Mobile WiFi, which one to buy (1 Viewer)

[Dee-ruth]

Hi all. We are about to become full timers, although it's not the right time to do this, personally it is for us as we are about to become unemployed. We've always wanted to tour Europe, so we're going to do it, but very cautiously. The van is now fully kitted out apart from the mobile wifi. Could anyone recommend which system to go for. My partner was about to buy a system from motorhomewifi, but i thought it would be good to get some advice from anyone with more knowledge about these things than us. Please help. Thanks

 

[Peppadog]

Not long had our van, we too about going full-time. First thing I did was buy the following through broadbandbuyer....

1 x Poynting PUCK-5 Outdoor 6/7.5/21dBi Omni-Directional WiFi/GPS/4G LTE Antenna w/ SMA-Male Connector @ £77.09 each
1 x Teltonika RUT955 WiFi 4 4G LTE CAT4 Router w/ 2 x Embedded SIM Slots & 5 x External Antennas (150Mbps) @ £155.00 each
Sub Total £232.09
Delivery £3.50
VAT £47.12
Grand Total £282.71

Similar price & set-up to that of MotorhomeWiFi.
Shout out to “Geeky Phil” for the recommendation. Check out his YouTube videos.
Putting a hole through the roof was the hardest part of the install. Running it permanently on 12v from the Hab battery. Loads of options available via the app (not that I’m techie enough to use most of them).
Using an unlimited data sim from 3 for £17/mth.

So far it’s a big

A look at Poynting's website shows a serious and professional looking company. So probably very good kit. Well done.
Motorhome wifi is a sourcer of components who, using their knowledge, put the right ones together to make a system. On the basis they need to make a profit to stay alive and prosper, their kit is going to be more expensive than building your own. I didn't look at others as I know little about it. So I'm happy.

Complaining it is more expensive is not much good really. I am sure if you knew, and could source, all the components Vanbiltz buys in to make a Strikeback alarm, it would be much less than a Strikeback alarm costs. But the same rules applies. You can't create a product, build it, install it in some cases, pay wages and offer back up etc etc without a profit.

 

[Jim]

Because supporting a murderous dictatorship government is not in my goals.

But you are happy to slate a UK company saying they are "over charging" when you know zero about their operation. How do you know what is profit when you know nothing about their on costs? You don't.

What are their costs to attend all the shows mostly to explain how to use complicated system that sometimes they don't even supply? Do you know anything about their marketing costs, what they spend in support of their products, what they spend in research? Only when you know all that, you know what their bottom line is, when you can put a price on their whole service can you accuse them of over charging,

Yes you might say they are expensive compared to a box shifter, whereas your language implies they are ripping people off.

MotorhomeWifi have proved time and time again that they are more than a box shifter , they go the extra mile in servicing their customers, if you want a product and first class support for it, then you must pay for it. Unless of course your someone who knows everything and don't need support, if that's the case go and buy cheap Chinese.

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Exactly. The £300 kit from motorhomewifi is made of a £60 access point not in any way comparable with the Teltonika router and an antenna they sell separately for £200 that doesn't a thing more than your Poynting. They add some mounting hardware in the mix and that's it.

So the similarity in price is misleading, what you got is way better.

I have not got a Scooby Doo how all this stuff works so if I was in the market for a WiFi system I would happily pay extra to someone who knows what they are talking about and will get back to me if I was stuck in a field in a different country with problems.

As most people find out in life cheapest is not best.

 

[Woodburner]

If you don't want to drill holes in your van then a MiFi device such as the TP-Link M7350 (£71.50 on Amazon) works well. I use one with a Smarty (part of Three) unlimited data SIM (£18 per month) and it's perfect for watching internet TV in the van, general browsing and running Chromecast. Generally I find that it gets a pretty good 3G / 4G signal inside the van (at least one bar more than my phone) but if I'm in a poor signal area I just pop it on the van roof in a waterproof bag. The WiFi signal is very strong and more than enough to use devices in the van when the MiFi is on the roof. It lasts for 8 hours on a charge and if you want more you could charge it from a power bank popped in the waterproof bag as well. Quite handy to be able to use it away from the van too. Photo attached is my setup.

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[minesapint]

Strange, I reached out to MotorhomeWiFi to try and understand how their £65 internal aerial differed from some £20 alternatives on Amazon.

All I ever got back was comments about their testing, CE nark and safety, and bent coat hanger remarks concerning Amazon alternatives.

None of these comments helped me decide that technically there was a real reason for the extra cost and I would get some real return on my purchase!

We bought Motorhome WiFi never could get it to work. Sent it back for checking by them and was charged a service fee. Still did not work.

 

[Littleoldman]

Thanks to all who answered my question about the Firestick. At the moment I haven't decided to get a tv. When we have ridden to different countries in Europe we use our ipads. What I couldn't understand was powering the Firestick. Off on our inaugural trip tomorrow. Only 50miles and first night in an campsite then hopefully more wild camping.

 

[MopedMan]

Hi all. We are about to become full timers, although it's not the right time to do this, personally it is for us as we are about to become unemployed. We've always wanted to tour Europe, so we're going to do it, but very cautiously. The van is now fully kitted out apart from the mobile wifi. Could anyone recommend which system to go for. My partner was about to buy a system from motorhomewifi, but i thought it would be good to get some advice from anyone with more knowledge about these things than us. Please help. Thanks

Five years ago I did away with home broadband and bought a Huawei Mini WiFi Device (currently 5573c) and its been great in the UK and EU. No aerial used. I then take out a sim only package, currently 80gb with EE for £20 a month and use it for data only. Xan use data in EU or UK. EE has been better than 3 in my UK area, but 3 was generally good in France and Spain

 

[kevenh]

What I couldn't understand was powering the Firestick.

I forgot to suggest a power bank for the fire stick power but a newer TV than mine will probably work anyway
We’re still using & happy with our iPad mini 4 or more recently the Fire HD 10 tablet for a bit if streaming.

Enjoy your trip(s)

 

[Littleoldman]

Moped Man,I have been thinking of doing the same thing. When I'm at home I don't need wifi in the van and when I'm away I don't need it in the house. I have a package from Smarty a company that belongs to 3 mobile. I pay £18 a month for unlimited broadband (restricted to 20 gig in Europe) and you can use it for phoning and texting. I think I pay £28 fr my home broadband. My current package with ee is due to end in about 6 months so will give weigh it up by then. and next year Elon Musk will have a system which might be good for motorhomer's.

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[jeffcav]

I'd say there is a wide difference between the US and China. Democracy for example.
Of course one has a dubious past regarding world domination, the other is just starting to abuse its emerging world domination.

Name a recent war or coup that wasnt in some way organised by the USA, mostly to further their own economic ends, i am not letting China off the hook, they are despicable too, but i wouldn't trust the USA, and western democracy is now in name only, you can only vote for parties if they conform to a neoliberal agenda......that goes for here too.

 

[Duckato]

Dee-ruth

I have two vans both with Huawei Routers and a couple of the excellent Poynting antennas.
Poynting do a heck of a lot of research and have a good YouTube channel their mimo 3 is excellent so that's who I buy from.

I have a Puck II (relatively cheap) and an 4G-XPOL-A0001.
The Puck is very discreet the Xpol is not.

Here's is my Puck install - tip keep the cables as short as poss.

 

[tonyblack1964]

I have not got a Scooby Doo how all this stuff works so if I was in the market for a WiFi system I would happily pay extra to someone who knows what they are talking about and will get back to me if I was stuck in a field in a different country with problems.

As most people find out in life cheapest is not best.

Exactly. Too many people know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

 

[MacroMad]

Sometimes we have no say, no impact, and no idea that our Motorhome/Van/Conversion has been manufactured using Chinese (or any other) products.
But when we have a choice we use that choice to voice our dislike for a particular regime, it amazes me how anyone buy's anything from them.
Have you seen what they have done recently to free thinking journalists in Hong Kong, if i said this and lived in HK i would be arrested and face a life sentance, please dont support that regime.

 

[MarkinWales]

Hi all
I have recently installed (myself) the 4g lite antenna supplied by MotorhomeWiFi. I did this after first spending hours and hours researching different antennas and even speaking directly to a technical chap at Solwise, the company who make the infamous Puck. He was extremely knowledgeable (I think) and very helpful. Anyway, I ended up buying the Puck based on reviews and the fact that it could be installed on the roof without me making a hole in my lovely new MH roof! All the technical data suggested the range and gain from the Puck would do the job. So I ordered the Puck, the Huawei MiFi, and the pigtails.
Away we went for the weekend to a rural site in Somerset. I set about a temporary install with the Puck on the roof (not fixed) but cables plugged into the MiFi router. After about an hour I realised that the router had a better reception without (WITHOUT!) being connected to the Puck antenna! I tried for another hour - nothing, so gave up and told the boss I would play again in the morning!
The following day I emailed Motorhome WiFi and asked if their 4g lite antenna could be installed without making a hole in my beloved roof. No, was the answer! I admitted to trying (casually!) the Poynting Puck because it had a good gain and could be installed 'flat' on the roof. Adam from Motorhome WiFi then sent me the all important 'gain' graphs to compare his antenna with the puck. Basically (and simply) in urban and built up areas the frequency used for 4g and the resultant gain was very similar between the 2 antennas. The difference and very importantly for all the readers of this post was the 'gain' in remote and rural areas was actually negative with the Puck and +2 with the MotorhomeWiFi 4g lite antenna.
Having seen the reduction in reception for myself on our rural campsite with/without the the antenna plugged in I then did another load of research to find the same Antenna that MotorhomeWiFi sell, to see if I could find it cheaper as I could not accept that I had to pay another £150 pound more on the 'better' antenna (this is called cheapskate, tight arsed, bloodyminded, determination to get a deal). Well I found who i think supply MotorhomeWifi their antennas, and it was just over £100, so nearly half the price, but it didnt come with a shaft long enough to pass through the roof! I conceded defeat and ordered my antenna from a very gracious Adam.
I drilled my hole, used the best sealant and the excellent 3Mseal that already came with the antenna and installed the MotorhomeWiFi on and through my roof, plugged it into the Chinese router and have since been to many rural locations and never had anything other than almost full reception, including at the site where my reception decreased when I lugged in the Puck.
So there you go, long story/post to show how 'one determined to cut corners motorhomer' with some small degrees of technical abitlity (blindness) ended up wasting £60 on a Puck, spent hours trying to buck the knowledge that was already there and trying to help me, only to concede defeat and go with the experts at MotorhomeWifi. Sounds like an advert - actually its an admission of ignorance. It you only camp in built up areas and never go wild, the Puck is your man for price and value.
Anyone want to buy an almost never used Puck for £30??!!

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[Peppadog]

Very interesting results MarkinWales.
Solwise is a reseller of the Puck I believe, not the maker. Its made by Poynting, which I believe is a South African company. Though i don’t know where they make it/have it made. My guess would be China.
I have not had a signal problem with my Motorhome Wifi unit either. I also installed mine btw.

 

[tonyblack1964]

Excellent post Mark. Thank you for your insight. Hopefully a few people will save themselves an awful lot of time and effort by reading and digesting your info.

 

[BOWHOUSE52]

Tell your young Lady to go for it Motorhome WiFi great product we use it with Roku stick With 100GB in the little rooter typ box that comes in the kit Travel all over Europe never ever let us down Good luck

 

[Littleoldman]

I spent two nights at the Cardiff Caravan and Camping Park. Great spot to visit the city. I also bought the 4G system from Motorhome WIFI. First night buffering a little but the second night it was hopeless. It was so bad I couldn’t load a speed test it was like the days of dial up. I have sent MotorhomeWiFi an email to see if I have done something wrong, I really hope I have, but I followed their instructions to the letter. I was happy to pay for a really good package to get the best speed I could. I have a Smarty (part of the 3 mobile) unlimited SIM card. Costs £18 a month but when my home package ends next year I will use the sim in the house when I’m home and take it in the van when I’m away. There is a 20 gig limit on it in Europe but it’s only a £1 a gig to top up.

 

[tonyblack1964]

I spent two nights at the Cardiff Caravan and Camping Park. Great spot to visit the city. I also bought the 4G system from Motorhome WIFI. First night buffering a little but the second night it was hopeless. It was so bad I couldn’t load a speed test it was like the days of dial up. I have sent MotorhomeWiFi an email to see if I have done something wrong, I really hope I have, but I followed their instructions to the letter. I was happy to pay for a really good package to get the best speed I could. I have a Smarty (part of the 3 mobile) unlimited SIM card. Costs £18 a month but when my home package ends next year I will use the sim in the house when I’m home and take it in the van when I’m away. There is a 20 gig limit on it in Europe but it’s only a £1 a gig to top up.

Was it the system with the external motorhome roof aerial? What was the 4g signal strength indicated on your Mifi router display? Did you try using more than one device (i.e. phone, PC, smart tv etc.) to confirm the issue wasn't with your device?

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[Littleoldman]

Thanks for replying Tony. Yes it has the antenna on the roof, don’t no where to check for the signal strength. To try to get the best speed we turned of on iPad and two iPhones. There are trees around the campsite, and the weather wasn’t to bad.

 

[Addie]

I spent two nights at the Cardiff Caravan and Camping Park. Great spot to visit the city. I also bought the 4G system from Motorhome WIFI. First night buffering a little but the second night it was hopeless. It was so bad I couldn’t load a speed test it was like the days of dial up. I have sent MotorhomeWiFi an email to see if I have done something wrong, I really hope I have, but I followed their instructions to the letter. I was happy to pay for a really good package to get the best speed I could. I have a Smarty (part of the 3 mobile) unlimited SIM card. Costs £18 a month but when my home package ends next year I will use the sim in the house when I’m home and take it in the van when I’m away. There is a 20 gig limit on it in Europe but it’s only a £1 a gig to top up.

I've just replied to your e-mail from 8pm Sunday night, about 4 hours into Monday morning.

Three isn't exactly the 'best' network, EE and Vodafone have supior coverage but do cost more for that reason. We include a Smarty (Three) SIM because it's better to start at the cheaper end to see if this works out for you, rather than at the expensive end and not see the benefit as our instructions reference.

I've included some additional information, links to where to obtain some free SIM's to test as well as some tips to ensure there isn't any local WiFi congestion issues before spending on a different data plan in my e-mail reply.

Hope this helps.

Adam

 

[tonyblack1964]

Thanks for replying Tony. Yes it has the antenna on the roof, don’t no where to check for the signal strength. To try to get the best speed we turned of on iPad and two iPhones. There are trees around the campsite, and the weather wasn’t to bad.

If your Mifi router has a display on it there should be an indication (as below) of 4g signal strength. Have you checked on the Three network (data network used by Smarty) website for expected signal strength at the location you were at? Try it here: http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Network/Coverage

 

[peterc10]

Thanks for replying Tony. Yes it has the antenna on the roof, don’t no where to check for the signal strength. To try to get the best speed we turned of on iPad and two iPhones. There are trees around the campsite, and the weather wasn’t to bad.

The signal strength is shown on the small screen on your mifi router, which is the small black box inside the motorhome where the aerial leads go into. It looks just like the one showing your phone signal strength on your mobile phone. Look at the instructions that came with the mifi router if you are not sure.

 

[Theonlysue]

Vodafone are doing a 100g a month sim, all usable in europe, for £20 a month.
Offer ends early sept.
The unlimited data ones are capped for abroad I think at 25g a month.
Someone started a thread on fun about this not long ago.

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[Littleoldman]

Thanks Tony, I’m going to say it was my eyesight, I have never noticed it. It sits in one of my cupboards they are never closed but I’m now thinking it might need to be fitted outside of the cupboard. I know the product I bought from MotorhomeWiFi is very good by the satisfaction shown by other users. And I took time and care when I fitted it, so when we go to Bristol or Bath in the next few days, when this Gout in my foot improves, I will Buy a one-off SIM card from another provider and using my recently acquired skill of being able to check the signal strength of the two cards I might have to move mobile provider.

 

[MattR]

Vodafone are doing a 100g a month sim, all usable in europe, for £20 a month.
Offer ends early sept.
The unlimited data ones are capped for abroad I think at 25g a month.
Someone started a thread on fun about this not long ago.

I've just installed one for 60gb/month for £8 / month by redemption. It worked straight out of the envelope, into my mifi and seems to be as fast as my Virgin Media broadband. I would have unlimited calls and sms too if I needed them ... The offer with Mobiles. Co. Uk or similar expires in a day or two.

 

[Headrush]

Hi, sorry for the thread revival. I'm looking to fit an external 4g antenna and all I can find are ones that need a hole through the roof. I already have a hole which my satellite cables run through. Is there an antenna on the market that has a side connection for the cables?
Thanks

 

[tonyblack1964]

Hi, sorry for the thread revival. I'm looking to fit an external 4g antenna and all I can find are ones that need a hole through the roof. I already have a hole which my satellite cables run through. Is there an antenna on the market that has a side connection for the cables?
Thanks

Personally, I don't think you should worry about putting another whole in your roof. It's not as drastic as it sounds. I think you might struggle to find something that will allow you to share an existing hole. If you're determined you could modify a bracket to hold your 4g antenna off the roof and allow you to run the cables down an existing hole.

 

[Headrush]

Thanks.

Personally, I don't think you should worry about putting another whole in your roof. It's not as drastic as it sounds. I think you might struggle to find something that will allow you to share an existing hole. If you're determined you could modify a bracket to hold your 4g antenna off the roof and allow you to run the cables down an existing hole.

I've seen a few magmount antennas so it might be easier to sikaflex a piece of steel to the roof and use that. Not sure on quality of signal with magmounts though as they seem to need a ground plane.