Roof Mounted 4/5G doofer

JustifiedAncient said:
The Netgear M2 claims to be Cat 20, and obviously this is reflected in the price. How have you found it in practice? I've seen some mixed reviews.
Click to expand...
I think it's great for accessing the net, always seems to get a decent signal and we have always been able to stream TV wherever we've been in UK and France. I know that is dependant on service provider but we tend to swap between EE and 3 just to manage our data. We can only use EE in the M2 at the moment, but we are out of the 6 month tie in quite soon so will be using 3 most if the time as we have unlimited data on that network.

we paid £150 up front through EE on a PAYG data contract which we cancelled after the first month and took out a better deal with them.

Negatives would be it's really easy (too easy) to turn it on as the on off button is badly placed and I haven't managed to sort out data offload when it's connected to an on site provided internet access (osmosis) which is one of the things I was hoping to do. It performs really well as a mifi but can only hold 5 text messages, but as I bought it to access the internet, that doesn't bother me. Has two aerial connections for MIMO antenna.

all in all I would highly recommend it and I am sure I'm not using it to its full capacity but it does everything it needs to do for me.
 
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If your phone will not cast to your tv (incompatible) - do you take a laptop with you???
If so make a hotspot with the Sky mobile and then add Sky Go to your laptop and use the laptop. It ist usually as big as a TV but better than a phone for two to view.
Again it will be free whatever you are watching on SKY either in the EU or the UK
Dont forget that Sky Go doesn't have BBC 1 & 2
 
I also have an aerial to boost the phone signal - about £10 off ebay - and pointed in the right direction it can bring in TV even if without it there is no phone signal at all. Two big elastic bands hold it in whatever position in the plastic roof vent dome or we just use a suction mount on the window.

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mry716 said:
Again it will be free whatever you are watching on SKY either in the EU or the UK
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That’s what I thought however when I watched Sky Go on a laptop streamed from a Sky mobile the data was not free. I called Sky and they said the free data was only when you used the Sky Go app on iPad or iPhone.
 
Andy MacD said:
That’s what I thought however when I watched Sky Go on a laptop streamed from a Sky mobile the data was not free. I called Sky and they said the free data was only when you used the Sky Go app on iPad or iPhone.
Click to expand...

Interesting, the screen on my Tablet is not too small for watching the odd thing 👍
 
That is surprising.
Before we had 2 hols in France (2018 - 9) each for a month plus I checked with Sky and they confirmed what I have told you. I used various ways to watch both the News twice each day and the F1 practices and races. I did not pay for any data and my sim only has a monthly allowance of 2Gb which rolls over for up to 3 years. I used about 14Gb on the first holiday for camping site info, Emails, Whats app and internet etc etc and about 50 on the second because I also used the hotspot to watch a couple of items on BBC iPlayer
 
I should have said we also have our other mobile on Sky hence the 'piggy bank' from the 2 phones provides sufficient data
 
JustifiedAncient said:
One of the frustrations of most of the Mifi units available (I've got the Huawei E5577C that a lot have) is that they can be better than your phone if the signal is weak and you have an external antenna, but if the signal is strong then the Mifi throughput is often MUCH less than you get on a modern smartphone.

The reason for this lies mostly in the LTE category of the Mifi unit (but also partly in the internal processors used). For example the E5577C is rated as a Cat4 device (theoretically 150Mb download 50Mb upload, but in practice limited to about 50Mb down and up). The E5785 is a Cat6 device (theoretically 300Mb down, 50 up, but youtube videos show achieving around 70Mb down, 50 up). However the recent iPhones and I assume others are Cat16 and can achieve real speeds around 220Mb/s download.

Mifi routers and their categories

Another list of devices and LTE categories

So before choosing a 4g router I think it's worth checking what you are likely to be able to achieve in throughput vs your smartphone. I looked at the Teltronika RUT950 but it's only a Cat4 device. I'm now looking at the Netgear Aircard 810S which is Cat11.
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What do you think of the B818-263 paired with a Poynting
A-MIMO-3-V2-15 - Poynting 5-IN-1 High Performance Multi Frequency Antenna LTE, Dualband WiFi, GPS
 
Peter and Julie said:
What do you think of the B818-263 paired with a Poynting
A-MIMO-3-V2-15 - Poynting 5-IN-1 High Performance Multi Frequency Antenna LTE, Dualband WiFi, GPS
Click to expand...


does the B818 have the necessary ports to plug in the Antenna?? i am not sure it does
 
I am afraid I do not.
It must be 5 odd years since purchase and all I can say is it looks like this one

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-...0001&campid=5338547443&icep_item=303577144301

with the name of SONIC on the front. I also received a small unit with inputs for the 2 screw terminals and a short wire out with a micro USB connector. I added a USB micro to 'C' type for the new phone.

Looking on eBay it seems as if my type may have been updated with metallic ones as there are lots of those.

Sorry i can be no more help
 
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MisterB said:
I think it's great for accessing the net, always seems to get a decent signal and we have always been able to stream TV wherever we've been in UK and France. I know that is dependant on service provider but we tend to swap between EE and 3 just to manage our data. We can only use EE in the M2 at the moment, but we are out of the 6 month tie in quite soon so will be using 3 most if the time as we have unlimited data on that network.

we paid £150 up front through EE on a PAYG data contract which we cancelled after the first month and took out a better deal with them.

Negatives would be it's really easy (too easy) to turn it on as the on off button is badly placed and I haven't managed to sort out data offload when it's connected to an on site provided internet access (osmosis) which is one of the things I was hoping to do. It performs really well as a mifi but can only hold 5 text messages, but as I bought it to access the internet, that doesn't bother me. Has two aerial connections for MIMO antenna.

all in all I would highly recommend it and I am sure I'm not using it to its full capacity but it does everything it needs to do for me.
Click to expand...
Just as a heads up. I have a M1 in the van and ordered another for a factory unit to provide cctv cover. Both bought through Amazon as unlocked free units, which indeed the first one was and is in use as I write. The second arrived but was tethered to EE. I emailed to return it. They said no problem here is an unlock code. I did that but the EE apn was still set as the default. I inserted the Vodafone sim but it would not load the apn from the sim. I tried to codes to get the text sent but the M1 did not want to know. I manually entered the Vodafone apn details and then it worked fine. Until I moved it and it lost the Vodafone signal. It went back to EE apn which of course with a Vodafone sim does not work. Again I manually entered the apn and it worked. There was no way I could delete the EE apn and stop it being default. So I hope when the time comes you do not have the same grief. I eventually returned mine for a full refund and bought elsewhere.
 
sallylillian said:
Just as a heads up. I have a M1 in the van and ordered another for a factory unit to provide cctv cover. Both bought through Amazon as unlocked free units, which indeed the first one was and is in use as I write. The second arrived but was tethered to EE. I emailed to return it. They said no problem here is an unlock code. I did that but the EE apn was still set as the default. I inserted the Vodafone sim but it would not load the apn from the sim. I tried to codes to get the text sent but the M1 did not want to know. I manually entered the Vodafone apn details and then it worked fine. Until I moved it and it lost the Vodafone signal. It went back to EE apn which of course with a Vodafone sim does not work. Again I manually entered the apn and it worked. There was no way I could delete the EE apn and stop it being default. So I hope when the time comes you do not have the same grief. I eventually returned mine for a full refund and bought elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Is there any way to delete the EE APN (whatever it is) or ammend it ?
 
MisterB said:
Is there any way to delete the EE APN (whatever it is) or ammend it ?
Click to expand...
Not that I found and in my exchange with the company they did not profer that. I told them it would not delete and remained default. I asked if there was a firmware upgrade or change I could do. No. So have a look and see if the EE apn is bold and marked default.

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How do I do that?
 
Peter and Julie said:
What do you think of the B818-263 paired with a Poynting
A-MIMO-3-V2-15 - Poynting 5-IN-1 High Performance Multi Frequency Antenna LTE, Dualband WiFi, GPS
Click to expand...
I like the spec and performance, but it looks too bulky to fit into the space in my PVC that currently houses the Huawei E5577C.
 
I was thinking of fitting a mi fi system on the MH and while searching online found this setup Beam Express has anybody fitted one? looks to be a all in one system with the aerials fitted inside, and tracking included if required. If there are any issues the company is local to me for issue solving.
 
Steve N Tracy said:
I was thinking of fitting a mi fi system on the MH and while searching online found this setup Beam Express has anybody fitted one? looks to be a all in one system with the aerials fitted inside, and tracking included if required. If there are any issues the company is local to me for issue solving.
Click to expand...
Seems OTT for me. The GPS is for tracking fleets and would be used by the fleet manager. It isn't a service you can buy into, you would have to set it up yourself at home and I can't see any reason why you would want to for a MH.

A MiFi is probably all you need. If you think you need or might need in the future an external antenna then the Huawei 5577C is a popular choice.
 
Just another point on this. With more and more MH, being built with alloy sandwich walls now.
They make a perfect Faraday cage, so external aerial/router system is a must.
 
sallylillian said:
Just as a heads up. I have a M1 in the van and ordered another for a factory unit to provide cctv cover. Both bought through Amazon as unlocked free units, which indeed the first one was and is in use as I write. The second arrived but was tethered to EE. I emailed to return it. They said no problem here is an unlock code. I did that but the EE apn was still set as the default. I inserted the Vodafone sim but it would not load the apn from the sim. I tried to codes to get the text sent but the M1 did not want to know. I manually entered the Vodafone apn details and then it worked fine. Until I moved it and it lost the Vodafone signal. It went back to EE apn which of course with a Vodafone sim does not work. Again I manually entered the apn and it worked. There was no way I could delete the EE apn and stop it being default. So I hope when the time comes you do not have the same grief. I eventually returned mine for a full refund and bought elsewhere.
Click to expand...

my APN is showing as 'everywhere' ..... not sure what that means ?
 
That is EE
Name: EE internet
APN: everywhere
Proxy: Not Required
Port: Not Required
Username: eesecure
Password: secure
Server: Not Required
MMSC: <Broken link removed>

MMS proxy: 149.254.201.135
MMS port: 8080
MCC: 234
MNC: 30
Authentication type: Not Required or just use the default value shown.
 
sallylillian said:
That is EE
Name: EE internet
APN: everywhere
Proxy: Not Required
Port: Not Required
Username: eesecure
Password: secure
Server: Not Required
MMSC: <Broken link removed>

MMS proxy: 149.254.201.135
MMS port: 8080
MCC: 234
MNC: 30
Authentication type: Not Required or just use the default value shown.
Click to expand...

ok, so not unlocked yet then LOL ........

will check the other settings later, thanks
 
Steve N Tracy said:
I was thinking of fitting a mi fi system on the MH and while searching online found this setup Beam Express has anybody fitted one? looks to be a all in one system with the aerials fitted inside, and tracking included if required. If there are any issues the company is local to me for issue solving.
Click to expand...
After a bit more research it seems the Beam express is a badged version of the Teltonika RUT 850 so purchased on from Broken Link Removed for half the money, fitted it today and it seems to work OK, we are in a weak 3 mobile area and it was reporting 4 out of five bars signal with a 3 sim in using the 2 internal aerials supplied our motorhome has fiberglass sandwich sides so very little to stop signal, the speed throughput was pretty good too.

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