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05-09-2019, 08:47 AM #51
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Just read through all this, very interesting. I pull my 29RS up to a piece of property in Colorado high country and leave it all summer. Cell service fluctuates from no signal to being able to send texts (30% of the time) to having emails spontaneously download with 1-2 LTE bars. All very random.
I have an older Wilson unit in my truck that +/- helps the signal. I can install anything up there since I use my 5th wheel as a cabin of sorts. Not too worried about cost, but would love to reliably get enough signal to text and communicate with my wife when she's not with me.
I have no idea where the towers are that I am pinging. I assume they are far off as the property sits fairly high. What do you experts recommend I install in this circumstance?
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05-09-2019, 09:16 AM #52
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I think you've described our first system, which we still use. Not positive, but I believe ours is the 4GX RV. I replaced the antenna with the trucker version as you suggest. (I had to take the stem apart and mount low to the ladder else we'd be taking out bridges along our route.) It works well when the signals aren't REALLY weak. If we can get fairly-solid one-bar service outside the trailer we'll usually get two-bar service or better inside with the booster on, *IF* we're within a foot or two of the inside antenna. Sometimes it seems to reach a little better than that inside, but not always and it doesn't nearly cover the whole interior.
There are times though when it's not enough. When service is weak or even non-existent outside according to our handheld devices, we've been able to get a signal inside using the stronger Connect 4G system. There's a way of monitoring actual signal strength received on our iPhones (bars are not reliable indicators) and we can rotate the directional outside antenna while watching that to find whatever signal is out there. The inside antenna gives pretty good coverage, not bad even in the bedroom when our antenna is on the back wall of the trailer.
Note that our experiences are all near civilization of some kind, just sometimes in areas not well-served by our providers. These boosters are not magic - they can't boost a signal if they can't find one - so I'd *guess* that they will disappoint people who like to get really remote, several dozens of miles or more from the nearest tower. But they've both been required and useful to us in our travels.Mark - 2018 Solitude 310GK - 2017 F-350 diesel SRW short box - Pullrite Superglide hitch
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05-09-2019, 09:33 AM #53
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I am NOT an expert, and not just saying that just to sound modest.
However based on my experience a Connect 4G is probably a good solution for you. With the directional outside antenna solidly mounted about 30-35 feet in the air and pointed at the best signal source for your location, and with the inside antenna mounted in a way that minimizes crosstalk between the two antennas, you'd almost certainly improve the consistency and performance of your connection.
How do you learn where the towers are so you can properly point your antenna? On some (not all) iPhones there's a "secret" number sequence you can dial to see a diagnostic screen for the phone. One of the details provided is received signal strength expressed in decibels - much more reliable than the bars we usually look at. Rotate the antenna while watching the decibels change and you'll find your strongest source.
I believe that similar information (and much more) is available through apps on Android phones. Here's a page about the iPhone feature:
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-t...rength-2014-11
Good luck with your choices.Last edited by boyscout; 05-09-2019 at 09:35 AM.
Mark - 2018 Solitude 310GK - 2017 F-350 diesel SRW short box - Pullrite Superglide hitch
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05-09-2019, 11:01 AM #54
Cell Booster > Weboost Alternative - Surecall Fusion 3.0 RV
Just keep in mind gentlemen, bars do not equate to bandwidth, as I pointed out last year in post # 26 above...
Case in point...
Right now we're boon-docking on someone's ranch in Oregon, the Weboost is on, antenna raised, I have 3 bars and yet...
This is my download/upload speed on Verizon, I've done this test several times as you can see in the photo.
I’ll also attach a photo of my wife’s iPhone, on T-mobile showing 1 bar of connectivity yet her DL speed is far faster than mine.
Last edited by DaveMatthewsBand; 05-09-2019 at 11:06 AM.
Resistance is Not Futile, It's Voltage Divided by Current.
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05-09-2019, 12:04 PM #55
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05-19-2019, 11:46 AM #56
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Hi boyscout!
Something you and others haven't addressed is the antenna gain and the Weboost Booster ability to scale back its gain to limit the power boost to prevent oscillations and interference from the cell towers.
You mention that the dispersal antenna broadcasts more strongly (see red font) with the Connect 4G so your option here is to change the dispersal antenna for one with a lower gan to minimize interference. The Connect 4G comes with a 75Ω panel antenna # 311155 having a max gain of 10.6dBi (ranges from 4.2 - 10.6Dbi depending on the frequency band) which means a lower gain antenna may work for your RV. Probably a 75Ω versions of WeBoost desktop antenna #301208 with a max gain of 3.4dBi would be good. There is a 75Ω dispersal dome antenna # 3010151 with a max gain of 4dBi. Check out one of the online booster companies or eBay to fins another companies antenna to work with the WeBoost.
I recommend that you check your carrier's frequencies used when selecting an antenna to make sure the antenna is optimized for your carrier. While most wide Band antennas work, the antenna construction dictates which frequencies have the most gain. I have used mostly WeBoost products but also Altelix antennas. Here is a reference for the Weboost products showing the antenna gain per frequency band.
If you haven't realized yet, the WeBoost booster will decrease its power input if too close to a cell tower and will also limit it's power output per frequency band to the dispersal antenna if it senses feedback (oscillations) between the external and internal (dispersal) antenna. Even if there is sufficient signal, you may not see any increase in signal if the booster has limited or shut down power to the dispersal antenna.
I will dig up the light pattern; however, with the recent boosters having only one indicator light its unclear how to determine a specific band being limited. On my older unit, I have 4 indicator lights showing me the status of each band.
I've seen a description of the indicator lights and will post a link to it when I can find it again.
Whether using WeBoost, Surecall or any other booster, antenna gain and booster feedback is an issues that needs to be addressed each time the booster is deployed.Aaron & Donna
2014 Solitude 369RLS #1067
2010 Dodge RAM 3500 SLT Mega-Cab 4x4 SRW 6.7L Cummins Diesel
AMP Power Step Running Boards, Bed Step, & Bed Step2; Garmin RV760 GPS & EEZRV TPMS; Truck Covers USA Roll Cover
Firestone Rear Air Suspension System, on-board compressor with 5 Gallon tank and Air port; Hijacker 16K Ultra Slider 5th Wheel Hitch, Dee Zee Truck Tailgate Assist; DU-HA Humpstor Truck Bed Storage Box; Voyager Rear Back Up Camera System
YAKUPS® Vertical Kayak Rack and Custom Lippert 2" Receiver; Sailun S637ST tires; WeBoost Cell Phone Booster.
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05-19-2019, 02:53 PM #57
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Aaron / Donna, thanks for the extra detail about antennas. As my post indicated, using the Connect 4G device in an RV does require attention to antenna separation and isolation.
Rather than replacing the internal antenna - though I'll look into your suggestions - I've set the inside/outside antennas directly above/below each other and well-separated by at least 20 feet, and even used tin foil on top of the internal antenna occasionally to shield them from each other. Without these measures (and/or using a lower-gain internal antenna as you recommend) to reduce crosstalk between the antennas, the booster as you said rolls its power and the user's benefit back significantly, but the lone status light doesn't provide much warning of that reduction until the system has severely throttled itself back due to interference issues.
The other circumstance you describe - being close to a strong cell tower signal - isn't an issue we've experienced but I don't doubt your advice that that, too, will cause the device to throttle itself back. If we can get a strong-enough signal without deploying either of our two boosters we do that, because data speed is best in direct communication with the tower rather than through the booster. (I've forgotten why; I believe something to do with the booster being single-channel while LTE communication without the booster uses two channels... is that right?)
Anyway, we start with no booster, deploy the weaker 4GX-RV when we can't get a reliable signal, and only deploy the Connect 4G if the 4GX-RV can't give us the performance we need. We have needed it a few times.Mark - 2018 Solitude 310GK - 2017 F-350 diesel SRW short box - Pullrite Superglide hitch
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05-20-2019, 01:22 PM #58
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I didn't realize you use the 2 boosters in that way. Makes sense if you have multiple boosters of different gain, but I don't so I've never noticed if the LTE performance through the booster is less efficient than direct with the cell tower. I'll have to look into that, just cause I'm curious as its not a problem when driving, as I'm not using the phone for heavy data. I myself just have the one booster in the truck and another one in the trailer so when the signal craps out, I just turn on the booster. If the signal is to weak in the truck, I ignore it as its not critical. In the trailer however, I will switch to the stronger directional antenna if I'm too far for my omni directional antenna to pull in the signal.
The only other issue with the booster that I encountered is that it needs to be manually reset if it throttles back from being too close to the cell tower. So while driving, I often flip the power switch to make sure the booster is functioning at maximum power.
Putting metal shielding between the two antennas is a good way to reduce feedback from the other antenna (I've even seen WeBoost or one of the other companies sell a shield of sort to do just that).
The only other suggestion I have is for you to focus on fine tuning your system to ensure you are maximizing the gain for the LTE frequency band your carrier uses, as it sounds that is whats most important to you. The booster and antenna specs list the dBi per frequency band.Aaron & Donna
2014 Solitude 369RLS #1067
2010 Dodge RAM 3500 SLT Mega-Cab 4x4 SRW 6.7L Cummins Diesel
AMP Power Step Running Boards, Bed Step, & Bed Step2; Garmin RV760 GPS & EEZRV TPMS; Truck Covers USA Roll Cover
Firestone Rear Air Suspension System, on-board compressor with 5 Gallon tank and Air port; Hijacker 16K Ultra Slider 5th Wheel Hitch, Dee Zee Truck Tailgate Assist; DU-HA Humpstor Truck Bed Storage Box; Voyager Rear Back Up Camera System
YAKUPS® Vertical Kayak Rack and Custom Lippert 2" Receiver; Sailun S637ST tires; WeBoost Cell Phone Booster.
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05-20-2019, 02:01 PM #59
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The external antenna system is the key here
It sounds as though you have sufficient signal but as with all radio frequencies it's subject to man made and natural interference which is why your signal fluctuates. To get a consistent signal, you need to install a high gain directional antenna and quite possibly two (2) directional antennas with a combiner to increase the signal you feed to the booster ignorer to get a stronger signal. The combiner is like a TV splitter that works in reverse. Instead of splitting the signal from one antenna to two TVs, the combiner adds the signal from both antennas to increase the signal received to send to one TV. Of course it's a little more complicated as you are playing with bi-directional wide band RF signals, but thats the idea.
From your post, its not clear if you have a booster in your trailer or just your truck. The other variable is that I don't know the antenna specifications or the carrier you are using. There are a few cell phone companies using somewhat bizarre frequency bands. Its important to know the carrier to ensure you have the correct booster and antennas for the frequencies you need to boost. And of course, knowing how far you are from the cell tower would help (there are many websites and apps to help with that). One other critical factor is that you need to use low loss cables and minimize connections to preserve the signal you collect from the antennas.
If you have a booster, the most cost effective way is to purchase two antennas, combiner, cables, etc. to build the system you need. If you don't have a booster or you need a different one to match your carrier than you can just call one of the companies, explain your situation and they will recommend a system and they will help you tweak it to maximize the signal performance. Most of the companies offer 30-60 day support and free returns if the system doesn't work.
Hope this helps. Sorry for not responding sooner been on the road traveling.Aaron & Donna
2014 Solitude 369RLS #1067
2010 Dodge RAM 3500 SLT Mega-Cab 4x4 SRW 6.7L Cummins Diesel
AMP Power Step Running Boards, Bed Step, & Bed Step2; Garmin RV760 GPS & EEZRV TPMS; Truck Covers USA Roll Cover
Firestone Rear Air Suspension System, on-board compressor with 5 Gallon tank and Air port; Hijacker 16K Ultra Slider 5th Wheel Hitch, Dee Zee Truck Tailgate Assist; DU-HA Humpstor Truck Bed Storage Box; Voyager Rear Back Up Camera System
YAKUPS® Vertical Kayak Rack and Custom Lippert 2" Receiver; Sailun S637ST tires; WeBoost Cell Phone Booster.
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05-20-2019, 03:58 PM #60
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Yup. The more-powerful Connect 4G was purchased after the 4GX-RV couldn't pull out any signal after our arrival at a new-to-us RV park.
I could have started by just trying a higher-gain directional external antenna on the 4GX-RV, but (a) all sources of this stuff were ~50 miles away and I wasn't going to make multiple trips and (b) I had long wanted a higher-gain inside antenna so that we didn't have to huddle around the low-gain internal antenna of the 4GX-RV. So I just went to Best Buy and bought the Connect 4G which had higher-gain antennas inside and outside and it did the trick at that location. We've needed a few times since... cell company coverage maps are - to put it politely - somewhat embellished at times.
To be clear I haven't experienced this either, I've read about it. We're not using a booster unless we can't get good coverage from a cell tower, so I haven't compared booster performance to direct cell tower performance. However I did read a warning somewhere that the boosters won't ever work as quickly as a direct connection, and I *think* the reason had something to do with the way LTE channels are used, the booster operates on one channel only while in direct connection the tower and the device can use two channels? Again, I'm NOT certain that's the reason, but it's what I remember.Last edited by boyscout; 05-20-2019 at 04:00 PM.
Mark - 2018 Solitude 310GK - 2017 F-350 diesel SRW short box - Pullrite Superglide hitch
My 397, finally
Today, 05:32 AM in General Discussion