Cell/Wifi Booster Question

[Abbiennormal]

Hi All,

What do you use to boost your cell signals? I am at the point in my camper build where I am ready to install one. I will be travelling to remote areas in the country to camp but will still need to stay connected for work.

Why did you choose what you did and was it hard to install. Have you been happy with the connectivity?

Thank you in advance for your insights.

Cheers,
Abbienormal

 

[smlobx]

We have a Weboost and have been very happy with it. As I’m sure you know you can’t create a signal out of thin air but if you have any signal at all it will boost it.

https://www.weboost.com/boosters/overland

 

[Vic Harder]

I used to have a weboost. It is good at pulling in a weak signal and making it usable. Have since upgraded. Also just recently started a new thread about cell boosting: So you want to work remotely? Cell "boosting" and more - Electrical, Charging, Solar, Batteries and Generators - Wander the West

 

[Abbiennormal]

Hello Smlobx and Vic! Thank you for sharing your thoughts on WeBoost. Did you install the outside antenna on the roof or the side of your campers? Since mine is a pop up, if I installed it on the side, will the pop up interfere with reception?

 

[Vic Harder]

The trucker antenna was mounted to the passenger rear jack mount. I used an 80/20 material to build a simple sliding mount that allowed the antenna to stick up JUST above the roof in either the raised or lowered position.

 

[smlobx]

I use two different antennas depending on my situation.
When we’re driving I have the small magnetic antenna that we attach to the roof of the truck. When we stop for any appreciable time I have the larger antenna that I attach to an “L” bracket on the right side of the camper. It is above the top when raised and has slightly better performance.

Vic I’ll reply in your excellent thread with another option…

 

[Abbiennormal]

Thank you! this helps out. So my goal is to make sure that the antenna is above the pop up when it is open in order to get the best signal. Now I have to put my thinking cap on to figure out how to do the extendable mount. If you have any tips or tricks for me, would love to hear it.

 

[Vic Harder]

I was hoping to find some pictures, but no luck. I will attempt to describe what I did.

So, the weboost unit itself was mounted inside the camper. The outside antenna wire exited the camper at the very rear passenger side. I made a 1/2" hole (to fit the adapter ends... the wire itself is quite thin) in the wooden floor pack and sealed it with butyl tape. I left enough slack so that it was long enough to raise the antenna when the camper roof was up.

I used Veritas T-slot tracks and nuts from Lee Valley Garden tools (I also used this on the roof of both campers I have rebuilt - works just as well as Yakima or Thule tracks and is way cheaper) to make the antenna mount. The fixed end of the slider... one chunk of the T-slot track, was screwed/bolted to the rear pax Jack mount. The antenna itself I mounted to another section of T-slot track (I removed the spring mount from the Trucker Antenna for some reason I can't recall) and with some trial and error made the sections of track the right lengths so that the black top 6" or so of the actual antenna projected above the roof when it was down, and when it was up. Simple t-bolts with wing-nuts (I used 2 or 3 to make it solid) allowed for rapid deployment.

The extra wire for the antenna I stuffed between the camper and the truck bed when not in use. A couple of metal hooks screwed into the floor pack allowed the antenna wire to be secured so it didn't come out and look unseemly.

I hope that helps.

 

[Abbiennormal]

Thanks Vic. I am going to look into doing it your way! I was going around and around in my head on how to use electrical conduit as my extendable section but your veritas t-tracks looks much neater.

 

[JaSAn]

No pictures. I have used a Fiskars Tree Trimmer pole to extend a YAGI directional antenna connected to a WeBoost Drive 4G-M. Easy to extend, rotate, and lock into place. I could get the antenna about 4 feet above the roof when extended. It was stored inside when traveling. It could be cut down to shelter the antenna when traveling and permanently installed, with loss of altitude when extended.

I no longer use the setup as connectivity isn't that important to me.