- Joined
- Jul 27, 2019
- Messages
- 11,480
- Location
- Midlothian, VA
- RV Year
- 2017
- RV Make
- Newmar
- RV Model
- Ventana 4037
- RV Length
- 40' 10"
- Chassis
- Freightliner XCR
- Engine
- Cummins 400 HP
- TOW/TOAD
- 2017 Chevy Colorado
- Fulltimer
- No
AT&T:
Since moving to my Pepwave MAX Transit CAT 18 I've seen odd behavior with the AT&T Mobley SIM in regards to LTE-A. Most of the time it just shows LTE (not LTE-A). However, when performing tasks such as speed tests LTE-A will come on. I thought it may be a defective unit as my other Pepwave MAX Transit CAT 18 with Verizon does not have this issue. Both are using the same antenna brand and type (Pepwave). When getting to my current location I decided to put the paddle antennas on and see if that made any difference. While speeds went up, no, the LTE-A issue remained. I figured it may be something internally so I moved the SIM to my other Pepwave which I hate doing anything with the Mobley SIM as it's a nugget of gold that I don't want to jeopardize ($23/mo unlimited, unthrottled (supposedly)). I was relieved to see the same behavior so it's not a defective Pepwave. While I do have my CAT 6 BR1 MK2 in use with T-Mobile running, I did not want to move the SIM another time and see if this was a CAT 18 vs CAT 6 issue. I reconnected the external antenna and will leave it alone from this point forward, it is what it is. It seems it's something the carrier is doing in regards to tower connections seeming like they are giving you LTE-A on demand.
My phone is on AT&T as well. What's ironic is the speed difference. My iPhone 12 PRO MAX will speed test are around 150 down yet the Mobley SIM in the Pepwave will be 20 if I'm lucky. Obviously the tower has the bandwidth, it must be cellular games, plans, phone vs. hotspot, who knows. I'm half tempted to put my phone SIM in the pepwave to see what happens but I don't need to be screwing up my phone when it's my only lifeline. I'll pass on that test for now.
Verizon:
Upon arrival it would not connect. I dropped the connection to the disabled slot, waited a bit, then back to priority 1, still no connection. I figured Verizon had no service here. When putting the AT&T SIM in the unit it wasn't changing over so I rebooted. Now I get Verizon (and very fast speeds) and then AT&T worked. For those with Pepwaves you may want to just reboot your device on arrival. I also have mine setup for daily reboots in the middle of the night now. Back to Verizon...what's interesting are the speed tests from my computer show maybe 20 yet my speed tests from my iPad show 120-150 down. Something is very different in speed tests depending on the endpoint. I have TTL 65 set on the pepwave but I'm not sure it's working as expected. I have since removed the TTL settings as with the CAT 18 units I'm not seeing a difference.
T-Mobile:
Upon arrival this showed as the dominant carrier, interesting. T-Mobile is in the CAT 6 Pepwave. I figured while I'm doing all of this cellular experimentation let me see how T-Mobile does in the CAT 18 Pepwave. Speeds dropped to typical T-Mobile crap, maybe 5 at best with typical upload 1 at best. Seems like T-Mobile doesn't like CAT 18. I put the SIM back in the CAT 6 and still slow, so I must have flagged something. While writing this I figured I should check T-Mobile again and it's still a full pound of suck, 2 MB at best. Quite frankly I have yet to see T-Mobile be worth having. I may dump this plan at the end of this trip if I don't see improvement.
Starlink sure is needed but time will tell how that's going to work out for RVers as well as cost and speeds. For someone that works while RVing the cost is just part of the business requirement and expense. I don't think we'll be able to let go of cellular for a long time though, we'll need a backup for the time being so that will be added expense. I just hope Starlink forces cellular prices to go down.
So that's the continued trials of a cellular RVer. Antenna selection seems to be the most important. If in a fiberglass RV then paddles are probably the best bet. If you're in a metal enclosure then roof mounted is probably necessary. I'm remaining with my pepwave roof antennas connected for now, they should provide the optimum performance as they have a clear 360 line of sight, but the paddle antennas typically outperform. I hate how the paddle antennas move around so I may 3D print a contraption that goes over top of them to maintain their spacing.
Since moving to my Pepwave MAX Transit CAT 18 I've seen odd behavior with the AT&T Mobley SIM in regards to LTE-A. Most of the time it just shows LTE (not LTE-A). However, when performing tasks such as speed tests LTE-A will come on. I thought it may be a defective unit as my other Pepwave MAX Transit CAT 18 with Verizon does not have this issue. Both are using the same antenna brand and type (Pepwave). When getting to my current location I decided to put the paddle antennas on and see if that made any difference. While speeds went up, no, the LTE-A issue remained. I figured it may be something internally so I moved the SIM to my other Pepwave which I hate doing anything with the Mobley SIM as it's a nugget of gold that I don't want to jeopardize ($23/mo unlimited, unthrottled (supposedly)). I was relieved to see the same behavior so it's not a defective Pepwave. While I do have my CAT 6 BR1 MK2 in use with T-Mobile running, I did not want to move the SIM another time and see if this was a CAT 18 vs CAT 6 issue. I reconnected the external antenna and will leave it alone from this point forward, it is what it is. It seems it's something the carrier is doing in regards to tower connections seeming like they are giving you LTE-A on demand.
My phone is on AT&T as well. What's ironic is the speed difference. My iPhone 12 PRO MAX will speed test are around 150 down yet the Mobley SIM in the Pepwave will be 20 if I'm lucky. Obviously the tower has the bandwidth, it must be cellular games, plans, phone vs. hotspot, who knows. I'm half tempted to put my phone SIM in the pepwave to see what happens but I don't need to be screwing up my phone when it's my only lifeline. I'll pass on that test for now.
Verizon:
Upon arrival it would not connect. I dropped the connection to the disabled slot, waited a bit, then back to priority 1, still no connection. I figured Verizon had no service here. When putting the AT&T SIM in the unit it wasn't changing over so I rebooted. Now I get Verizon (and very fast speeds) and then AT&T worked. For those with Pepwaves you may want to just reboot your device on arrival. I also have mine setup for daily reboots in the middle of the night now. Back to Verizon...what's interesting are the speed tests from my computer show maybe 20 yet my speed tests from my iPad show 120-150 down. Something is very different in speed tests depending on the endpoint. I have TTL 65 set on the pepwave but I'm not sure it's working as expected. I have since removed the TTL settings as with the CAT 18 units I'm not seeing a difference.
T-Mobile:
Upon arrival this showed as the dominant carrier, interesting. T-Mobile is in the CAT 6 Pepwave. I figured while I'm doing all of this cellular experimentation let me see how T-Mobile does in the CAT 18 Pepwave. Speeds dropped to typical T-Mobile crap, maybe 5 at best with typical upload 1 at best. Seems like T-Mobile doesn't like CAT 18. I put the SIM back in the CAT 6 and still slow, so I must have flagged something. While writing this I figured I should check T-Mobile again and it's still a full pound of suck, 2 MB at best. Quite frankly I have yet to see T-Mobile be worth having. I may dump this plan at the end of this trip if I don't see improvement.
Starlink sure is needed but time will tell how that's going to work out for RVers as well as cost and speeds. For someone that works while RVing the cost is just part of the business requirement and expense. I don't think we'll be able to let go of cellular for a long time though, we'll need a backup for the time being so that will be added expense. I just hope Starlink forces cellular prices to go down.
So that's the continued trials of a cellular RVer. Antenna selection seems to be the most important. If in a fiberglass RV then paddles are probably the best bet. If you're in a metal enclosure then roof mounted is probably necessary. I'm remaining with my pepwave roof antennas connected for now, they should provide the optimum performance as they have a clear 360 line of sight, but the paddle antennas typically outperform. I hate how the paddle antennas move around so I may 3D print a contraption that goes over top of them to maintain their spacing.