This thing is a black dome (16 inches diameter, 8 inches tall) that is screwed down on the RV's roof. It boosts local Wi-Fi signals and connects to 4G LTE cellular networks when Wi-Fi networks are slow or aren't available. Winegard has a prepaid data plan that ranges from 1 GB to 20 GB a month. You can purchase more data at any time and there is no annual contract. You pay $0 for the months you don't use it. The data plan is easy to purchase and while it is not the cheapest, it is high speed and easy to set up. In my area it runs on AT&T. The Winegard plan can also connect to Verizon. You can use other cellular network data plans by swapping SIM cards. It includes thick wood screws for mounting, a 20-foot power cable that connects to 12 volt power, a power switch that you mount inside, and twist on wire nut connectors. The sim card is installed in the unit on the roof in a waterproof slot. It has a 2-year/1 year warranty on parts/labor.
Installation on our Grand Design Imagine XLS 18RBE trailer was easy because I called Grand Design and they told me where I should mount it and where I would find a 12 volt line in the roof to connect it to. The instruction book, systems setup and web browser based management software is both understandable and easy to follow. I did have to go thru the factory reset procedure because I got called away before I could finish setting it up the first time I tried. Unless you are on the roof of the trailer the reset procedure is tedious. It involves cycling it on and off 4 times, waiting 90 seconds each time it's off. This takes 5 minutes and gets annoying if you have to do it more than once, as I did.
It was able to pick up our home's WiFi from 100 yards away at 50 mbps. The cellular data plan was 50 mbps. Your devices all connect to this thing using WiFi. It creates its own local WiFi 2.4G hotspot even if it connects to local area WiFi, which it does using 2.4G. I don't know how many devices can use it at once, but it had no trouble with two phones and two computers streaming video. I will add more details on how well it works as we travel with it.
The price of this thing varies aLOT. Although currently Amazon has new ones for over $350, I bought mine off Amazon a few weeks ago for only $280.
Installation on our Grand Design Imagine XLS 18RBE trailer was easy because I called Grand Design and they told me where I should mount it and where I would find a 12 volt line in the roof to connect it to. The instruction book, systems setup and web browser based management software is both understandable and easy to follow. I did have to go thru the factory reset procedure because I got called away before I could finish setting it up the first time I tried. Unless you are on the roof of the trailer the reset procedure is tedious. It involves cycling it on and off 4 times, waiting 90 seconds each time it's off. This takes 5 minutes and gets annoying if you have to do it more than once, as I did.
It was able to pick up our home's WiFi from 100 yards away at 50 mbps. The cellular data plan was 50 mbps. Your devices all connect to this thing using WiFi. It creates its own local WiFi 2.4G hotspot even if it connects to local area WiFi, which it does using 2.4G. I don't know how many devices can use it at once, but it had no trouble with two phones and two computers streaming video. I will add more details on how well it works as we travel with it.
The price of this thing varies aLOT. Although currently Amazon has new ones for over $350, I bought mine off Amazon a few weeks ago for only $280.
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