Teltonika RUTX50 Setup

[DaveS]

On recommendation from here I’ve upgraded my Avtex AMR router to the Teltonika RUTX50 and I wanted to ask some basic setup questions with possibly more to follow!
The 12v power is a straight swap over.
The antenna’s, as I only have two wires coming from the roof, and I have 4 inputs, I’ve connected at either end of the inputs. So I’ve connected to 1 and 4 leaving 2 and 3. Is there any benefit to connecting the bundled antennas to 2 and 3 or just leave them empty.
There is gps antenna included, is that worth connecting?
Lastly there are 2 wifi antennas as there any recommendations to placement inside the van or at different angles, say one horizontally and one vertically?
I’m sure I’ll have more questions!
Initial testing shows a massive improvement! from 37.2 Mbps download and 3.81 upload to 69.5 download and 39.9 upload.
By comparison my iPhone outside of the van gets 85.8 and 3.56. So possibly some APN tweaking to do as it’s set to autoapn at the moment.

 

[Guigsy]

Not sure about the mobile antennas. I think the unit expects anything that's connected to be identical. But it might be worth experimenting.

WiFi, I've got them connected to the external antenna. Although I'm not sure that's the best for van use. I think as they've mainly for communication into the van, internal ones should be fine. I've never tried relaying a WiFi signal from a campsite's network though.

GPS is only any use if you're using some of the tracking functions with a Traccar service or similar. I've not got around to playing with it yet.

 

[DaveS]

WiFi, I've got them connected to the external antenna. Although I'm not sure that's the best for van use. I think as they've mainly for communication into the van, internal ones should be fine. I've never tried relaying a WiFi signal from a campsite's network though.

So you’ve not got the wifi antennas connected to the wifi ports?

I’m just 3d printing a bracket to fix it to the wall as well.

 

[Guigsy]

So you’ve not got the wifi antennas connected to the wifi ports?

I’m just 3d printing a bracket to fix it to the wall as well.

I'm using the WiFi antennas in my roof mounted Poynting. I connected them without thinking about it. WiFi signal inside is fine. It'd probably be better if I used internal aerials... but as my mobile signal isn't that fast most of the time, it's not really creating a bottleneck.

And I assume it'll work better if I ever relay a site WiFi signal? But I've never needed to try.

 

[DaveS]

I'm using the WiFi antennas in my roof mounted Poynting. I connected them without thinking about it. WiFi signal inside is fine. It'd probably be better if I used internal aerials... but as my mobile signal isn't that fast most of the time, it's not really creating a bottleneck.

And I assume it'll work better if I ever relay a site WiFi signal? But I've never needed to try.

Ahh got it.
Did you have any problems with the SIM card trays? They don’t seem to slide in out cleanly on mine, very tight. The trays on the old router are fine by comparison.

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[Guigsy]

Ahh got it.
Did you have any problems with the SIM card trays? They don’t seem to slide in out cleanly on mine, very tight. The trays on the old router are fine by comparison.

I don't recall having any SIM card tray issues... Sorry.

 

[OxfordMorgan]

Much of this is trial and error.
I found that with my old external antenna with 2 wires coming in, the mobile speed was better if I also connected the supplied stubby antenna to inputs 2 & 3 so try it (Note that Teltonika refer to the inputs as 0,1,2,3 so be careful if you read info on other sites ).

With the Wi-Fi antennae, think of them as having a kind of circular 'Halo' of coverage coming out of the stubby top; if you mount them 90 degree's inverted, then it changes the coverage pattern .. although, lets be honest we're talking small coverage area in a van so I don't think it would make a blind bit of difference, but may affect distance from the Van.

Yep, my SIM trays are a right pain and a couple of times I put them in upside down and had to shake the hell out of the unit to get them out again

You're best of carrying on and doing your own testing - Find a CL near a good Pub for a proper 'field trial'

(I did attach the GPS antennae, although not actually found a use for it yet..but why not?!)

 

[DaveS]

Much of this is trial and error.
I found that with my old external antenna with 2 wires coming in, the mobile speed was better if I also connected the supplied stubby antenna to inputs 2 & 3 so try it (Note that Teltonika refer to the inputs as 0,1,2,3 so be careful if you read info on other sites ).

With the Wi-Fi antennae, think of them as having a kind of circular 'Halo' of coverage coming out of the stubby top; if you mount them 90 degree's inverted, then it changes the coverage pattern .. although, lets be honest we're talking small coverage area in a van so I don't think it would make a blind bit of difference, but may affect distance from the Van.

Yep, my SIM trays are a right pain and a couple of times I put them in upside down and had to shake the hell out of the unit to get them out again

You're best of carrying on and doing your own testing - Find a CL near a good Pub for a proper 'field trial'

(I did attach the GPS antennae, although not actually found a use for it yet..but why not?!)

Thanks for the response, yep I’ll have a play around and report back.

 

[ianto999]

Not sure about the mobile antennas. I think the unit expects anything that's connected to be identical. But it might be worth experimenting.

WiFi, I've got them connected to the external antenna. Although I'm not sure that's the best for van use. I think as they've mainly for communication into the van, internal ones should be fine. I've never tried relaying a WiFi signal from a campsite's network though.

GPS is only any use if you're using some of the tracking functions with a Traccar service or similar. I've not got around to playing with it yet.

Sorry - newb question, I'd assumed the wifi antennae in the box on the roof were for collecting campsite wifi and 'passing' it into the router for redistribution in the van. Now I wonder if it is the other way round, the router collects 4G, sends it to the external antenna, and this sets up the wifi network, then detectable in the van?

 

[Guigsy]

Sorry - newb question, I'd assumed the wifi antennae in the box on the roof were for collecting campsite wifi and 'passing' it into the router for redistribution in the van. Now I wonder if it is the other way round, the router collects 4G, sends it to the external antenna, and this sets up the wifi network, then detectable in the van?

I believe the WiFi signal does get passed to these antenna. So you'll get a less good signal in the van... But does it really matter when you're probably only 5m away? The WiFi signal should still be several times quicker than a typical 4G/5G connection, so it shouldn't bottleneck you.

I guess you could try switching to internal WiFi antennas?

If you ever want to relay a campsite WiFi, having an external antenna should be useful. I've never tried it though.

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[ianto999]

I believe the WiFi signal does get passed to these antenna. So you'll get a less good signal in the van... But does it really matter when you're probably only 5m away? The WiFi signal should still be several times quicker than a typical 4G/5G connection, so it shouldn't bottleneck you.

I guess you could try switching to internal WiFi antennas?

If you ever want to relay a campsite WiFi, having an external antenna should be useful. I've never tried it though.

Thanks for clarifying, makes sense, especially if sitting out sometimes (hopefully some summer days…) Just didn’t realise it worked both ways.

 

[Guigsy]

Thanks for clarifying, makes sense, especially if sitting out sometimes (hopefully some summer days…) Just didn’t realise it worked both ways.

Remember that the Teltonika is an industrial router. It's probably screwed into 100 times more streetside cabinets and remote sewage farm monitoring points and corners of factories than it is installed in a campervan. It's a very generalised unit.

 

[Hagstrom]

My RUT955 sim sockets are tight, too.
On the external wifi connection to, say, a campsite's wifi, although I've seen the Teltonika instructional video, I don't find it easy to understand - especially how much bothersome intervention may be needed to change from 3g/4g to wifi and back, when moving from one camping location with site wifi to the next one where there's onle 3g/4g. Do you need to adjust the router's Interfaces table and reboot it?
Can anyone help with this?

 

[Guigsy]

My RUT955 sim sockets are tight, too.
On the external wifi connection to, say, a campsite's wifi, although I've seen the Teltonika instructional video, I don't find it easy to understand - especially how much bothersome intervention may be needed to change from 3g/4g to wifi and back, when moving from one camping location with site wifi to the next one where there's onle 3g/4g. Do you need to adjust the router's Interfaces table and reboot it?
Can anyone help with this?

Generally these devices would be set up by a tech in a fixed location and left alone for the rest of their operational lives. Relaying a guest WiFi isn't a simple setup... They weren't designed to be mucked around with every day, so the process hasn't been streamlined for us plebs... Hence I've never bothered and just used my mobile data.

 

[fishplug]

In my experience (I work for an Internet Service Provider which provides services to caravan parks among other places) the free WiFi services at campsites are pretty poor in general.

This is often because of how far away your pitch is from the WiFi transmitter as well as how many other people are competing for the same signal.

Depending on the mobile signal you'll often find that you'll get a better connection just from the SIM in the Teltonika (or other LTE router)

I've certainly never used mine to connect to WiFi (other than for testing it when I first got the Teltonika)

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[Guigsy]

In my experience (I work for an Internet Service Provider which provides services to caravan parks among other places) the free WiFi services at campsites are pretty poor in general.

This is often because of how far away your pitch is from the WiFi transmitter as well as how many other people are competing for the same signal.

Depending on the mobile signal you'll often find that you'll get a better connection just from the SIM in the Teltonika (or other LTE router)

I've certainly never used mine to connect to WiFi (other than for testing it when I first got the Teltonika)

This is my experience. The mobile signal has got to be pretty bad for me to even look to see if the site has WiFi.

 

[brocola]

Did you have any problems with the SIM card trays? They don’t seem to slide in out cleanly on mine, very tight. The trays on the old router are fine by comparison.

Depending on the orientation of your RUTX50, I recommend being careful if you are using any SIM card adapters e.g. to use a nano sim in the RUTX50.

Due to size constraints, I have to orientate my RUTX50 vertically, which means the sim can fall out of the adapter inside the RUTX50 and jam, preventing removal.

If it happens, the 4 bolts on the front panel can easily be removed with a 2.5mm Allen key, allowing direct access to the sim trays. Apparently this doesn't void the warranty

Careful if you have a nano sim

Received my rutx50 today and it’s going back. Had to use one of the adapters as my sim is a nano size. carefuly placed on the adapter (I’ve used these before with phones so not my first rodeo) Carefully slid the tray in and heard a noise that suggested sim and adapter had possibly parted...

community.teltonika.lt

 

[brocola]

On the external wifi connection to, say, a campsite's wifi, although I've seen the Teltonika instructional video, I don't find it easy to understand - especially how much bothersome intervention may be needed to change from 3g/4g to wifi and back, when moving from one camping location with site wifi to the next one where there's onle 3g/4g. Do you need to adjust the router's Interfaces table and reboot it?
Can anyone help with this?

I've used the RUTX50 a few times to pull in the campsite wifi where there is absolutely no 3G/4G signal and broadcast it inside the van, but it can be fiddly to get setup.

There is an extra package you can install onto the RUTX50 which is supposed to add functionality to cope with captive portals (e.g. log into campsite wifi/accept T&Cs), but not managed to get it to work properly yet.

The alternative I used may be too gnarly for most funsters:

1. Log into the campsite wifi with my MacBook
2. Accept the T&Cs
3. Grab the MacBook MAC address
4. Get the RUTX50 to spoof the MacBook MAC address

Here's a little guide on how to do 3.

How to Work Around Wi-Fi Hotspot Captive Portals on Browserless Devices - TidBITS

Many public Wi-Fi hotspots require you to click a button on a “captive portal” page before you can get online, which is a problem if your device doesn’t have a Web browser. Here’s a workaround you can try with a device like an Apple TV or Nintendo Switch.

tidbits.com

 

[brocola]

The antenna’s, as I only have two wires coming from the roof, and I have 4 inputs, I’ve connected at either end of the inputs. So I’ve connected to 1 and 4 leaving 2 and 3. Is there any benefit to connecting the bundled antennas to 2 and 3 or just leave them empty.

If you only have a 2x2 antenna (i.e. 2 leads) , Teltonika seem to suggest connecting to either ports 1&4 or ports 2&3.

Then you may find it beneficial in terms of speed to connect one of the Teltonika 'out of the box' antennas to the unused cell ports, even with the antenna just left internally within your van.

According to Teltonika:
"The two outer antennas on the RUTX50 are responsible for the lower frequency bands, while the inner ones are responsible for higher frequency bands, as well as 4x4 MIMO"

Which cable to which connection? RUTX50

hello and good day, My external antenna has seven connection cables. The four mobile connections are marked: CELL1Main CELL1 AUX/DIV CELL2 MAIN CELL2 AUX/DIV Does it matter which of the four ports marked “MOBILE” is connected to which? Many thanks for your help

community.teltonika.lt

 

[starquake]

"The two outer antennas on the RUTX50 are responsible for the lower frequency bands, while the inner ones are responsible for higher frequency bands, as well as 4x4 MIMO"

Indeed, so for camper use in UK 1-4 would be likely of more use, given rural campsites typically = lower frequency band use

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[Emma Thornbridge]

I gave up with 4G/5G antennae. Tried 3!!! I mostly go to festivals - and was told that my enhanced system would ‘grab’ the signal. Utter nonsense. At a festival - everyone is using the same capacity - and sometimes you can’t even send a text.

The revolution for me was seeing Starlink in operation. Could not believe what a guy was able to multiple stream at a festival with 30,000 people there - never mind deal w all his work stuff.

Everywhere i go - people ask me how come i am not having problems communicating and streaming. Starlink… always 100mb plus

The guy told me to wait for the price of the equip to go down to £250 ( rather than £500) - which it does sporadically. Bought the gear. Then this is the best bit - you buy the mobile package aimed at motorhomes etc - but only turn it on when you are ready to use it. It is £85 per month… yup a lot more than 5G etc. - but it works… and you can pause it whenever you want. If having a connection is vital and you don’t want to worry about limited data and roaming charges - then investigate. So glad the guy told me - it’s simple and it works.

 

[starquake]

I gave up with 4G/5G antennae. Tried 3!!! I mostly go to festivals - and was told that my enhanced system would ‘grab’ the signal. Utter nonsense. At a festival - everyone is using the same capacity - and sometimes you can’t even send a text.

We've had no issues at any festival this year with our setup. Cat4 devices at festivals, yes won't work.
Cat12 or higher should.

We noted the same at the clubfest this year, and had us, and the neighbouring 2 vans sharing our wifi system as theirs didn't work.
We had 3 TV's streaming + phones and ipads all using it.

Phones did not work at same location at same time so we knew we were in bad position. When I ran diagnostics at clubfest to check why, it was becuase there was loads of band 32 capacity available, which a cat4 device (which is the cheaper systems) cannot use.

Should add I agree starlink is great, but we can run our wifi syetem in our van with 2 sims, on 2 providers for a full year for the same cost as a motnh of starlink.