to get much better reception then the T-Mobile carrier at home and in the small town I'm near.  The real test was when I went to the Food City and was able to get good reception while in the store, with T-Mobile I'd drop a signal depending on where I was standing. 

I tested the phone hotspot on both my laptop and a Smart TV.  worked on both and the TV seemed to be plenty fast enough, did a short streaming test on Netflix and it worked. 

Yesterday I received a small travel router. I've tried to follow the instructions on how to set it up. I was able to access the http address and it brought up the setup screen, created and saved a password.

Then I've tried to teather it to my IPhone 8 without success. It does not show I am teathered. Also tried to hook the router up to my laptop and it does not show I am connected via a LAN cable.  I am gong to try a different USB cable, I know this could be an issue. 

What the heck am I doing wrong.

[jacwjames]

So I tested the teathering from phone to laptop and it worked. 

[jacwjames]

I've spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out why I can't tether my Iphone 8 to the travel router without success.  Multiple posts on various sites including the Apple troubleshooting site, no solution.

I even got a chat/help line with Apple this AM without success.  The problem has been escalated and I am expecting contact from Apple support today. 

[jacwjames]

So I had a call with an Apple support person.  She did not offer any solution yet but took down all the information and will research the issue and will provide and update on Tuesday.  If she cannot find a solution she will forward the case/information to the software department. 

 

What is odd is that this is a very common problem.  I've found it in multiple forums and even on the Apple website.  Can't believe there isn't a data base showing this as a problem. 

 

I may have to just get by using the IPhone as a hotspot.  I am currently tethered to it with my laptop and have my Smart TV connected via the hotspot on my laptop.  It seems to do fine.  Can't tell any lag, and almost seems faster then my home Wifi connection. 

 

More then one way to skin a cat!!🤑

[Dave Pumphrey]

24 minutes ago, jacwjames said:

More then one way to skin a cat!!🤑

I bet the cat doesn't like any of them!

[Rikadoo]

Morning Jim, so when you speak of this wifi router, is it ios or android? Sorry for my stupid question but can any router be used? Or is it specific?

i know the issue being tethered in that theres no way to charge the phone, or does when your connected to the computer does it charge it?

when you got your sim card does it have to be inserted to a phone or can it be plugged into a router with a sim port? There are so many options to making this stuff work it makes my head spin🤦‍♂️

[jacwjames]

I believe the router is universal.  There is an Iphone App for it, haven't tried it yet, that's my next plan of attack.

I have read, but have not confirmed whether the phone will charge when it is tethered to the router, haven't gotten that far yet.

The SIM card is suppose to be plugged into a phone, that is what I did with it.  But I have read, have not confirmed that you can move it to a separate hotspot.  I have read where people have tire it and it worked and then I've read where it hasn't worked.   Haven't gotten that far yet. 

Still trying to get the phone to tether to the router. 

If I can't the default will be to just connect to the phone, I have just tested and I can connect both the TV and Phone via hotspot (not tethered) to the phone.  This will work for me as I don't do much else. 

[jacwjames]

So I'm still working on it.

I did download an Iphone App for the router, which basically mirrored what I was seeing on the laptop when I connected wirelessly. I went through the steps to setup the router. Even reset it to start from scratch, No Joy.

I did go buy a new "Lightening Cable" and I know it is connecting to the Iphone as it it is showing charging when I'm plugged into either my laptop or the router. I did during this process make sure the charging port was free of any obstructions etc, one suggestion was to use a toothpick and then blow out the port. Not sure it this fixed the charging issue or not but the router still does not recognize the phone while tethered.

Everything sets up except the option to tether to the router.

I can tether to my laptop using the phone.

So still stuck but making my mind work a little

[jacwjames]

Finally Success!!

Got a reply for GL-iNet tech support, the sent me a link to a document that already had https://docs.gl-inet.com/router/en/4/tutorials/internet_tethering/

But i went ahead and tried the steps ONE MORE TIME.  When I plugged the phone into the router the screen finally showed the option to tether, which I did and it connected and I have an internet connection via the router and the phone plugged into it. 

I then connect the Smart TV to the router and it works.

So I'm in business

I did a speed test and I'm getting 5,9 down and 4 up.  Good enough to stream.

The next test will be phone coverage while traveling using the Verizon networks.  Big test will be in Northern Wisconsin, my next trip!!

[jacwjames]

So after giving the small travel router a good test in the house this morning I took it out and set it up in the motorhome, which is parked in the garage. 

Before, with T-Mobile, I couldn't get a good signal in the garage. 

Set up the router, plugged in the phone and it worked without any other issues as far as connecting to the router.  I then connected the Smart TV to the router, connected immediately and I tested it by streaming a Netflix show.  Seemed pretty fast loading the show, took a matter of seconds, and the show streamed. 

Looks like I'm in business.

 

This morning my wife was walking through the house holding her phone with T-Mobile up in the air trying to get a signal. 😅  She said if my test works out she will be switching when I get back from my trip. 

 

[cbr046]

1 hour ago, jacwjames said:

This morning my wife was walking through the house holding her phone with T-Mobile up in the air trying to get a signal. 😅  She said if my test works out she will be switching when I get back from my trip. 

 

Her phone should have to ability to voice or talk over internet (VoIP).  It'll be in settings if available.  👍

Verizon tower signal is extremely poor at our house so we bought a 4G "Network Extender".  It connects to the internet (wired) and outputs a cell signal, sort of like a micro tower, and it's not carrier specific for the user . . . but, because it connects to Verizon's carrier network I don't know if it would work with Visible.  That and VoIP on our phones keeps us from switching.  AT&T is smoke & mirrors as far as we're concerned. 

- bob

[jimc99999]

On 6/12/2023 at 12:33 PM, jacwjames said:

So after giving the small travel router a good test in the house this morning I took it out and set it up in the motorhome, which is parked in the garage. 

Before, with T-Mobile, I couldn't get a good signal in the garage. 

Set up the router, plugged in the phone and it worked without any other issues as far as connecting to the router.  I then connected the Smart TV to the router, connected immediately and I tested it by streaming a Netflix show.  Seemed pretty fast loading the show, took a matter of seconds, and the show streamed. 

Looks like I'm in business.

 

This morning my wife was walking through the house holding her phone with T-Mobile up in the air trying to get a signal. 😅  She said if my test works out she will be switching when I get back from my trip. 

Sprint/T-Mobile has poor coverage outside urban/suburban areas and highways. 

I used Visible for a while, via a $50 iPhone mini from Ebay and the GL-iNet AR750.  It worked most of the time, but I seem to remember having some dropouts and the tethering just stopping working sometime. I think it was somewhat better once I switched out the iPhone mini with an iPhone 7 after I upgraded. Around that time I also switched the phone to an AT&T SIM, so maybe it was the AT&T that worked better and not the iPhone 7.  

Eventually I was in a place with very poor AT&T signal. My client had an extra CradlePoint laying around so they sent me that device to try out. The better antennas did help some but the AT&T tower in that location was just unreliable.  

One thing to note is that an AT&T line that allows 100GB of hotspot data will throttle your connection to almost nothing after that 100GB, so you have to pay attention to data usage with the iPhone/GL-iNet combo uses hotspot data. The Cradlepoint apparently appears to be a cell phone and uses the unlimited cell phone data, not the hotspot data.  The CradlePoint uses more power than the iPhone/GL-iNet combo too, which might be a consideration for boondocking. I should check its power usage with the Killawatt.

I'm curious if the Netgear Nighthawk registers with the SIM as cellular or hotspot, does anyone know for sure?

[jacwjames]

1 hour ago, jimc99999 said:

I'm curious if the Netgear Nighthawk registers with the SIM as cellular or hotspot, does anyone know for sure?

I was using an ATT Mobley car connect hot spot at home but it only allowed 5 devices and seemed slow so I did move the SIM card to a Nigthawk last year.  Haven't had any problems.  Just checked, download speed was 74 but upload was 0.5 MB. 

I could probably get by with 100GB data when I'm by myself, seldom stream anything, mostly use internet to keep up with news and RV forums.  But if the price is high and if you don't need it every month the cost to keep it active is high.  In 2021 I tried a Cricket Hotspot, $55/month for 100GB.  It worked pretty good.  I used in June & July and then let it lapse and when I reactivated it in Nov it cost me $90. 

So I just decided to try the Visible plan with a hotspot.  There is a very long post on IRV2 that I had been watching for ~4 years and the visible plan gets pretty good reviews for what it is.  If you need a high speed internet connection it probably won't work for you.   I'm going to give it a good try in the coming weeks.

[Tom Wallis]

I've had many of the options mentioned above over the years and all were helpful at the time. In the beginning we use a WiFi repeater with an external antenna in order to leverage the campground Wifi but campground WiFi never was very good and still isn't. Next was a cellular hotspot. Then I added a Weboost cellular signal booster with an antenna on the TV antenna mast. Then came the Nighthawk M1 router.

For many years we had Verizon and for a while we even had one of their  Network Extenders at home because the signal was so poor. Finally about 5 or 6 years ago I got so tired of being gouged by them that we switched to T-Moble and ever since we've had 2 unlimited lines for $60 per month on their senior plan.

And now we have Starlink and at least for me it makes all that other stuff irrelevant. We've had Starlink for over a year and so far we've only had one location where I couldn't get a signal and we've stayed in the woods a number of times. Both of our phones have WiFi calling so they are fully function using only the Starlink WiFi. Whenever we stop it only takes a couple of minutes to put the dish on my ladder mounted flag pole and we have unlimited cell service, high speed internet and video streaming just about anywhere. When trees are a problem I use the 50' cord and the stand to find a spot with good enough reception.  Yes it is slower in some locations but it never gotten slow enough that it's not usable. I've also found that there's no need to run wire into the motorhome. If you put the whole setup in the basement you'll have a great signal anywhere inside.

Here's a picture of my setup.

 

[cbr046]

1 hour ago, Tom Wallis said:

And now we have Starlink and at least for me it makes all that other stuff irrelevant. We've had Starlink for over a year and so far we've only had one location where I couldn't get a signal and we've stayed in the woods a number of times.  . . .

 

 

Where do you predominantly use Starlink?  What parts of the country?

- bob

[Tom Wallis]

2 hours ago, cbr046 said:

Where do you predominantly use Starlink?  What parts of the country?

So far we've only used it in several western states but my understanding is that it should work everywhere.

[cbr046]

Nope. Got a ways to go yet

- b