Visit our Popular Forums

nryn · 02-20-2019, 03:35 PM

I suspect that they will start pre-wiring trailers for this in the 2020 or 2021 model year and it will either be a simple drop-in and activate install at the dealer or a factory option.

The hardware and install price is what you’d expect for a factory/OEM offering — not insane but not exactly price competitive. As of now the plan is the most appealing aspect of this (as it should be).

I went ahead a month or two ago with already-available products on the new trailer that accomplish the same thing (more or less). I’m not locked into a mobile provider and as such, can choose devices that suit our needs (which this year include Canada and some Verizon-only parts of the country).

Still, I think it’s a good offering by Airstream and AT&T and should do well in terms of making their offerings appealing to the growing number of folks who can’t survive without being connected.

Daquenzer · 02-20-2019, 03:41 PM

Far cheaper to get a Weboost system and use your phone as a hotspot or buy a wireless modem. I would never pay for this. I would have to be on the road 24/7 to make it cost effective. A Weboost works with any carrier.

Colossus · 02-20-2019, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OTRA15

What is a "standardized process for installation" . . . that is a new one to us . . .

Lol ... too funny. I’m getting ahead of myself.

turk123 · 02-21-2019, 09:52 PM

Sam has verified once again that the Peplink modem with the "campground" feature turned on, slows the system down by over half. His is performing exactly as mine did. Once he had airstream turn off that feature, his speed doubled. He has added a second wireless router and reported. "I went from averaging 9-11 Mbps with campground feature to averaging 16-18 Mbps immediately after it was turned off, so almost double the speed."

This is exactly what we've been reporting about the Peplink issues with the campground feature being turned on. If you believe the campground feature is something you need, keep it on. Otherwise, if you shut off "LAN as WAN" on the peplink router you will more than double your speed.

Mine is shut off! Never ever had faith in a campground WiFi nor do I want the security issues.

turk123 · 02-21-2019, 09:56 PM

The second wireless router will also allow speeds into the 60 MB down area. Common up speeds are 25 - 35 Mb up. Once you get the Airstream package installed, add a second router to the system to improve not only the speed but the communication issues that the Peplink has.

kittmaster · 02-22-2019, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turk123

The second wireless router will also allow speeds into the 60 MB down area. Common up speeds are 25 - 35 Mb up. Once you get the Airstream package installed, add a second router to the system to improve not only the speed but the communication issues that the Peplink has.

Isn't there a firmware update that can be applied to solve the hardware issue? I'm sure the OEM has to have some feedback this is an issue and can be corrected with a firmware update.

turk123 · 02-22-2019, 06:56 AM

There has been a firmware update (some 3-4 months ago) that did not address any of these issues even though Peplink was aware of the issues Airstream was having. To date, Peplink believes there is no issue with their modem.

The issues:

Connectivity with WiFi radio is spotty and exhibits timeout errors. Ping Google (8.8.8.8) and watch the results.

Campground feature WiFi as WAN slows the WiFi on the ATT cell side by over half. Shutting off this "feature" corrects the problem. (I incorrectly called this LAN as Wan earlier).

The antenna is installed incorrectly on most Classics. Causes signal to drop when you walk from the front to the back. Ground plane issue (Airstream problem mostly). I know of two "new" installations with the new antenna that still has this problem.

The Pepwave modem WiFi is only a single frequency 2.4 GHz radio (no 5 GHz). Does not take advantage of today's faster speed. Not really a problem, but not really the best choice of modem either.

The Peplink modem and the antenna that Airstream is using are remarkably strong in pulling in a cell signal. It seems to work as well or better than my WeBoost and it is not a boost system. It is the WiFi radio in the Peplink that is the problem and the way they have it configured through firmware. New firmware IS probably the solution for all this, but getting Peplink to rewrite or even address these issues is the biggest problem of all. This device was designed for police cars and government vehicles using the GPS and direct connect to the internet, not by WiFi, but using an ethernet cable. I doubt they would rewrite the code just for Airstream when their other clients do not use this modem in the way Airstream wants to use it. I might add that Airstream's Czone Smart technology to run the trailer does not have ANY issues. You guessed it! Czone and Airstream go into the modem with an ethernet cable direct and do not rely on the WiFi. Hence our proposed fix here by using a second wireless router plugged into the one available ethernet port.

**wulfraat** · 02-22-2019, 05:20 PM

Do you know the manufacturer and model of the exterior antenna airstream are using? Trying to determine performance as compared to my currently installed surecall omni-directional antenna that I use with my weboost

ghaynes755 · 02-23-2019, 08:27 AM

Antenna is/was this one. https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/gea...tion-antennas/

Mike G · 02-23-2019, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffmc306

Airstream is now offering their “Airstream Connected” solution with AT&T 4G LTE and WiFi Hotspot in a dealer installed solution with an MSRP of $999.

I wonder if Airstream will offer this as a factory-installed option or perhaps at Jackson Center. Has anyone had this installed yet?

https://www.airstream.com/connected/

It appears Canadian Airstream owners are left out in the cold again. Why is this only available to people with U.S. addresses? It can only be used in the U.S.. It can't be used in Canada, so why the restriction? We tour the U.S. a lot in our AS, and would really like to have this.

I get it with satellite TV. The constent is licensed by country. But this is literally, strictly, a U.S. based product.

turk123 · 02-28-2019, 08:30 AM

I just joined the Mobile Internet Resource Center. It is run by a Husband and wife who have become probably the best source for mobile internet and RVing. It is subscription based ($80/year) and will allow me to ask a million questions about cell technology and use of the Peplink modem that Airstream is using.

I've given up trying to understand the Peplink modem without having any access to it. Hopefully, Chris and Cherie will be able to help me understand what is going on. They actually use a Peplink modem in their bus. The use of WiFi as WAN in the Peplink is baffling to me. It constantly slows the speed quite drastically. Turning WiFi over WAN off improves the bandwidth and speed within the trailer.

That's gonna be my first question.

OTRA15 · 02-28-2019, 08:57 AM

Thanks for the update. That resource has been mentioned a few times here, so I imagine the search box above in blue might point in some helpful directions.

Peter

turk123 · 02-28-2019, 01:20 PM

I just did some research on the Mobile Internet Resource Center and found quite a bit of information about the peplink.

One thing is clear. When WiFi as WAN (campground feature) is turned on as is from the factory, The cell internet bandwidth will take a HUGE hit. The processor is running not only the local area network but this new outside network from the campground. It has shown to be overwhelmed by the load. The findings are clear. To get fast speeds with the cell internet, you have to turn WiFi as WAN off in the router. Airstream has to do it.

Also, Peplink WiFi speeds are very slow. The wireless radio is a single band and can only do 2ghz. I'm looking into something called "health mode" that may be monitoring the signal and may cause interruptions on a 6-second cycle hence the timeouts I've been plagued with.

Plugging in the second wireless router bypasses the inferior Peplink WiFi radio. It also allows you to use the newer 5ghz dual-band routers and gives you a platform that is unlocked.

Mobile Internet Resource Center actually recommends using a third-party wireless router with the Peplink to avoid all the shortcomings with that product. That tells me a lot. And it verifies the problems that the Peplink br1 mini has. Airstream has not recognized these issues and seems a bit stubborn about resolving it. My next call is to Dan in customer service to see what he says.

**wulfraat** · 02-28-2019, 01:43 PM

Really good field testing here.

Sounds like a processor / hardware issue - not sure AS can do anything other than wait for the next generation device to be released. Maybe firmware update in the future might address some of this if peplink wrote some sloppy code or what have you.

Glad to hear that they can at least turn WiFi off remotely, so you can run a cat 5/6 Ethernet cable to the wan port of a separate wireless router.

turk123 · 02-28-2019, 02:39 PM

People are also wondering if a WeBoost would help the Airstream installation. The answer is yes and no.

The WeBoost is only using one side of the signal from the cell. It can boost it, but you get half the speed. That is why I've seen a 4 bar signal but no bandwidth or speed. Actually connecting the weboost antenna to the peplink system is the most efficient way to do it. But it has been reported that 70% of the time, the Weboost hurts the signal more than helps. Only if the signal is not detectable by the roof antenna on the Peplink will the WeBoost help.

Also, with the mimo antenna (two leads) the Peplink outperforms the WeBoost hands down. In effect, the Airstream system is a type of booster WITH both leads from the Mimo antenna.

OTRA15 · 02-28-2019, 04:25 PM

. . . clear as mud . . .

[not complaining tho . . . ]

Thanks for all the details,

Peter

turk123 · 03-02-2019, 06:56 AM

Peplink makes another modem called the Pepwave br1 mk2. It is a newer model. It has two WiFi radios in it (2GHz and 5GHz)and I believe two processors. What this modem allows you to do is to set a priority for the cell signal to go to one radio and the campground to go to another radio. That way eliminating the one radio in the "mini" from getting overwhelmed and slowing the whole modem down. The mini has just the 2GHz radio.

Of course, this modem is twice the cost and we will probably not see this on our current model Classic, but if Airstream had done their homework, they may have uncovered the issue in the Mini. Clearly, the "campground wifi" feature needs to be turned off in the mini for this reason. It will work but will slow your speeds drastically.

There are basically two companies that are making these devices, Peplink and Cradlepoint. From my reading, Cradlepoint is by far ahead in the offerings and feature department. Peplink has followed and has eventually matched Cradlepoint with their features, but clearly is not the leader of the two. Cradlepoint offerings are more expensive of the two and Peplink seems to be the value leader hence the choice here.

kittmaster · 03-02-2019, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turk123

Peplink makes another modem called the Pepwave br1 mk2. It is a newer model. It has two WiFi radios in it (2GHz and 5GHz)and I believe two processors. What this modem allows you to do is to set a priority for the cell signal to go to one radio and the campground to go to another radio. That way eliminating the one radio in the "mini" from getting overwhelmed and slowing the whole modem down. The mini has just the 2GHz radio.

Of course, this modem is twice the cost and we will probably not see this on our current model Classic, but if Airstream had done their homework, they may have uncovered the issue in the Mini. Clearly, the "campground wifi" feature needs to be turned off in the mini for this reason. It will work but will slow your speeds drastically.

There are basically two companies that are making these devices, Peplink and Cradlepoint. From my reading, Cradlepoint is by far ahead in the offerings and feature department. Peplink has followed and has eventually matched Cradlepoint with their features, but clearly is not the leader of the two. Cradlepoint offerings are more expensive of the two and Peplink seems to be the value leader hence the choice here.

Are there links/model #s for these? Are they just drop in place? I'm having it installed and in the future I may want to upgrade it. Would be nice to have a link to the exact models you describe.

turk123 · 03-02-2019, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kittmaster

Are there links/model #s for these? Are they just drop in place? I'm having it installed and in the future I may want to upgrade it. Would be nice to have a link to the exact models you describe.

If you are having Airstream install your system, they lock the Pepwave Br1 mini. You do not have the password to get in. If you use another modem in the future, Airstream and ATT will not support it. The airstream hardware is tied to the ATT account. We have no option there.

If later on, you want to get away from the airstream system and add your own, you may as well do the research then as this technology is moving way to fast and any models today will not apply one year from now. You can look at all the modems at each manufacturer's websites.

turk123 · 03-02-2019, 08:15 AM

I hope I am not boring everyone here and I know I sound like a broken record with my recommendations. I just want to understand all this technology better and want to solve issues that I had right out of the gate with my 2019 Classic and it's WiFi.

I want to make clear that the hardware Airstream is providing is industry standard proven technology. The MIMO antennas on the roof are state of the art and I commend Airstream for choosing it. The inherent hiccup in the system was including the WiFi as WAN feature (campground wifi). So why include it?

I have a friend who right now is in a campground full time that has relatively good WiFi (I know cause I stayed there). The ATT signal most times is marginal. He has the WiFi as WAN turned on. He uses the campground most of the time, but when it gets slow, he jumps back to his ATT account. He is not seeing more than .7 MB down from that account but sometimes gets 3 mb down. He is telling me that they tried turning off WiFi as WAN and he saw no difference. That may or may be accurate as the signal at that location for ATT was horrible when I was there and in fact, turning off WiFi as WAN may not make a noticeable difference in minimal conditions. So he can live with the situation and choose what signal to use when he needs to. I don't believe this is the norm as I've traveled extensively with my trailer and have found the ATT signal to be wonderful with this system (plus second router).

If you shut WiFi as WAN off, remember you can always use your cell phones and other devices with the campground WiFi directly. That way you will get the fastest speeds using ATT.