I will try to keep this as short as possible.
I have a 2022 Flagstaff ePro 19FD. It is equipped with a Wineguard WiFi Ranger HD. At the current time it does not have a cellular modem in it.
I have worked with computers and networking for a fair amount of time and am pretty well versed in ethernet and wifi networking. I have a good grasp of what the WiFi Ranger does in terms of WiFi in your trailer. It's exterior antenna should do a better than average job of picking up a wifi signal if there is one to get. It logs on to that wifi network with its WAN port. Then the router creates a private wifi network for you to connect to inside your RV. Pretty basic networking.
We live in Texas and typically visit state parks that don't provide wifi connections of any kind. We both have cell phones (Samsung S21 and Google Pixel 6) on the T-Mobile network. We can and have turned on our phones' hotspot and either connected our devices directly to the phone (tablets, etc) or had the WiFi Ranger connect to the phone hotspot and then connected our devices to the WiFi Ranger's private network.
Works ok if you have a decent cell signal. If you don't then you are really out of luck. We have an Amazon Fire TV that we can connect via HDMI to our Furrion TV. We subscribe to several streaming services. My goal would be to reasonably be able to stream some content. Note that we are retired and this is strictly for entertainment and not for work purposes.
I have read where you can get a cellular modem from Wineguard for the WiFi Ranger. Wineguard admits that the WiFi Ranger antenna is not designed to receive or enhance cellular signals.
I have seen "Cell Boosters" (weBoost etc) that give you an omni-directional exterior antenna, coax cable to go from outside to inside connecting to a cell signal amplifier, which then connects to another antenna on the inside of your RV. This inside antenna then broadcasts the amplified (boosted) cell signal to your phone or hotspot.
You can also purchase just an exterior cell antenna and then connect that to a hotspot that has external antenna connections. Then you would connect your devices (via wifi) to the hotspot's wifi network, bypassing the WiFi Ranger all together.
weBoost Cell Boosters run in the $300 to $700 range. You can get just the exterior antenna for $99 on Amazon (some are less expensive). Yes you would need to purchase connections etc. We can get a hotspot from T-mobile for $0.00 and add a "Hotspot Line" for $10/month to our current plan".
When we turn on our hotspots on our phones T-Mobile regulates the speed to 3G speeds only. If we get a hotspot with corresponding line we get 10 Gigabytes of 4G data at 4G speeds.
I don't want to get into a flame war over Verizon, ATT, or T-Mobile. We have been T-Mobile for a long time and if we do this will stay with them.
Questions:
- Any experience with an exterior MiMo antenna and a hotspot? Does it perform well?
- Is the amplified signal of the weBoost worth the premium?
- If you feel the amplified signal is worth spending the money, there are some less expensive brands than weBoost. Any recommedations as to brand?
- Last question. There is a connection on the outside of the trailer grouped with the water connections labeled "Cable'/Satellite". On the inside of the trailer there is a connection labeled "Satellite Connection from Receiver". Does the cable between these two connections run straight from one to the other with nothing in between? Could it be used to connect the exterior antenna to the hotspot that would be mounted inside the trailer?
Comments, advice, recommendations would be very much welcomed.
Regards
Chuck