Winegard Connect 4GI (4G LTE plus WiFi Extender)

[Bill M]

I'm considering having one of these installed in our rig. Does anyone out there have one?

[Jlawles2]

It might be cheaper to put in a Winegard Air 360+ and the gateway. The Air360+ is about $130 and the Gateway about $300.

This minimizes holes in the roof, does away with antenna aiming, and gives WIFI plus 4G cell signal booster in the unit. The WIFI can either be a repeater, or a standalone hotspot from what I have read.

[MccNeo]

I installed a Winegard Connect 2.0 which contains a WiFi router and 4G LTE. I installed this unit in addition to the Winegard 360 that came with my 373FB-R. I chose the Winegard Connect 2.0 over the Winegard 360+ Because the 360+ does not have the same footprint and mounting holes as the 360. Thus, if I replaced the 360 with the 360+, I would have had unused holes in the roof to plug. I felt more comfortable that my roof would be adequately sealed by simply installing the Connect 2.0. I was mind boggled that Winegard wouldn’t have the same mounting hole pattern on the 360 as compared to the 360+ but they are not the same.

im happy with the Winegard Connect 2.0 but I can also tell you it will not fix all connectivity issues. We camp at a lot of Georgia State Campgrounds and find cell service of ANY BRAND CARRIER is severely lacking in many places which will also impact Winegard performance or ANY other brand.

if you go mostly to RV parks, many systems will be sufficient. If you go to more remote places, then you will have much more difficulty with connectivity regardless of the carrier.

[n1tr0sp33d]

You're gonna find the Winegard gear is low-level gear. It's why you have problems. Both models are cat4 modems which is the most basic level modem. A newer iPhone is cat 18-23, a VZW Jetpack 8800L is cat 18. Plus there are more frequency bands supported the higher the cat level via carrier aggregation. This means that they can use multiple channels to send you data, the more freqs the more data speeds u get. You're better off getting a Jetpack/Mifi/Nighthawk and a cheap Netgear MIMO antenna for less money. Also, there are plenty of forums that specifically discuss mobile routers/data plans.

[Bill M]

Thank-you very much for the tech info. I'm somewhat familiar with this technology but always have that feeling I don't know enough. My work requires a VOI phone so I need a LAN port inside the rig. Otherwise all we would need is a wireless router. Based on another string I found in this forum I joined rvmobileinternet.com so I'm slogging through all the information there. It's a great site but there is a lot of material to read.

[ncitro]

Thank-you very much for the tech info. I'm somewhat familiar with this technology but always have that feeling I don't know enough. My work requires a VOI phone so I need a LAN port inside the rig. Otherwise all we would need is a wireless router. Based on another string I found in this forum I joined rvmobileinternet.com so I'm slogging through all the information there. It's a great site but there is a lot of material to read.

I am a member there as well and you’ll find it’s a great resource. You’ve got a few options to get a hardware connection. I run a Peplink Balance 20x configured with dual modem’s and a Verizon and AT&T SIM, that has Ethernet ports. A cheaper option would be to tether with your cell phone and use a bridge. A bridge connects to the WiFi network and gives you an Ethernet port. Something like this:

NETGEAR Wi-Fi Range Extender EX3700 - Coverage Up to 1000 Sq Ft and 15 Devices with AC750 Dual Band Wireless Signal Booster & Repeater (Up to 750Mbps Speed), and Compact Wall Plug Design https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R92CL5E...4H51JKW7YNQBWD

You don’t need the extender part, but it’ll give you an Ethernet port. You connect the bridge to your phones WiFi tethering network and plug your voip work phone into the bridge.

[Bill M]

That's why I love this forum. Guess what I found in the back of the closet in my home office: a Netgear AC1200 Dual Band WiFi Range Extender Model EX6120. And it has a LAN port! I bought it for the house hoping to boost the signal from the wireless security cameras. Never found the time to set it up and now I'm thinking it's going on the rig. I can verify the setup without leaving the house and then transfer it all to the rig to try it there.

Thanks

[n1tr0sp33d]

I am a member there as well and you’ll find it’s a great resource. You’ve got a few options to get a hardware connection. I run a Peplink Balance 20x configured with dual modem’s and a Verizon and AT&T SIM, that has Ethernet ports. A cheaper option would be to tether with your cell phone and use a bridge. A bridge connects to the WiFi network and gives you an Ethernet port. Something like this:

NETGEAR Wi-Fi Range Extender EX3700 - Coverage Up to 1000 Sq Ft and 15 Devices with AC750 Dual Band Wireless Signal Booster & Repeater (Up to 750Mbps Speed), and Compact Wall Plug Design https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R92CL5E...4H51JKW7YNQBWD

You don’t need the extender part, but it’ll give you an Ethernet port. You connect the bridge to your phones WiFi tethering network and plug your voip work phone into the bridge.

NCITO - me 2. member of rvmobileinternet and a 20x owner as well. running the VZW pUDP in it at a campsite as the other carriers are barely registering. The campsite has ok wifi 5/1 but the pUDP is getting 25/1 atm...just plugged it in and didnt bother to get the antenna in a good spot or tune it as was too tired. Hoping to spend some time getting better speeds today.

[ncitro]

NCITO - me 2. member of rvmobileinternet and a 20x owner as well. running the VZW pUDP in it at a campsite as the other carriers are barely registering. The campsite has ok wifi 5/1 but the pUDP is getting 25/1 atm...just plugged it in and didnt bother to get the antenna in a good spot or tune it as was too tired. Hoping to spend some time getting better speeds today.

Yeah I’ve probably been in one campground ever that had better WiFi than I could get via the cellular modem. We only added AT&T around the first of the year, but I’ve always been surprised the number of times it’s exceeded the VZW plan. My guess is VZW is more popular and while better unloaded, AT&T can do better if it’s less utilized. Regardless of what anyone has I can vouch for having multiple carriers on board.

I run the puma antenna, I was able to fish it through the ceiling to my AC, then up through the plenum and I mounted the antenna to the plastic AC cover with a steel plate under it for an extra ground plane. It works well but I’m toying with a directional XPOL antenna for times when I’m right on the edge of signal (has happened a couple of times).

[Bill M]

I'm looking at the WiFiRanger wireless mobile router for in the rig (model name "Spruce") and tethering it to a Verizon Jetpack LTE cellular mobile hotspot. I can add the hotspot to our "unlimited" Verizon plan for less than $15.00/month.

But I'm wondering about the reception and reliability of the connection. Anybody using a set-up like this?

[Country Campers]

I'm looking at the WiFiRanger wireless mobile router for in the rig (model name "Spruce") and tethering it to a Verizon Jetpack LTE cellular mobile hotspot. I can add the hotspot to our "unlimited" Verizon plan for less than $15.00/month.

But I'm wondering about the reception and reliability of the connection. Anybody using a set-up like this?

I have no experience with these items but Verizon or any wireless carrier will only have whatever signal that you have on your phone , unless the hotspots are different. A lot of places we go do not have good coverage from Verizon so I would guess that the hotspot would be the same. If you have good coverage then you should be good.

Brian

[Bill M]

Not so fast

This morning I was quoted the Verizon Jet Pack on my existing plan ("55+ loyalty unlimited plan" for which we currently have one line) but later when I went to purchase it I was told I had to change plans. So instead of one line at $60.00 a month with "unlimited" data and a jet pack as a second line at $15.00 per month (line fee, access fee plus device payment) it was going to be 2 "unlimited" lines per month at $70.00 each plus the monthly payment for the jet pack and access fees. Basically $75.00 more per month than what I was quoted.

Can't say I'm too surprised but I thought I should spread the word.

[ncitro]

Not so fast

This morning I was quoted the Verizon Jet Pack on my existing plan ("55+ loyalty unlimited plan" for which we currently have one line) but later when I went to purchase it I was told I had to change plans. So instead of one line at $60.00 a month with "unlimited" data and a jet pack as a second line at $15.00 per month (line fee, access fee plus device payment) it was going to be 2 "unlimited" lines per month at $70.00 each plus the monthly payment for the jet pack and access fees. Basically $75.00 more per month than what I was quoted.

Can't say I'm too surprised but I thought I should spread the word.

You probably know this already at this stage of the game, but pretty much any plan you can get right now is not true unlimited. It’ll have some kind of either hard or soft throttle after a set amount of data (I think 22GB but don’t quote me). Just keep this in mind.

[Guest]

You probably know this already at this stage of the game, but pretty much any plan you can get right now is not true unlimited. It’ll have some kind of either hard or soft throttle after a set amount of data (I think 22GB but don’t quote me). Just keep this in mind.

Neil,

We just moved from AT&T to Verizon where the Verizon service is much better based on my company phone Verizon experience. I've used a Verizon Hot Spot years ago and they were ok but I'm sure they are greatly improved these days with 5G?? To your point, I checked into a WiFi add on with Verizon and they also mentioned they will throttle the system after so much data usage.

Jim

[ncitro]

Neil,

We just moved from AT&T to Verizon where the Verizon service is much better based on my company phone Verizon experience. I've used a Verizon Hot Spot years ago and they were ok but I'm sure they are greatly improved these days with 5G?? To your point, I checked into a WiFi add on with Verizon and they also mentioned they will throttle the system after so much data usage.

Jim

Yeah I run both AT&T and Verizon true unlimited grandfathered plans in my Peplink router with dual modems. I only just added the AT&T sim around the first of the year, but I’ve been surprised the number of times it gets better service than Verizon. I think what I’m seeing is Verizon is more popular with RVs, so in places with limited service it gets overloaded sooner. The AT&T might have worse signal but better service since it’s less crowded? Not a scientific study by any means but I noticed it in several places on my trip to the smokies.

5G should be improved, but it comes with its own issues. The ultra wideband service is super fast, but very short range and line of sight dependent. This is great for airport’s and stadiums where lots of people congregate but not so great in campgrounds far from a tower. The “standard 5G” is what they’re laying on top of the existing LTE network and right now it’s pretty much the same or sometimes even worse than LTE (I’ve got this on my iPhone 12 with Verizon). Verizon currently offers the ultra wideband service for an additional fee but no data cap applies when on that network (I don’t have that service). I think there’s only a few 5G hotspots currently available and they’re still pretty pricey.