New “Airstream Connected” LTE-WiFi Dealer Installed

[graysailor]

Why anyone would deal with AT&T is beyond me. They are crooks. No support and keep asking for more money. I called them to drop my DirectTV account and of course they invented yet more charges to do that.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by graysailor

Why anyone would deal with AT&T is beyond me. They are crooks. No support and keep asking for more money. I called them to drop my DirectTV account and of course they invented yet more charges to do that.

Well, one reason is if you have a better plan then the competition for both cell and Direct TV...and, every time you put some "extended effort" into squalling about your bill, they reduce your bill...my cell service for 2 with hotspots runs $90/month; Direct TV runs $25/month....my internet is with Spectrum, since ATT does not service my area with internet yet. Yes, it's a pain...Tuesday, I was on the phone about not getting the $300 trade in promised in December for upgrading my Samsung...after 25 min talking with Jamaica they had the earthquake....real time...she asked if she could call me back; and did...instead of an installment of $10 deduction each month, she just gave me a $300 credit. I hate having to call them on stuff, but usually can get what I need in credits...and no one can beat my plan for cell and TV that I have seen...believe me...I would change if I could find better. Dosn't make up for the frustration having to deal with them for sure...but at least I am able to save some.

[primepower]

Just want to say thank you to everyone for their help in this form with this topic. I had the dealer install the connected system, I then called Airstream and had them turn off the Wi-Fi is WAN. Then I bought a TP Link Wi-Fi 6 router and below you can see the results as I did a comparison test. I am very happy and will have no doubt I can watch Netflix now.

Ping. Down. Up
Connected before:. 58. 6.11. 2.10

Connected after:. 45. 10.05. 7.54

TP Link:. 165. 23.79. 13.12

TP Link 5g:. 32. 20.19. 8.24

[turk123]

Originally Posted by primepower

Just want to say thank you to everyone for their help in this form with this topic. I had the dealer install the connected system, I then called Airstream and had them turn off the Wi-Fi is WAN. Then I bought a TP Link Wi-Fi 6 router and below you can see the results as I did a comparison test. I am very happy and will have no doubt I can watch Netflix now.

Ping. Down. Up
Connected before:. 58. 6.11. 2.10

Connected after:. 45. 10.05. 7.54

TP Link:. 165. 23.79. 13.12

TP Link 5g:. 32. 20.19. 8.24Attachment 360538Attachment 360539

Great news and great results!

My only suggestion is to spread your four router antennas out in all directions to distribute the wifi pattern

[primepower]

Thanks. I plan to a much as possible but wanted to save room up there. My install doesn't allow the antennas to go towards the rear of the trailer. However I get amazing signal throughout the trailer. Good signal outside on the sides, not great outside front and back, but I won't be there much.

[GeMeiner]

As suggested by a number of posters, I went onto the AT&T AS Connect site before Jan 15, and renewed for another year. The site shows "pending" for that transaction, and they accepted $360 from me. I won't know if AT&T will provide another year of unlimited data until my anniversary date, which is 4-2-2020.

Has anyone who has paid to renew for another year reached their anniversary? And if you have, has AT&T re-upped you for another year?

[UncleBad]

Originally Posted by GeMeiner

As suggested by a number of posters, I went onto the AT&T AS Connect site before Jan 15, and renewed for another year. The site shows "pending" for that transaction, and they accepted $360 from me. I won't know if AT&T will provide another year of unlimited data until my anniversary date, which is 4-2-2020.



Has anyone who has paid to renew for another year reached their anniversary? And if you have, has AT&T re-upped you for another year?

My anniversary is 4/16 and I purchased two extra years, both show pending. We shall see... let’s us know on April 3!

[Jtom]

We have a 2019 25 FC that we want to install the Airstream Connect equipment. It’s kinda strange, trying to get information on technical questions on it. I called my dealer and they don’t know much on technical issues, other then they have installed them. I called AT&T and they knew absolutely nothing. I called Airstream about VPN capacity, service while driving, does it work in Canada...etc and they knew nothing about VPN protect, but they did share that I could use a different SIM card for Canada, which i was surprised, that seems to mean that you could use different carriers in the US also, by changing the SIM card. Is this a new development? Everything I’ve read on this post suggest that AT&T is the only possible service provider>
Anybody know the answer about VPN for this system and whether it works while underway, with signal to toll vehicle?

[turk123]

At one point I was using VPN with my Connect system with no issues.

You may have not read, but ATT has bailed on the Airstream program. They now offer little choice for plans. They are way more expensive than others. The Peplink modem will handle two Simms at once and you could run two plans simultaneously if you want. A better choice would be the next generation duel speed modem by Peplink. Airstream could install the Poynting antenna for you and you could get the better modem. That could save you some money doing the modem and hookup yourself.

That would be my choice if I were doing it.

[ghaynes755]

The base modem wifi is ok but not great from my Classic 33 to my Ram 3500 cab. A bit better with the TP Link router that I added for better speeds. VPN is not an issue.

[UncleBad]

I have used Cisco’s AnyConnect VPN with no problems from TV while underway.

[ghaynes755]

Has anyone had issues with the setup not connecting in a roaming area? I’m out in Saratoga WY, AT&T only has roaming in this area. The Airstream router is not connecting to the internet, even after multiple restarts. Yet the AT&T Mobley OBD device under the dash of my truck is pulling in a solid signal and 20mb down and 15mbps uploads. Trying to find a number at AT&T to ask about any plan restrictions is fruitless. If you have a phone number for AT&T support that also be appreciated.

[pdavey]

Originally Posted by larslink

I just purchased a 2020 Atlas and had planned to go with the Airstream Connect package. However, as of the 14th of January, AT&T stopped offering the unlimited plan. So I started doing a little research.



The vehicle came with the Poynting 3 in 1 antenna preinstalled on the roof already. All I needed was the Pepwave BR1 Mini modem. This sells for $399 at full retail and it takes about 10 minutes to install and another 10 - 15 minutes, or so, to configure if you haven't done it before.



In terms of plans, I found the Sprint 100 GB per month to be the most competitive of the 4 big U.S. carriers. It's $60 per month if you sign up for autopay. The AT&T plan for Airstream Connect is $300 for 100 GB per month. Tip: If you go with Sprint you need the Sim card # SIMOLW516TQ.



Because the Pepwave BR1 Mini supports two Sim cards with a priority and failover option, I installed a prepaid AT&T card in the second slot. This one I don't use, but it's there if I ever find myself in a place where Sprint doesn't have coverage but AT&T does.



So, in the end I have the same hardware that Airstream uses, but I paid $400 vs. $1000, and my data plan is one fifth the cost.

Smart choice. I constructed my own system as well.

Unfortunately my 2020 did not come pre-installed with the antenna.

Any chance you could snap a picture of where the antenna comes into the AS?

I am going to be installing my antenna soon and want to try to make it as close to factory as possible.

[eyechip]

So I still don't quite get the benefits of this install. If they offered unlimited data, ok. Seems like they did at one point but looking at the current site the new plans seemed capped. This is why I own two mobile hotspots which are handy because I can take and use anywhere. Data has the same caps that AT&T seems to offer now in their Airstream plans.

So other than maybe getting a bit more range like you would with a cell booster, what exactly is the point of this $1000K upgrade?

[pdavey]

Basically the intent is to give you a network like you have in your house and better internet than campground wifi which is usually pretty slow.

My setup includes a few elements to try to make internet as bullet proof as possible.

See my post below from another thread I commented on.



First of all turk123 thank you so much for taking the time to thoroughly document your issues with the Airstream Connected.

Like many of you I was very interested in a system that could be dealer installed and support the Airstream. I have a 2020 GT 27FB and was considering getting the AS Connected installed but having done the research and seeing what everyone is going through, like many preinstalled systems they take great components and screw them up.

After doing even more research on the various systems I decided to piece mine together and install it myself. A few things I learned in my research:

- First, AS cheaped out on the Pepwave router. The mini is known to have problems and doesn’t have the scalability as it is a single modem with two sim slots instead of a dual modem that can support load balancing and bonding. I ended up going with the newer Pepwave transit duo which is a cat12 dual modem so I could support load balancing or bonding of the signals over two carriers working simultaneously.

- Airstream should have gone with the Pepwave Max BR1 MK2 at a minimum instead of the mini given the issues with the mini supporting multiple networks

- That said from other research I have done the mini can be fixed if configured correctly. Turk123 figured out the key issue with the WiFi and worked around it. From what I have read about the Pepwave systems when supporting load balancing over WiFi, the system uses the same antenna for broadcasting as it does for pulling the existing wifi from the campground. This causes the wifi broadcasting to your devices connected to the network to literally crawl. People have gotten around this by using one of the networks to pull and the other to broadcast (say use the 2.4Ghz network to connect to campground wifi and use the 5Ghz network to broadcast for your network

- The other option there is to potentially use an external wifi anteanna to connect to the wifi network of the campground like the MikroTik Grove and plug it into your WAN port therefore dedicating the entirety of the Pepwave wifi to your broadcasting network (not sure if this would screw with any of the CZone stuff in the Classic or not) https://seabits.com/mikrotik-g...oov...p-setup-guide/

- The Poynting antenna they use is one of the best. I believe they use the 5-in-1 but I ordered the 7-in-1 for my system since I have the dual modems

- I can’t remember who said it on this thread but also having a weboost in addition to the airstream connected or any other system is a good idea especially for boon docking or more remote camping as it will help broadcast and amplify the signal for the Pepwave when you aren’t getting very good coverage

I hope some of this information helps as people look to use the connected or build out their own systems.

I ordered my system from MobileMustHave.com and a special shout out to the folks over at the Mobile Internet Resource Center Cherie & Chris and all of their contributors and forum members. If you are considering doing any of this yourself you should subscribe to their site.

Peter

Grace - 2020 Airstream Globetrotter 27FB

[OTRA15]

Great update, Peter, thanks.

FEI here is your post in that older thread about this ATT/AS plan:

[click on orange arrow to go there]

Originally Posted by pdavey

First of all turk123 thank you so much for taking the time to thoroughly document your issues with the Airstream Connected.
. . .

Peter

[WEBOPS]

Originally Posted by pdavey

Basically the intent is to give you a network like you have in your house and better internet than campground wifi which is usually pretty slow.

My setup includes a few elements to try to make internet as bullet proof as possible.

See my post below from another thread I commented on.



First of all turk123 thank you so much for taking the time to thoroughly document your issues with the Airstream Connected.

Like many of you I was very interested in a system that could be dealer installed and support the Airstream. I have a 2020 GT 27FB and was considering getting the AS Connected installed but having done the research and seeing what everyone is going through, like many preinstalled systems they take great components and screw them up.

After doing even more research on the various systems I decided to piece mine together and install it myself. A few things I learned in my research:

- First, AS cheaped out on the Pepwave router. The mini is known to have problems and doesn’t have the scalability as it is a single modem with two sim slots instead of a dual modem that can support load balancing and bonding. I ended up going with the newer Pepwave transit duo which is a cat12 dual modem so I could support load balancing or bonding of the signals over two carriers working simultaneously.

- Airstream should have gone with the Pepwave Max BR1 MK2 at a minimum instead of the mini given the issues with the mini supporting multiple networks

- That said from other research I have done the mini can be fixed if configured correctly. Turk123 figured out the key issue with the WiFi and worked around it. From what I have read about the Pepwave systems when supporting load balancing over WiFi, the system uses the same antenna for broadcasting as it does for pulling the existing wifi from the campground. This causes the wifi broadcasting to your devices connected to the network to literally crawl. People have gotten around this by using one of the networks to pull and the other to broadcast (say use the 2.4Ghz network to connect to campground wifi and use the 5Ghz network to broadcast for your network


- The Poynting antenna they use is one of the best. I believe they use the 5-in-1 but I ordered the 7-in-1 for my system since I have the dual modems
coverage

I ordered Peter's setup from mobilemusthave.com today after all of the helpful suggestions from forum members. I'm a new Airstream owner and really needed the best internet setup possible. I'll have my local dealer install the system and report back. They sell it as a bundle on their website:

Road Warrior RV & Boat Internet Access Bundle (Dual Modem)
https://www.mobilemusthave.com/Road-...dem_p_171.html

[pdavey]

If anyone is interested I put together a custom electric antenna mount together. Mounted on the antenna at the top is a Wilson 4G Omni-directional wide band antenna that connects inside to the weboost 65 to help boost cell signal in bad areas for our phones and the Peplink router.

Mounted lower is the Mikrotik Wifi grabber that connects inside to the Peplink transit duo WAN port. The wifi grabber will allow me to connect to private and public WiFi networks and leverage it as part of my Local Area Network inside the Airstream.

You can set the peplink to prioritize the WAN port or the cellular modems depending on where you are getting a better signal from.

For the antenna mount I am leveraging an electric motor marine grade antenna mount from e-riggers and a 4 ft and 2 ft Shakespeare antenna extensions used on boats.

The switch for the electric antenna motor is located next to my other switches inside the AS.

I have also created a gif of the antenna lowering and raising.

I still need to install an antenna mast rest so there is no movement while traveling.

I may also swap out the Wilson antenna with a Poynting wide band Omni-directional omni-400 antenna to see which one is better.

Very happy with the system I put together.

[ghaynes755]

Eyechip, on the late model Airstream Classics the system allows you remotely control many items in the trailer. Open close blinds, start/stop Air conditioners, see the temps inside the trailer and many more. For other trailers, now that the terms and pricing changed there are other alternatives as are being posted which IMHO are much better.

[ghaynes755]

Answering my own question about AT&T roaming neither the Airstream Smart (the app side for controlling the trailer) nor the Airstream Connect (the internet side) work while roaming. Confirmed with AS support and after hours of searching spoke with someone at AT&T. As soon as I was out of the roaming area system was working normally.


So you won't be able to control your Airstream in an AT&T roaming area.