Internet

[cadillackid]

FYI on the netgear bandwagon is the fact that both of my current Hotspoits.. AT&T and Verizon are Netgear and i literally beat the Crap out of them as they are used nearly every day and trasvel in my backpack, my bus, get connected in construction sites etc.. and they have given me ZERO issues.. bnoth of them are due for replacement at 2 years now but they both still woirk perfectly even battery life..

-Christopher

[geminusprime]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

FYI on the netgear bandwagon is the fact that both of my current Hotspoits.. AT&T and Verizon are Netgear and i literally beat the Crap out of them as they are used nearly every day and trasvel in my backpack, my bus, get connected in construction sites etc.. and they have given me ZERO issues.. bnoth of them are due for replacement at 2 years now but they both still woirk perfectly even battery life..

-Christopher

Hmm, I might not end up replacing mine with a rugged unit after all. Do you notice any difference in signal quality with external antennas?

[cadillackid]

My units have a port.. actually 2 for external antennas and in weak signal area it makes a huge difference.. speed partly but reliability . I do a lot of BPN to my datacenter and the external antennas are sometimes the difference between being able to work and not.. I pop in the antenna when I know I’m going to be in an area of weaker signal. Since I’m often backpacking in a city or suburb I only carry one.. it’s a blade antenna off of my cradlepoint 600
Christopher

[cadillackid]

I should note that my hotspots are WiFi or USB and not the nighthawk pictured above .. they are made by netvear.. when I need wired Ethernet I plug one into my Mikrotik router.. I do that often when I go to sites where I’m doing an install and the ISP isn’t yet up.. I have to license my gear with the cloud.
Christopher

[eragon921]

Mobile hotspots have definitely gotten better. So you have a couple of options obviously.

Here are my two cents as someone who deals with mobile/wireless Internet service deployments all the time in all sorts of environments from mobile to fixed satellite, and across all sorts of environments. I've deployed in the 120F+ degree heat of the Mojave and in -40F and below in Alaska.

I may be taking this too far so my apologies if that is the case. That said, what kind of enterprise features does your router/modem require? If you're employer requires a router with hard RJ-45 Ethernet connections then that's generally because they require a site-to-site VPN connection between your router and their firewall(s)/router(s). Usually an employer would provide you with such a device as site-to-site VPN capability is NOT something usually found in consumer devices such as many of those mentioned here.

Consumer grade options:

The new Netgear Nighthawk M1 supposedly allows for such VPNs but I've gotten no empirical proof. The device itself is pretty solid, has a battery which would allow you to take it with you when you're not in your bus, and works across pretty much all carriers on all continents. It also has Dual TS-9 external antenna ports for antennas mounted on your bus. That said, it's designed as a consumer device to be rugged to the standards therein. From a cost to feature perspective it's a great bet.

The MOFI 4500 I class as a consumer grade product because of some of the parts used and the limited feature set compared to some of the other enterprise options I'll list below. That said, the MOFI is designed to be permanently mounted in a vehicle and is only compatible with North American and a bunch of European networks at a slower max speed than the Netgear Nighthawk M1 but I do know it works with site-to-site VPNs. From a management perspective it's an enterprise device with those features exposed to the user where the M1 is significantly simplified. There is no battery and I've not had the best of luck with their support.

DO NOT take any of the basic hotspots most cellular providers offer as they are almost all worthless in my opinion.

Enterprise Options (AKA More Expensive) :
CradlePoint:

CradlePoint makes an EXCELLENT set of products and they ONLY make products to be cellular modems. That's it. They don't do other equipment, just cellular and DAMN do they do it well. What is nice about the options from Cradlepoint is they all use the same software so all the features are available and they are usually the first cellular modem developer to be compliant with any new standards.

What makes CradlePoint difficult is deciding which model to go with. In the mobile space they have the IBR 900 and IBR1700. As I said before they both have the same software so the real difference is in hardware. Both are truly enterprise grade and made to military ruggedness specs, and yes to answer the inevitable question, I have tested that!

Both have a built in global modem (truly global) and have the ability to add a second modem for network coverage or high availability. They are designed for permanent in-vehicle mounting and are available with direct DC power harnesses as well as OBDII interfaces if your bus is using that and you want access to it. If you need the truly advanced enterprise software features for work, ask your boss to pay for the upgrade in licensing.

I can't recommend CradlePoint highly enough and will be using them in my upcoming full-timer bus build that I will live and work out of. Their support is next to none and has never failed me. Plus they're based out of Boise, Idaho.

I like, and will be using the 1700 series because the modem inside the router are swappable so when 5G comes out all I have to do is swap the modem out and keep rocking on. I'll be using two modems in the one router on two separate carriers simultaneously for bandwidth aggregation and survivability.

https://cradlepoint.com/content/cor-routers

Peplink/Pepwave

Peplink is similar to CradlePoint but usually a bit behind in development. Case in point, they don't have gigabit 4G LTE options yet. Other than that it's the same with their software being the same on all modems and modem choice is based on how many SIM cards, antennas, ports, etc you want. They are also very rugged. I don't use them if CradlePoint is available but fall back to them if it's not.

https://www.peplink.com/products/max...ngle-cellular/

https://www.peplink.com/products/max...ulti-cellular/


Antennas are entirely your choice. All these modems come with either built in or small paddle antennas. I like adding antennas on vehicles but that's up to you.

I'm planning on putting about $3000 into my bus for my CradlePoint, antennas, wiring, and software licensing on a 5-year license. But that's me and I also have a high bandwidth job in IT.

I'm happy to provide more info if you PM me or in the thread here if people want it.

[rpcohen64]

This is some really thorough information. The Nighthawk M1 looks like a good option and works with the Red, Pink or Blue 4GLTE networks. Nice stuff.

[kcarsey]

I work in the IT industry, specifically data center networking in AWS, system administration, some desktop administration, and also security/compliance for a small software company (35 people).

I can speak to the likely reason the OP has said that he has to have a wired Ethernet connection, the reasoning is probably much more simple than most think. Some companies simply disable wifi via Group Policy on their mobile workstations/laptops due to perceived security issues. If it is a real security issue or not is for another discussion, but I've definitely seen it happen. Sometimes the end user has no control over wifi networks that they an connect to. IE: only corporate wireless, requires 802.1x, etc.

Another good brand that I have personal experience with is Peplink. They build some pretty nice Cellular routers that are more on the industrial/commercial grade side of things, similar to Cradlepoint.

The model that i've deployed to about 500 retail locations as internet backup to a wired internet connection is the Pepwave Max BR1 Mini. It runs around $250. It has wifi, gps, wired ethernet all built in, and supports dual SIM with I believe any carrier. You can have different failovers between carriers such as a primary Verizon with datacap of 10Gb, then fail to ATT until the end of the month, etc.

http://download.peplink.com/resource..._datasheet.pdf

I think it might have been mentioned already, but ATT has a wireless home internet service that they offer for I think $70 a month that includes 100Gb or more of data. The only catch is they make you use their router, but it does have a wired Ethernet port and supports an external antenna.

[PNW_Steve]

I missed the Nighthawk M1 when I was shopping and wound up buying the Netgear Unite 781S .

I am not terribly happy with the unit. It works great at home but falls on its face when I travel. If I don't have SOLID signal the hotspot starts rebooting.

Question: It there any reason that I cannot buy the Nighthawk and swap the sim card from the Unite 781s?

[dan-fox]

There's been some great information on this thread, and thank you all for that. I can't help but wonder, though, if the OP's employer intends that she be connected to the Net/PSTN with an entirely copper signal path, as opposed to just a wire from the back of her PC to the nearest access point. If so, I'd think that this is simply incompatible with the skoolie lifestyle.

[PNW_Steve]

When I worked in government IT we had state auditors come in with their laptops needing wired connectivity as the Wi-Fi was disabled on the laptop.

All it wanted was a proper DHCP lease on the wired Ethernet port. Sounds a lot like what Kcarsey described.

[kcarsey]

Originally Posted by dan-fox

There's been some great information on this thread, and thank you all for that. I can't help but wonder, though, if the OP's employer intends that she be connected to the Net/PSTN with an entirely copper signal path, as opposed to just a wire from the back of her PC to the nearest access point. If so, I'd think that this is simply incompatible with the skoolie lifestyle.

The answer to that question is also relatively simple, but expecting users to only always use a wired media path is unrealistic, especially with a laptop. Users will always find a way around whatever it is you are trying to achieve/lock down. This thread is a great example of that.

Where I work, I use Palo Alto networks next gen firewall, and Global Protect VPN. It is an always-on vpn client that is connected before the user even logs in to their computer. All of their network traffic, regardless of destination is sent out through the vpn tunnel encrypted, and all local LAN access is blocked, and the vpn cannot be disabled. (they do not have local admin access)


Wifi networks by design are a broadcast technology. Anything you send out over an un-encrypted wifi network (Starbucks, etc) is un-encrypted and available in the clear to anyone sniffing. Particular traffic might be encrypted, IE: https://facebook.com, but other traffic might not be: www.skoolie.net for example is not. If I were at Starbucks and another fellow skoolie.net user logged in to these forums, I could easily capture their password over the air. Also, computers leak other information out that can give an attacker more information. In the case of an always-on vpn that blocks local lan access, everything is contained.

[cadillackid]

people in general are inherently insecure in their computing... know how many computers have RDP ports enabled by default? or have their music shares just sitting out there for anyone to log into.. public networks in general have no client-to-client blocking.. I can portscan the whole damn network at the hotels I stay and work in..



first thing i do when I connect to a starbucks or hotel network is get the encrypted VPN connected.. in my case i have my own so i dont need to pay for a VPN service..



its amazing the number of people PCs or MACs i can "view" when im seated at a starbucks with the VPN turned off.



the better Hotel networks are starting to bloick client-client traffic.. but ultimately without a VPN as Kcarsey mentioned.. ANYONE with half a tech brain can sniff the Wi-Fi network.. its actually pretty easy...

-Christopher

[geminusprime]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

its amazing the number of people PCs or MACs i can "view" when im seated at a starbucks with the VPN turned off.

"Client isolation? Who needs that" - Starbucks

[PNW_Steve]

That crazy.

Every public WiFi network that I have installed has used client lsolation enabled.

[TechieJeff]

I work on the road all the time, over three years in fact.
Since most of us are not afraid to build something useful, go check out dd-wrt.
I have never had it to fail me yet. Very versatile, a "Lego" internet set if you will.


Good Luck,
Jeff

[Native]

Originally Posted by geminusprime

I use a VMNO, a virtual mobile network operator service through unlimitedtogo.com. It's not only been useful but now serves as my primary ISP, as it is truly unlimited (I pushed their 500gb suggestion to 2 tb for 2 months straight with no throttling).

Plenty of VMNO's out there, not just the one I use. They all are a bit different, but operate the same way. As long as you go with a legitimate VNMO you'll be fine, since they are not using any "loopholes" - all major networks serve not only private customers but businesses and government as well - and the latter lack most of the limitations of the private accounts.

It has been over a year since you posted the information in post #13. I would like to know how your VMNO is performing for you now. Any regrets or praise?


Did you select the BLUE , PINK, or RED plan?


Have they hit you with any proce increases?


Are they still in business?

[StatTarget]

Good question... necro and all.

Anyone else using this service that can speak to it ?

[dzl_]

I came across a service sometime in the past couple months, that (if I recall correctly), offered the usual 'blue, pink, yellow, and red' plans, but also had an option for I think 'blue + pink' but I can't recall the name and haven't been able to find it again, anyone familiar with a company that offers service like this?

[David from Ontario]

What a coincidence that you're asking that now. I'm converting a skoolie and posting videos of the process, that can be accessed from my website theskoolielife.com - home page. Tomorrow night (April 10, 2022) I'm posting episode 12, which is about accessing the Internet using your cell phone, setting it up as a tethered hotspot, and distributing that Internet access around your skoolie using ethernet cables. Have a look at the video and feel free to ask follow-up questions here or by email.

[Daledorm]

Tried Nomad Internet. Their customer service was terrible! They couldn’t get their devices to work on T-Mobile or ATT. Even though I already have a T-Mobile hotspot (100gb data/mth) and my phone is on Cricket (ATT network) and both work fine. Only draw back is their data packages are limited to 100gb and 30gb respectively. Recently I opened an ATT business account for a mobile hotspot ($65/mth) with a Nighthawk LTE. Unlimited data and my speeds are excellent! Today I clocked my best yet with 70mbps down and 40mbps up! With my T-Mobile hotspot I get 5 down and .65 up. Big difference! Very happy!

All that may not work for you, but here in north central rural Indiana this is the best I’ve found. Next I’ll go with Starlink!