Mifi question (1 Viewer)

[ChrisL]

A lot depends on the CAT rating of your mifi or router, my cat 4 mifi with external antenna is not as fast as my cat 6 mifi without an external antenna, I am in the process of buying a second hand CAT 12 router to try out, the higher rated routers can amalgamate data from more than one band giving you more bandwidth and therefore more speed. I'll report back with results once it has arrived and i've tested it.

 

[Bern8]

From one bern to another how much are you prepared to spend, can you do the installation yourself and do you need a digital terrestrial ariel. Oh and have you got a smart TV or fire stick.
There is a guy on youtube 'vanlife' who has done some good vids on this subject.
I think the consensus on here is that you need an external antenna to get the best results with a mifi or full blown router.

I‘m prepared to pay up to £400 for the router and antenna. Yes install is not a problem and I’m hoping to be able to use for firestick & Netflix/sky streaming to my iPad.
I will look at the guy on YouTube.
Cheers Bern

 

[autorouter]

I was looking at the Poynting 3-15 and getting the rutx11 router. I have a 12v socket directly below in the cabinet.
The only slight issue I might have is the JB is sited under part of the tv aerial. If I was to go for the same as yours I only have 125mm to get spigot & aerial under the tv aerial. Is the spigot detachable from the aerial?

That combination is what I have. The spigot is detachable, there's a choice of two lengths depending on the thickness of the roof. I needed the longer one because the roof is an Al/foam/ply sandwich. They are fixed from underneath by screws through the spigot flange, so can't be fixed after mounting. The Radio Frequency (RF) cables come down through the spigot. On mine they were 2 metres, but I think a lot of them are 1 metre. You may need male/female RF adapters, I needed them but they came with the aerial.

I think it's a good idea to keep the aerial away from the TV aerial. I'm not sure if they will interfere with each other, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did. I scrapped the TV aerial and fitted the new aerial in the existing hole. It was a lot bigger, but the new aerial completely covered it, and I sealed the edges with Sikaflex.

Just a word about RF connectors. Don't be tempted to cut the RF wires down and fit new RF connectors on the cut ends, unless you know what you are doing. I know exactly what I'm doing, and I still decided to coil up the excess cable rather than cut it down and remake the connectors. Those connectors have to be perfect, and it only takes a slight imperfection to cut down the signal drastically.

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[Bern8]

That combination is what I have. The spigot is detachable, there's a choice of two lengths depending on the thickness of the roof. I needed the longer one because the roof is an Al/foam/ply sandwich. They are fixed from underneath by screws through the spigot flange, so can't be fixed after mounting. The Radio Frequency (RF) cables come down through the spigot. On mine they were 2 metres, but I think a lot of them are 1 metre. You may need male/female RF adapters, I needed them but they came with the aerial.

I think it's a good idea to keep the aerial away from the TV aerial. I'm not sure if they will interfere with each other, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did. I scrapped the TV aerial and fitted the new aerial in the existing hole. It was a lot bigger, but the new aerial completely covered it, and I sealed the edges with Sikaflex.

Just a word about RF connectors. Don't be tempted to cut the RF wires down and fit new RF connectors on the cut ends, unless you know what you are doing. I know exactly what I'm doing, and I still decided to coil up the excess cable rather than cut it down and remake the connectors. Those connectors have to be perfect, and it only takes a slight imperfection to cut down the signal drastically.

The fixing is my main concern. If I fix through the existing hole it would be too close to the tv aerial. Leaving the JB in situ would mean me replacing for a deeper box (to get a gland in there. The box on there now has 16mm screwed fixings which are too small). Not a problem with that. My issue would be fixing the antenna. I don’t want to drill & screw anything down due to warranty.

 

[JockandRita]

So my judgement is if you still want one you can have mine as it's very redundant.

Can I ask what make and model is it please?

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[JockandRita]

The fixing is my main concern. If I fix through the existing hole it would be too close to the tv aerial. Leaving the JB in situ would mean me replacing for a deeper box (to get a gland in there. The box on there now has 16mm screwed fixings which are too small). Not a problem with that. My issue would be fixing the antenna. I don’t want to drill & screw anything down due to warranty.

I stuck my Poynting antenna to the roof, (with the kit provided), then took the sheathed cables along some conduit, and in through a rooflight, to the exact spot I was mounting the MiFi. I really didn't want to make a hole in the roof, to accommodate the antenna.

Cheers,

Jock.

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[Bern8]

I stuck my Poynting antenna to the roof, (with the kit provided), then took the sheathed cables along some conduit, and in through a rooflight, to the exact spot I was mounting the MiFi. I really didn't want to make a hole in the roof, to accommodate the antenna.

Cheers,

Jock.

Yeah, I’m just looking at the magnetic fixing to try out whilst I’m still under warranty before sticking it down

 

[autorouter]

The fixing is my main concern. If I fix through the existing hole it would be too close to the tv aerial. Leaving the JB in situ would mean me replacing for a deeper box (to get a gland in there. The box on there now has 16mm screwed fixings which are too small). Not a problem with that. My issue would be fixing the antenna. I don’t want to drill & screw anything down due to warranty.

That aerial is not one of those that uses the metal roof as a ground plane, so it can be mounted at any height, it can actually be mounted on the top of a pole if that's what you want. If you want to stick it down rather than screwing into the roof you could mount it onto a waterproof box, and stick the box to the roof with a good adhesive like they use for solar panel brackets. Sikaflex or Puraflex. Then run a length of plastic conduit from the box to the junction box. The RF cables are not exactly weatherproof so I think they need to be enclosed somehow, and plastic conduit would work I think.

 

[Bern8]

That aerial is not one of those that uses the metal roof as a ground plane, so it can be mounted at any height, it can actually be mounted on the top of a pole if that's what you want. If you want to stick it down rather than screwing into the roof you could mount it onto a waterproof box, and stick the box to the roof with a good adhesive like they use for solar panel brackets. Sikaflex or Puraflex. Then run a length of plastic conduit from the box to the junction box. The RF cables are not exactly weatherproof so I think they need to be enclosed somehow, and plastic conduit would work I think.

Great thanks. Once I’ve got the antenna I will look at the best way to fix.

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[vzac]

Can I ask what make and model is it please?

Cheers,

Jock.

It's a maxview mxl050 roam

 

[Howard B]

i have a Teltonika RUT 955 and Poynting MIMO-3-12 antenna.
I was expecting the Antenna to significantly boost the signal, however the Stubby antenna which come with the RUT955 are consistently out performing the MIMO in some locations ( currently in Spain) significantly so.
Based on my experiences i am considering removal of the Poynting antenna when i get home, really disappointed with it so far.

 

[Grousemoor]

With an A class roof essentially being plastic so no Faraday cage effect, is there likely to be much difference between a using a Teltonika router mounted high up with internal aerials against adding a Poynting type mimo on the roof?

It is funny you should mention Faraday cage effect as I have recently bought a RF tester and was worried at the pulsing output from my mobile and mifi, even worse so when I tested where I work near a wifi booster at the computer at home (now removed). I have been thinking about how to get safer connection without so much emission of radio waves within the motorhome confines, Im not that techy. I now turn my phone to airport mode when I dont need it and have stopped carrying it close to my body.

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[ChrisL]

A lot depends on the CAT rating of your mifi or router, my cat 4 mifi with external antenna is not as fast as my cat 6 mifi without an external antenna, I am in the process of buying a second hand CAT 12 router to try out, the higher rated routers can amalgamate data from more than one band giving you more bandwidth and therefore more speed. I'll report back with results once it has arrived and i've tested it.

Further to this, the secondhand CAT 12 router proved to be about 1.5 times faster then the CAT 6, it is a ZTE MF286D as originally supplied by 3 but was unlocked, it cost £50 and will run off a stabilised 12v supply but came with a plug in mains transformer, I haven't got around to getting the 12v power supply yet. With an EE sim I have been getting over 100Mbs down depending on location, the slowest speed so far has been 15.4 down and 6.03 up.