4G Antenna on Hymer Mercedes (1 Viewer)

[Henry Walpole]

Hi
I've been considering fitting a 4G Aerial to the roof of my Hymer Mercedes A Class. The aerials are much discussed on this site so I'm familiar with what's available.
However my motorhome already has 'internet in the car' abilities but sadly at highly inflated prices per GB making it not cost effective. This got me thinking that the van must have some sort of 4G aerial fitted already and indeed when I look up the VIN on mbdecoder.com I see it has the following fitted:

E4A​	Antenna Interface For Radio, Navigation And Mobile Radio​

Does anyone know if it might be possibly to connect my own mifi unit to this aerial somehow?

Thanks.

 

[Rob Turner]

I’m sure Lenny HB will be able answer your questions

 

[Lenny HB]

Hi
I've been considering fitting a 4G Aerial to the roof of my Hymer Mercedes A Class. The aerials are much discussed on this site so I'm familiar with what's available.
However my motorhome already has 'internet in the car' abilities but sadly at highly inflated prices per GB making it not cost effective. This got me thinking that the van must have some sort of 4G aerial fitted already and indeed when I look up the VIN on mbdecoder.com I see it has the following fitted:

E4A​	Antenna Interface For Radio, Navigation And Mobile Radio​

Does anyone know if it might be possibly to connect my own mifi unit to this aerial somehow?

Thanks.

No, you need a proper 4G aerial preferably a MIMO tyor.

Solwise - 3G/4G/5G Mobile Broadband Outdoor Antenna | Solwise Ltd

www.solwise.co.uk

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[Lenny HB]

Forgot to mention, your existing aerial will do, FM, DAB, TV & GPS(for satnav).

 

[MisterB]

I've just ordered a mimo external antenna through ebay ....

 

[Lenny HB]

I've just ordered a mimo external antenna through ebay ....

Hope you ordered a decent one there are loads of cheapo ones on eBay for 20 or 3O quid I would think they are waste if time as a lot of them come with 5m leads. Cables that length will lose more signal than the aerial gains. Best to stick with reptical makes like Poynting.

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[Henry Walpole]

No, you need a proper 4G aerial preferably a MIMO tyor.

Solwise - 3G/4G/5G Mobile Broadband Outdoor Antenna | Solwise Ltd

www.solwise.co.uk

Thanks Lenny HB I like the look of this one, wifi as well!

Solwise - Poynting 5-in-1 MIMO 2xLTE, 2xWiFi, 1xGPS MIMO-3-V2-15 | Solwise Ltd

www.solwise.co.uk

It has up to 60mm clamping thickness, I seem to remember you saying on another post that is not deep enough for an A-class motorhome? Did you just stick yours down with sikaflex?

 

[Manic]

What about this one.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-...0001&campid=5338547443&icep_item=123820939731

 

[Lenny HB]

Thanks Lenny HB I like the look of this one, wifi as well!

Solwise - Poynting 5-in-1 MIMO 2xLTE, 2xWiFi, 1xGPS MIMO-3-V2-15 | Solwise Ltd

www.solwise.co.uk

It has up to 60mm clamping thickness, I seem to remember you saying on another post that is not deep enough for an A-class motorhome? Did you just stick yours down with sikaflex?

That one is the same as the one I have except my one doesn't have the WiFi, it works very well. They have discontinued the one without the WiFi as a replacement due.
To make use of the WiFi you would need a WiFi router that can accept external aerials, usually only expensive professional ones these days.

Fitting my one I removed the sticky pad on the base and fixed it with Sikaflex.

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[Lenny HB]

What about this one.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-...0001&campid=5338547443&icep_item=123820939731

Good price for a Poynting unit but only a Puck, the Puck's gain in the 800mhz bandwidth is lower than the more expensive ones. Rural areas use the 800mhz bandwidth, so if you camp in rural areas best to spend a bit more.

 

[Henry Walpole]

That one is the same as the one I have except my one doesn't have the WiFi, it works very well. They have discontinued the one without the WiFi as a replacement due.
To make use of the WiFi you would need a WiFi router that can accept external aerials, usually only expensive professional ones these days.

Fitting my one I removed the sticky pad on the base and fixed it with Sikaflex.

Thanks Lenny HB for WiFi I've got an existing setup using an Alfa R36 and Alfa AWUS036H connected to an external WiFi aerial (suction variety) which hopefully will be able to plug into this aerial. You can still get them although there is a later model now. It's less than £80 for both items and it has worked very well for me in the past. I got them from https://www.wifi-antennas.co.uk/ and they were very helpful with advice and support.

 

[Skipper43]

Just fitted a 5G ready Mi-fi aerial (with a 4G router) from Motorhome Wi-fi. I am advised the 5G antenna provides extra gain to the 4G version. Having installed the router and hooked up the antenna I can get strong 4G on my drive. This is amazing because the only way I can get mobile phone signal is through a signal generator on my home Wi-fi. Very pleased with the kit and full marks to Motorhome Wi-fi ?

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[Lenny HB]

Thanks Lenny HB for WiFi I've got an existing setup using an Alfa R36 and Alfa AWUS036H connected to an external WiFi aerial (suction variety) which hopefully will be able to plug into this aerial. You can still get them although there is a later model now. It's less than £80 for both items and it has worked very well for me in the past. I got them from https://www.wifi-antennas.co.uk/ and they were very helpful with advice and support.

I have an R36 it's not the right type of router it's signal input is USB or 3G dongle, I have a directional aerial I put on the roof, don't use much now.

 

[Henry Walpole]

I have an R36 it's not the right type of router it's signal input is USB or 3G dongle, I have a directional aerial I put on the roof, don't use much now.

The R36 needs to be connected to the Alfa AWUS036H, the external aerial then plugs into the AWUS036H

 

[Lenny HB]

The R36 needs to be connected to the Alfa AWUS036H, the external aerial then plugs into the AWUS036H

That's only for your local wifi not the incoming signal.

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[BOWHOUSE52]

Hi funsters hope you all are keeping safe We also have motorhome wifi set up for over 12months and works extremely well in all parts of europe that we have been Some people say the are a bit expensive but once again as I have said in other blogs you only get what you pay for Also you get a good after sale service been worth every penny

 

[Henry Walpole]

That's only for your local wifi not the incoming signal.

Not sure what you mean by that. This setup has worked fine for me for many years, pulling in an external network (e.g. campsite wifi) and redistributing it in the van on my own internal wifi network supporting multiple devices.

This is the setup I have albeit with a different aerial:
<Broken link removed>

 

[Lenny HB]

Not sure what you mean by that. This setup has worked fine for me for many years, pulling in an external network (e.g. campsite wifi) and redistributing it in the van on my own internal wifi network supporting multiple devices.

This is the setup I have albeit with a different aerial:
<Broken link removed>

I think I get what you are doing now you are connecting the AWUS036H to the USB port on the R35 and replacing the aerial on the AWUS036H with an external aerial.
I have a USB aerial like thisthat plugs straight into the R36.

I used to have a Omidirectional one but the directional one pulls in a signal from 3 or 4 times the distance.

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[Henry Walpole]

Yes Lenny HB that's exactly it. I'm hoping I can connect the Poynting aerial to that setup to pick up WiFi although given how bad most campsite WiFi is I'll probably mainly be relying on 4G.

 

[MisterB]

Hope you ordered a decent one there are loads of cheapo ones on eBay for 20 or 3O quid I would think they are waste if time as a lot of them come with 5m leads. Cables that length will lose more signal than the aerial gains. Best to stick with reptical makes like Poynting.

it came today with 5m of cable. havent had time to play yet, but can i get the cable length reduced anywhere if necessary?

i assume its like a normal aerial lead, but just much smaller ????? or is there something special about the cable and connectors?

 

[Lenny HB]

it came today with 5m of cable. havent had time to play yet, but can i get the cable length reduced anywhere if necessary?

i assume its like a normal aerial lead, but just much smaller ????? or is there something special about the cable and connectors?

The the cable and connectors are designed to have a low capacitance at the high frequencies they are used at.

Ideally the cable length wants to be kept below one metre as cable looses are quite significant.
Best way of shortening the cable is to buy a new connector and fit to the shortened cable, most are crimped type but I think you can get soldered ones. You could just cut and solder the cable try and keep the branding screen in tack around the joint.

Try it first and see how you get on, be aware you can get throught a few gigs of data running tests.

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[MisterB]

thanks. i will start testing in a couple of days, got far too much to finish off before then !!! I darent start a new project until i have finished the ones on the go

 

[Pebble99]

Hi, I have a Alfa AWUS036NH which I bought a few years ago and used to connect it directly (via USB) to my MacBook. I checked this morning, and Alfa have not released the SW for the latest Catalina Mac SW. I have now seen this thread and very interesting in the Alfa R36A which apparently can connect to the AWUS036NH (instead of connecting it directly to the laptop).

My question to either Lenny or Henry is whether you know if the R36A will need firmware/SW drivers to connect to the latest SW version of my Mac (I assume that for initial set up I would need to connect my laptop to the router in order to configure it)?

 

[Lenny HB]

My question to either Lenny or Henry is whether you know if the R36A will need firmware/SW drivers to connect to the latest SW version of my Mac (I assume that for initial set up I would need to connect my laptop to the router in order to configure it)?

Should be like connecting to any other router. To set it up just plug into the ethernet port on the rear of the R36.
Can also be able to connect via wifi to change stetting, I prefer for first time use on any equipment to use a hardware connection but that's me being a nerd.

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[Pebble99]

Thanks Lenny. I have just ordered one and will now look into better aerial options.

 

[WynandJean]

All this is all well and good until people come and burn it down to stop it spreading viruses! ????

Wyn

 

[Henry Walpole]

Hi, I have a Alfa AWUS036NH which I bought a few years ago and used to connect it directly (via USB) to my MacBook. I checked this morning, and Alfa have not released the SW for the latest Catalina Mac SW. I have now seen this thread and very interesting in the Alfa R36A which apparently can connect to the AWUS036NH (instead of connecting it directly to the laptop).

My question to either Lenny or Henry is whether you know if the R36A will need firmware/SW drivers to connect to the latest SW version of my Mac (I assume that for initial set up I would need to connect my laptop to the router in order to configure it)?

Hi Pebble99 I've never connected the Alfa directly to my MacBook (or any PC for that matter). I've always connected mine to the Alfa R36A which avoids the issue as all config is then done via a browser.

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[Pebble99]

Thanks Henry/Lenny. My R36A arrived and I set it up with my AWUS06NH and all works fine with regular Wifi networks. I did read somewhere that it doesn't work with BT FON Wifi so I am wondering whether the R36A can support access to campsite Wifi which has a dedicated login portal page (or any WiFi network like this incl BT FON or the Orange Wifi in France).

 

[Lenny HB]

I've used the R36 with a USB long range directional areal with Fon & picked up BT Fon's in the UK.

 

[Henry Walpole]

Thanks Henry/Lenny. My R36A arrived and I set it up with my AWUS06NH and all works fine with regular Wifi networks. I did read somewhere that it doesn't work with BT FON Wifi so I am wondering whether the R36A can support access to campsite Wifi which has a dedicated login portal page (or any WiFi network like this incl BT FON or the Orange Wifi in France).

I've not tried it with FON. With campsite WiFi it's a bit hit and miss. The dedicated login portal is not an issue as you just login on one device and it logs everybody else in so they can use the WiFi. However on some campsites I've had issues getting the Alfa setup to work, whether they can actively block this kind of sharing I don't know. I tend to use 4G these days as campsite WiFi is usually awful.

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