MOD Upgrading my Pepwave RV Internet setup

[Neal]

Today I finally got to the RV and setup the MAX Transit CAT 18. Never without excitement. First having to remember my AT&T Mobley SIM PIN, fortunately by the 3rd try I guessed right. Now I'll WRITE IT DOWN!!! AT&T is sucking where I am, prior setup was auto switched to Verizon at the storage lot. Then I put the "other" SIM in and wondered why I couldn't connect to Verizon, yeah, well, it was the SPRINT sim I left in the BR1 MINI. It actually connected, I should have tried to see if it got Internet. That was odd. Guess I'll need to watch for a bill now! Anyways, finally Verizon is connected. Now the tests are not equal. My speed test with the BR1 MINI attached to the roof Panorama 2-in-1 over the driver's seat was 45 down 6 up. The MAX Transit CAT 18 is sitting on my desk with rabbit ears. Speed test 100 down 63 up. Wowza!

I'm all setup. As of now both BR1 MINI and BR1 MK2 are removed. Will hold for a while and repurpose later or sell, but backup for now. I'm not really able to test old vs. new as a lot of variables have changed and even just a reboot of the same cellular modem will yield different results each time. Nothing is consistent with cellular.

I may, because I can't ever resist, get a second MAX Transit CAT 18 if I want active active with two sims but I'm going to see how things go with single modem two sim setup. $700 for the router is not a big deal when your business depends on it, and buys it.

 

[VTPete]

Today I finally got to the RV and setup the MAX Transit CAT 18. Never without excitement. First having to remember my AT&T Mobley SIM PIN, fortunately by the 3rd try I guessed right. Now I'll WRITE IT DOWN!!! AT&T is sucking where I am, prior setup was auto switched to Verizon at the storage lot. Then I put the "other" SIM in and wondered why I couldn't connect to Verizon, yeah, well, it was the SPRINT sim I left in the BR1 MINI. It actually connected, I should have tried to see if it got Internet. That was odd. Guess I'll need to watch for a bill now! Anyways, finally Verizon is connected. Now the tests are not equal. My speed test with the BR1 MINI attached to the roof Panorama 2-in-1 over the driver's seat was 45 down 6 up. The MAX Transit CAT 18 is sitting on my desk with rabbit ears. Speed test 100 down 63 up. Wowza!

I'm all setup. As of now both BR1 MINI and BR1 MK2 are removed. Will hold for a while and repurpose later or sell, but backup for now. I'm not really able to test old vs. new as a lot of variables have changed and even just a reboot of the same cellular modem will yield different results each time. Nothing is consistent with cellular.

I may, because I can't ever resist, get a second MAX Transit CAT 18 if I want active active with two sims but I'm going to see how things go with single modem two sim setup. $700 for the router is not a big deal when your business depends on it, and buys it.

Exciting news on the throughput Neal! Is this with the new antenna yet? I dream of another unit also, mucho flexibility!

 

[Neal]

Exciting news on the throughput Neal! Is this with the new antenna yet? I dream of another unit also, mucho flexibility!

Antennas not on roof yet. That will be either Tuesday or Friday. Out of time for today. Paddle antennas only. Consistent 100 down with prepaid Verizon.

 

[AbdRahim]

Neal makes my head spin!!

 

[Neal]

I just did it, ugh, I ordered a 2nd Pepwave MAX Transit CAT 18 so I can have active/active modems. The total cost is less than my new iPhone, I can't put a price tag on good internet from an RV I work from.

 

[VTPete]

oh boy. I like that. My hand is poised over my wallet. I'm a little conflicted..maybe.

Couple questions.. what are you thinking for the antenna? I ran across this while considering using my current 7-1, Sharing one MIMO LTE antenna between two modems - LTE HACKS

Also, does your unit run hot? Mine does and others have mentioned this as well. I'm also thinking where I'd mount the second unit. I might stack it if I could get airflow between them. Time for a swanky 3-D printed solution @Neal!

 

[Neal]

5GStore.com is giving me good quotes based on my prior order history I presume. Can't pass up the pricing for what I'm getting, i.e. CAT 18. I really wanted to go SIMPLE and just use one and probably should BUT there are advantages of the active/active setup I've been taking advantage of for two years.

1. Fast network switching
2. Put both in Priority 1 and let Pepwave decide who to use
3. My coach connects to primary on WiFi for all of its needs. My computer for example can WiFi connect to Pepwave 1 for my Internet needs. I can connect my iPad to Pepwave 2 and watch TV, videos, streams, etc. without affecting my work on the computer as it's a separate WiFi and cellular network. Typically I work primarily on AT&T and the iPad can use Verizon for the media.

I have Pepwave PUMA antennas for the new Pepwave CAT 18 going on the roof tomorrow. One is a 5 in 1 (4 x 4 MIMO + GPS). The other is their WiFi version (2 leads). I'm undecided if I'm going roof antennas on the 2nd unit. Most likely I will and have already requested a quote for the same antennas. Are they the best? I have no idea. I like the numbers, we'll see what the results show but again, so hard to compare as even a reboot shows different results on cellular. My problem is that inside the RV much less the A/V compartment seems to be so much electrical noise. It may not be a conflict on the cellular frequencies but I have a terrible time getting FM reception on my home theater receiver. Dash radio does fine but not the AV receiver.

I have 2 x USB Fans in my AV box to help remove heat. Electronics get hot and are designed for the heat, doesn't concern me. But I do try to help matters with USB fans.

My plan now is Pep1 roof antennas, Pep2 paddle antennas. I will probably but both Pepwaves in the over driver's seat AV box but I am thinking hard on putting one in the half bath electrical cabinet sidewall mounted. I just wish I had ethernet to connect the two but realize I can use WiFi as well but I don't want one stepping in the other WiFi comm jamming so this is driving me to put the two peps in the same cabinet as I did before. I really need to figure out the path to get Ethernet down from half bath electrical to basement, then I can easily get it to the over driver cabinet.

3D printing an extra set of antenna mounts now. I designed two already, one for cellular and a shorter one for wifi so it's not on the same plane as the other antenna and causing any blockage. I leave for my big trip next week so I better get two more mounts printed in case I go with roof antennas for the 2nd unit.

Pepwave Puma Antenna Mount by NealC

This is an antenna mount to go on the roof of my motorhome to hold a Pepwave Puma antenna, one for cellular (taller) and a shorter one for wifi. This will be mounted using 3M adhesive on the bottom of the mount. The antenna can be tacked in with double-sided tape, the included double-sided tape...

www.thingiverse.com

 

[Just George]

@Neal We have the central vacuum on our 2015 4369 Ventana which provides a easy path to the basement from the narrow cabinet to the right of the electrical cabinet. Not sure of the layout on your 4037 but thought I'd share how I got there on our coach.

 

[Neal]

Very interesting. Thanks. I’ll look at that.

 

[Neal]

I ended up putting both Pepwave MAX Transit CAT 18 routers in the A/V cabinet over the driver's seat. Just made more sense and I 3M hook taped them to the walls so it's a very clean install vs. my last setup which was a bit messy. I have two sets of antennas on the roof using the Pepwave PUMA antennas. 4x4 MIMO + GPS 1 for each unit and the WiFi puma, 1 for each unit. Installed using my 3D printed mounts/towers which are perfect, they line up with the top of the air conditioner.

Speeds have been interesting. This morning I tested my iPhone 12 Pro MAX on AT&T and I hit 100 down. Pepwave was struggling around 30 with TTL of 65. I cleared the TTL values on both of my pepwaves and they both went to the moon at over 100 down so I'm leaving TTL to auto. Maybe it's different with CAT 18, I don't know. I don't really know the tech details with cellular, it's so random and hit and miss. What I do know is the Pepwave CAT 18 are absolutely killing it. Speeds tests along highways at random areas are all super high speed.

Absolutely thrilled with the Pepwave CAT 18 setup. I have no intention of swapping between paddle antennas to compare but I believe the paddles are just as good, who knows. As it's now 6 antennas to change out (4 cellular, 2 wifi) I'm not doing it. I'm sticking with the new Pepwave PUMA antennas and so far they are exceeding my expectations.

 

[VTPete]

Great to hear Neal. Interesting point on the TTL.. I've tried 65 and 64 and not found a difference. I might try the Auto setting again and see what happens, thanks for mentioning. I bet that guy who convinced them they needed to add this feature is feeling kinda sheepish now huh? ;-).

You have a great setup with two active Peplinks-pretty envious! You have SO much flexibility. I thought about doing the same but am working some other angles before I get there.

 

[Neal]

As to TTL, I just don't know. Prior to the CAT 18's it really seemed to help. I don't know the right number to enter but 65 seemed to work well. I wish I had real knowledge of the cellular engineering to be able to better advise but I'm like many just experimenting and seeing what works. Maybe Peplink has made some changes in more recent firmware that handles this differently, I don't know (get the theme??).

 

[lemondrop9344]

Neal,
As I understand the Cat-18, as a general rule, it's best to let it manage most of the cellular & WiFi 'settings'. That's supposedly what it does best & your experience seems to support that. I've yet to install my roof top antenna, but, the cellular & park WiFi (good WiFi at the park I'm in) signals I obtain with the paddle antennas provide all I need.
Only thing I've had any real issue with is connecting to the NAS on the RV remotely (wanted to backup NAS in home office to NAS on RV & vice versa).

 

[webops]

@Neal I've seen a thread somewhere that you guide through setting outbound policies for your Pepwave setup. I've searched high and low. Can you direct me?
Just got my new Max Transit Duo and am excited to get it fully setup and load balancing. Thanks

 

[Neal]

Only thing I've had any real issue with is connecting to the NAS on the RV remotely (wanted to backup NAS in home office to NAS on RV & vice versa).

I have a synology NAS in my coach and I have it set to a fixed IP address, not using DHCP. I then setup port forwarding for ports 5000 and 5001 and it points to the fixed IP address. See attached. I created a new "service" named it NAS and configured as shown.