Where to mount Weboost antenna

[NewRV4me]

Thanks to RetiredOne and others, we purchased a Weboost Drive Sleek for our 2019 Greyhawk 29mv so I would be able to have the best chance at staying in touch with my 92 year old father. It's here, and we're not sure where to mount everything! The instructions are for semis. Any info on how you mounted yours would be a great start in helping us figure out what might work in our rig! Thanks so much!

[pconroy]

I mounted the outside mast antenna to the back ladder. Yeah, I know the 29MV didn't come with one.


There's a Youtube video, from RV With Tito, where he shows how he mounted his on the roof. I'll look for it.




Here: https://www.rvwithtito.com/articles/...ooster-for-rv/

[RetiredOne]

Which one did you order? The one with the shark fin antenna, or the OTR trucker antenna? I went with the OTR antenna, for better gain. I used an "L" shaped bracket that I made, and mounted the antenna on the plastic fridge cover on the roof. This way, I can swing the antenna up when we park, and fold it down when rolling along.

I ran the antenna wire down the chase for the fridge, and drilled a hole, and pulled the cable into the upper cabinet of the kitchen. That is where all the connections take place. I drilled another hole in the bottom of the wall cabinet, and pulled the cradle wire up, to plug into the module. The cradle can sit on the counter.

I installed a 12 volt cig recepticle in the sink cabinet, with power from the coach batteries, and this is where I get the power for it.

[RetiredOne]

Originally Posted by NewRV4me

Thanks to RetiredOne and others, we purchased a Weboost Drive Sleek for our 2019 Greyhawk 29mv so I would be able to have the best chance at staying in touch with my 92 year old father.

Just a point of reference to that. We just came back today from camping in the woods of the Poconos. In one of the state parks, wifey was trying to talk to her mother, and kept dropping the calls, due to weak service.

I told her to put her phone in the cradle and call back. After that, no more dropped calls. Later on, I put my phone in the cradle, and hotspotted both my laptop and streamed the NASCAR race on my tablet, at the same time. I was impressed with how well the Weboost worked out in the boonies!!!

[GHen]

After buying the weboost rv and using it for a year, here are my experiences.
The farther away the outside antenna is from the inside antenna, the better range I appear to have inside. I think the cradle is probably the best option. I’m not sure, but I have read, that the signal strength is electronically turned down if it’s too close to the outside antenna. They interfere with each other if they are too close.
I don’t ways need the boost so I have it mounted on a extendable window washing pole. It’s about 6’ and extends to about 15’. I have two command strip broom pole holders next to my ladder. I run cable out the window, extend pole and snap into holders. Keeps it about 8’ above the rv. Just pops out for quick removal and fits in my pass through. I try to avoid getting up the ladder to frequently during setup, so the method keeps me on the ground.

I do sometimes get phone reception when there is none but not much data. If I have some phone signal then I also get much better data. Overall it’s a great product if I keep the antennas a good distance apart.

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by GHen

Overall it’s a great product if I keep the antennas a good distance apart.

Our house is ??fortunately?? in a 1-bar coverage area. Well fortunate in that it allowed me to play with the WeBoost at the house.


My experience showed that yes, the more separation the better between the two antennas. But 25' seemed to be good enough, in the open air (testing in the garage, no RV walls or roof in between the two).


The other thing I noticed is that the little inside antenna is somewhat directional. Point it "forward" for two things: better signal and reduced interference with the outside antenna.


I haven't bothered to ask WeBoost if that's true, but I would absolutely see a few dB more when positioned in front of the inside antenna, as opposed to one side.




You'll see a lot of Youtube video "testers" show the increased signal strength on the phone when the WeBoost is on. I'm no expert, but I believe that's downright dumb. The phone sees an increased signal strength because it's right next to the inside antenna. Nothing to do with the quality of the remote signal.


I used Speed Tests and latency tests to get an indication of the link quality.






One wish I would share with WeBoost is "more information for nerds". Give us a way to see the signal quality between the outside antenna and the amplifier. I'd love a bluetooth interface that showed all of the cell tower nerd stuff...

[NewRV4me]

Thank you for the idea!! Our 2019 actually did come with a ladder - so that's a good thing!! Where and how did you run the cables?? If we plug into the cigarette lighter (12V) in the front cab to power it, we're going to need more cable!! LOL!

[NewRV4me]

RetiredOne, you are a handy guy!! You made your own L bracket AND installed a new 12V cig receptacle!! We'll have to think how to do that!!! The photos help a ton!! We did get the OTR antenna!! Thank you!!!

[NewRV4me]

Thanks for the distance from each other info Ghen!! I don't think we would have thought of that!! Not drilling holes is a wonderful idea along with the broom holder command strips!!! Brilliant!

[NewRV4me]

pconroy, I'd like more info for NON nerds! LOL!! All this tech stuff gets overwhelming which is why I so appreciate yours and other posters helping us figure it all out!!! Thanks for adding to and adding on to what the others had said!! It helps it all make more sense the more we read!!

[RetiredOne]

Originally Posted by NewRV4me

If we plug into the cigarette lighter (12V) in the front cab to power it, we're going to need more cable!! LOL!

Originally Posted by NewRV4me

RetiredOne, you are a handy guy!! You made your own L bracket AND installed a new 12V cig receptacle!! We'll have to think how to do that!!! The photos help a ton!! We did get the OTR antenna!! Thank you!!!

When I first installed the antenna, I didn't have the 12volt plug installed. But, if you put the cradle on the counter, the power cord is long enough and will reach over the door and over to the dashboard to plug in.

I installed the 12volt recepticle along with a voltmeter in the cabinet, so I can monitor the voltage and to be able to plug in cell phones, this booster or my portable air compressor.

[NewRV4me]

Thanks RetiredOne
This is the other half of NewRV4me

i like anchoring to the cover for the frig chase but looking at ours it seems like a real flimsy plastic. I am afraid the wind going down the road might rip it right loose. I assume you just took the four screws out of the top of the cover to access the chase. I am also afraid the frig is so close to the ceiling it may be difficult to access the chase without damaging the frig. See the attached pictures. Is this pretty similar to yours?

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by pconroy

One wish I would share with WeBoost is "more information for nerds". Give us a way to see the signal quality between the outside antenna and the amplifier. I'd love a bluetooth interface that showed all of the cell tower nerd stuff...

Check out "Network Cell Info" and install the free version on your phone if you want... It will give you the Tower,Cell-Sector and other information you can use to see how good or bad it is helping you. I paid for the full version so it will give me five alternate connections that the phone could switch to...

I get the TAC-ECI, eNB-LCID, EARFCN-PCI and much more of the needed stuff like RSRP, RSRQ and RSSNR which is real important. I use this to tune our LTE radios and find the best tower to point our directional LTE radio to!

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by NewRV4me

Thanks RetiredOne
This is the other half of NewRV4me

i like anchoring to the cover for the frig chase but looking at ours it seems like a real flimsy plastic. I am afraid the wind going down the road might rip it right loose. I assume you just took the four screws out of the top of the cover to access the chase. I am also afraid the frig is so close to the ceiling it may be difficult to access the chase without damaging the frig. See the attached pictures. Is this pretty similar to yours?

My suggestion is to avoid mounting anything electronic to the fridge vent, or in the close area around it. It is venting hot exhaust air from the fridge cooling system - that is always harmful to electronic components.

[James AO]

Originally Posted by NewRV4me

Thanks to RetiredOne and others, we purchased a Weboost Drive Sleek for our 2019 Greyhawk 29mv so I would be able to have the best chance at staying in touch with my 92 year old father. It's here, and we're not sure where to mount everything! The instructions are for semis. Any info on how you mounted yours would be a great start in helping us figure out what might work in our rig! Thanks so much!

I installed the RV WeBoost version with a fixed mount Omni directional antenna attached to my rear ac cover. Rather than running a separate coax thru the roof I used the spare coax from the second unused feedhorn on my satellite dish. I mounted my indoors WeBoost antenna on top of my MoFi4500 sim based Wi-Fi router. That way my MoFi is getting the max boost from the WeBoost and then distributing the internet connection throughout my rig (and outdoors) via Wi-Fi. It works great for us.

[RetiredOne]

Originally Posted by NewRV4me

Thanks RetiredOne
This is the other half of NewRV4me

i like anchoring to the cover for the frig chase but looking at ours it seems like a real flimsy plastic. I am afraid the wind going down the road might rip it right loose. I assume you just took the four screws out of the top of the cover to access the chase. I am also afraid the frig is so close to the ceiling it may be difficult to access the chase without damaging the frig. See the attached pictures. Is this pretty similar to yours?

Mine interior is similar, maybe 4" above the fridge. The plastic is a bit flimsy, but that flexing actually acts as a "shock absorber", and gives some flex to the antenna. In reality, that antenna isn't very heavy, so it really doesn't put much strain on the cover. Plus, when the antenna folds down, it's flush to the roof, so there's no chance it will rip off.

If you take the 4 screws out, you'll see down into the chase. I only had to go down a few inches and drill a hole in the upper cab to the left of the fridge, and fish the antenna wire in. There's plenty of clearance, and the best part about this install, you don't have to drill into your roof to get the wire in.

[crl]

We have been using the WeBoost for two years now, and as mentioned above, have seen definite improvements in cell signals as my DW and I both have aged parents we need to check on daily. My 2019 White Hawk has a ladder so I was able to mount the outside antenna to the top of the ladder. I ran the coax across the top of the trailer and covered completely with externa bond tape. I went in the fridge vent and down to an access hole that was already in place for the micro wave. Mounted the unit inside the cabinet and drilled 1 small hole in the cabinet bottom for the coax to the internal antenna. Mounted the internal antenna to the bottom of the cabinet with extra strength Velcro. Works great.

[NewRV4me]

Thanks again for all your help and the photos, RetiredOne!! Hubby has been busy up on the roof of the motorhome today trying out the WeBoost to see if and how much of a difference it makes. He ran it temporarily through the slide today, but he wants to use your suggestion of going down the fridge chase as the permanent route. Ours has a screen over it (see photo). How did you deal with that to run the antenna wire? If we replace it - we're thinking we should use wire screening as it is now, rather than a nylon window screen material. And it DID make a big difference just sitting in our driveway trying it out! Whoo Hoo!!

[James AO]

Originally Posted by NewRV4me

Thanks again for all your help and the photos, RetiredOne!! Hubby has been busy up on the roof of the motorhome today trying out the WeBoost to see if and how much of a difference it makes. He ran it temporarily through the slide today, but he wants to use your suggestion of going down the fridge chase as the permanent route. Ours has a screen over it (see photo). How did you deal with that to run the antenna wire? If we replace it - we're thinking we should use wire screening as it is now, rather than a nylon window screen material. And it DID make a big difference just sitting in our driveway trying it out! Whoo Hoo!!

I ran my solar wires thru the Frig vent. I made a small hole in the existing screen near a corner and ran my cable thru the hole I made in the screen. When I was done routing the cable I drill two small hole in the plastic side of the vent below the screen level. I used the holes to put a tie wrap thru to secure the cable to the side of the vent. Finally I carefully pulled the screen back into shape.

[pconroy]

I just finished up the install yesterday too.



I too went thru the fridge screen vent. Then there was a 1" wiring hole from the fridge compartment into the panty cabinet so I fished the coax down thru that.


I wired into a nearby 12V pair of wires in the fridge compartment and fished those wires up into the pantry too.


So my WeBoost is on 12V now and is mounted up high in the pantry in our 31FK. The inside antenna will sneak out from the cabinet door and get moved around as needed.