WI-FI Class B Winnebago Boldt

[Rewirewd]

Hi
Anyone offer suggestions for WI-FI in our class B. Looking at Travlfi, Nomad and Winegard 2.0
Basic interpret, email, streaming and playoff hockey while on the road this spring.
Thank you all and Go Bruins.
Greg

[avanti]

Depends on how much you want to spend.
There are basically three approaches that are worth considering (in order of increasing cost):

1) Use your cell-phone as a hot-spot. You may have to upgrade your cellular plan before your phone will let you turn it on. Modern cell phones have VERY good radios and antennas, so this works a lot better than you might think.

2) Get a system that will allow you to put a MiMo antenna on your roof. Easiest decent way is probably to get a WiFi hotspot from your cellular provider that supports at least two external antennas (which you need for MiMo). Most hotspots do not support this, but your provider will likely have one that does. Switching to MiMo and an outdoor antenna is probably the best single thing you can do to improve performance.

3) Buy a professional-grade 5G cellular modem. These are basically hotspots on steroids, but are a LOT more expensive and a LOT more capable. Read about them here:
https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/cel...-developments/
You will also need a good antenna. If you go this route, don't scrimp. My new van has one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B097P5ZHSC
Pricy, but pretty future-proof.

Don't get talked into a cellular "repeater". The will get you a rooftop antenna, which is good. But, they only help under certain circumstances, and can often do more harm than good. [Others will disagree with this.]
Far better to go the MiMo route.

[Punkinhead]

We have a Verizon hotspot and also activated the $15/month ATT wifi hotspot that's built into our Transit since in rural areas we sometimes get an ATT signal when there's no Verizon signal.

I'll let one of the more cellular literate people chime in, but I think it's better to buy a hotspot that's a year or two out of date but has an external antenna ports than to buy the latest and greatest 5G hotspot with no antenna ports. We bought the most up to date Verizon hotspot (Inseego MiFi X PRO 5G UW) but it doesn't have any antenna ports. 5G isn't really built out yet, especially in rural areas, so I think we'd have been better off buying a 4G hotspot that allowed us to put an external antenna on the roof.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Punkinhead

I'll let one of the more cellular literate people chime in, but I think it's better to buy a hotspot that's a year or two out of date but has an external antenna ports than to buy the latest and greatest 5G hotspot with no antenna ports. We bought the most up to date Verizon hotspot (Inseego MiFi X PRO 5G UW) but it doesn't have any antenna ports. 5G isn't really built out yet, especially in rural areas, so I think we'd have been better off buying a 4G hotspot that allowed us to put an external antenna on the roof.

Agree. This is especially true at the moment, since there is a new generation of 5G chipsets in the pipeline (called "Snapdragon X65") that will make significant improvements in 5G hotspot performance. Hotspots incorporating this tech are not yet quite on the market, but should be sometime this year. Better to get something cheap and upgrade once you can get an X65 device.

I plan to go with my "option 3", but am not going to spend the money until I can get an X65 modem.

[booster]

Originally Posted by avanti

Agree. This is especially true at the moment, since there is a new generation of 5G chipsets in the pipeline (called "Snapdragon X65") that will make significant improvements in 5G hotspot performance. Hotspots incorporating this tech are not yet quite on the market, but should be sometime this year. Better to get something cheap and upgrade once you can get an X65 device.

I plan to go with my "option 3", but am not going to spend the money until I can get an X65 modem.

We have used phone or tablet hotspotting for years, but now you have to check the specs more closely. It used to be we could hotspot all our data allotment but now they are starting to put hotspotting limits and even the unlimited plans and it is often quite low when you consider how much data gets used now by many people. Getting even 50gig of hotspotting is quite expensive with most carriers.


We just changed carrier to Consumer Cellular which just recently started offering unlimited plans for talk, text, and data. The data is 50gig at 5G and then slows down, but they claim not to know how much. Hotspotting is 4GLTE and also has 50gig and we are currently trying to use 50gig at hole so we can find out if it slows down after 50gig or shuts off. My guess is that it will slow down like the data as there is no way to check how much hotspotting you have used in the plan period you are in. The price is a huge deal, though, at about $70 for two phones of the unlimited plan and 50gig of hotspotting and that is about half of what Verizon wanted to get even close on amount of hotspotting. CC uses the ATT towers and the same coverage map which actually looks a bit better than the Verizon does, but we don't know yet if they really have that much or not. For instance both Verizon and ATT show coverage in some places we have been and we know Verizon did not have it there. ATT shows coverage on the Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway and in Smoky Mountain National Park campground but everyone the posts about those place say nobody has coverage there. We hope to find out next fall.


We use a Pixel 4a or Pixel 6 for the hotspotting and at least so far the receivers seem to be very good on both of them based on limited places we have been. Our stucco house with trees all around is a tough spot anyway and CC is good there for 4G LTE.

[avanti]

I guess I should have included an option #4:

4) Starlink Roam (formerly Starlink RV). Fast, unlimited service almost everywhere. $600 one-time hardware purchase and $150/month. No commitment--you can turn the $150 on and off on a month-to-month basis. Speeds vary by conditions, but are almost always fast enough. No (official) service while in motion, although there are more expensive plans that provide that as well.

https://www.starlink.com/roam

[JonMN]

I'm taking a two-prong approach.

I wanted a wifi system that is always on so I could monitor the van temp and status from my phone. (Especially when we would have to leave our dog in for a while). For this, I went with the Solis Lite hotspot. This is one of the few hot spots where you can by data by the GB without a monthly rate. For this use it's great.

For streaming I just use my iPhone. I use a Roku for the van TV. Just make sure to set the right resolution for the TV so you don't waste a lot of bandwidth.

[booster]

Originally Posted by JonMN

I'm taking a two-prong approach.

I wanted a wifi system that is always on so I could monitor the van temp and status from my phone. (Especially when we would have to leave our dog in for a while). For this, I went with the Solis Lite hotspot. This is one of the few hot spots where you can by data by the GB without a monthly rate. For this use it's great.

For streaming I just use my iPhone. I use a Roku for the van TV. Just make sure to set the right resolution for the TV so you don't waste a lot of bandwidth.

The setting for streaming is a big deal. The lower resolution looks to be less than half of mid level and probably 1/5 of high resolution. I have been recording them at home and putting them on a flash drive in Mpeg format and added a flash drive reader to the non smart TV. That way I can do the downloading at home on the unlimited data plan and it can be used without internet available. Our biggest use is streaming the Star Tribune newspaper image, which is exactly like the print version but on the computer as an image stream of pages. A typical day is about 3/8 gig so if both of us do it data gets used quickly when done every day.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by booster

I have been recording them at home and putting them on a flash drive in Mpeg format and added a flash drive reader to the non smart TV.

What tools and procedure do you use for this?
Anybody know of a screen-capture program that has a timer like a DVR that would automate the process?

[booster]

Originally Posted by avanti

What tools and procedure do you use for this?
Anybody know of a screen-capture program that has a timer like a DVR that would automate the process?

There a couple of different PC based programs you can buy that will take video stream and record it in several different formats. I think they are all slow though as the video is played at normal speed for the best quality without glitches. The typical 3 quality levels are also settable. I don't know about a timer but I think at least some can be set to do multiple videos in sequence.


The big thing is that they claim to be completely free of copyright violations with most of the major streaming services as that would be a disqualifier if they weren't.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by booster

The big thing is that they claim to be completely free of copyright violations with most of the major streaming services as that would be a disqualifier if they weren't.

This is certainly true. The operation in question is nothing more than "time-shifting", which was litigated in the VCR days. Perfectly legal.

Yes, there are plenty of screen capture programs on all platforms. What I keep looking for is the ability to automate the process using timers and program selection, just like VCRs used to do. I would like, for example, to automatically record all episodes of a series, without manual intervention.

[booster]

Originally Posted by avanti

This is certainly true. The operation in question is nothing more than "time-shifting", which was litigated in the VCR days. Perfectly legal.

Yes, there are plenty of screen capture programs on all platforms. What I keep looking for is the ability to automate the process using timers and program selection, just like VCRs used to do. I would like, for example, to automatically record all episodes of a series, without manual intervention.

On the program I have you can do the selection of more than one on demand videos or other programming from places like Neflix and Amazon and set up the order to record them sequentially without intervention but it appears you have to be there to start it all going. I don't think it does the capturing of thinks like a cable tv broadcast that is not on demand. I will have to look closer at that and the timer thing.


I had heard, but second hand, that for some reason if you recording from an on demand source like Netflix the copyright rules are different, but that sounds like it may be incorrect based on your information.

[engnrsrule]

We have signed up for Nomad. Like the ability to pause service and supposedly really unlimited, no throttling and works when rolling. Expect to post a review when we have assessed it.

[Rewirewd]

Keep me posted on the Nomad, leaning that way.