MotorHome WiFi Routers

[BrianHHill]

Our Auto-Sleepers, new last Sept, came fitted with a Motorhome WiFi Compact 4G Huawei router. Use in the UK has been ok but and was pathetic during our recent trip in France with extremely poor download speeds. So much so that we resorted to using the phones as a Hotspot with great download speeds. We tried resetting with the correct APN but to no avail. Recent emails with Motorhome WiFi has told us that the Compact 4G doesn't have carrier aggregation technology and has recommended an upgrade to the Compact 4G Ultra or 4G Flex; each costing circa £ 350 + Installation. Just wondering if anyone uses the recommended routers and if the download speeds abroad are acceptable.

 

[Hagstrom]

We use a dual (Smarty/Lebara) SIM Teltonika 955 router in Spain in winter and have no problems with download speeds. Well enough for live streaming.
Did you try using your phone SIM, which you hotspotted successfully, in the Huawei router?

 

[BrianHHill]

We use a dual (Smarty/Lebara) SIM Teltonika 955 router in Spain in winter and have no problems with download speeds. Well enough for live streaming.
Did you try using your phone SIM, which you hotspotted successfully, in the Huawei router?

I didn’t but they are both Sky as we roll the data.

 

[Hagstrom]

Sky piggybacks on O2's network, I believe. Maybe O2 doesn't perform well in France?

 

[Speve]

We use one of these and it has worked really well in Spain and Portugal
huawei b535-333 router you can buy an unlocked one on Amazon

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[Elsie2010]

Sky piggybacks on O2's network, I believe. Maybe O2 doesn't perform well in France?

Or anywhere, full stop!
Had sky for years but over the last couple, diabolical would be putting it mildly!
Alsatian can attest to this too....him and mum have quite a few issues
Moved to Smarty, so far so good.
Don't think you can beat EE but it's so piggin expensive and us MH's have to save every penny we can for those repairs

 

[funsterSwede]

Would recommend anyone to have a look at the fixed installations Teltonikas, we got the (somewhat) future-proof 5G-version RUTX50 and an indoor-mounted Poyting antenna and even though we rarely get 5G here in rural Sweden, in Finland it was availalble pretty much everywhere with excellent performance..

 

[steven2002]

We use one of these and it has worked really well in Spain and Portugal
huawei b535-333 router you can buy an unlocked one on Amazon

Hi are you using an antenna with this? I use the same router which was great in the coach built van but is struggling inside my pvc.
I tried a poynting xpol mimo antenna but had no difference with the performance.
Thanks.

 

[Two on Tour]

We are running a Teltonica RUT955 with a RWG Global sim & a 3 sim in the second slot, good signal in the UK, France and Italy on our resent trip, but a bit flakey in one part of the Dolomite mountains.

 

[Speve]

Hi are you using an antenna with this? I use the same router which was great in the coach built van but is struggling inside my pvc.
I tried a poynting xpol mimo antenna but had no difference with the performance.
Thanks.

Yes I bought the motorhome WiFi kit including antenna.

5G Ready Flex - Motorhome WiFi

5G Ready Antenna & 4G Flex Router Vehicle or Home Use Work From Your Van Slim Wall Cradle 300Mbps CAT 7 4G LTE+ with Carrier Aggregation 64 Wireless Devices, 4 Wired 50-100m WiFi Range LED Status Lights Easy to use smart phone app Ideal for: 3 or more concurrent users, leisure &...

www.motorhomewifi.com

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[Elsie2010]

Yes I bought the motorhome WiFi kit including antenna.

5G Ready Flex - Motorhome WiFi

5G Ready Antenna & 4G Flex Router Vehicle or Home Use Work From Your Van Slim Wall Cradle 300Mbps CAT 7 4G LTE+ with Carrier Aggregation 64 Wireless Devices, 4 Wired 50-100m WiFi Range LED Status Lights Easy to use smart phone app Ideal for: 3 or more concurrent users, leisure &...

www.motorhomewifi.com

This looks similar to the one we're getting fitted in our PVC next week
Same issue as steven2002 where our Huawei worked fine in MH but not so well in our PVC

Has this improved your signal any? Is yours coachbuilt or pvc?

 

[Speve]

This looks similar to the one we're getting fitted in our PVC next week
Same issue as steven2002 where our Huawei worked fine in MH but not so well in our PVC

Has this improved your signal any? Is yours coachbuilt or pvc?

Yes it has improved the signal no end and we have used it on long trips to Spain and Portugal and France with a Tiekom data sim without fault or loss of signal.
we have an A class and I installed the kit myself

 

[Elsie2010]

Yes it has improved the signal no end and we have used it on long trips to Spain and Portugal and France with a Tiekom data sim without fault or loss of signal.
we have an A class and I installed the kit myself

Ah, brilliant
Would you envisage the same for our pvc, given the 'Tin box' element?
I know carriers have a lot to do with what signal you're getting so we do have smarty as our go to, with a back up PAYG EE (not used as yet)

 

[Alsatian]

Yes it has improved the signal no end and we have used it on long trips to Spain and Portugal and France

Yes that's all very well, but will it work in such faraway places as the North Yorkshire Coast?

 

[Elsie2010]

Yes that's all very well, but will it work in such faraway places as the North Yorkshire Coast?

Or anywhere we go?

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[mitzimad]

if your phones did the job why bother with a mifi we havent had one for about 6 years seldom we cant get signal via the phone

 

[wfdTamar]

I have a used Huawei B535 as someone posted earlier with a 4G version of the antenna like the one from Motorhome Wifi. The Huawei is a home unit powered by a wall plug, but it’s 12 volt so I got a cigarette adapter cable. All works good, but it doesn’t do 5G. 4G is far more common and is fat enough for hd tv. If I want 5G I can put the sim in my phone.

If you wanted a really good setup that Teltonica rut955 (superseded by the rut956) would be good having dual sims, but it’s still only 4G. With an external antenna. If you’re spending that kind of money you want 5G.

 

[Reallyretired]

We just hotspot the phones as needed. But we don't work or watch TV so not a big problem if we have a bad signal for a day or two.

 

[Chris_H]

We have found the Motorhome WiFi/MiFi solutions to be very intermittent when travelling outside UK as previously discussed here:
Anyone else experience unexplainable Motorhome MiFi roaming connection failures when in Europe?

In the end we overcame all this with the ultimate Starlink solution:
Is Starlink Roam with a Peplink Router the ultimate MH internet solution?

 

[wfdTamar]

Just a bit more on what I have:
Huawei B535-232 (they seem to come in white or black). Unlocked (that's important, otherwise they only work on one network).

There are heaps on ebay as they obviously were the default modem for home internet deals and people are selling them as they've updated to 5G. Start from around £50, but you might get an auction one cheaper.

They come with two short antennas that screw on the back which you could manage with, but you're far better off putting an antenna on the roof outside the metal cage of your van. There are all sorts on ebay cheap enough to try from a puck like one that has 3dB gain to a short 'beer can' type than supposedly has 10-12dB gain. These are so cheap I'm a bit dubious of them. There are all sorts of frequencies that you would preferably cover so it might require some research to work out which is appropriate for where you intend travelling. I only know enough to be dangerous (not an expert by any means).

Or you can go for a known good one like this (the kind of thing on the Motorhome wifi site) :

MIMO-3-12

The MIMO-3-12 is a high-performance 2-in-1 multi-frequency antenna designed for seamless 2G, 3G, 4G, and emerging 5G connectivity. Housed in a single enclosure, this antenna features two cellular MIMO elements covering 617 MHz to 2700 MHz, as well as the new 450 MHz and 3.5 GHz CBRS bands...

poynting.tech

That's what I used only I got mine in Australia where they're half the price.

I got this cigarette power adapter:

Pardon our interruption...

The modem is meant to sit on a desk, so I zip tied it upside down to the curtain rail in the wardrobe.

To give you an idea of what difference an antenna makes - currently in my iPhone 14 I was getting 2-3 bars of 4G. In the Huawei (with antenna fixed on the roof) I get a full 5 bars.

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[Julian Dearson]

I have https://www.motorhomewifi.com/product/4g-smart-flex/ fitted in the RV for £350 and a Popit 100GB data only SIM at £25 per month that you can pause for £1 a month. It has worked fine in UK and France, although it did struggle with 300,000+ people at Le Mans! Mind you everybody struggled, even the locals!

I had a similar set-up in my previous RV as well, although with an EE data only SIM. That solution is just not viable in Europe these days!

Cheers, Julian

 

[Apacheman]

We use an Alcatel sim router(£35) and a Popit mobile sim. Great speeds everywhere we go in France/Spain. Do this to avoid roaming charges using our phones and usage limited to 12gb.

 

[Manic]

Just a bit more on what I have:
Huawei B535-232 (they seem to come in white or black). Unlocked (that's important, otherwise they only work on one network).

There are heaps on ebay as they obviously were the default modem for home internet deals and people are selling them as they've updated to 5G. Start from around £50, but you might get an auction one cheaper.

They come with two short antennas that screw on the back which you could manage with, but you're far better off putting an antenna on the roof outside the metal cage of your van. There are all sorts on ebay cheap enough to try from a puck like one that has 3dB gain to a short 'beer can' type than supposedly has 10-12dB gain. These are so cheap I'm a bit dubious of them. There are all sorts of frequencies that you would preferably cover so it might require some research to work out which is appropriate for where you intend travelling. I only know enough to be dangerous (not an expert by any means).

Or you can go for a known good one like this (the kind of thing on the Motorhome wifi site) :

MIMO-3-12

The MIMO-3-12 is a high-performance 2-in-1 multi-frequency antenna designed for seamless 2G, 3G, 4G, and emerging 5G connectivity. Housed in a single enclosure, this antenna features two cellular MIMO elements covering 617 MHz to 2700 MHz, as well as the new 450 MHz and 3.5 GHz CBRS bands...

poynting.tech

That's what I used only I got mine in Australia where they're half the price.

I got this cigarette power adapter:

Pardon our interruption...

The modem is meant to sit on a desk, so I zip tied it upside down to the curtain rail in the wardrobe.

To give you an idea of what difference an antenna makes - currently in my iPhone 14 I was getting 2-3 bars of 4G. In the Huawei (with antenna fixed on the roof) I get a full 5 bars.

Same setup as mine, has your Poynting got the long cables or short.

 

[Chris_H]

Poynting cable is about 2M - my view is best to keep it short and avoid joins to reduce the potential of interference and attenuation.

 

[Manic]

Poynting cable is about 2M - my view is best to keep it short and avoid joins to reduce the potential of interference and attenuation.

Yes I was thinking of shortening mine.

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[DrDeath]

Hi, I have no solutions just some more gripes!!
My wife and I are newbies having bought a van in lockdown-that storyline will be in the future autobiography!
Anyway, asked the dealer who failed to get the van to put a roof mounted antenna 5G ready from Motorhome wifi
My mother in Ireland became quite ill so we drove over and then it stopped working so there’s a dilemma
Said wifi company exchanged emails with me the upshot of which was that they specifically do not offer after sales support!!
So if you are buying from these people-caveat emptor!!

 

[Chris_H]

I agree. My recent woes with Motorhome WiFi drove (NPI) me away to find another solution. I found after-sales to be initially unresponsive or unsupportive and blame anything but the product or themselves!

 

[wfdTamar]

My antenna cables are really long, maybe 3 metres. It's an Australian market one - A$205. Didn't have the nice thread extension the Motorhome wifi one comes with, so it's only stuck on the roof. The modem is about 300mm under the antenna.

 

[claude et maude]

I have the Huawei and have used it for years without issue until I tried with a Popit sim. I faffed around for ages getting nowhere so I put the sim in my iPad mini and use that as a hotspot, works perfectly and I also use the iPad as my satnav so one less device to carry, charge or worry about.

So far has worked fine as a hotspot in UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Italy so the Huawei will stay in a draw and I’ll carry on using the iPad.

Absolutely nothing against the Huawei though, if it hadn’t been for that one SIM issue I’d still be using it today.

 

[Captain Birdseye]

Our Auto-Sleepers, new last Sept, came fitted with a Motorhome WiFi Compact 4G Huawei router. Use in the UK has been ok but and was pathetic during our recent trip in France with extremely poor download speeds. So much so that we resorted to using the phones as a Hotspot with great download speeds. We tried resetting with the correct APN but to no avail. Recent emails with Motorhome WiFi has told us that the Compact 4G doesn't have carrier aggregation technology and has recommended an upgrade to the Compact 4G Ultra or 4G Flex; each costing circa £ 350 + Installation. Just wondering if anyone uses the recommended routers and if the download speeds abroad are acceptable.

The problem is the old technology in the router. I kept the existing mifi and bought a Netgear Nighthawk plus a usb adaptor (to power it from the existing mifi). It does have the modern technology and works well, but it was expensive and tended to overheat and shut off in the cupboard , so I bought a usb poward small usb fan and no problems now.

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