WiFI Ranger Go2 indoor router, Elite outdoor router and Verizon USB U620L modem install + cell antenna

[esscobra]

Firstly- rvs provide a host of connectivity issues due to their construction - have worked with several rv parks and customers on wifi-

Most of the units are only using 1- mostly sprint as with unlimited data- more remote locations att and Verizon have better service

I have a few customers using dual modems with dual providers where connectivity is critical

the newest lp6 models will pull from multiple towers/cells and get the extra speed

The cradlepoints are really designed for providing cell based data where std broadband is not- and in mobile ( police/fire/ems ) and kiosk/redbox applications - It has evolved into being a great backup/secondary wan solution for customers ho rely on cloud(web) services or poor wifi in parks-

if anyone needs pricing on cradlepoints or services/warranties pm me. I am computer support services and hardware reseller. ( not trying to advertise- just willing to help fellow memberws save $ )

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here is pic showing difference in 1600 and 1600 lp6 speed connected wifi to 1600 on laptop

 

[porthole]

For you techies - things like 1600, 1600 ip6, $55 edimax, $100 pepwave yada yada yada, us mere mortals need better descriptions.

At least something like this descriptor, "Pepware MAX BR1 Mini" we can at least google and see what you are talking about. But even googling that specific text brings up more then one possible product.

"Pepware MAX BR1 Mini"

Unfortunately for us, I fell into the hype with the wifr ranger stuff. That external reviews were good, the concept of the in and out routers, wifi receiver-transmitters, cellular connection, seamless failover, combining of wifi signals and cellular service for increased speeds and the range (which is totally bogus) all sounded great. US made products was an extra for me to be willing to spend a bit more money as well.

And in the RV world of reviews, Technomadia, Gone with the Wynns & Jack Mayer, one has to realize, these folks more then likely can easily overlook issues non techies can have as these same issues are easily overcome for them. And there may or may not be incentives for stellar reviews.

I still find it a bit amusing that at our last dog camp, where i needed to have my gear interface properly and work with my my mifi device, that although I had limited and mostly frustrating connectivity, that a geek in another building was able to hack into my supposedly secure guest access I set up and use my service.

Although I don't know if it was just that easy or the fact that my access was named "hillary's unsecured email" that made it a challenge.

 

[porthole]

There is another concern I don't see addressed on any of the internet solutions.

Our phones are setup to not do some things unless connected to a wifi network. That goes out the window if you are using a router with cellular service.

 

[danemayer]

For you techies - things like 1600, 1600 ip6, $55 edimax, $100 pepwave yada yada yada, us mere mortals need better descriptions.

Edimax BR6478 V2 WISP Router from Amazon. Connects to campground WiFi on either 5.0 GHz (new high-performance, low-interference protocol), or 2.4 GHz (old, tired protocol that's still widely used). The router then creates a local WiFi network to which all of your devices connect. The local WiFi can be 5.0 GHz, or 2.4 GHz, or both concurrently, which allows you to take advantage of the high performance protocol with your newer, high-performance devices, and still connect your 2.4 GHz printers and older devices.

Set it up in WISP mode (1 of 5 modes) to connect to campground WiFi. At each new campground, you have only to make the one WiFi connection to the campground.

In many campgrounds, Tengo Internet is the service provider. In order to log on to Tengo, each piece of equipment normally has to log in using a separate coupon code. WISP mode (WiFi as WAN) allows a single coupon code to be shared by all your equipment. In addition, if the campground has enough bandwidth to support video streaming or gaming, your Roku or Smart TV or Game Console can connect to Tengo even though it doesn't have a browser interface normally needed to connect to Tengo.

This device does not connect to the Cell network. For that I use a Verizon MiFi obtained for free at the Verizon store with a 2 year commitment. When the campground doesn't have workable WiFi, I turn on the Verizon MiFi and point the Edimax at the Verizon MiFi. That way all my devices still have the same single sign on.

And yes, when using Cell data through a router, your devices will use up data the same as if connected to WiFi at home. So you do have to watch out for automatic photo uploads, and automatic download of a 4 GB Windows 10 update - which means change your device settings so these things are not automatic.

 

[porthole]

You snuck in another acronym there Dan

Tengo internet, another area where the claims fall short with the wifi ranger stuff.

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Dar, Is your mifi the newer 5ghz model?

During my multiple attempts with WFR (wifi ranger) one suggestion was to use the indoor router (Go2) to wirelessly connect to my Verizon AC751 mifi.
Since the Go2 was only 2.4 ghz, you already lose some capability before you start broadcasting wifi.

The control panel for the WFR stuff allows you to track and use data limits.
But, because of problems I had, WFR told me to turn off the the tracking as that was causing other issues.

 

[danemayer]

WISP = Wireless Internet Service Provider.

My Verizon MiFi is several years old and provides a 2.4 GHz local WiFi network. So yes the performance and capabilities are limited compared to 5 GHz.

Another consideration with both MiFi, and with wireless routers, is the internal data transfer. On the MiFi, how fast can data move between the Cell side and the WiFi side? No one specifies. Same on wireless routers. How fast is data moved between the external WiFi and the local WiFi? No one specifies. But if the device was designed earlier than 2016, you can bet it's got internal constraints.

I'd guess my Edimax unit must use multiple chips to move the data. I say that because I've tested my unit by streaming video to 3 different devices concurrently, which puts a pretty heavy demand on all parts of the router.

 

[esscobra]

5ghz can run at faster speeds- but has less range/strength 2.4 does not go as fast but reaches further- but most parks are not providing enough bandwidth nd with lots of users on - the 5gh speed is not a factor- its great to communicate to your router at 50mb/s only to get a 5 mb/s wan speed- so you wont notice the difference anyway- your local wifi speed from router to your device is not making any difference

 

[danemayer]

5ghz can run at faster speeds- but has less range/strength 2.4 does not go as fast but reaches further- but most parks are not providing enough bandwidth nd with lots of users on - the 5gh speed is not a factor- its great to communicate to your router at 50mb/s only to get a 5 mb/s wan speed- so you wont notice the difference anyway- your local wifi speed from router to your device is not making any difference

Just went through this in a situation where no one could get performance better than 1.5 Mb/sec on a shared 50 Mb/sec pipe. All the consultants and vendors said it was a combination of limited bandwidth, and channel/other interference on 2.4 GHz. The new equipment, using advanced protocols including 5.0 GHz 802.11AC, beam forming and multiple antennas, and advanced MIMO built into each access point delivers 7 Mb/sec (which is where we have it capped) to a very large number of concurrent users. Turns out the aggregate bandwidth consumption with the new equipment has never hit 50 Mb/sec. It's usually 30 Mb or less. People are using up to 10 Gigabytes per day - which is our download cap.

My conclusion, based on our experience, is that the old technologies are choking for reasons other than available bandwidth. With the large number of 2.4 GHz devices using 11 channels (effectively 3 channels), the error rate from data collisions is just too high for the system to work well.

And when connecting to an access point using the weaker 5.0 GHz signal, the actual performance on applications like video streaming, is outstanding even though the signal strength is usually 10 dBm lower than the 2.4 GHz signal from the same access point.

 

[StrongJava]

True, and because my internal network is wifi, I've seen my phone *think* it can do some things that end up getting thwarted in the cellular service providers private IP network that I route through. Unfortunately, I find that is an problem they are not willing to take on.

There is another concern I don't see addressed on any of the internet solutions.

Our phones are setup to not do some things unless connected to a wifi network. That goes out the window if you are using a router with cellular service.

 

[StrongJava]

Yes, I use 5GHz as the primary frequency for my internal network, and have only once successfully connected to a 5GHz channel for WiFi over WAN, and that was for a brief period before I decide sticking with the overcrowded 2.4GHz channel gave me better performance. I can't say as I've come across an RV park yet that has really invested in the necessary antennas to provide sufficient 5GHz signals across the park.

I tell people and potential clients, they need to consider three areas: access points, switching, and ISP-provided bandwidth. I've seen multiple cases of examples where parks get 2 of 3 right, but their service generally still struggles because of the last area.

5ghz can run at faster speeds- but has less range/strength 2.4 does not go as fast but reaches further- but most parks are not providing enough bandwidth nd with lots of users on - the 5gh speed is not a factor- its great to communicate to your router at 50mb/s only to get a 5 mb/s wan speed- so you wont notice the difference anyway- your local wifi speed from router to your device is not making any difference

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What was in place for switching when the traffic starts to get combined?

Regarding people use large amounts of data daily, I recently discovered a setting in Netflix that allows me to stream smaller amounts regardless if the original content was being provided in high or standard definition. Although I had to accepting a reduced, albeit not really noticeably, picture quality, this setting had a HUGE impact on the amount of data I was consuming, benefitting me and the park. I'm not sure if there is a similar setting with iTunes or any of the other content providers.

Tim

Just went through this in a situation where no one could get performance better than 1.5 Mb/sec on a shared 50 Mb/sec pipe. All the consultants and vendors said it was a combination of limited bandwidth, and channel/other interference on 2.4 GHz. The new equipment, using advanced protocols including 5.0 GHz 802.11AC, beam forming and multiple antennas, and advanced MIMO built into each access point delivers 7 Mb/sec (which is where we have it capped) to a very large number of concurrent users. Turns out the aggregate bandwidth consumption with the new equipment has never hit 50 Mb/sec. It's usually 30 Mb or less. People are using up to 10 Gigabytes per day - which is our download cap.

My conclusion, based on our experience, is that the old technologies are choking for reasons other than available bandwidth. With the large number of 2.4 GHz devices using 11 channels (effectively 3 channels), the error rate from data collisions is just too high for the system to work well.

And when connecting to an access point using the weaker 5.0 GHz signal, the actual performance on applications like video streaming, is outstanding even though the signal strength is usually 10 dBm lower than the 2.4 GHz signal from the same access point.

 

[Shortest Straw]

Dan, we are using the Pep wave surf on the go right now with fairly decent results. The only downside is that we need to put it in a window facing the nearest wifi tower. Do you need to do the same with the Edimax or are the antennas strong enough to just place in the coach? We also have a Verizon Jet pack with a roof antenna. I have never even considered setting our system up in a fail over configuration and I still do not see a need to create that headache. We either sign in to the jet pack or the pep wave depending on what we are doing. I am interested in that Edimax though simply to be able to access tengo which in our opinion is the most horrible wifi out there.

 

[StrongJava]

Looks like the Pep wave surf might be able to accept a connection for an external antenna that you could mount on your roof or on a pole from your ladder.

Tim

Dan, we are using the Pep wave surf on the go right now with fairly decent results. The only downside is that we need to put it in a window facing the nearest wifi tower. Do you need to do the same with the Edimax or are the antennas strong enough to just place in the coach? We also have a Verizon Jet pack with a roof antenna. I have never even considered setting our system up in a fail over configuration and I still do not see a need to create that headache. We either sign in to the jet pack or the pep wave depending on what we are doing. I am interested in that Edimax though simply to be able to access tengo which in our opinion is the most horrible wifi out there.

 

[Shortest Straw]

Looks like the Pep wave surf might be able to accept a connection for an external antenna that you could mount on your roof or on a pole from your ladder.

Tim

I could only find a magnetic one.

 

[danemayer]

Dan, we are using the Pep wave surf on the go right now with fairly decent results. The only downside is that we need to put it in a window facing the nearest wifi tower. Do you need to do the same with the Edimax or are the antennas strong enough to just place in the coach? We also have a Verizon Jet pack with a roof antenna. I have never even considered setting our system up in a fail over configuration and I still do not see a need to create that headache. We either sign in to the jet pack or the pep wave depending on what we are doing. I am interested in that Edimax though simply to be able to access tengo which in our opinion is the most horrible wifi out there.

We have a rear entertainment floor plan and I have the Edimax on the off-door-side rear corner. I've tried it in the doorside corner but haven't seen any difference.

Over the past 2 1/2 years I've spent an enormous amount of time on the phone with Tengo and several other vendors supplying campground WiFi. Over the past 8 years, Tengo, like others, sold and installed industry WiFi equipment that really wasn't very good. Tengo's authentication is annoying and causes boatloads of problems. For the past 1 1/2 years, they've been installing Ruckus Access Points which are an amazing improvement over the old junk we all hate. And the new gear allows single sign on to keep you logged in as you move from access point to access point within a park. They keep telling me about major efforts on improving the coupon authentication process, but I haven't seen that yet.

The majority of campground WiFi installations are still pretty awful, but of the larger resorts, there are maybe 100 who have installed the new gear and are providing good service. 100 comes from the list of accounts we were given to talk to about their Ruckus installations.

Unfortunately, as we found out while getting proposals and bids, most vendors are still selling old technology because it's less expensive. So I expect it'll be a while yet before we all have good service.

In the meantime, come to Tiger Run Resort in Breckenridge, CO. The resort allows 20 Gigabytes per day of download at 7 Mb/sec, and unlimited usage at 1 Mb/sec. You can stream a lot of Netflix with 20 Gig per day.

 

[TravelTiger]

Dan, we are using the Pep wave surf on the go right now with fairly decent results. The only downside is that we need to put it in a window facing the nearest wifi tower. Do you need to do the same with the Edimax or are the antennas strong enough to just place in the coach? We also have a Verizon Jet pack with a roof antenna. I have never even considered setting our system up in a fail over configuration and I still do not see a need to create that headache. We either sign in to the jet pack or the pep wave depending on what we are doing. I am interested in that Edimax though simply to be able to access tengo which in our opinion is the most horrible wifi out there.

Mike, I have the Pep Wave Surf, Dan recommended this (indoor) booster antenna back in 2014, and I bought it. It does help. Remove the existing and attach the supplied cable to this one.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HI1SK60/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have my Pep Wave mounted on the wall in the corner, adjacent to two windows, in a slide. I have almost line of site, about 40 yards, to the tower in our park, so I haven't used the booster antenna much.

 

[porthole]

Another expensive solution, but I won't be trying it.

http://www.winegard.com/connect

Link to Winegard's "Connect" page (email request at above link)

Ultimate connected RV

 

[porthole]

Anyone that may still try and use this stuff. Thanks to Kevin B (MA - Chapter Leader) to the info.

WiFI Ranger updates.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/wifiranger/wifiranger-releases-707-firmware/1690071101024091/

 

[wdk450]

Just as a FYI, if you are using a Verizon MiFi 5510 for internet access, your don't need anything else for mobile wireless networking. I didn't know that my MiFi also acted as a router until I started doing websearches about routers to use with my MiFi and laptop after buying a new wireless printer (Epson XP-446 usually $89, on sale at the local Target for $49). I have successfully established a wireless connection to my printer through the MiFi, and no longer have to make the tedious 3 step walk across the living room from the sofa to the desk to hook up laptop to my printer with a USB cable.

 

[porthole]

Just as a FYI, if you are using a Verizon MiFi 5510 for internet access, your don't need anything else for mobile wireless networking. I didn't know that my MiFi also acted as a router until I started doing websearches about routers to use with my MiFi and laptop after buying a new wireless printer (Epson XP-446 usually $89, on sale at the local Target for $49). I have successfully established a wireless connection to my printer through the MiFi, and no longer have to make the tedious 3 step walk across the living room from the sofa to the desk to hook up laptop to my printer with a USB cable.

Bill, we use a Verizon AC791L MiFi.

IF, and that really is a big IF the wifi ranger stuff worked advertised, the two WFR routers working in unison and a cellular MiFi device would be a great combo.

The problem with using either the wfr stuff in conjunction with a cellular MiFI or the MiFI as a stand alone is the potential for overages.

Case in point; I have my iPhone set to only do software updates when connected to WiFi.
So one night when I left the MiFi on my phone attempted to download one of the new version updates. After all, it was connected via WiFi.

That was a 7GB+ download.

 

[porthole]

Funny thing about this WFR router stuff.

At home and with the WFR routers turned on we pick up the Cyclone all around the house, with a full signal, even in bedrooms which are on the opposite end of the house. And our house is a ranch, about 70' long.

The house router is a Linksys tri-band with 8 antennas. The WFR has a better signal all around then the Linksys. Enough so that we have to "forget" the WFR router access once home to stop the mobile devices and computers from auto switching to the WFR.

I have my home router on a reset device so every morning at 4am the power shuts down and restarts, sequencing the cable modem first then the Linksys. During that time my PC will connect to the WFR outside and may not connect back to the house automatically. This usually happens for a day or two until I remember to either turn off the WFR or remove the access from my laptop.

I usually leave the WFR turned on at home as we have a NEST smoke detector in the Cyclone and the trailer is just about always plugged in.

Now, if I could only keep the WFR connected to the internet as stable as it is at home when we are on the road............