Getting Ready To Put A Hole In My New RV

We started full timing in our new Big Country 4010RD about a week and a half ago and are slowly upgrading the things we planned out. I'm now at the point of installing our cell booster which includes an external antenna. The instructions describe mounting the antenna to the top of the ladder then running the cable over the side of the RV then through a hole into the RV itself.

SO...I'm about to drill my first hole into the RV. The kit comes with rubber gaskets and other mounting hardware needed, but what else do I need to know before I do this? The instructions talk about adding RTV around the inside of the hole; is RTV easy to work with and is it something I can pick up from Campingworld?

-Jeff

Hi Jeff,

If you're drilling through the rear cap, near the roof, one thing that may surprise is that the rubber roofing material extends down from the roof a couple of feet. So your drill bit may grab and twist some.

You'll want to measure about 14 times before actually drilling so you are very, very certain where the drill bit will enter the interior.

And if not provided, a clamshell wire cover like this will help keep water out. You can find one at a boat place.

danemayer said:

Hi Jeff,

If you're drilling through the rear cap, near the roof, one thing that may surprise is that the rubber roofing material extends down from the roof a couple of feet. So your drill bit may grab and twist some.

You'll want to measure about 14 times before actually drilling so you are very, very certain where the drill bit will enter the interior.

And if not provided, a clamshell wire cover like this will help keep water out. You can find one at a boat place.

Click to expand...

Actually, the 4010RD has a flat wall with added "cap like" areas at the top and sides where the lights are.

Inside, there's a full entertainment center, no window.

I would contact the factory to see if there's some concern over drilling where you want.


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I will be following this thread....I need to do the EXACT same thing. I splurged on a WeBoost signal booster and OMG!! It works beyond my expectations. I took it on a trip in my car to the beach and where I normally lose coverage, I still had 3 of 5 bars. This will be exactly what I need, as we camp in places that I have never been able to get coverage before (AT&T) but my fellow campers with Verizon did.

I will be mounting this to the ladder then either going in the back cap or dropping the cable down the inside of the ladder and come up under the RV

If anyone is interested (and you want to treat yourself) check this out...works with all carriers. My plan is to place my hotspot on the rectangular transmitter you see just below the big square antenna....then use the hotspot to access internet. If I want to make calls, I need to get closer to transmitter.


Amazon Link

Thanks everyone. I'm planning on going over the side wall so I won't be dealing with the rear at all. The product did come with a clam shell and rubber grommet for the hole. I thought about going down the ladder and coming up underneath, but since I plan on putting the booster in the top cabinet that's literally on the other side of the wall I'm drilling into, I figure going through the wall is the shortest (and easiest) route.

I didn't think about contacting the factory, that's a great point. I can't imagine anything going through the wall there, but you never know!

We splurged and got a weBoost as well. We picked up the new "Drive 4G-X RV" model which is supposedly designed specifically for RVs. We plan on putting our AT&T access point right near the interior antenna as well.

I don't think I'll be able to get to the install this weekend, but regardless I'll take plenty of pictures when the time comes.

Oregon_Camper said:

I will be following this thread....I need to do the EXACT same thing. I splurged on a WeBoost signal booster and OMG!! It works beyond my expectations. I took it on a trip in my car to the beach and where I normally lose coverage, I still had 3 of 5 bars. This will be exactly what I need, as we camp in places that I have never been able to get coverage before (AT&T) but my fellow campers with Verizon did.

I will be mounting this to the ladder then either going in the back cap or dropping the cable down the inside of the ladder and come up under the RV

If anyone is interested (and you want to treat yourself) check this out...works with all carriers. My plan is to place my hotspot on the rectangular transmitter you see just below the big square antenna....then use the hotspot to access internet. If I want to make calls, I need to get closer to transmitter.


Amazon Link

Click to expand...

I am glad to hear that this works so well. Something like this is definitely on my list of needed upgrades.

What hotspot are you using? I also have AT&T.

I'm know you meant that question for Oregon_Camper, but I'm using the new Explore Unite. Once I get everything up and running, I'll let you know how much the antenna improves the performance. Right now I'm getting between 1 and 2 bars and 10mbps download speed.

Alan_B said:

I am glad to hear that this works so well. Something like this is definitely on my list of needed upgrades.

What hotspot are you using? I also have AT&T.

Click to expand...

I am using the Netgear 781S Hotspot. Works great and it has a nice "app" for my phone that allows to me control it. It is a year old, so I think there might be a newer model now.


I also use a Hoo Too portable hotspot/repeater that I typically use when I travel (I fly about 120,000 per year for work...Yikes!) but I also use it in the RV. It will "repeat" your signal so you can get WiFi coverage at a greater distance.

The other nice thing about the Hoo Too devices is you can leave ALL your device (phone..laptop...tablet...etc) set to your standard SSID (like the one at your home) and only set the Hoo Too device to the RV resorts hotspot. Then it will simply broadcast the SSID name you already have in your devices....using the other hotspot. This takes away all the problems of having to enter password after password on ever device each time. I can go on about this thing....it also has a USB charging port, so you can charge our device from it too. You can plug it into a Ethernet cable for even better speeds...and finally put a SD card in it to make it a music streaming device. All that for under $40.

Oh...I'm kind of a Geek, so I just love all this technology stuff.

Amazon Link for Hoo Too Device

AFMagnum said:

Thanks everyone. I'm planning on going over the side wall so I won't be dealing with the rear at all. The product did come with a clam shell and rubber grommet for the hole. I thought about going down the ladder and coming up underneath, but since I plan on putting the booster in the top cabinet that's literally on the other side of the wall I'm drilling into, I figure going through the wall is the shortest (and easiest) route.

I didn't think about contacting the factory, that's a great point. I can't imagine anything going through the wall there, but you never know!

We splurged and got a weBoost as well. We picked up the new "Drive 4G-X RV" model which is supposedly designed specifically for RVs. We plan on putting our AT&T access point right near the interior antenna as well.

I don't think I'll be able to get to the install this weekend, but regardless I'll take plenty of pictures when the time comes.

Click to expand...

Ok, going through a sidewall you probably won't hit anything, but you could use a metal stud finder to be safe. Please post pics as we have the same plan, and I've been considering how to route an exterior antenna.

Btw I had the 781S, (aka AT&T Unite Pro), and recently upgraded to the 815S, (aka AT&T Unite Explore). Nothing wrong with the old one, but it was 2 years old and there's newer technology out there.

Here's a much bigger hole, in the front closet -- but gives you an idea of what makes up the sidewall.




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I finally got around to this last weekend. Measured everything out, used a stud finder, measured again, then went for it. I'm happy to say I didn't have any problems getting through the wall and didn't hit anything in the process. Pictures are below. The cable from the antenna stands out against the Big Country graphics more than I would like, but not much I can do about that now.

Looks good! Let us know how the antenna works as well!


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We definitely have increased performance on our hotspot, but it's still not as good as we were hoping. I'm holding out judgment until we move to a new spot at the end of June. We have an extremely limited signal here to begin with.