Pepwave Max Transit Cat 18 + Pepwave Puma 42G Antenna Installation

[ETroup]

After gaining some experience with my PepWave 4G Max Cat 18 Cellular Router paired with a 2x2x1 external surface mounted antenna on the roof of an Airstream, I decided to make some adjustments.

Lessons learned up to this point:

1. The roof mounted Cellular antennas (2xMIMO) did improve the data streaming performance over an iPhone 12. However, the performance was masked by an inefficient WiFi antenna configuration.

2. The roof mounted WiFi antennas in the existing setup were not particularly useful. There were several issues:

a. Never really could use the campground WiFi. Either performance was too limited or it was too hard / awkward to connect the PepWave router to the campground WiFi Access Point.

b. The aluminum shell of the Airstream seemed to degrade the WiFi signal broadcast from the roof mounted antenna for devices inside the Airstream.

c. Disconnecting the factory installed WiFi antenna cables from the PepWave and attaching the blade antennas directly to the PepWave improved performance inside the Airstream.

The Airstream prewired cable assembly has 2xCellular, 2xWiFi and 1xGPS antenna leads. It is impossible to upgrade to 4xCellular, 2xWiFI and 1xGPS. Therefore need to optimize what is there.

I decided to optimize the roof antenna for Cellular. I could convert all four of the pre-wire antenna leads to support 4xMIMO cellular antenna configuration. I would just abandon the 2xWiFi antennas in the roof mounted antenna.

Wanted to try the improved performance of the PepWave PUMA 42G roof mounted antenna. However I needed to rethink how to mount the antenna on the roof. Not satisfied with mounting flush onto the roof.

Decided to fabricate an antenna platform sitting above the roof.

I ordered a 34x10 inch piece of Aluminum 0.05 inch thick. I used this to cutout and bend into shape a custom Antenna mounting platform.

I also created a 7 1/2 inch octagon shaped flat plate to cover the existing 2 inch hole in the Airstream roof. I mounted a 1 inch in diameter cable gland to the plate for the PepWave antenna leads to feed into the roof.

I abandoned the two WiFi leads and shortened the four Cellular leads. I installed new SMA male coax crimp RG-58 LMR-195 connectors on the four cellular cable leads.

So far performance seems improved on both the AT&T and T-Mobile networks. Will be interested to see how this performs on the next trip.

Here are some photos.

[wineteam]

Thank you for posting this. I'm taking receipt of a 2022 GT 27FB later this week and have see they now are pre-wired for these external antennas. Love the bracket you made as it makes sense to get the antenna up away from the body. Also makes sense using the blade antennas does a better job on the wifi inside the AS.
Please keep us updated on your findings as you travel.

[ETroup]

We have a 2021 International 27FB Twin. I would expect it to be wired in exactly the same way.

There will be a plastic cover (fastened to the cable ends) over a 2” hole in the front driver’s side exterior roof.

The other cable ends will be hidden behind the left end wall of the front overhead storage bay. I found it easiest to remove the speaker mounted to the underside of the overhead storage bay to gain access.

Find the wires and push them out through an existing small hole into the accessible part of storage bay.

You may also find an orange wire that runs to the front passenger side (under the bed) where various electronics are installed. I connected the loose end to 12vdc. This gave me power for the Pepwave. A white wire was connect to ground.

[wineteam]

So ETroup, I have the orange and white wire pair where the MIMO antenna wires terminate on the driver side above the speaker enclosure. I love your idea of abandoning the two wires marked for wifi as I have a Poynting 7 wire antenna and would rather use those cables for the 4 cell connections on my Pepwave router.

Getting power to the orange/white pair is not that easy as far as I can see. I have a queen front setup and the electrical connections are in what the Forums commentors like to call the "rat's nest". I added a photo.

I'm assuming the loose orange/white pair terminate into that grey box that says CAUTION? I don't clearly see those colors in that tight space. The white melamine board can be removed to get better access. If you remember, was your setup similar? Thanks!

[ETroup]

Originally Posted by wineteam

So ETroup, I have the orange and white wire pair where the MIMO antenna wires terminate on the driver side above the speaker enclosure. I love your idea of abandoning the two wires marked for wifi as I have a Poynting 7 wire antenna and would rather use those cables for the 4 cell connections on my Pepwave router.

Getting power to the orange/white pair is not that easy as far as I can see. I have a queen front setup and the electrical connections are in what the Forums commentors like to call the "rat's nest". I added a photo.

I'm assuming the loose orange/white pair terminate into that grey box that says CAUTION? I don't clearly see those colors in that tight space. The white melamine board can be removed to get better access. If you remember, was your setup similar? Thanks!

On our AS 27FB Twin the orange wire dead ended under the front of the passenger side bed. The white wire was connected to the aluminum frame for ground.

I decided to connect a new +12VDC power wire with an inline fuze directly to the positive side of the battery posts and run it into the bay (following the path of some other existing wires) where the orange wire appeared. I spliced the orange wire to the new power wire to extend 12VDC up to the overhead storage bay. I installed a power on/off switch on a panel in the overhead bay that controlled all power distribution to the Pepwave etc.

[ETroup]

Originally Posted by wineteam

So ETroup, I have the orange and white wire pair where the MIMO antenna wires terminate on the driver side above the speaker enclosure. I love your idea of abandoning the two wires marked for wifi as I have a Poynting 7 wire antenna and would rather use those cables for the 4 cell connections on my Pepwave router.

Getting power to the orange/white pair is not that easy as far as I can see. I have a queen front setup and the electrical connections are in what the Forums commentors like to call the "rat's nest". I added a photo.

I'm assuming the loose orange/white pair terminate into that grey box that says CAUTION? I don't clearly see those colors in that tight space. The white melamine board can be removed to get better access. If you remember, was your setup similar? Thanks!

Sorry did not see this until recently. I have a 27 FB Twin. My rat's nest is under the passenger side front bed. I decided to hook the orange wire directly to the battery via a dedicated fused wire. That way I did not have to figure out the rat's nest wiring.

The white wire was already connected to ground, so everything worked. However, recently I discovered that if the Inverter Circuit wall plugs are off-line, the power to the Pepwave goes off-line as well. Might have been lucky but everything worked out.

[StreamRunner]

Originally Posted by ETroup

After gaining some experience with my PepWave 4G Max Cat 18 Cellular Router paired with a 2x2x1 external surface mounted antenna on the roof of an Airstream, I decided to make some adjustments.
... Wanted to try the improved performance of the PepWave PUMA 42G roof mounted antenna. However I needed to rethink how to mount the antenna on the roof. Not satisfied with mounting flush onto the roof.

Decided to fabricate an antenna platform sitting above the roof.

I ordered a 34x10 inch piece of Aluminum 0.05 inch thick. I used this to cutout and bend into shape a custom Antenna mounting platform.

I also created a 7 1/2 inch octagon shaped flat plate to cover the existing 2 inch hole in the Airstream roof. I mounted a 1 inch in diameter cable gland to the plate for the PepWave antenna leads to feed into the roof.

I abandoned the two WiFi leads and shortened the four Cellular leads. I installed new SMA male coax crimp RG-58 LMR-195 connectors on the four cellular cable leads.

So far performance seems improved on both the AT&T and T-Mobile networks. Will be interested to see how this performs on the next trip.

Here are some photos.

Hi, ETroup, any updated thoughts on your custom mount - how has it held up and did you notice improved performance?

Would you be willing to share the pattern you used for it? I am installing my pepwave antenna soon and would like to mount it higher than the roof. (Apologies if the pattern is posted somewhere already!). Also, what screws did you use? I am new at all of this! Thanks!

[twesslen]

Originally Posted by StreamRunner

Hi, ETroup, any updated thoughts on your custom mount - how has it held up and did you notice improved performance?

Would you be willing to share the pattern you used for it? I am installing my pepwave antenna soon and would like to mount it higher than the roof. (Apologies if the pattern is posted somewhere already!). Also, what screws did you use? I am new at all of this! Thanks!

I would also be interested in knowing how your setup ended up working and if you have a pattern for the mount to share.

[r3z]

Custom mount looks great ! Thanks for sharing.

[Airstream1817]

Originally Posted by ETroup

After gaining some experience with my PepWave 4G Max Cat 18 Cellular Router paired with a 2x2x1 external surface mounted antenna on the roof of an Airstream, I decided to make some adjustments.

……

So far performance seems improved on both the AT&T and T-Mobile networks. Will be interested to see how this performs on the next trip.

Bumping to ask how you found performance of your very creative installation. I take delivery of an International 27FBT in ~6 weeks and I have become obsessed with installing my own router and antenna,

FWIW, AS is still installing 5-cable runs for their pre-wire, something I find inexplicable in this era. I have my dealer call HQ and ask if they could run 7 but was rejected. Will ask again, this time with me providing the cable bundle if that makes the difference.

Anyway, how did you find performance of the elevated antenna, etc.?

[r3z]

Originally Posted by Newbie Tom

FWIW, AS is still installing 5-cable runs for their pre-wire, something I find inexplicable in this era. I have my dealer call HQ and ask if they could run 7 but was rejected. Will ask again, this time with me providing the cable bundle if that makes the difference.

The last two cables are for an external Wi-Fi antenna. It seems like most will have better Wi-Fi performance inside the airstream when keeping them internal (with the antenna hanging directly off the pepwave). Are you trying to pick up external Wi-Fi signals in your case ? I have a pepwave max transit with the parsec husky pro 7 in 1 antenna.

[ETroup]

Originally Posted by twesslen

I would also be interested in knowing how your setup ended up working and if you have a pattern for the mount to share.

I cannot independently test the antennas performance against other alternatives, but I do believe I have devised an antenna mount that should provide optimal performance. It has worked well and enables the MIMO 4 function to pull in the strongest signal available. It also provides a far better means to route the cables into the roof under the mount.

I have attached a template. Note the length of the legs is dependent upon how high above the roof you want to be. The difference between the upside legs and the downside legs can vary depending on whether your mounting location is near the top centerline or closer to the side of the Airstream. You could vary the width of the legs as well. I think mine are actually 1.5 inches wide although the template says 1.0". I adjusted dimensions as needed to make it "look right". The indentation at the top is 1.0 inches. This gives the mount a more secure appearance.

For the roof entrance holding the cable gland, I think I used Microsoft PowerPoint to create the geometric shape and printed that to use as a pattern to cutout the aluminum plate.

Note that I started with a rectangular piece of aluminum 10 inches by about 32 inches that I ordered from www.onlinemetals.com. Need to get a thickness that you have the capability to bend accurately. I used an inexpensive manual metal break tool. I cut out the pattern with a DeWalt jig saw and filed the edges to smooth them out. I used a power sander on the flat surfaces to get rid of any scratches and give it a uniform satin appearance.

[ETroup]

Originally Posted by Newbie Tom

Bumping to ask how you found performance of your very creative installation. I take delivery of an International 27FBT in ~6 weeks and I have become obsessed with installing my own router and antenna,

FWIW, AS is still installing 5-cable runs for their pre-wire, something I find inexplicable in this era. I have my dealer call HQ and ask if they could run 7 but was rejected. Will ask again, this time with me providing the cable bundle if that makes the difference.

Anyway, how did you find performance of the elevated antenna, etc.?

The Antenna has worked well - both from a physical and a performance viewpoint. Cannot really empirically test per se but the elevated antenna mount is a preferred type of mount.

[Airstream1817]

Originally Posted by ETroup

The Antenna has worked well - both from a physical and a performance viewpoint. Cannot really empirically test per se but the elevated antenna mount is a preferred type of mount.

Thank you for the response as well as the discussion of your creation process. I went from "He must be a metal-bending pro" to "I can do that".

Many thanks.

[Airstream1817]

Originally Posted by r3z

The last two cables are for an external Wi-Fi antenna. It seems like most will have better Wi-Fi performance inside the airstream when keeping them internal (with the antenna hanging directly off the pepwave). Are you trying to pick up external Wi-Fi signals in your case ? I have a pepwave max transit with the parsec husky pro 7 in 1 antenna.

Frankly, as a complete newb who needs to work from the road, I don’t know what I don’t know about connectivity. Thus, I am trying to build in as much current and future optionality as I can.

As you point out, both wow paddle antennas will give the greatest reach inside the AS. However, there can be significant attenuation outside. One smart tech support guy made an interesting point when I asked about working outside the AS and needing strong wifi. He suggested disconnecting one of the paddle antennas and attaching one of the wifi antenna leads from the roof antenna to get the signal up top. That would avoid the attenuation of the AS aluminum skins.

He went on to suggest best performance would be by assigning 5.6 to one wifi antenna jack and 2.4 to the other. Then use the one more suited for distance (2.4?) for outside projection.

[ETroup]

Finally got around to documenting how I hooked up all the cellular, data, satellite, DVD and TV components in the Airstream. Thought I would post this graphic I made to show how we modified and extended the factory installed components so that it all worked the way we wanted.

Both TVs can watch the same content coming from the rear Video Switch. Or the front TV can watch different Roku content, Cable or Antenna TV independently of the rear TV. DVD and SAT content can be routed to both TVs but you cannot watch both a DVD and a satellite station at the same time.