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GeeSag · 04-08-2019, 02:46 PM

How to Mount WeBoost with Minimal Hole in RV.
That we my old thread.

This is the new thread. Better than WeBoost in most cases
WeBoost reserved for really low signal levels
MIMO beats WeBoost under most ordinary signal Levels

Now I have added Verizon MiFi:
4 Antenae (8800L has 4 built in Antennae and Class 18)
Works best under most reasonable distances
2 Antennae MIMO
NetGear - Super Fast setup - Directional 2x2 MIMO
Adheres to a window
So Easy and Low Cost
Poynting Directional 2x2 MIMO
External - 8 dB Gain

Weboost can be set up with
Omni
Directional (Yagi)
But only get to use single antenna in each case
Does provide indoor LTE for Cell phones whereas MiFi is Just WiFi

Minimal holes in Airstream
Drilled out old Satellite F-Connector
Replaced with N-Type so I could use LMR400 outdoors
Drilled two more small holes for SMA-Female-Bulkhead
Can easily be replaced by another Furrion Outside Enclosure in the future putting Airstream back to factory orignal with just one Furrion enclosure

Added SureCall Meter to make aiming directional antennae super easy.

Last item: Little stand for MiFi to get it above railing of window sill.

Many Many thanks go out to RV Mobile Internet (Chris and Cherie)
I encourage everyone to Join their web site if anyone wants a better understanding of how to get good cell coverage in an Airstream.

cptdzl · 04-23-2019, 04:43 PM

how much access is available to run the antenna wires on the inside? behind the furrion OEM inlet cable/sat? what did you use for your antenna mast/tripod? Kudos to RV Mobile Internet (Chris and Cherie) also a member! Thanks for the pictures and the write up. You mentioned an old thread how do I find that. I'm new here.

EKB847 · 09-30-2019, 07:30 AM

How well does that Netgear MIMO antenna that you show in your pictures work. I ordered one for my Verizon 7730L MiFi.

ghaynes755 · 09-30-2019, 09:43 AM

GeeSag, WeBoost does provide LTE with it's inside antenna. Not sure why you don't said "Does provide indoor LTE for Cell phones whereas MiFi is Just WiFi". You don't get the help from 4 antennas on you MiFi puck but you do get LTE.

EKB I've had the Netgear Antenna for a couple of years and it works very well. Sometimes higher speeds/better connection than turning on my WeBoost 65RV. And the ability to move it to a window on each side of the trailer and look at the signal change on my Verizon MiFi makes it easy to pick the best location.

GeeSag · 09-30-2019, 05:08 PM

So Far: My Conclusion:
The Netgear in the window does just as well as the Poyting XPOL-2 outside up on a pole.
And the Netgear is so much easier.

If the RSRP is good to begin with, then 4x4 without either the Netgear or the Poynting beats both the 2x2 options hands down.

I need to clarify:

"Weboost can be set up with ..... Does provide indoor LTE for Cell phones whereas MiFi is Just WiFi"

By that I meant the Weboost provides the LTE indoors so my cell phone can work normal.

If all I have is the MiFi without weboost, then the MiFi does not provide the LTE inside the trailer......so I could use the phones in VoWiFi mode, and not get any texts, but if the MiFI is working on LTE then the phones are probably working also directly off LTE. But maybe not....by having an outdoor 2x2 for the MiFi, I might get good MiFi and still have poor cell phone reception inside the trailer. That was the case I was covering with the MiFi is only WiFi statement.

GeeSag · 09-30-2019, 06:15 PM

With all the treads bouncing about Antenna, Amplifiers (Such as weBoost), and 2x2 MIMO,
I think it worth discussing:

What problem are we trying to solve:

If the RSRP is -80 dBm, then great, laugh and talk all you want on the cell phones.
Gobble data with Carrier Aggregation on the MiFi.
Problem is: I do not camp very often at -80 dBm.

If the RSRP is -90, then good: Cell phone still works great, and MiFi will work but maybe not carrier aggregation or as high data rates.

If RSRP is -100 then the inside of the trailer starts to become more of an issue.
The phone will will probably work but starting to get sketchy. MiFi has started to not get near as high data rates.

If RSRP is -103 to -105, then the 2X2 MIMO antenna start to really shine providing much improvements to the MiFi data rates. The Cell phone is probably getting very intermittent if making calls at all. So switching the cell phone to VoWiFI will get great phone calls, but lose the ability for getting Text messages.

If RSRP is -105 to -110, then The 2x2 MIM0 Continues to Help on a site by site basis Sometime good, sometime not. All depends on SINR. I doubt cell phone will make a reasonable phone call......lots of drop outs and disconnects.

If RSRP is -110 to -114, The MiFI will be iffy. Cell phone probably not going to make a call.

In the -115 to -120 range, good luck getting anything.

Worthy of Note: Somewhere around -100 to -105 the amplifier starts to shine. But my test results so far as there is a narrow window of where amplifier provides good gain and the SINR is high enough to allow a good LTE signal inside the Trailer. Amplifiers work great for a narrow range. If the signal is good, they provide no benefit, and might actually produce lower data rates. If the signal is marginal, 2X2 MiF gets better data rates than amplifier. In poor coverage areas, the Amplifier provides a solution where nothing else seems to work. In Bad areas, the amplifier cannot overcome SINR problems even with 50 to 65 dB of gain.

Now for all the Nay-Sayers out there: All Devices report different values for RSRP even at the same location on the same day.....So do not blast me for the numbers above. Adjust the ranges for what your device is reporting for the same type break points.

The numbers provide a good range for making discussions of where 4x4 works best, 2x2 works best, where Amplification works best, and where it is time to give up on cell data.