Alarm, low voltage power, wifi and dashcam plans for new MH

[Tony68000]

Two weeks to go before we collect our 2007 Rapido 999M, so currently getting our kit together. Thought I’d share my plans for wifi and alarm with MHF and see if anyone has any thoughts.

For now, we’re going to buy a Ring Alarm (£149). This will give us a wifi enabled alarm, wireless sensors for doors and lockers (will need to buy more door sensors), PIR sensors, 24hour battery backup, and 3G backup in event of no wifi. Comes with a loud siren and will text/alert you in event of a trigger.

I’m going to rig up a 5v supply from the leisure battery to keep the base unit permanently powered.

This kit also comes with a wifi camera, it’ll record during events, and I can drop in a check everything is fine when away from the van.

To power this, and perhaps other low voltage devices - wifi router, etc., and to run a few more USB sockets around the van, I’m going to rig up a small fuze board to the leisure battery (£16) and then use 9-30v DC-DC converters to get my 5volts (£7 each). I’ll run these to where I need them. Will probably add a switch in there to prevent any drain when not using, but I’ll test first to see if it’s needed.

I’m currently looking at ‘motorhome wifi’. I think I’m comfortable fitting my own, so will be looking at a wifi booster / 4G antenna for the roof, and a dual-sim wifi router internally. This might cost me, but reliable internet is very important to us.

I’ve been looking at ‘power stations’, but for the price I think a second leisure battery and a small inverter will probably work out better. Just need to power a laptop charger and occasionally some 220v low wattage devices.

Finally, looking for a decent dashcam, I like the ones that look like rear view mirrors and give you a rear view as well. Recommendations more than welcome.

Oh, will also be replacing the stereo with probably a CarPlay device, but will wait until we get the van before looking at this.

 

[royandsharont]

I would first check your insurance as I’d be surprised you are not required to have a Thatchem Cat 1 alarm fitted and possibly a tracker too.

Also you need to be aware of dash cam restriction in EU countries if you plan to travel. As an example at the worst end it is illegal to even possess one in Austria let alone use it so when there I remove mine and hide it well away from myself just in case the Police or the cameras spot mine fitted to the screen

I have a Kenwood in the van and a Nextbase in the car, both ok for what they are but I think the Kenwood HD videos are better than the Nextbase ones

 

[Tony68000]

I would first check your insurance as I’d be surprised you are not required to have a Thatchem Cat 1 alarm fitted and possibly a tracker too.

Just got a quote from Comfort. 'No alarm', 'No tracker' at £407.
C&MC - £417.

Excesses about the same, but Comfort say max £3000 for windscreen. I presume Rapido's are standard Merc Sprinter windscreen? I'll check this. Edit: No, obviously not . Previous search on MFH indicates £3000 should be fine.

 

[autorouter]

a dual-sim wifi router internally.

Check out Teltonika routers. I have a RUTX11 which is fine, others have RUT950, RUT955 or RUTX12. Dual SIM, auto failover and enough built-in functionality to keep you tinkering for a very long time.

 

[dulvil]

Just got a quote from Comfort. 'No alarm', 'No tracker' at £407.
C&MC - £417.

Excesses about the same, but Comfort say max £3000 for windscreen. I presume Rapido's are standard Merc Sprinter windscreen? I'll check this. Edit: No, obviously not . Previous search on MFH indicates £3000 should be fine.

When (hopefully not) broken into or stolen you’ll be saying I wish I’d had a good alarm /tracker fitted

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[Tony68000]

Check out Teltonika routers. I have a RUTX11 which is fine, others have RUT950, RUT955 or RUTX12. Dual SIM, auto failover and enough built-in functionality to keep you tinkering for a very long time.

Thanks for the suggestion. These did pop up on my radar, they look really good. Typically what antennas are people pairing with these? Do you think a directional antenna is worth the hassle or even needed?

Something I couldn't answer when looking.. will they pick up wifi hotspots, via a suitable antenna and use that for an internet connection, or are these always mobile connections?

 

[Tony68000]

When (hopefully not) broken into or stolen you’ll be saying I wish I’d had a good alarm /tracker fitted

Indeed. It's got an immobiliser already fitted, not sure what type until I collect. A trip to get a Growler fitted might be something we do in the new year, but the Ring seems to tick a lot of the boxes.

For a tracker, again I'll probably look at something different in the new year, but a mobile phone tucked away somewhere will probably be my short term solution.

 

[funflair]

Are you running all this while the van is in storage, will you have hook up or plenty of solar to keep it all going?

 

[Hettie's Crew]

Thanks for the suggestion. These did pop up on my radar, they look really good. Typically what antennas are people pairing with these? Do you think a directional antenna is worth the hassle or even needed?

Something I couldn't answer when looking.. will they pick up wifi hotspots, via a suitable antenna and use that for an internet connection, or are these always mobile connections?

I’ve just fitted a Panorama Great White mimo 2X2 LTE/WiFi with our Teltonika RUT950 and am very pleased with it. I basically copied the Avtex WiFi system, though improved on it by fitting the WiFi version instead of just LTE.
I got the aerial from CO-STAR in Harrogate, though available elsewhere too.
We’ve just been away and able to watch Netflix through our Firestick using the sites free WiFi.

Avtex AMR985 Mobile Internet Solution. Anyone have experience of it?

At Shepton and looking at the above, 5g ready aerial, two unlocked sim ports at a good price. Anyone got one? https://avtex.co.uk/router

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[Lenny HB]

Just got a quote from Comfort. 'No alarm', 'No tracker' at £407.
C&MC - £417.

Excesses about the same, but Comfort say max £3000 for windscreen. I presume Rapido's are standard Merc Sprinter windscreen? I'll check this. Edit: No, obviously not . Previous search on MFH indicates £3000 should be fine.

Comfort windscreen cover is unlimited providing you use Autoglass £3000 limit if you use someone else.

Have a look at the Poynting MIMO aerials a lot of us on here use them.

Steer clear of Next base dash cams I use a KB now.

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[Tony68000]

I’ve just fitted a Panorama Great White mimo 2X2 LTE/WiFi with our Teltonika RUT950 and am very pleased with it. I basically copied the Avtex WiFi system, though improved on it by fitting the WiFi version instead of just LTE.
I got the aerial from CO-STAR in Harrogate, though available elsewhere too.
We’ve just been away and able to watch Netflix through our Firestick using the sites free WiFi.

Avtex AMR985 Mobile Internet Solution. Anyone have experience of it?

At Shepton and looking at the above, 5g ready aerial, two unlocked sim ports at a good price. Anyone got one? https://avtex.co.uk/router

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Brilliant! My search has found these, but I couldn't answer the question fully looking at the specs...

In simple terms, it's not just mobile in and wifi out? It will also do wifi/mobile in and wifi/lan out?

 

[Tony68000]

Comfort windscreen cover is unlimited providing you use Autoglass £3000 limit if you use someone else.

Have a look at the Poynting MIMO aerials a lot of us on here use them.

Steer clear of Next base dash cams I use a KB now.

Good to know, thank you. Poynting has popped up, seem like a good solution. Not sure how much hassle a directional antenna will be, or if it'll be worth it. I could mount it on the bike rack and spin it around when parked up, but those slimline antennas do look much better and a lot less hassle.

 

[Tony68000]

Are you running all this while the van is in storage, will you have hook up or plenty of solar to keep it all going?

It'll be on the drive hooked up, but the alarm has built in 24hour backup too. For the alarm, if I add a second set of wireless sensors to critical doors, and a PIR, it'll be linked to my home alarm system (it'll be parked around 3 meters from my existing base station), in addition to it's own system. So, 2-3 sirens will go off - internal in the house, internal in the van, and external on the house, along with 2 SMS notifications and an automated phone call to one of 2-3 contacts... and the dog will probably start barking too

 

[Lenny HB]

This is the type of Poynting's aerial I was referring to, there are various versions.

Solwise - MIMO-3-12 POYNTING 2 IN 1 HIGH PERFORMANCE MULTI FREQUENCY ANTENNA - A-MIMO-0003-V2-12 | Solwise Ltd

www.solwise.co.uk

 

[Tony68000]

Jim I note there's no specific forum for 'Internet and Phone Signals'. This seems a big topic and might benefit from it's own group?

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[Tony68000]

This is the type of Poynting's aerial I was referring to, there are various versions.

Solwise - MIMO-3-12 POYNTING 2 IN 1 HIGH PERFORMANCE MULTI FREQUENCY ANTENNA - A-MIMO-0003-V2-12 | Solwise Ltd

www.solwise.co.uk

Been looking at the one below. It does wifi too (and GPS, but probably won't need that).

Broken Link Removed

 

[Lenny HB]

Been looking at the one below. It does wifi too (and GPS, but probably won't need that).

Broken Link Removed

Thats the version that includes Wifi.

 

[peterc10]

We have a Ring alarm system at home and I swear by it. But I am not sure that is would be suitable for a motorhome. The PIRs are sensitive and could easily be triggered by movement outside. They also have a wide angle so it would be difficult to put them anywhere in a motorhome without them being pointed to a window, which the instructions say should be avoided.

The base unit power supply is rated at 2.5amps at 5V, so about 1 amp drain at 12v. So it could drain (to 50%) a 100Ah habitation battery in a couple of days. Therefore, if you are not using the motorhome over the winter it will need to be plugged in.

I would not rely upon the inbuilt 3G either. If you are not getting a signal through your Mifi router with a MIMO aerial, the built in 3G will not work either.

 

[Tony68000]

We have a Ring alarm system at home and I swear by it. But I am not sure that is would be suitable for a motorhome. The PIRs are sensitive and could easily be triggered by movement outside. They also have a wide angle so it would be difficult to put them anywhere in a motorhome without them being pointed to a window, which the instructions say should be avoided.

The base unit power supply is rated at 2.5amps at 5V, so about 1 amp drain at 12v. So it could drain (to 50%) a 100Ah habitation battery in a couple of days. Therefore, if you are not using the motorhome over the winter it will need to be plugged in.

I would not rely upon the inbuilt 3G either. If you are not getting a signal through your Mifi router with a MIMO aerial, the built in 3G will not work either.

Good to know thanks.

When parked up, it'll be on my home Internet, and will be connected to an external MIMO antenna too, via cat5 router, etc.

Ring home alarm is brilliant, totally agree. Replaced a wired system with better functionality at a fraction of the cost.

 

[peterc10]

When parked up, it'll be on my home Internet, and will be connected to an external MIMO antenna too, via cat5 router, etc.

It can't be connected to both. The instructions for the Base Station states

"The Base Station can only be connected to the Internet through an Ethernet Cable or via a 2.4 or 5 GHz Wi-Fi connection. If you are connected to a Wi-Fi connection, the connection and your credentials will be removed as a security feature if you plug in an Ethernet cable. If you have an Ethernet cable plugged into the Base Station and attempt to connect to Wi-Fi, you should receive a message that as long as the cable is plugged in, you will not be able to connect to Wi-Fi."

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[autorouter]

Been looking at the one below. It does wifi too (and GPS, but probably won't need that).

Broken Link Removed

As Lenny HB says, the '12' version doesn't include wifi or GPS. The '15' version has mobile, wifi and GPS, and the '17' version has 4 mobile antennae instead of just 2, and has wifi and GPS.

One good thing is, they are '5G Ready' - they have the extra antennae to pick up the 5G higher frequencies. So when it comes to upgrading to 5G, you'll need a new router, but the antenna will be good to go.

I use a '15' version, and use it to pick up house wifi on the drive. There's a video on the Teltonika website showing how to do it. I tend not to bother with wifi on most campsites, it's not usually very good, but I've occasionally used it when it's above average.

 

[autorouter]

It can't be connected to both. The instructions for the Base Station states

"The Base Station can only be connected to the Internet through an Ethernet Cable or via a 2.4 or 5 GHz Wi-Fi connection. If you are connected to a Wi-Fi connection, the connection and your credentials will be removed as a security feature if you plug in an Ethernet cable. If you have an Ethernet cable plugged into the Base Station and attempt to connect to Wi-Fi, you should receive a message that as long as the cable is plugged in, you will not be able to connect to Wi-Fi."

I'm not sure about that. My RUTX11 is plugged into a Victron Cerbo GX controller by ethernet cable, and I can connect to the house wifi too.

 

[peterc10]

I'm not sure about that. My RUTX11 is plugged into a Victron Cerbo GX controller by ethernet cable, and I can connect to the house wifi too.

I was referring to the OP's base station for their Ring Alarm. Nothing to do with a mifi system or router.

 

[Hettie's Crew]

Went wrong

 

[Hettie's Crew]

Brilliant! My search has found these, but I couldn't answer the question fully looking at the specs...

In simple terms, it's not just mobile in and wifi out? It will also do wifi/mobile in and wifi/lan out?

My simple thinking worked it out as two mobile aerials and two WiFi aerials in the antenna, picking up signals and taking them to the router, which then puts out WiFi from whichever source, also via cable (3 LAN and 1 WAN) if you choose to connect by Ethernet.
I connect by LAN to the MacBook if resetting the RUT950 for any reason but otherwise just WiFi.
As said it was brilliant for our iPads and the Firestick, the site WiFi didn’t seem so good just connected through an iPad sat in the van but through the antenna/router was great.
This is what concerned me about the Avtex system, it just had the WiFi aerials on the router, none in the antenna.

Don’t know how I posted twice just updating it.

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[Tony68000]

My simple thinking worked it out as two mobile aerials and two WiFi aerials in the antenna, picking up signals and taking them to the router, which then puts out WiFi from whichever source, also via cable (3 LAN and 1 WAN) if you choose to connect by Ethernet.
I connect by LAN to the MacBook if resetting the RUT950 for any reason but otherwise just WiFi.
As said it was brilliant for our iPads and the Firestick, the site WiFi didn’t seem so good just connected through an iPad sat in the van but through the antenna/router was great.

Don’t know how I posted twice just updating it.

Perfect thanks. I think this clarifies my options nicely.

It can't be connected to both. The instructions for the Base Station states

"The Base Station can only be connected to the Internet through an Ethernet Cable or via a 2.4 or 5 GHz Wi-Fi connection. If you are connected to a Wi-Fi connection, the connection and your credentials will be removed as a security feature if you plug in an Ethernet cable. If you have an Ethernet cable plugged into the Base Station and attempt to connect to Wi-Fi, you should receive a message that as long as the cable is plugged in, you will not be able to connect to Wi-Fi."

Good point. I think if I connect the Ring to the Motorhome router, probably on a LAN cable, but Wifi would equally work, then the router can either use the house's Wifi, mobile, or whatever signal or hotspot it finds. That'll not confuse the Ring base station, it will have a single never changing LAN connection, but the WAN can swap as much as it wants.

 

[Wabs]

I’d give Eddievanbits a call, a well respected member here, he knows more about alarm systems than anyone

 

[JP1889]

Thanks Hettie's Crew for the heads up about CO STAR at Harrogate . Bought a Panorama 5g mimo aerial from them for £100 less than a certain other well known company for their cloned 4g model. They even customised the fitting kit to my specs to save even more .
Excellent DPP next day service.
Recommended.

 

[ceejayt]

I would first check your insurance as I’d be surprised you are not required to have a Thatchem Cat 1 alarm fitted and possibly a tracker too.

Also you need to be aware of dash cam restriction in EU countries if you plan to travel. As an example at the worst end it is illegal to even possess one in Austria let alone use it so when there I remove mine and hide it well away from myself just in case the Police or the cameras spot mine fitted to the screen

I have a Kenwood in the van and a Nextbase in the car, both ok for what they are but I think the Kenwood HD videos are better than the Nextbase ones

Hadn't realised the dash cam rules in Europe myself - here is a really useful link stating where it is, and is not legal Click Here

Not legal in Portugal, Austria and Luxembourg