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Internet Connected Entertainment Appliances - what are you using?

Jim Beletti

Owner Experience Liaison
Staff member
Are you using an Internet connected entertainment appliance (Roku, phone-based apps etc) to stream Entertainment content (games, audio, video, etc.)?

I'm using an Nvidia Shield TV Pro. In a sense, it's similar in application to a Roku. It runs on the Android TV OS. I have it mounted in a bracket from HideIt behind the living room TV in my Paradigm 340RL. I connect it to my primary television via HDMI cable and to my RV network via Ethernet cable.

What are you using?
 

Ray & Dawn Karl

Active member
We using either the LG TV and Ruko for the streaming channels LG doesn't handle. Install Winegard GW-1000 gateway. Right now sign up on the AT&T account. $55 a month for 100GB. Wife uses it also on here laptop for a home base job. Winegard seem to lock up once in awhile that make me unplug to restart the gateway. Looking for maybe a better set up so when we hit the road for full time I wont have to worry about connections. In areas where we had problem with AT&T/ Gateway them screen scare phone to TV for streaming show.

Ray & Dawn
 

Jim Beletti

Owner Experience Liaison
Staff member
@Ray & Dawn Karl - Thanks for sharing what you're doing in your coach.

We use 300-500 GB per month for our day to day needs plus entertainment streaming. For Internet to feed my Internet Entertainment Appliance, at home, I was using AT&T but found out my max was 500 GB and got shut off last month when I hit the cap. I just switched over to a local WISP (wireless internet service provided). In the RV, I'm using a grand-fathered unlimited data SIM from Verizon.
 

Ray & Dawn Karl

Active member
We just came off a 2 week stay and mainly use the tv all day streaming and her business. This was a test to see about how we use, in that time frame we just used about 85GB so I'm thinking we can get away with a service of 200 to 300 GB and be ok. Was looking at the MustHaveInternet service when we go full time. For right now the AT&T plan is working. T-mobile is $5 less but they seem to be mainly on a 5g service and the winegard is only 4g.
 

bhidalgo

Well-known member
Right now we are still tossing around getting the router for the Wineguard in our 310RL the going with a sim card or two to keep connectivity . Went out camping last weekend and I have found I cannot get the TV in the rig to attach to my iPhone 12Pro for internet access. Spent a few hours then finally gave up trying to figure it out. I've also looked at the TechnoRV Pepwave system as well. Too many options to try and figure out. Just want to be able to access internet, watch TV, and work if necessary in a part-time RV living environment. Frustrated at best at the moment. Thanks
 

Jim Beletti

Owner Experience Liaison
Staff member
Right now we are still tossing around getting the router for the Wineguard in our 310RL the going with a sim card or two to keep connectivity . Went out camping last weekend and I have found I cannot get the TV in the rig to attach to my iPhone 12Pro for internet access. Spent a few hours then finally gave up trying to figure it out. I've also looked at the TechnoRV Pepwave system as well. Too many options to try and figure out. Just want to be able to access internet, watch TV, and work if necessary in a part-time RV living environment. Frustrated at best at the moment. Thanks

@bhidalgo - Getting decent cellular-based Internet in an RV starts with obtaining a viable cellular signal from a cell site with enough bandwidth provision to it. For most consumers, knowing what tower to choose or even having more than one to choose from, isn't easy to find out or do. But there is something we can do.

I was in the RF field for 30 years prior to my current stint in the RV field since 2008, My past experience lends itself useful in RVing at times. That said, I start with receiving the signal. This usually involves installing an external cellular antenna. There are many options out there and they break down into two main categories: Direction and Omni-Directional. Then within those antenna types, you're looking for Gain across the frequency band you need (depending on your cellular carrier and their offerings).

I will usually go with a higher-gain omni-directional antenna due to it's versatility and zero need for operator adjustment. I also try to elevate any antenna above the roofline rather than mounting it at roof level. In my current Paradigm 340RL, I will be installing a Poynting 7-in-1 omni-directional antenna on a bracket that I will make from 1" wide flat steel stock. I'll bend the steel in a vise using my hands and a hammer. Once formed into 2 matching brackets, I'll drill mounting holes and paint the brackets white, mount them to the antenna and mount it to the roof. The design goal for the brackets are to have the top of the antenna even with the height of the nearest rooftop air conditioner case. I also want to mount it no closer than a couple of feet from the air conditioner or a roof-top satellite dish. This gives me a fighting chance to receive a decent signal if one is available.

Indoors, I use a router that has external antenna ports that I can use for my rooftop antenna. In my case, over the past 6 years or more, I've used Pepwave cellular routers and have been very pleased with them.

At this time, I'm using a single SIM (Verizon). Most Pepwave routers can accommodate 2 or more SIMs. Mine has 2 full modem channels in it and each channel can have 2 SIMs - so lots of flexibility if I was willing to shell out for simultaneous data plans.

This is getting long so I will close. Above is my 2 cents on Antennas and Routers. Don't skimp on either. And with all that said, there's nothing wrong with trying to leverage the antenna array inside the dome of your Wingard product and trying their router. I tried it early on and wasn't a fan of the UI (user interface). I'm sure it's improved since the early days.
 
We just got our unit a month ago. We had to stay one night in RV park on way home from dealer. Their internet was good enough for us to stream with LG tv. We have added Roku devises to front and garage tv’s. We will try out this weekend on our first trip with it. If park WiFi isn’t ok we do have a Verizon jet pack. We are wanting to get the poynting antenna at some point. Trying to be full time in the next two years.
 

dwcfish

Well-known member
Jim - I would have to agree with the choice of Pepwave. We are full time and I work remotely. We currently using a Pepwave Max Transit Duo with multiple SIM cards and a Pepwave antenna mounted on the top of the ladder. We are also utilizing Pepwave's Speedfusion for bonding the two Sim's. We have had this setup for some time, moved from a previous rig and with great success. Originally we had the Poynting antenna but when we moved to our Alliance rig we changed to the Pepwave antenna based on the reviews on rvmobileinternet.com. The system was not cheap, but the service has been outstanding in our travels and I have had no problems with remote work or streaming. The only other thing we added was a Goggle WIFI mesh in the rig. This is plugged into the Pepwave device with one unit in the rear of the RV and one in the front. The Pepwave is mounted in the rear cabinet of the rig by the ladder and we found that the wifi from the Pepwave can be a bit weak in the front of the rig.
 

bhidalgo

Well-known member
JUST pulled the trigger and ordered a Pepwave Max Transit Duo Cat 12 LTE Advanced Router + PrimeCare + 12V Power Bundle from TechnoRv. Including the POYNTING-A-MIMO-003 (4x4 MIMO, 2x WiFi, 1x GPS) antenna.
Was suggested by TechnoRv to remove the Winegard antenna and place the POYNTING one there instead. The only issue I see is where to locate the Pepwave router. If I put it where the current prewire is for the Winegard router I have no easy access to power. The Pepwave has to be plugged in. And the current prewire is located in the middle of the hallway in our 310RL.
Suggestions?
Want to try and figure this out sooner than later so I have somewhat of an idea of how to set all this up after I get the equipment in hand.
Thanks...
 

dwcfish

Well-known member
Couple of thoughts - I have the Max Transit Duo. It does not require 120V. I have mine hardwired into the DC side of the rig. Secondly you really need to think about where you are going to install the Max Transit Duo. They do not recommend extending the cabling that comes on the Poynting antenna. It only comes with something like 5 or 6 feet of cable - not much. Given these two factors was the reason I installed mine in the back of the rig in the cabinet over the couch. I could access 12v via a light and mounted the antenna on top of the ladder. The limitation on the cable from the antenna really limits where you can install the Max Transit Duo. In addition the Winegard is the antenna for the TV. Good luck and if I can give you any more of my personal experience let me know! Side note Mobile Must Have on Youtube has some good videos on installation and configuration.
 

bhidalgo

Well-known member
Couple of thoughts - I have the Max Transit Duo. It does not require 120V. I have mine hardwired into the DC side of the rig. Secondly you really need to think about where you are going to install the Max Transit Duo. They do not recommend extending the cabling that comes on the Poynting antenna. It only comes with something like 5 or 6 feet of cable - not much. Given these two factors was the reason I installed mine in the back of the rig in the cabinet over the couch. I could access 12v via a light and mounted the antenna on top of the ladder. The limitation on the cable from the antenna really limits where you can install the Max Transit Duo. In addition the Winegard is the antenna for the TV. Good luck and if I can give you any more of my personal experience let me know! Side note Mobile Must Have on Youtube has some good videos on installation and configuration.
The back wall cabinets sound like a great place. We do not have much of anything in them currently as it is. Could be the start of a great location for future tech upgrades as well. Could you show me your antenna install? Or describe how you mounted the antenna and routed the cabling? What wiring did you tap into for MTD power? I'm also watching the Mobile Must Have videos you suggested to get a better idea of what's involved. I do not foresee this as being complicated. Thanks.
 

dwcfish

Well-known member
I have a 32 RLS and the lights on either side of the couch have the switch on the lights so I knew that power ran to them and was always on. So I drilled a hole in the back wall of the cabinet and snaked the wire inside the wall for the MTD down to the light. I had the Poynting antenna on a previous rig and changed to the Pepwave antenna. This one will mount on a ladder. So I mounted it on the top of the ladder and ran the cabling through the rear wall into the cabinet - the cables were run along the ladder. You have to have a fairly large hole for all the cables to fit through and I am always resistant to putting more holes in the roof than I need to. I then mounted the MTD to the wall of the cabinet. As a note these units can get quite hot, so you will want to leave room around the MTD.
 

bhidalgo

Well-known member
Thanks. I’ll take a sat at it then week when the product arrives from TechoRV. Stuff already shipped and supposedly I am due to have them in hand this coming Wednesday. This should be fun! Thanks - I’ll keep you posted.
 

bhidalgo

Well-known member
What about data plans? We are weekenders currently but the chance to work from the road may be an option soon for me. Do the pep wave routers come with anything or are you on your own from the start? Thanks again
 

dwcfish

Well-known member
You are on your own as far as data plans. I have noted on this site that the best resource for info is www.rvmobileinternet.com. The membership cost is worth every penny. You can find info on plans on their site. I currently have plans from all 3 major carriers. Two are what is known as 3rd party reseller plans and one AT&T plan through mobilemusthave.com. The AT&T plan is only available to people who purchased their hardware from them. Just know with the 3rd party plans -they can go down at any time and I have had this happen. With Pepwave you can look at their Speedfusion product and they recently just came out with one that includes a cell connection. Good Luck!
 

bhidalgo

Well-known member
OK, same old horse different day. Got the Pepwave Max Transit Duo Cat 12 LTE Advanced Router as I mentioned earlier with 100G AT&T prepaid data. The router works great -- to a point. Cannot get the TV in our 310RL to connect to it wirelessly. Plug an ethernet cable into it and the Pepwave and BOOM internet all day - But it kills wireless signal for some reason! Also, have a new Amazon Echo 5 that will not connect at all to the Pepwave. TV and Echo see the Pepwave Network but the password is rejected, so the devices will not authenticate to the Pepwave network. Yes, I have reset the password and Pepwave a few times and have the correct password to use. Boggles me what is going on. My Apple laptops, phones, watches, and iPads connect just fine. I have already talked to TechnoRV a few times - great people to work with - but so far no resolution on the password issue. Still working to get the Echo to work since I have it here at the house. TV will have to wait until Friday afternoon when we get settled at the campsite. We are going boondocking this weekend and would like the use of my TV and Echo, but not having a good feeling at this point. Any suggestions? I/m running out of ideas to figure out what's happening. Thanks.
 
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bhidalgo

Well-known member
Figured it out myself. TechnoRV did their best, even got in touch with Pepwave with no luck. But collectively we could not get the wifi password on the Pepwave to work Seems that in order to get the LG TV in our rig and our Echo Show 5 to connect is...you have to use the password on the back of the Pepwave itself. The PW set up of regular wifi network access does not work. Go figure.
 

tankie1

New member
I bought the gateway router for the winegard that came with the 310RL. There's no power to the power cable, anyone had this problem? or problem with the awnings? one of the channels bent while it was raining, I had the awning set to allow runoff, when i spoke with the RV dealer they said sorry but those are sun shades and not covered by Alliance.
or how about the black water flush connection? Hook up my second water hose, turn it on and nothing happens, it's like the hose doesn't go into the black tank.
 

dparsons

Member
We do stream with a variety of devices, LG WebOS for the TVs that came with our 310RL. We have an Amazon Fire Stick 4K, and we have iPhones, iPads, and Macs. I am also need internet connectivity for a variety of additional devices such as Raspberry Pi's, and ESP32 microcontroller boards, etc… Right now we are relying on a SpaceX Starlink system. Our system able to Roam. So far the biggest problem we have run into has been tall tree obstructions in some campsites, but that has not been a show stopper. IF we have too many problems with obstructions, or service availability, I will likely get and install a "Ultimate Road Warrior VR2" package from MobleMustHave.com that uses a Pepwave MAX Transit Pro Dual Modem.
 

dwcfish

Well-known member
dparsons - We also have Starlink and I have the Max Transit Duo. I have cell cards in both of the modems. What I have done is to utilize the Speedfusion setup on the Max Transit. This allows me to bond the 2 cell streams and the Starlink together and provides a break free internet. If the Starlink drops - which as you know happens regularly if you have any kind of obstruction - you do not even notice it. I also purchased mine from Mobile Must have - they know what they are doing and can lend assistance if needed. I have noted on other forums that a great source of info is https://www.rvmobileinternet.com They have a monthly membership fee, but you will get a discount of 10% at Mobile Must have so you can easily recover the annual fee.
 
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