Weboost antenna

[NFRicaS]

Originally Posted by Roadtrips Of Unusual Size

Newbie question here. What are the routes for getting that stubby antenna cable inside a van?

I have not done this yet, but my RV (2004 Pleasure Way) has one of those crank-up TV antennas on the roof..I never use it, so was thinking to remove it and use the existing hole to get a wire for MiMo into RV..

[Arlo]

Originally Posted by Roadtrips Of Unusual Size

Newbie question here. What are the routes for getting that stubby antenna cable inside a van?

My stubby is mounted above the Sprinter’s rear doors. The wire runs down the door side channel then inside at the bottom of the door and into the weBoost amplifier under the sofa. It’s a relatively small wire, so fairly easy to route thru any of the doors, or maybe thru a fan or antenna opening on the roof.

[gregmchugh]

Originally Posted by Roadtrips Of Unusual Size

Newbie question here. What are the routes for getting that stubby antenna cable inside a van?

On our Roadtrek Sprinter, I mounted the antenna on the driver side front and brought the cable in the top rear of the driver door and mounted the amp on the bottom of a kitchen cabinet. On the roof and side I taped the cable down using electrical tape. Moved the indoor antenna back and forth from the cab to the rear as needed.

[kdcnett]

Hi - im not familar with mimo is that a system i can buy or an antenna - if so would i also need a router - can you suggest a type ?

thanks, kim

[avanti]

Originally Posted by kdcnett

Hi - im not familar with mimo is that a system i can buy or an antenna - if so would i also need a router - can you suggest a type ?

thanks, kim

MIMO is a technique for using two or more antennas for the same RF link. It dramatically improves performance under many conditions, since the radio constantly switches to the antenna that has the best instantaneous signal. This greatly reduces multi-path and other interference. It is FAR more effective than any cell booster (which admittedly isn't saying much).

You need a cellular modem that is MIMO capable. Any device with two external antenna inputs is likely MIMO. The major providers will have at least one MIMO hot spot. You also need either two external (preferably rooftop) antennas or else a single MIMO antenna (which is really two antennas in one package).

[kdcnett]

thanks avanti- very good info - can you suggest a reasonable cost antenna and maybe the cellular modem and or where to purchase
i am new to all this

[avanti]

Originally Posted by kdcnett

thanks avanti- very good info - can you suggest a reasonable cost antenna and maybe the cellular modem and or where to purchase
i am new to all this

Here is a post from a few years ago that describes my setup:

http://www.classbforum.com/forums/f2...html#post47527

The AntennaPlus MIMO antenna is probably still a very good choice.

The Verizon Jetpack AC791L may be getting a bit long in the tooth. It is a good unit, though.

[gregmchugh]

Good video on mimo vs boosters

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=...&v=14tWiAsqfJk

[gregmchugh]

Originally Posted by kdcnett

thanks avanti- very good info - can you suggest a reasonable cost antenna and maybe the cellular modem and or where to purchase
i am new to all this

Before you spent a lot of time and money on a roof mount mimo you should try one of these to see if it works for your needs. See video I posted above for more info...


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[avanti]

Originally Posted by gregmchugh

Before you spent a lot of time and money on a roof mount mimo you should try one of these to see if it works for your needs. See video I posted above for more info...


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Nice video. Some of the details are a bit murky, but their bottom line advice is right on:
A cell booster will help you 20-30% of the time, and most of that improvement will be in UPLOAD, not download speed. (This is because the booster boosts noise as well as signal during download).

The Netgear window-mount MiMo antenna may be worth a try, and is certainly a lot better than nothing. It has pros and cons:

Pros:
--trivial to install
--has the correct TS-9 connector for most hotspots. This is good, since otherwise you need an adaptor dongle. At these frequencies, every extra connector takes a noticeable chunk out of performance, so the fewer the better.
--Inexpensive

Cons:
--It is directional. This isn't great in a window-mounted RV, since it will only work well if you are pointed in the wrong direction.
--It has no ground plane (or if there is one, it is mounted vertically, which is not optimal. A good ground plane can nearly double your gain, and the roof of your B-van is a very good one.

The AntennaPlus unit that we have is only about $100, and is magnet-mounted, so the only real hassle is getting the wire from the roof to the inside of the van. It is omnidirectional, so you will get panoramic reception.

[kdcnett]

so then do you need a Verizon Jetpack or do you use somethine else - thanks

[avanti]

Originally Posted by kdcnett

so then do you need a Verizon Jetpack or do you use somethine else - thanks

Yes, as I said above, I have a Verizon Jetpack AC791L. I don't know if a better one has become available. Many of the ones Verizon has introduced don't support MIMO.

[Arlo]

There are two more recent mobile hotspots for the Verizon network: Inseego 8800L is the latest one, preceded by the Novatel 7730L. Both have the dual TS9 ports for an external MiMo antenna.

[Snowy]

Originally Posted by avanti

The AntennaPlus unit that we have is only about $100, and is magnet-mounted, so the only real hassle is getting the wire from the roof to the inside of the van. It is omnidirectional, so you will get panoramic reception.

Avanti has as usual given great information. I would like to quibble with his assertion that omnidirectional antennas are superior. All other things being equal, a properly-oriented directional antenna will give more signal power at the receiver than an omnidirectional (nondirectional) antenna. Directional antennas can also decrease noise because they receive less well those noise sources that are off to the side of the path between you and the cell tower.

If you can't aim an antenna, as in the case of a permanent roof mount, the omnidirectional antenna may be the best choice. But if the netgear MIMO antenna can be moved to the window facing the cell tower, you can benefit from its directionality, and it may be superior to an omnidirectional antenna.

A ground plane is usually needed for vertically-oriented omnidirectional antennas such as you see on the weboost signal boosters. A ground plane may not be useful for the netgear MIMO antenna (i don't really know how this antenna is constructed, so i am unsure). For the yagi directional antennas you see (the ones that look like old style roof TV antennas), no ground plane is needed and may even cause signal loss.

[kdcnett]

thanks - very helpful - also i guess i am hearing i will need to get a device ( like verizon jetpack) and have that put under my contract? So their isn't a way/device that gets around adding another device to a contract? thanks

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Snowy

Avanti has as usual given great information. I would like to quibble with his assertion that omnidirectional antennas are superior. All other things being equal, a properly-oriented directional antenna will give more signal power at the receiver than an omnidirectional (nondirectional) antenna. Directional antennas can also decrease noise because they receive less well those noise sources that are off to the side of the path between you and the cell tower.

If you can't aim an antenna, as in the case of a permanent roof mount, the omnidirectional antenna may be the best choice. But if the netgear MIMO antenna can be moved to the window facing the cell tower, you can benefit from its directionality, and it may be superior to an omnidirectional antenna.

I agree with the above 100%. I didn't mean to imply that omni antennas were "better", merely that they are usually more practical on a mobile platform such as an RV. If you are willing to point the antenna every time, a directional antenna will almost always outperform an omni, for the reasons that Snowy stated.

A ground plane is usually needed for vertically-oriented omnidirectional antennas such as you see on the weboost signal boosters. A ground plane may not be useful for the netgear MIMO antenna (i don't really know how this antenna is constructed, so i am unsure). For the yagi directional antennas you see (the ones that look like old style roof TV antennas), no ground plane is needed and may even cause signal loss.

Antenna design is an exotic art (and I am no expert)--I suspect that a detailed discussion is beyond the scope of interest for most here. But, briefly: Ground planes are basically reflectors that bounce a mirror image of the signal up to a vertically-mounted antenna, greatly increasing their gain (i.e., sensitivity). Yagi antennas (i.e., long, horizontal, highly-directional antennas with lots of parallel horizontal bars) indeed work differently. The rearmost (largest) bar serves a somewhat analogous purpose to a ground plane (speaking loosely).

I don't know how the Netgear antenna is constructed, either, and didn't mean to imply that it would benefit from a ground plane. I just said that it doesn't have one, which likely gives it a disadvantage compared to a roof-mounted antenna. That said, there are all kinds of exotic designs around, so who knows? I'd place my money on the AntennaPlus unit, though.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by kdcnett

thanks - very helpful - also i guess i am hearing i will need to get a device ( like verizon jetpack) and have that put under my contract? So their isn't a way/device that gets around adding another device to a contract? thanks

Depending on your carrier, you may be able to move the SIM card back and forth between your phone and the Jetpack. Kind of a hassle, though.

[Snowy]

Originally Posted by kdcnett

thanks - very helpful - also i guess i am hearing i will need to get a device ( like verizon jetpack) and have that put under my contract? So their isn't a way/device that gets around adding another device to a contract? thanks

You can use a cell booster like the weboost with just your phone, but this arrangement won't provide you with the best signal except in certain limited circumstances. If you want the system that works best most of the time, you need to go MIMO which means you need a cellular hotspot with two antenna ports.

[Snowy]

Originally Posted by avanti

Antenna design is an exotic art (and I am no expert)--I suspect that a detailed discussion is beyond the scope of interest for most here. But, briefly: Ground planes are basically reflectors that bounce a mirror image of the signal up to a vertically-mounted antenna, greatly increasing their gain (i.e., sensitivity).

Again a quibble: Don't think of a ground plane as a reflector, think of it as the other side of an AC circuit. The simplest antenna is a half-wavelength dipole (two quarter-length elements oriented adjacent to each other along a line with each element working together to complete a circuit). To understand a ground plane, consider another common antenna called a quarter wave vertical. Since this antenna is only a quarter wavelength, it needs something to "work against," and that thing is a horizontal "ground plane."

With cellular, there are many frequencies, and the signals become multipath as they bounce off things so you can get a difference in timing and phase for signals hitting an antenna. This is all to say that for any given situation there are a huge number of variables and so the optimum antenna can't be determined easily except by trial and error. Thus the "exotic art."

Sorry if this was more than anyone wanted to know.

[Arlo]

Originally Posted by kdcnett

thanks - very helpful - also i guess i am hearing i will need to get a device ( like verizon jetpack) and have that put under my contract? So their isn't a way/device that gets around adding another device to a contract? thanks

In an attempt to aggregate all of the great info in this thread, if you want to stick with Verizon I’d recommend starting out with a 7730L jetpack from eBay (about $75), and a Netgear MiMo antenna from Amazon (about $30). I’d take the 7730L to a Verizon store and get a SIM for the $65/mo. 30gb/mo. prepaid plan which has no contract. This gives you enough LTE data to stream quite a bit of video and the MiMo antenna has suction cups that stick to the interior of a window, so no issue with how to route a wire into the van. Refill cards for prepaid plans can be purchased on eBay for about a 40% discount (~$25 for a $40 refill), which brings the cost down to about $40/mo. Revise equipment and data plan as needed based on your personal travel experiences.