7 antennas off - 2 on - here is what I did

[Neal]

Today was a full day of fun hell. Just like most of my day 1 of a new RV trip, it's time to get the new mods installed and get things cleaned up and ship shape for the trip. I recently bought 2 x Parsec Husky antennas per recommendation of @MapNerd. I figured I'd give them a try and see how they compare to my Pepwave 201/401 setup but more importantly get my roof cleaned up before Elon hunts me down and has me controlling Space X launches!

Last night I connected the Parsec Husky's to both of my Pepwave MAX Transit CAT 18 routers to test the antennas before I did anything on the roof. The test would not really be a good comparison as the antennas are inside sitting on the dash. The tests showed very good results on both AT&T and Verizon that I use. So today's work proceeded as follows.

The first thing to do was maximize pain. I mean remove 7 antennas from the roof. 2 x Pepwave Wi-Fi antennas and 2 x Pepwave 4 x 4 MIMO cellular antennas. I didn't realize how strong Sikaflex 221 was which I used to adhere them to the roof in my 3D printed antenna towers, also not realizing how strong those would be. Without whining too much they are off, and also the panorama 2-in-1 that I had on the air conditioner shroud and 2 x panorama omni's I had on the outboard sides of my outboard solar panels.

Now it's time to install the Parsec Husky's one each on each air conditioner shroud. I wired the front air conditioner antenna to drop into the over driver's seat AV compartment where the pepwaves are. The second antenna went on the rear air conditioner which dropped in through the roof in the half bath electrical panel area which is where pepwave 2 now resides. I used a UV protected outdoor ethernet cat6 cable that runs up from the half bath via the roof and down in to the front AV compartment so the two pepwaves can be ethernet connected.

Did I say pain in the butt? Never doing this again but it's done. So far performance is good but it's too soon to really compare and I don't think I can compare antennas as cellular speeds change by the minute. I'd say if I did this over again I'd either go with the Husky or the Pepwave all in one that's out now (421 I think it is) but I like having the antennas on the AC shroud as it's an ideal location in my opinion for 360 unobstructed view.

One thing I want to explore is the Pepwave Wi-Fi mesh system where it allows you to mesh multiple pepwave Wi-Fi units. With my antenna spread now this should work out well but I have to make sure it doesn't cause issues in controlling which cellular source (wan) is being used.

I'll report back on test results later but so far I'm pleased with the Parsec Husky antenna. I don't feel I can really offer an opinion of one vs. the other (compared to the Pepwave antennas) but the longer cable length for my setup is a plus.

 

[sheridany]

@Neal always the adventurer…you are a brave person to take on these tough projects.

 

[redbaron]

@Neal Are these the ones you recommend?

Pepwave 42G (Formerly Puma 421) - 4x4 5G Ready Cellular 2x W

www.mobilemusthave.com

Parsec Husky Pro 7 - 7-in-1 5G Antenna with 4x4 Cellular 2x2

www.mobilemusthave.com

 

[Neal]

It looks like the Parsec Husky is a thumbs down for me. I'm laying in bed and WiFi can't remain connected to the antenna on the front AC. My prior setup was Pepwave antennas all on front end of the coach. WiFi was very strong. Sadly I tossed those antennas as I was done with this. Guess I'll be ordering 2 x Pepwave 421's (or whatever they are called now) which have the 4x4 MIMO 2 x WiFi and GPS. I may have to dumpster dive tomorrow to get my antennas out but would rather go with the newer all in ones. Very unfortunate. A lot of money wasted.

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

Wow - surprised you have an issue with the Parsec Husky. We have one of those antenna attached to our Pepwave and it works great for us. Strong signal throughout the coach (and many camp sites away too!) But we don’t have 2 of them, only 1, not sure if that is causing some issue.

 

[AbdRahim]

Hey Neal, when can I come visit? You can set me up with the stuff you take off of yours. I get dizzy thinking at the rate you change stuff. ??‍?

 

[Neal]

I'll continue to explore. I just checked the power setting and I was in max on both 2.4 and 5 but boost checked on 5 ghz. I turned off boost and rebooted the unit. Still weak in bedroom but more stable.

 

[Neal]

Hey Neal, whencanI come visit? You can set me up with the stuff you take off of yours. I get dizzy thinking at the rate you change stuff. ??‍?

Haha. The dumpster here has 4 good antennas in it. Make that 7. Ehh. Live and learn to know when you got it right.

 

[redbaron]

It's a bad idea to broadcast your wifi outside the rv. Its even worse doing it when you intend to use it inside.

Exterior wifi antenna should be for accessing campground wifi.

By broadcasting on the outside you are adding rf noise to the campground and hurting your own usable signal.

I use a pair of deco m9s inside the rv, set to very low output.

The pepwave wifi is for Wan use only on my setup.

 

[AbdRahim]

Haha. The dumpster here has 4 good antennas in it. Make that 7. Ehh. Live and learn to know when you got it right.

Dumpster! You are a sick man. You can just sent them here.?

 

[Neal]

Dropped WiFi again. Ugh.

Broadcasting outside and having it strong both inside and outside just allows me to use my WiFi wherever from walking the dog, outside at the bench etc. Guess paddle antennas going on WiFi in the morning.

 

[MapNerd]

@Neal the Husky’s have to be 18” away from your AC. It did not occur to me that you (or anyone?) would mount them on the AC shroud. I highly doubt you are gaining anything from that other than an increased total height of your RV.

I don’t think two antennas connected to two modems is much of a problem but I am certain you should not put them that close to your AC and highly confident that you aren’t gaining much of anything from raising them that extra 6” on top of your AC shroud.

 

[FLSteve]

@Neal ... do you have any pictures of your roof before and after you removed the seven (7) antennas?

Just trying to imagine what that looks like.

FLSteve

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

As Mapnerd suggested, is the A/C interfering? Are your 2 Omni directional antennas, at full power and relatively close together, interfering with each other?
What would happen if you turned off the rear Pepwave, would the signal from the front unit be more stable?
Or maybe WiFi paddles on the front unit and exterior WiFi on the rear unit?
Curious as to why 2 pepwave units? What is this setup supposed to gain? (Bad pun intended)

 

[Neal]

@FLSteve - no, there is no evidence of such, my roof is private

I had a panorama 2-in-1 antenna on the AC shroud in the past and it was ideal, no interference was noted. I am not exhibiting any interference, the connectivity is fine, cellular signal is strong and speed tests surpass the Pepwaves I believe. The Wi-Fi signal strength does not appear to be as strong as the Pepwave 02 dedicated wifi antenna. While it complicates my setup I may need to go with an internal Wi-Fi again which would allow me to get Wi-Fi 6 which is good, otherwise I may switch to the Pepwave paddle antennas. The benefit of the dedicated interior Wi-Fi setup is as @redbaron alluded, use the roof antenna to bring in external sources and use an internal Wi-Fi router for coach use.

Moral is the Pepwave antennas were ideal, I believe the cellular performance of the Husky may be better but this could also be better location on top of the AC shroud, Wi-Fi performance is sub par from the Pepwave in my initial experience. I'm not sure of the antenna pattern in the Husky, i.e. is it omni, lateral, upward? Is it going to provide good signal BELOW the antenna which is inside the coach?

Ideally the half bath router would be best for Wi-Fi but my LAN setup is not setup for this as the front AV box is where the ethernet is that goes to a switch that supplies everything else in the coach. I haven't figured out the Wi-Fi mesh yet and I'm not sure it would work for my needs as the purpose of the 2 x Pepwaves is an Active/Active WAN source. My options appear to be live with it as is, go to paddle wi-fi antennas, or install a wi-fi 6 router on the LAN.

 

[Neal]

I put the Wi-Fi paddle antennas on and the Wi-Fi is night and day better. My android phone Wi-Fi signal test went from -90 to -54 by switching to the paddles, i.e. much stronger. Tests on the laptop verify.

This leads me to my opinionated conclusions, based on my antenna mounting location, etc.

1. Pepwave antennas are likely better as they are on 6.5ft leads instead of Parsec's 15ft leads. If I did this again I would go with Pepwave's 421 (4 cellular, 2 wifi, 1 gps).
2. I recommend the Pepwave antennas over the Parsec but if you go with Parsec consider maybe a cellular only or cellular + gps or realize the wifi may not be ideal for inside the coach.
3. I may have experienced better results in my prior setup as I had dedicated Wi-Fi antennas and dedicated cellular antennas, 4 in total on my roof
4. Parsec appears to get better cellular connectivity. The pepwaves were elevated so I'm not going to attribute too much to antenna position. As I don't have both antennas available for side by side testing this takes away some merit from this conclusion as I can't test the same point in time.
5. Working at the dinette sucks, I miss my desk. I need a better chair that is taller and better lumbar support! The height of the dinette compared to my dinette seat setup will lead to carpal tunnel syndrome, i.e. a terrible angle for me. Need to fix this going forward as I don't to bring the desk back for reasons stated in another thread I believe...makes televator unusable without some effort which I never did.
6. I'm leaving Pepwave 2's Wi-Fi to the roof Parsec for bringing in external Wi-Fi sources when available.

 

[MapNerd]

1. Working at the dinette sucks, I miss my desk. I need a better chair that is taller and better lumbar support! The height of the dinette compared to my dinette seat setup will lead to carpal tunnel syndrome, i.e. a terrible angle for me. Need to fix this going forward as I don't to bring the desk back for reasons stated in another thread I believe...makes televator unusable without some effort which I never did.

Since you are trying laptop only, consider doing what I do. I sit in the driver’s chair, tilt the wheel slightly and place my laptop on the wheel. I pull down the arm rests on the drivers chair and rest my elbows there and adjust the chair as needed.

My pepwave sits in the cabinet above so the signal is always excellent there, and I have cup holders and a phone charger right there.

 

[Neal]

Cellular speeds continue to be very strong. At new location (Gaffney, SC) and both AT&T and Verizon are both around 100 down 80 up.

 

[Neal]

So it seems to me RECEIVE is good especially on the A/C shroud. Transmit has not been as desired as discussed. Resolution would be as I'm doing and using paddle antennas or install a separate Wi-Fi antenna such as I used prior to this.

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So the question is...are all in one's really a good idea? While it's more cost effective and space efficient for a 7-in-1 or better, is it really the ideal antenna setup?

 

[MapNerd]

Maybe, maybe not. It depends on your use case. Those speeds are more than enough to be zooming, netflixing, chatting, emailing and listening to music all at the same time.

Lower Upload speeds really aren’t as impacting as low download speeds unless it’s video chat.