Mobile Routers for RVs & Boats Introduction - Internet Networking for Cellular & Wi-Fi Sources
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 มิ.ย. 2024
- A router serves as a central conductor between your internet source and your local area devices - like laptops, tablets, streaming devices, printers, hard drives and remote monitoring systems.
But as an RVer or boater, you're likely to travel with multiple internet sources - perhaps hotspots on AT&T and Verizon, a smartphone on T-Mobile, or gear to use campground or marina Wi-Fi.
Mobile routers are specifically designed to streamline these multiple upstreams of internet. They come from manufacturers like WiFiRanger, Pepwave, Peplink, Cradlepoint, MOFI, Alfa, GL.iNet and more.
But there are so many options! In this video we explain why you might want a router, and the various forms they come in. From USB cellular tethering to cellular embedded modems.
To learn more about routers and current options:
www.mobileinternetinfo.com/rou...
0:00 - Intro
0:18 - What is a mobile router
1:02 - Benefits of a router for mobile internet
3:17 - Residential vs Mobile Routers
4:02 - What makes a router mobile?
4:56 - WiFi as WAN Routers
5:19 - USB Cellular Tethering
6:23 - Cellular Embedded Routers
8:43 - Roof mounted Routers
9:24 - Selecting a Mobile Routers
10:52 - MIA Membership Thanks & Benefits
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The Mobile Internet Resource Center is dedicated to helping mobile travelers (RVers, cruisers, nomads, etc.) keep connected!
This channel is part of the Mobile Internet Resource Center, and you'll find even MORE content (guides, news, courses, reviews, forums, gear and more) on our website: www.mobileinternetinfo.com.
We are funded by our premium members, who allow us to make this niche topic our focus and offer a ton of free content (like this channel) to the public! Our members get a bunch of extra access to our Q&A forums, in-depth guides, product reviews, courses, insider tips and webinars.
Interested in helping keep us funded to continue creating content? Want to go deeper? Want more interactive guidance?
Consider becoming a member at: www.mobileinternetinfo.com/mem...
The Mobile Internet Resource Center is brought to you by Two Steps Beyond LLC, the consultancy run by Cherie & Chris of Technomadia.com (full time tech nomads since 2006 by RV & boat).
© Two Steps Beyond LLC 2020
For entertainment purposes only. See our website for a full disclaimer. - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Great breadth and level of detail in your videos. I’ve burned hours trying to figure out the best option for my boat, before finding your channel. Super helpful. Thank you!
Nice summary Chris and Cherie. I like how you discussed all the various format options all at once from you table top of techno wizardry. Keep 'em coming!
I LOVED this! Keep doing these beginner videos please! I’m a MIA and fairly tech savvy but some of your content was over my head and made my head hurt. This was a great way to lay the groundwork for decision making and further education without being too techy. Great job.
Thank you... we do have lots of beginner content available, and will continue to create it.
Omgosh.... thanks so much for this! I have been pretty confused about this kind of stuff. Extremely informative, and very appreciated. 🙏🙂
Thanks. This is the first MIRC video that is clear.
Another great video guys......thanks again for helping us stay on top of these things!!
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Your channel is awesome! Thanks for all the great info!
LOVE your channel, thanks so much for sharing your mobile tech savvy!!!
Thanks, just moved into a sticks and bricks home and looking for a way to connect my mifi. This was super helpful!
Great Stuff .. love this channel .. keep up the great work 👍🏾😁🙏🏾
Thank You!! Blessed Travels
Thanks again folks
I installed the winegard 2.0 that has an At&t sim and gets over the air tv and can connect to park WiFi if I want. I have a 12 volt power switch and Ethernet connection to a tplink WiFi router. My tv is hard wired (cat5) and all other devices connect to the tplink.
Thank you for all of your information !!! I am a medical coder looking (hopefully) to become full time Rver in the near future, maybe staying 1-2 months before moving on to another site. I need reliable connectivity everyday to interact with coding software and to participate in team meetings (audio & camera) via webex. Not being as tech savvy as I need, I am not sure what would serve me the best.
We have tons more information on working via mobile internet sources. Suggest starting here: www.rvmobileinternet.com/working-remotely/
Hi! I’m looking for a WIFi as WAN devices under $50. Any information could you provide is truly appreciated.
Great videos. Have you ever tested TRAVLFI?
Yes, our review is available to our members here: www.rvmobileinternet.com/gear/overview-multi-carrier-cloud-based-virtual-sim-plans-cellular-data-plans/
I took your suggestion and contacted Mobile Must Have for a complete kit. The ordering process is overly complex and the office has a tendency to skip over details such as the DC power cord is on back order. You may wish to reconsider recommending them in your videos
Sorry you've had difficulty with them. Our members consistently report back positively... and they provide a sweet discount to them. But at no point have we 'recommended' them - we mention them because they have provided some of our evaluation equipment.
Thanks.
Many thanks for your video. Question: Is there a portable wifi hub device that allows me to connect two devices on a local area network without the internet. I need to connect two iphones running an app that communicates between the phones via wifi outdoors as a private local area network. Thanks!
If you're one of our members, please ask in our forums so that our team can assist with this more advanced question.
I've been watching you guys for years - from your early RV years! I'm looking for an option for a boat. We've found that the marina WIFI is a little weak for Zooming. It's fine for basic email and internet, but when Zooming, it gets weak - buffering, pixelating, etc. So if in port with marina WIFI, do you have a recommendation to boost that signal? Or - it might depend on other factors? We won't be boating very far offshore - don't need satellite. thx for any advice or sending me to another of your videos that discusses further... thanks!
Here is a link to our video demonstrating the 'Wi-Fi Worthiness Test': th-cam.com/video/43RfKaZXMX8/w-d-xo.html
Here is our recommended guide for exploring this topic: www.rvmobileinternet.com/wifi
@@MobileInternetResourceCenter thank you!
Thanks for the video. I have a question. My wife and are going to be working from the rv full time. Do you recommend going with a pepwave Max transit duo or use jet packs and tethering? Does one have better signal than the other? If you have a video/blog on this then can you please send? Thanks again!
Here is our guide to selecting different modem types: www.rvmobileinternet.com/guides/cellular-modem-specifications/
There are a lot of variables here.. and it all really comes down to your unique needs. Would recommend starting with our collection of working remotely resources: www.rvmobileinternet.com/working-remotely
is wifi-as-wan a very niche feature? i tried searching for info on this and cant seem to find much. What common broadband router brands have this? Can the netgear nighthawk m1 do this?
Yes, WiFi as WAN is generally a unique feature of mobile routers - www.rvmobileinternet.com/routers
Another Great video. You have a fan here
I have a van on order but I am already getting my internet setup worked out . Reliable / Consistent / Fast is a high priority for me due to business needs.
I am planning to continue with AT&T phone line and could add to that a decent data plan for tethering
In addition, I will be getting a dedicated data plan with verizon for redundancy.
my idea is to buy a device “A” that can act as a bridge, that would connect to verizon data device and AT&T iphone ; device A would provide internet wireless to all the devices in the van
I have these concerns:
- use a verizon jetpack or another device with external antennas and 2 sim cards for more flexibility (maybe dual modem verizon & AT&T sim cards)
- what to buy as quality device A. It would be great if it accepts USB for phone tethering and wifi extender
- better to have my AT&T line with a data option or have my line plus a separate data plan, so that I can use a dual modem
- thinking of pros and cons of weboost
Can you provide some advise ?
thanks a lot
Here's guides that go over some of this:
www.rvmobileinternet.com/cellular-devices
www.rvmobileinternet.com/boosters
If you're one of our members, do post these questions over in the forums so that our team can give you some feedback.
Great video. One thing I took away is that there is no "One Set Up" having multiple ways to connect is what is "The set up" so I don't feel so bad buying all these gadgets.
Absolutely true. Redundancy is key to success on the road.
My job is technical support for WebRTC based 1:1 meetings. I need to be able to maintain a stable connection. Is there a device or configuration that will detect weak signal/slower speeds and switch to a different carrier's input automatically without too much disruption?
Yes, that is a feature of some models.. but failover is usually slower than manually switching. There's also bonding as an approach. More in our guide to routers: www.rvmobileinternet.com/routers
Have you guys moved your local wi fi router to wifi6, is it worth the investment to improve the local Wifi lan
Of the options out right now, only the Netgear Orbi supports Wifi 6.
Say I have a Netgear Nighthawk hotspot (with data plan) tethered to the WifiRanger Aspen router which is then connected to a Mobile Mark antenna (with GPS connection) on the roof of my RV, could I use the Aspen router to track my RV's location remotely? Ifnot, would a pepwave router and gps antenna be the way to go?
The Aspen does not have ports that can connect to the Mobile Mark, and nor does it support GPS. That is a feature Peplink products provides.
@@MobileInternetResourceCenter Tank you, I've come to that conclusion. Now I just need to decide between the pepwave Max BR1 MK2 and Max BR1 mini. I'll probably go with the mini.
What's a good cheap T-Mobile cell router to use to stream Netflix from my rv?
Here's our guide to routers and how to go pick them out, as well as some of our featured ones: www.rvmobileinternet.com/routers
MoFi SIM 4 vs SIM 7, just curious which is really better? I like the fact it will use the other data bands. I'm VZW customer.
The link in the video goes to our entry that compares the specs: www.rvmobileinternet.com/gear/mofi4500-4gxelte-sim4-v2/
Mofi is a decent but expensive device for what it is. Look into a WG3526 router with an LTE card that supports the bands you need. Mofi doesn't have gigabit ethernet and is limited to Wireless N 2.4 GHz only.
I am a member and bought the netgear orbi LBR20. It has stopped working twice in the past 2 months. AT&T says "unrecognized IMEI." I have no clue what to do or what will stay working.
Please do open a thread in the member forums, and we can perhaps help you figure out what is going on. Be sure to include the data plan you are using.
May the bandwidth be with you...
Rookie question here! I'm looking to livestream in a rural setting. If, by following these steps, one of the ISP's I'm using fails, does the local area network automatically switch over seamlessly to another ISP? That is, no dropouts?
I'm currently researching combining multiple ISP's into one thru OpenMPTCP and a Raspberry Pi 4b, solely because there will be no dropouts, however if your method does this, then I'm game!
All depends on how you have things configured, but some options with dual modem routers give you the ability to bond, have auto failover or load balance. More on these features: www.rvmobileinternet.com/bonding
@@MobileInternetResourceCenter Auto failover, very interesting! I'll have to research that for sure, thank you so much for writing. Learning Linux and creating a server on Raspberry Pi is terrifying to me ahaha so I'll follow this lead. Cheers!
Is there a less expensive alternative to mofi4500 for verizon?
The Mofi tends to be one of lowest cost 'off the shelf' cellular embedded routers on the market. Only cheaper would be a hotspot instead. www.rvmobileinternet.com/cellular-devices for researching both options further.
Hoping someone can help ...I have a Verizon mifi Hotspot at my remote property..the security camera system i have needs to plug into a router and obviously my wifi has no ethernet port ...can anyone recommend and inexpensive router if it's even possible for me to connect both?! Thanks
This video goes over the options out there.. we have more details in our gear center.
Which is one of the better router between the Orbi LBR20 are the Nighthawk MR5100?
Depends on your needs - we have both reviewed on the resource center for our members.
@@MobileInternetResourceCenter Streaming movies and Tv shows.
So, with some of these, you can hook up an outdoor antenna without putting in a SIM card? I’m looking for a rural internet solution. I can get an “OK” 4G signal outside, but inside is another story.....
I mean.. yeah.. you can just hook up an exterior antenna to a router if you really want to. But if you want access to LTE data, you need a data plan - which requires a SIM card from your carrier.
@@MobileInternetResourceCenter so if I understand correctly, hooking up an external antenna to a 4G router won’t help my data speed inside? Forgive me, cellular technology is not my forté.....I just want better 4G signal signal/data speeds INSIDE my house. Like I said, it’s OK outside (marginally acceptable).
An external antenna connected to the cellular antenna ports on a 4G router can help, but every location is different. We have a guide on cellular signal enhancing here: www.rvmobileinternet.com/cellsignal
Which one will be better for someone that works for 8 hours
Routers aren't selected by how many hours a day you work - there are many other factors in selecting your mobile internet setup - www.rvmobileinternet.com/working-remotely
How could I find out if a 4g router will be supported to the country I visit and I use a local SIM card?
It's best to compare the frequency bands used by both. Here's our member resources for international: www.rvmobileinternet.com/international-resources
Do you have any pocket internet resources?
Not quite sure what 'pocket internet' means? That's a new term to us. Are you perhaps referring to mobile hotspot devices? If so, here's our guide to them: www.rvmobileinternet.com/hotspots
Is there a different type of non stationery router-esque that isn't any of the (insert number)G mobile networks that you can choose over 4G in case it gets obsoleted just like 3G is being now?
Cellular generations advance every decade - and 5G gear is starting to become available. But 4G will remain supported for a very very long time to come.
@@MobileInternetResourceCenter for how long though?
Been thinking a lot on what other equivalents there are since the announcement of making 3g defunct in 2022 which made a little worried about not being able to connect to the internet anymore with the devices I already have.
For several years, at least.
@@MobileInternetResourceCenter that doesn't say anything than that it's on life support.
I'm not sure what these devices do that a home router won't do other than run on 12V or allow a USB connection to a WAN.
I flashed an old ASUS RT-AC66U with DD-WRT, and connected it to a Yagi mounted on the top of my RV. I configured it to be a repeater. It connects all my devices to the campsite supplied Internet. Signal strength with the campsite is 100% and the bandwidth between my RV and the campsite is really good for a long distance connection. (>180Mb/sec).
It takes but a couple minutes to reconfigure the router to a new WAN connection. (Change SSID and password.) Do it once and everything in my RV has access again. These routers allow the use of telnet. I could easily enough make a script that changes it if I wanted to. DD-WRT is very versatile and user support is pretty good. I could easily configure my router to do almost anything as it has a USB port that could probably be reconfigured to be a WAN connection.
In addition to 12v power and USB WAN, other common mobile router features include Wi-Fi-as-WAN and embedded cellular modems, some with advance features like band-locking and bonding.
@@MobileInternetResourceCenter Repeater mode in DD-WRt does Wifi as WAN. You can also set up which bands (2.4/5) you want to transmit/receive on. Not sure what bonding is.
Antennas episode?
We have one recently on 5G Antennas.. our full guide to antennas is at: www.rvmobileinternet.com/cellularantennas
@@MobileInternetResourceCenter I went with the 8800L would focusing on 4g still be good or would I be looking at the 5g antennas?
We have that covered in the guide linked above. And our 5G guidance in general can be found here: www.rvmobileinternet.com/5g/. If you're a member, please do ask in the forums so our staff can assist.
@@MobileInternetResourceCenter I appreciate the work that you guys do and for your swift responses thank you.
I want my Starlink antenna 🥺
Is starlink better than viasats?
You can find all our satellite content at www.rvmobileinternet.com/satellite-resources
I have a dilemma . I just purchased a new class B American Coach Patriot from Midwest Automotive and it comes preinstalled with a IBR600C. Adding a sim card in that device requires a business account which I don’t desire to create just for this purpose. Plus the business plans are not as good as compared to my existing consumer plan (Verizon). Since it is connected to an antenna on the roof my hope is to use a Verizon or ATT hotspot so I can tether via USB. I also need WiFi as wan to bring in WiFi from the events I attend on weekends. I understand I’ll have to pay for an annual net cloud subscription but I think that’s easier than having to rip out the cradle point device for one of the other alternatives on this video.
So does anyone see any issues why I shouldn’t be able to tether a att or Verizon hotspot into the unit while also bringing in local area WiFi signals? Ive read some threads on the web where what I’m trying to do may not be supported. Or, provided I can use the existing wiring, perhaps it’s easiest to pull out the cradle point and install one of these units in the video.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be great. I’ve watched many videos on this site and it’s been a great accelerator to get me to this point.
Our guide to routers follows up with this video: www.rvmobileinternet.com/routers and we have the features of the Cradlepoint lineup documented at www.rvmobileinternet.com/cradlepoint
If you're MIA, please do follow up with questions in the forums where we can address them more in-depth.
Where is Teltonika routers?
We cover Teltonika in our gear center:
www.rvmobileinternet.com/gear/overview-teltonika-routers-mobile-routers/
@@MobileInternetResourceCenter Thanks! Interesting review! I see RUTX11 CAT6 router is missing there which is very popular in NA.
What about the Verizon Inseego 5G MiFi Hotspot????
What about it? It's a hotspot device, not a router - as covered. We have a video on the new M2100 we put out recently.
You act like you got a problem with the mofi because you just spent 2 seconds on it mofi better then any router you had on there and mofi only one you have to change the tti in it and its kinda of a cheat router lol
Actually, all Pepwave routers have the TTL setting as well.
@@MobileInternetResourceCenter oh they do now I know thanks im in the process in picking how im going to have the internet on the road i got a rv van i been looking n doing homework on this options out there im likeing the mofi because what it can do I don't want to do the Hotspot because you need atleast 2 but it is my second option only mofi I could get was the sim7 but that one sucks I was trying to get the sim8 but I found it its better then the 4 n 7 yes the modem is cat7 outdated a bit $329 I just want simple ill be up northwest t mobile seems to work best on the mofi if you know something better that does the same as the mofi and around the same price range please let me know
@@MobileInternetResourceCenter let you 2 know you are great in what you do but I don't need all that you use on your travels n working I just need it for streaming n my tab n laptop but I don't do uploads n stream just data basically so thats why the mofi should be all I need I don't need fast speeds all the time unless I play gaming just enough to do what I want and I will have external antennas my work is different then your im self-employed I don't need strong internet just enough
I wish this wasn’t in Chinese.
Mobile routers can be a complicated topic. If you want something simpler to get connected via cellular, look into mobile hotspot devices - www.rvmobileinternet.com/cellular-devices