Mobile Internet

Some of my friends have asked me to describe the mobile internet system that Teri and I are now using. Many of you already know about this so it will be a boring day for you. I tried to do my research before I purchased this system. I learned a lot about this setup from the escapees forum.
For a couple of years I had been looking into the satellite system but it had several drawbacks for me. One of those being the fact that I had nothing while moving down the road. This setup gives us that feature. Over the last 2 years this system has come a long way.
The first picture is of the usb card plugged into the mobile wireless router. These are small. The router is size of a pack of cigarettes, the modem is half that size. The usb modem can be plugged directly into your laptop. I don't like that, too easy to break it. With the router this is all hidden away from the computer and nothing is hooked to laptop. The modem is the Verizon 720, made by another company. Cost, 20 bux with 2 year contract at the time we bought it. The router is the Cradlepoint 350. Cost was 130.00. Both of these items came from the 3gstore.com. Don't go to Verizon phone store. They sell phones and service. Most know nothing about the internet that rides on the back of these cell towers. Get these two items on line somewhere. The laptop talks to the router via the internal wifi card or an external wifi system.

The second picture is of the 3 watt, dual band, amplifier. It amplifies both transmit and receive signals. It is marketed as a cell phone amplifier but works fine with data. I got it on ebay for 130.00, new. Wilson makes a good amp but it is twice the price. I thought for this price I could gamble and it paid off for me. There are other brands available. Make sure that they are "wired" and will work on both bands, 800-900 mhz and 1900 mhz. By "wired" I mean they use a cable between the modem and the amp. There are "wireless" amps but tke my word for it, get the "wired" for the mobile use of internet. On the right side of photo, between amp and the green light on modem, you can see the "wire". It is a small coax cable that hooks the modem to amplifier. Same as if one was using this for a cell phone. This cable came with my package from the 3gstore.com. The cheapest place to purchase these are at Flying J truck stops. Make sure you know which coax cable connector you need if you go there. 10.00 at truck stop, free with my order.

The third photo is of the entire setup, including the small mag mount antenna that I use on the car. I have not cleaned it up since the blizzard. On the motorcoach we have a larger Wilson Trucker, 40 bux. This mag mount was 15 bux. Make sure antennas are for both bands of operation. In the motorhome I have a spot for all of this hidden. In the car I put it behind the driver seat, out of the way. In the house, well, lets say I am in trouble. Teri is not happy that it found its way to the kitchen counter. I have been given a directive to get it moved tonight. Will put it in the den, hidden and out of the way. This is so easy to grab and take with us. We will head to Cape Girardeau in a day or two for Sam's Club. I will throw it in the car so I can surf the net while Teri shops. The amplifier came with ac and dc connectors. The modem feeds off the router. The router came with only ac connecting brick. Dc was 30 bux so I opted not to buy it and use a small cigarette plug inverter for it.

I hope I have described this in a simple way. There is absolutely nothing complicated about this. Maybe a little easier for me to understand as I have been a ham radio operator for over 30 years, but trust me, this is simple setup. The cell companies have come a long ways with fast internet in last few months. I love having internet that I can take with me as we travel or use in our house when we are home. I have another antenna in case we get too far out in the boonies from a Verizon tower but I won't discuss that here. You will not need it. We do camp in the boonies sometimes. If you keep your motorcoach at home, just leave this in there and use it at home. the wifi works pretty good for 300 feet. If you need more you can get it with an external wifi antenna on the laptop. The Cradlepoint does not have external wifi antenna connector, but I may modify mine for one. I am sure it can be done.

We chose Verizon because they are ahead of the others with coverage and with high speeds. We get unlimited service for 60 bux a month. They caution not to use streaming video on this or they will charge the user once we go over 5 gb. We lost internet for 10 minutes between Tucson and Yuma. A couple of spots on Hiway 50 in Nevada. Had a couple spots where speeds were slow but still was very good. I am sure the other companies will catch up later but for now, Verizon offered us the best for our money.

If you have questions just give me a hollar at gregg_danathotmail.com . I will do my best to answer, but make sure you put mobile internet in the title or it will hit my trash bucket.

AND, here is one happy puppy. She loves sleeping on her bed at home after 4 months on the road. She does really well for being over 12 years old.

Dan