Internet on the Road
So when I decided to go on this adventure, my number one priority was having reliable high-speed internet anywhere in North America, Not only will it allow me to work from the road, but it will also allow me to stay connected with family and friends as well as watch all my favorite live sports. I was not willing to trade connectivity for a nomadic lifestyle. After about a year of research, I think I came up with the perfect solution for me, so let me share that solution.
The one thing I learned through my research is that redundancy is key for reliable internet on the road. Just having one solution like a cellular hotspot isn’t sufficient. A lot of people use a cellular signal booster in conjunction with a hotspot. Although that is a decent solution in developed areas, once you get off grid that solution just isn’t going to work when there is no cellular coverage. I also learned that you can’t just go with a satellite internet solution either because there are some limitations. Satellite works great when you have a clear view of the horizon. Once you get into a wooded area and lose that view of the horizon, a satellite internet solution is going to fail. In order to maximize redundancy and reliability, I have equipped Rosie with both solutions: a cellular mobile router and Starlink satellite internet. The awesome thing about my system, is they both work in concert with one another seamlessly.
My cellular solution is a Peplink MAX Transit Duo Pro mobile router with a Parsec 7-in-1 roof antenna. The router has dual cellular modems which means I can have two different carriers running simultaneously. Each of the modems have two SIM slots and one modem is CAT-7 and the other is CAT-12. This configuration gives me a lot broader bandwidth coverage, especially the CAT-7 modem which includes T-Mobile’s Band 71 known for its rural coverage. I opted to go with data plans from T-Mobile for the CAT-7 modem and Verizon on the CAT-12 modem. The Peplink networking software allows you to manage the entire system and switches between the modems depending on the current service levels.
In order to get the best cellular signals possible, I opted to install a Parsec roof antenna. This 7-in-1 antenna features four cellular antennas, two WIFI antennas, and a GPS antenna. The Peplink router is also capable of taking in available WIFI signals and using those for internet. I was a little scared about drilling a hole in my roof to install this antenna, but the installation was super easy and it has passed the heavy rainfall test successfully. I purchased all my cellular solution, mobile router and antenna, online from Mobile Must Have. I found them to have great bundles and excellent customer service.
For my satellite internet solution, I went with Starlink that provides high speed, low latency internet coverage globally. I have a Mobile – Regional plan which allows me to get internet while roaming anywhere in North America and isn’t address specific like their earlier residential plans. I opted to go with the second generation dish because I wanted to be able to have option of both pole mount and placing on the ground to move around obstructions of the horizon view. I purchased a pole system from Flagpole Buddy which allows you to easily mount the pole to the ladder. I also didn’t want to be passing the Starlink internet cable through an open window or something. There were many elegant solutions on YouTube that used a modified SmartPlug port to provide a weather-resistant solution for passing the cable from the exterior into the Starlink router inside the motorhome. I can completely install the dish on the pole and plug it into Rosie within minutes, but the system does have to be broken down when you drive.
Finally, I wanted the entire system to be concealed in a cabinet and be powered by 12V so that I didn’t have to run the inverter to get internet . All the roof antenna cables and the connection from the external Starlink port all run to this cabinet. I wired up switches (those are LED lights seen in image) so that the router and Starlink could be turned off independently. Presently, my system is still using the Starlink router (white box), but I have purchased a 12V power supply for my Starlink and I will be eliminating the router once that is installed.
I really enjoyed designing and installing this internet solution in Rosie. It has worked flawlessly the first week I’ve lived in Rosie and I am pretty proud of it. I hope that you found this post informative and interesting. If you have any questions about my system, feel free to ask.
