A real data plan deal for owners of new Airstreams

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by KelloggKid

When I participated in a recent Airstream survey, it was implied that the installed price for this upgrade would be about $1,000. The official announcement on the website has no mention of pricing. Post #74 states that the cost is $999 but does not mention whether or not that includes installation.

Does anyone know what the approximate installed cost for the Airstream Connect upgrade will be?

Hi

The implication is that $999 includes installation. I'm not sure that is clearly spelled out in all of the places I've seen AS talk about the setup (or if it is correct).

Bob

[turk123]

I thought I would jump in here. I've done extensive testing with the Airstream hotspot with an Airstream employee Jason and a few people at JC. You can follow my thread here:

http://http://www.airforums.com/foru...187275-13.html

The current system as of today is very flawed. It is not performing as expected and more and more Classic owners are finding this out. At the heart of the problem is the Peplink "Pepwave modem". In my thread, you will read the trials and tribulation of testing the system over a four-month period. The modems promised performance specs have not been met.

I cannot possibly recount the hundreds of hours spent testing the system, but you can read all about it in my thread. It involved Airstream and a Peplink engineer. My equipment was replaced as we began thinking the hardware was bad, but the new hardware performed the same. The symptoms are poor WiFi performance while the "campground wifi" feature called "wifi over wan" is turned on. You cannot use this feature without suffering a 10x reduction of bandwidth on the wifi in the trailer. Another symptom is poor wifi connectivity even though your signal is 100% and strong. Symptoms include freezes and inability to stream more than 3-5 minutes. The 10 devices proported by the Peplink people to be supported increases your chances for failure of the system.

Airstream through our testing has concluded the original antennas on Classic models up to 4-6 weeks ago have been installed wrong. They grounded the antenna to the aluminum shell and the entire trailer has become a ground plane. Not good. They have since replaced the antenna with a new version and now know how to fix the old one. The new antenna will incorporate 5g. Us old guys get the 4g antenna. If you own an early 2019 Classic, get your antenna fixed at a dealer. The grounding issue will not fix the other issues I will explain here.

As of today, Peplink and Airstream do not have a solution and are still perplexed at a solution for this operation.

There is a solution that we discovered through several forum members who worked to come up with a workaround. It involved installing a second router to bypass the flawed WiFi radio in the Peplink. I've now tested this solution for over a week and it outperforms the Peplink WiFi radio hands down. No drops, freezes or slow speeds. It will double the speeds of the peplink (with the campground feature turned off.) and still maintains the working smart technology in the peplink that controls the trailer through the internet.

The second router (in my case a $19 wireless router from Fry's) plug into the Peplink by passing the peplinks WiFi radio that, well, just does not work. I have documentation and installation procedures that are easy to follow and will correct the flaw in the Airstream system.

So what is Airstream saying about this? I think they have a big problem and are not admitting it to their dealers as they closely watch and follow our solution here. Our solution works and it would involve Airstream admitting the peplink flaw and installing a second router in each trailer. Peplink I would think is scrambling to fix their router's wifi radio, but there may be a problem with that solution. First of all, if their drops, freezes are corrected through firmware, they still will have not tackled the speed issue. They are doing something in their firmware that is causing a halving in speed. If you've ever played with range extenders you will quickly realize that their operation will halve your bandwidth. I believe a similar situation is happening here.

The fix is simple and inexpensive for us, so I'm not trying to "dump" on the Airstream hotspot as it's smart technology (Czone connection) works very well. It's just the performance of that flawed modem and the inability for peplink as a company to fix it that really bugs me and Airstream alike. I can tell you that Airstream is not happy with this product and how it has held up their program.

I have not heard much from Airstream since I proved to them this new solution outperforms their wireless modem hands down. I believe they are treating this as one more customer's problem has been solved. I am not the only one who has had this problem and it is repeatable every time. I do believe Airstream is pressing Peplink to step up and fix this. To date, over 5 months of testing, Peplink has only given us one update and that was months ago. It was a failure.

So before spending a thousand dollars to upgrade to this solution, wait. I predict that Airstream will abandon the peplink modem for another product soon. You can also go ahead with the system knowing you can incorporate the second router into your system and be confident it will run rings around the peplink WiFi radio and, for little cost. My $19 router also has a wifi radio that will send a signal outside the trailer over 75 feet with no loss in bars. I've now been able to run 5 videos on 5 devices at the same time without one glitch. That was with average cell phone reception.

The system that Airstream has put into the Classics is not a cell booster. It does not boost campground wifi either. It's antenna does perform very very well and it feels like a boosted signal. It's that good. If only it had a proper WiFi radio to transmit what it is receiving.

I'll include this image of a speedtest of the working wifi system utilizing a second wifi router plugged into the peplink LAN port and configured independently of the smart system and peplink wifi radio. I am currently located just off route 1 in Cayucos, california out in nowhere!

[Rocinante]

It's a shame they didn't go with Cradlepoint for their LTE router. Sure, it's expensive, but it works like crazy under all kinds of conditions. <sigh>

[turk123]

Originally Posted by Rocinante

It's a shame they didn't go with Cradlepoint for their LTE router. Sure, it's expensive, but it works like crazy under all kinds of conditions. <sigh>

Yep! Good point.

The peplink was designed for industrial use in vehicles such as police cars, county trucks, etc. Most of these use the GPS (which is outstanding on the peplink) and the wired internet, which is where we are plugging in the second router. Most of peplinks targeted installations are not using the WiFi radio in the unit. I believe that is why Peplink has not discovered this error before.

Just to clear things up, the Peplink modem has two simm cards. One is for the czone / smart technology, the other is for your new AT&T account and hotspot.

The czone/internet connection is stable and works fine. It is stable because it is hard-wired to the other internet lan port on the Peplink modem. Remember, that is where we are plugging in also. (the other available port and is why both the Czone and the second router work just fine.)

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by turk123

I thought I would jump in here. I've done extensive testing with the Airstream hotspot with an Airstream employee Jason and a few people at JC. You can follow my thread here:

http://http://www.airforums.com/foru...187275-13.html

The current system as of today is very flawed.
. . .

Thanks for the update.

FYI the link above does not work for me. The following link, for your dedicated thread, may be a better place for everyone else to start, rather than your long checklist thread IMO?

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f540...es-190596.html

Checklist thread FYI: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f540...st-187275.html

Thanks again for the updates on the AS/ATT plan.

Peter

[OTRA15]

PS -- Everyone interested in this "magic bullet" ATT/AS plan should take the time to read turk123's Post #82 in all of its excruciating detail.

A sad state of affairs . . .

[turk123]

Oops! Sorry for the bad link. I thought it worked when I posted it. Hmmmm

The new news today is that the ATT website where you sign up for the two Airstream data plans has changed and no longer works. There are quite a few new Classic owners who can not sign up for the plans.

It appears that ATT changed the website and linked to the wrong signup page. Airstream knows about it, but ATT has to do the fixing. The plan remains intact, you just can't sign up for it!

[KelloggKid]

Turk123 - Thank you for the informative post. It was very timely as I had contacted my dealer to make an appointment to have this system installed in my FC and was waiting for his reply. Your post has saved me from making a big mistake.

I not only have no interest in spending money on a flawed system but even if it did work I don't like the idea that AS has locked the router down and won't share the password. If I pay for a router I want to be able to have some control over it. I imagine they are trying to avoid having newbies mess up the settings and then expecting them to fix it. I understand that concern but just hate the idea of being forever reliant on someone else to deal with my equipment.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by KelloggKid

. . .
I not only have no interest in spending money on a flawed system but even if it did work I don't like the idea that AS has locked the router down and won't share the password. If I pay for a router I want to be able to have some control over it. I imagine they are trying to avoid having newbies mess up the settings and then expecting them to fix it. I understand that concern but just hate the idea of being forever reliant on someone else to deal with my equipment.

^^^ x2

Thanks for this detail. Talk about a total boondoggle!

Just like the Basecamp axle which required a fleet-wide recall, and the BC fridge which does not work right in hot weather and direct sun.

Does Airstream test anything before they release it, or are we just unpaid Beta-testers for new products?

[nryn]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Does Airstream test anything before they release it, or are we just unpaid Beta-testers for new products?

Candidly, I think this is true for pretty much everything at this point. It's perceived as better corporate practice to get something that's 90% done out there than it is to hold it up in QA for the remaining 10%.

I'm not saying I agree with this approach, just that it is VERY common. The situations in which Turk reports this Airstream/ATT system fails are 100% daily use cases for the majority of people (wireless access, more than one device). Hard to see how a situation that commonplace and which fails repeatably passed the most rudimentary test cases. So IMO this is not a case of "remaining 10%"

I'm still much more keen on the plan than on the hardware. The base modem being locked down doesn't bother me too much; all of these systems will have some locked hardware, whether it's the base modem or the mobile hotspot. I'm fine with (and would prefer) a secondary router (thanks again, Turk, for all the legwork you've put into this) but I have a month or so before I have to pull the trigger one way or another (i.e. AS/ATT vs. SureCall/hotspot).

[KelloggKid]

Originally Posted by nryn

......I'm still much more keen on the plan than on the hardware.......

I find the AT&T plan quite attractive and would jump on it if the hardware was working. Or if there was a way to get the plan with different hardware.

[turk123]

Originally Posted by KelloggKid

I find the AT&T plan quite attractive and would jump on it if the hardware was working. Or if there was a way to get the plan with different hardware.

The issue is easily fixed with adding the second router. It is true that the hardware that is offered now is flawed, but the second router solution works so well that it is still worth the price of admission. ATT is not going to sell you the unlimited plan without the hardware. As I said before, my $19 router works perfectly. Today I have 71 Mb down and 41 Mb up. Can't get better than that and with little work for the install of the second router.

Airstream may get around to fixing the Peplink problem, but I fear it will still have the "half" bandwidth problem just by the way it works. Airstream told me that 18 Mb down is their target and their average. They said it was "good enough". I say what happens when you get to an area that the cell signal is not very strong? Do they want you to accept 1.5 down instead of 3 down?

The second router solution is the way to go even if they get the pepllink WiFi radio to work.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by turk123

The issue is easily fixed with adding the second router. It is true that the hardware that is offered now is flawed, but the second router solution works so well that it is still worth the price of admission. ATT is not going to sell you the unlimited plan without the hardware. As I said before, my $19 router works perfectly. Today I have 71 Mb down and 41 Mb up. Can't get better than that and with little work for the install of the second router.

Airstream may get around to fixing the Peplink problem, but I fear it will still have the "half" bandwidth problem just by the way it works. Airstream told me that 18 Mb down is their target and their average. They said it was "good enough". I say what happens when you get to an area that the cell signal is not very strong? Do they want you to accept 1.5 down instead of 3 down?

The second router solution is the way to go even if they get the pepllink WiFi radio to work.

Hi

The "half bandwidth" thing should only apply at the maximum rate. When you hit a marginal location and 3 is all you can get, you would still get the 3. The bottleneck is at your trailer rather than at the tower or going to/from the tower.

That said, indeed 15 to 20 is pretty poor by today's standards. My AT&T Unlimited plan hotspot modems all do much better than that. (Same company, different unlimited plan).

Bob

[UncleBad]

Originally Posted by turk123

Airstream may get around to fixing the Peplink problem.... The second router solution is the way to go even if they get the pepllink WiFi radio to work.

Turk123, I tried to get to the original thread to see which specific peplink router the AS Connect system comes with. Can you share the modem specifics here please?

I do not have the AS Connect system (yet) but I had previously installed my own Peplink modem to create a private network in our AS and it does not have issues when using wifi over wan.

Here is the unit I have:
Peplink SUS-SOHO-T Pepwave Surf Soho MK3 Router https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ENUY568..._IR1nCbA55R0R4

So I am thinking I would use this as my “second router” unless it is the same router the AS Connect system comes with and it’s a weird combination of things that cause the issue with the AS Connect system?

[turk123]

Here is the link to peplink that shows the router used. It is a Peplinkmax BR1 mini

https://www.peplink.com/products/max...-cellular/#br1

Make sure you click on the third modem after getting to the site.


Looks like a firmware version has been completed on Dec 13th, but not released yet. Checking to see if any of our issues have been addressed.

[turk123]

I have it on good authority that nothing has changed with the Peplink issues. They still exist. A new update will be released soon, but it does not look like it addresses some of the issues we have.

I will continue to say that the inexpensive second modem is still performing spectacularly and is still a good solution even though the Airstream system is flawed.

[turk123]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

The "half bandwidth" thing should only apply at the maximum rate. When you hit a marginal location and 3 is all you can get, you would still get the 3. The bottleneck is at your trailer rather than at the tower or going to/from the tower.

That said, indeed 15 to 20 is pretty poor by today's standards. My AT&T Unlimited plan hotspot modems all do much better than that. (Same company, different unlimited plan).

Bob

Sorry, Bob but not true in this circumstance. The Peplink modem does not follow what you say. It is not a problem with the high-end speed of the modem, but the overall speed at any bandwidth that is perplexing. It is just plain half the speed all the time.

I know because I've tested it over many many locations at many different speeds. It is half the speed as something connected to the open ethernet port. Even the Peplink engineer was puzzled by its performance. He did not have an answer for this.

I did read a spec on the modem that said with encrypted data it's top speed was 40 Mb. Unencrypted was 80 Mb. This may be the issue. Without having access to the router, we cannot tell what Airstream has this set for. I don't believe Jason said any data was being encrypted though.

[turk123]

Yesterday my Airstream salesman called me about his new Classic 30 and WiFi issues he is having. He finally was able to get an account with ATT and when trying to get a good wifi connection he reported horrible speeds of under 1 MB down even though he has three bars on his cell phone for his area. Of course, he still has his "campground wifi" feature turned ON in the peplink modem and we already know this slows your speeds tremendously.

The "campgroud feature" when using the campground WiFi was also very very slow especially when his cell phone using the campground WiFi had speeds much faster. Using his cell phone by itself (no Peplink) with ATT in the trailer yielded speeds of 18 Mb down.

This is exactly the issues I have experienced over the last three months with only using the Peplink modem.

I told him to have Jason turn OFF the "campground feature" in his Peplink. My salesman has another wireless router and I told him to wire it directly to the Peplink and your problems will be solved.

We will see what are the results maybe today, but I know this works perfectly.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by turk123

Yesterday my Airstream salesman called me about his new Classic 30 and WiFi issues he is having. He finally was able to get an account with ATT and when trying to get a good wifi connection he reported horrible speeds of under 1 MB down even though he has three bars on his cell phone for his area. Of course, he still has his "campground wifi" feature turned ON in the peplink modem and we already know this slows your speeds tremendously.

The "campgroud feature" when using the campground WiFi was also very very slow especially when his cell phone using the campground WiFi had speeds much faster. Using his cell phone by itself (no Peplink) with ATT in the trailer yielded speeds of 18 Mb down.

This is exactly the issues I have experienced over the last three months with only using the Peplink modem.

I told him to have Jason turn OFF the "campground feature" in his Peplink. My salesman has another wireless router and I told him to wire it directly to the Peplink and your problems will be solved.

We will see what are the results maybe today, but I know this works perfectly.

What is the advantage of this ATT plan, supposing it all works? Seems like a lot of data and issues...would you recommend installing in my 2017 28' model or just continue to use my Apple/Samsung phones as "hot spots"? Looking for the overall advantages...

[turk123]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

What is the advantage of this ATT plan, supposing it all works? Seems like a lot of data and issues...would you recommend installing in my 2017 28' model or just continue to use my Apple/Samsung phones as "hot spots"? Looking for the overall advantages...

The ATT plan from Airstream is truly unlimited. No throttle. The bad part about all this is that the hardware is flawed and currently does not work.

I just found out that this problem has moved up the chain of command at Airstream and may finally get someone to listen. The currently proposed offering to existing Airstream owners is not available and on hold.

"Someone's gonna get an axx chewin"

I hope!