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Old 10-27-2016, 10:28 AM   #1
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Cell and WiFi access

My wife and I are picking our 19ft escape this April, while my wife is retired I will continue to work ½ time. I’m in telecommunication so having cell and WiFi access is very important. I don’t mind making the investment for this.
I have several questions:
I’ve been told Ranger WiFi Booster and a Wilson Cell Phone Antenna are popular. There was no mention of the models. Does anyone know what models I should be getting?
What location are folks using inside the trailer for the hardware?
Thanks for your help
-billl
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Old 10-27-2016, 02:50 PM   #2
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Welcome Bill and Alicia,
Although I can not help your question specifically, I just wanted to welcome you to the forum.
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Old 10-27-2016, 03:29 PM   #3
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Welcome folks
Depending how important staying connected is to you I'd suggest you read Technomadia's pages on rv communications.

Here's a start How We Keep Online: Illustrated Tour of our RV Mobile Internet Setup | Technomadia

They also have a out ont he subject.
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Old 10-28-2016, 03:06 PM   #4
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Thanks!
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Old 10-31-2016, 02:27 PM   #5
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WiFi Cellular Antennae's

Another question i have i's rather not mount my antennae on the roof where it will make my overhead clearance higher.

has anyone seen or designed a mast that i can lower when traveling and raise when i am stationary?
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Old 10-31-2016, 02:59 PM   #6
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Had something like this on my FM antenna on my old trailer, worked well as long as you have a way to reach it.

Seadog Die Cast Zinc Adjustable Anten SDG-3293001
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antenna.jpg  
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Old 10-31-2016, 03:17 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BillnAlicia View Post
Another question i have i's rather not mount my antennae on the roof where it will make my overhead clearance higher.

has anyone seen or designed a mast that i can lower when traveling and raise when i am stationary?
Here you go....RVSueandcaninecrew has this write up about an antenna mast and cell phone booster.....

Internet Antenna | rvsue and her canine crew
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Old 10-31-2016, 04:51 PM   #8
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I use this one, attached to my trailer's rear bumper. Depending upon the antenna you use with it, the antenna may stick up a bit higher than the roof when the mast is collapsed. I feed the antenna lines through the opening for the trailer's power cable, so they have to be removed when traveling.

COMET-NCG CP-45 Antenna Accessories Masts
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Old 10-31-2016, 05:10 PM   #9
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Here are photos of my antenna mast extended and retracted. It is five feet, five inches long retracted, fourteen feet eight inches extended.
Attached Thumbnails
mast_retracted.jpg   mast_extended.jpg  
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Old 10-31-2016, 06:26 PM   #10
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Quote:
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Here are photos of my antenna mast extended and retracted. It is five feet, five inches long retracted, fourteen feet eight inches extended.
Mike, do you leave it mounted all the time, or do you remove it for travel or when not needed at camp? As well, do you find the length to be good?
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Old 10-31-2016, 07:00 PM   #11
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Quote:
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Mike, do you leave it mounted all the time, or do you remove it for travel or when not needed at camp? As well, do you find the length to be good?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Lewis View Post
Here are photos of my antenna mast extended and retracted. It is five feet, five inches long retracted, fourteen feet eight inches extended.
this is what i'm thinking about, do you have close ups of your mounting brackets?

did you have escape do the install?
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Old 10-31-2016, 07:17 PM   #12
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Here are photos of my antenna mast extended and retracted. It is five feet, five inches long retracted, fourteen feet eight inches extended.
And if I may ask....what kind of antenna are you using for your cell phone connection? I was going to use this one along with a Sleek cradle for my cell phone or HotSpot for internet.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...FZDZ56DE22YNFR
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Old 10-31-2016, 08:53 PM   #13
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Appears you have three antennas on one mast, King TV antenna, I assume the upper most is internet and the third is wifi booster??

My plans are to install Furrion ports for these connections instead of running cable through windows.

I also do not want to add anything to the roof like TV antenna to make room for solar panels.

This is what I love about forums like this, you get to learn from others. Mike Lewis thanks for posting.


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Here are photos of my antenna mast extended and retracted. It is five feet, five inches long retracted, fourteen feet eight inches extended.
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Old 10-31-2016, 09:29 PM   #14
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The flat horizontal antenna is a King Jack TV antenna. The white vertical rod is a WireEng cellular antenna, which I use with a Wilson Sleek amp with a hotspot in its cradle when needed. The black vertical antenna is a ham radio antenna for the two-meter band.

Initially I clamped the mast to the tire carrier with U-bolts and hose clamps, but recently I had a welding shop make a mount to fit my bumper. I installed all this, ETI had nothing to do with it.

For more info and photos, search on "nerdstick" in the forum.
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Old 10-31-2016, 09:41 PM   #15
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Mike, do you leave it mounted all the time, or do you remove it for travel or when not needed at camp? As well, do you find the length to be good?
I leave the mast mounted to the trailer at all times. I recently completed a trip from Florida to Maine and back and the mast stayed securely fastened. I checked it frequently early on until I gained confidence it would stay in place. Now I check it only when preparing to leave a campsite.

The mast length seems to be okay. When retracted it doesn't seem to vibrate or wiggle that I can tell. I do not leave the mast fully extended if I'm not in the campground, and I retract it at least partially during thunderstorms or high winds. I noticed that the trailer's slipstream pushes the King Jack around so that its rubber tip touches the rubber gasket around the rear window. I kept an eye on this (and still do when traveling) and so far I haven't seen any wear.

IMPORTANT: If you assemble a setup like this, be sure to check for overhead lines before raising the mast. Yeah, that seems obvious, but I had to catch myself a couple of times when raising the thing in the dark. Duh.
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Old 10-31-2016, 10:21 PM   #16
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Here are a more photos of my trailer with the mast extended and retracted. One is from last year in Colorado, when I had the mast fastened to the spare tire carrier and had different antennas on it.

The second one is from a stop in Maryland during my recently-completed trip to Maine, with the mast mounted to my bumper and the antennas in their current configuration.

The third one is with the mast retracted. It travels pretty well.
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san_luis_sp_co.jpg   annapolis_campground.jpg   trailer_parked_in_ky.jpg  
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Old 10-31-2016, 11:29 PM   #17
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Thank you Mike Lewis appreciate for in depth info!
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Old 11-01-2016, 07:10 AM   #18
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Thank you Mike Lewis appreciate for in depth info!
You are welcome. While I'm at it, here is some more blather:

- This mast is meant for ham radio field use, to be secured with guy wires in a stationary location. For that reason I wondered about its long term durability when mounted to a trailer. But so far it's been on the trailer for 21,000 miles and traveled all over the country, and it seems to be holding up. I'm pretty sure the mast will wear out after a few years, though, so I keep an eye on it for metal fatigue.

- My initial mount location on the spare tire carrier worked fine. I moved the mast because it obstructed my view out the rear window, and I couldn't contribute to the "what's out your back window" thread.

- Putting three antennas on the mast isn't a good idea. I did it on my Maine trip just to test out the configuration with my new bumper mount. I didn't use the ham antenna for transmitting, just hooked it to a wideband receiver on occasion for listening. The antennas interfere with each other-- when using the cellular antenna it would interfere with my TV reception a bit. Also, the weight of three coax lines would make the antenna mast collapse one or two sections if I didn't tighten its knurled rings well. For a future trip I may buy a second mast for the other end of the bumper to put ham radio stuff on, if I'm feeling particularly nerdy. And get lighter coax.
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Old 11-01-2016, 04:35 PM   #19
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do you find having 2 antennae on the same mast causes any interference between the two? I was thinking i would need 2 masts one on each side one for cell one for WiFi
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Old 11-01-2016, 04:44 PM   #20
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do you find having 2 antennae on the same mast causes any interference between the two? I was thinking i would need 2 masts one on each side one for cell one for WiFi
Well, I can tell you from experience that if a cell phone antenna cable that runs between the antenna & amplifier runs parallel or even near the FM radio antenna cable, you will blank weak stations. I exchanged the antenna locations & it solved the problem. The two antennas are about 3.5' from each other.



Secondly, I discovered today that a WiFi Ranger Mini (a rooftop WiFi amplifier/relay device) will kill weak radio stations even with the two antennas separated by 8' and no cable crossings.

If you plan to use any of the systems at the same time, I'd get as much separation as possible...

Photo of Cell Antenna & Radio Antenna:
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_ADS6110.jpg  
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