I was looking at that very unit myself. It certainly beats the smoke, drums, and hand signals I feel I'm using with my current communication supplier at times.
Its amazing that you're in Colombia! I live in Suesca, Cundinamarca, one hour north of Bogotá. In 2018-19 I built our family overland rig in many ways based on your lead. Thanks!!! I'm a canadian chiropractor living here in Colombia since 2008. My wife is Katty Guzman, the first Colombian woman to have climbed Everest. We're all about adventure. We met Ulf and Berta in Machetá a couple weeks ago. Same as we told them: you have a base camp in Suesca. I'm sure we can recommend amazing people and places to discover in Colombia!!!
I have the Mofi5500 on my boat and LOVE IT! I had the verizon MIFI and holy smokes ... now I know what speed really looks like --- no comparison between the two.
Hey just stumbled upon your videos - You are awesome 👍 So funny that you quote Jörg Sprave. Greetings from Germany. Just one small thing: wood insulates EM Waves "better" than concrete or metal. (I grew up in a wooden house, wifi was terrible) Thank you for your videos.
Thank you so much for this video. I was about to build a whole diy network out of a rasberry pi, a client bridge, and a cellular modem. This solution is much more simple, will be more reilable, and I won't have to learn how to use a bunch of different software. This device will do everything I want, all in one.
Aaah yes the Slingshot channel , like you he is very talented in his own area of expertise mainly rubber powered weaponry and magazine fed archery , crossbows . Yes internet is annoyingly cheap in South America , Noraly paid a mere $1US for 25 gigabytes , here the cheapest rate I could find was $99 for a 12 miserable Gigabytes , however that was three years ago and things have improved slightly though now I use free library WiFi via a WiFi Yagi , I refuse to be mugged by an ISP .
Hi Jason! First, thank you for all of the information you've freely shared. Second, I'm hoping you will offer your opinion as to whether the MOFI5500 would be a useful and perhaps more flexible alternative to the Netgear M6 (MR6150) Mobile Hotspot router which sells for $700 on sale. TY!
While I've never used that Netgear router, the MoFi 5500 (and the 4500 before that) have served us very well, lots more features than we even need. Plus it seems cheaper, so I'd say to give it a go...
Jason, you mentioned MoFi removed NTP services, that's normal now, in the Linux world, NTP is dead. I found this out the hard way about 4 years ago, while firing up an embedded Linux distro. I'm was so used to inputting the NTP server IP address but forgot to do it during setup, but than I noticed the system already had the correct time. How in the world did that happen. After hours of digging around, and help of the programmer responsible, it turns out DHCP Option 042 manages time. Its really neat, every time your devices renews its DHCP lease, your device also gets TIME updated.
@@Everlanders DHCP Option 42 just defines a Time Server (NTP/SNTP) as far as i understand. this just saves you the truble from entering this information on every client, just like DNS Server, Gateway, ...
@@Everlanders The next time your cellular service links to a local tower, the mofi may update the time, same goes for your wifi, when your mofi registers to a Access Point, that's a DHCP request, and time is synced. I would think your mofi connects to either of the two wireless services you have available every 24 or 48 hours. That should take care of your various computer clocks before they drift too far, due temperature conditions through the week. FYI Linux OS use "timedatectl" for clock syncing. I couldn't find any manuals for your mofi device so I couldn't figure out if it has other options.
Great review and I learned more, as always. Thank you! Question re video production: I saw Divinci Resolve on the screen, s I assume that is the editing software you are using, but can you tell me the mfgr/model of that tabletop editing console you were using? Looks like a great unit. Thanks again and have fun!
Bummer about Starlink... or more like the bureaucratic regulatory process. I know a few folks with the RV plan in the US and it works great. The base-station Dishy I have here in Italy has been awesome. Fingers crossed the country to country process gets smoothed out.
For me the Gigabit Ethernet was the big thing. Transferring large amounts of Video Data to the NAS was quite slow... I could also have gone with an external switch, but this was a tidy solution.
Hi mate, first of great channel and I appreciate your technical outlook. (I am an Electrician and Telecommunications technician) I live in Australia and have recently taken possession of an RV that I had custom made to tour Aussie in. I found your channel because of your Starlink adaption, great solution and I will be doing the same (PS: have you thought about making these as a product that you can sell online) I have also been looking for a 4G solution and have purchased the aerials already and will now likely go down the route that you have with the motorised pole mount. Would it be possible to do a more in-depth video of the solution you showed, as Aussie is sparsely populated therefore good mobile (cell) signal is mostly difficult to obtain. After I have watched the rest of this video I will also be going online to purchase the router you reviewed her, as I am a great believer in going with a system that someone has already proven works.
It could be an interesting experiment to see how well a Livestream works using the mofi in different antenna configurations. The biggest concern I've gotten from employers is that we won't have reliable internet for video calls.
Wan-Bonding. its like loadbalancing, just 1000 times better. i use openmptcprouter, its free and opensource. i only pay for 4G data plans and 2$/month for a cheap vps Server, acting as the endpoint for my bonding router.
Here in Ecuador and in Colombia LTE signal strength is not the issue, We get full bars with the stock little antennas - The issue is that we get 0.1mbps, max. the towers are just saturated as many people have no home wifi and their only internet source is their cellular phone. For that reason this is our new antenna setup: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gRSnTMrUPrQ.html
Jason, thanks for the great videos! I have a question on the MOFI 5500 bridging you mentioned. I bought one based on this video for my new trailer. It seems that every time you link to a new Access Point you reset the WIFI information, and have to fill it back in. Do you also have this problem? And how did you set failover to use the bridged AP as primary so it doesn't use up the cell data when not needed? Maybe a more in-depth follow up video idea, and aid us on the nuances of the MOFI software. Thanks again! You always have such great content and quality in your videos!
Yes, it always resets the WiFi Settings when changing AP's, PITA... And if you're connected to WiFi, it doesn't use the cellular, it should fail over automatically.
I was looking at Teltonika TRB500 :) It does 4 by 4 MIMO on LTE+ and 5G Curently running Huawei router with Fuj: tech P-60MIMO and a MikroTik LTE18 router on loadbalancing from two ISPs in 🇱🇻 :)
Curious if you checked out the Peplink MAX BR1 Mini? I've just started researching this type of off-grid connectivity and was attracted to its claims of seamless "instant hot failover from Starlink to LTE" and their "WAN smoothing" feature to stabilize the zoom calls.
I just rewatched this video again, to see if Mofi has solved the issue I have with my Teltonika router when trying to connect to a external WLAN that require a web based login or using a captive portal? At least here in Europe that’s starting to become the norm for public and semi-public hotspots. Teltonika doesn’t have any kind of built in browser in the UI, which should be able to solve this as far as I can understand. How about the Mofi 5500?
Are there any alternatives for a lower budget? I have seen some AliExpress unita that have decent specs, my main thing I would love is the ability to change sources whilst keeping the same network .
Jason, I need advice. I have a Mofi 4500 lte2 and it used to work with my Verizon sim but no mas. Now they can detect the mofi and terminate service. So how can I get cel signal in the metal barn now. Weboost increases bars but drops speed so it is worthless. I don't want my $ spent on the mofi to be worthless too. It is hooked to a double WirEng antenna like yours. I've searched for a celular carrier for just data and found Visible but it is also Verizon and violates TOS in a router. So what good are they? Frustrated in Wyoming. TIA!
I guess this video is obsolete if having installed flat mounted Starlink with Dishy Dualie DC Power Supply and POE Router like TP-Link Omada EAP610? Or is there a reason to have an LTE System together with Starlink?
Love all your videos - as always excellent information. I hope to be in Central America next year, Belize, with a plan to do Alaska to Chile so interesting to see what you are doing. . Keep safe and enjoy your travelling. Have a drink on me.
Is a MoFi router load balancing better or similar to a bonded collection of connections through Speedify? Contemplating setting it up on a raspbery pi vs. going straight to the MoFi. With failovers, starlink obstructions and apparently when mobile switches between 4 and 5g, my work (forticlient) VPN drops off.
First, yes, follow up videos. Doesn't matter what it is, we love followup videos, no need to ask. StarLink is expensive. I have 100GB on my t-mobile phone plan, unlimited on my t-mob "5G Home internet" which goes everywhere with me and StarLink RV. The T-Mob 5G Home is the best deal at $50/mo for truly unlimited and the device costing $99, (or free, I can't remember). It works like the access point only you power externally and it has external antenna hookup. Tons of T-Mob 5G in the western US But spotty other places. The StarLink RV cost me $500 for the dish and is $130/mo for service. A service that gets throttled when the sat gets busy or when they feel like limiting you. In time, when there are tens of thousands of Sats and viable competitors, prices might just become more competitive. I think the future is bright for Sat Internet though. That MoFi device is pretty much perfect for you all, with a very high geek factor for you, so that's worth the cost right there. Dig that StarShip hanging on the wall. At first I thought it was a lamp. Where did you acquire such a fine piece of art? I spent last winter down at StarBase and had a blast only didn't see a blast off as I wanted to. Keep on geeking on!
Yeah, Sadly no T-Mobile for us... The "Fine Art" was printed on the 3D printer shown here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5MXkD7Z_ndc.html Starlink RV is $48 USD a month here in South America, Such an amazing time to be alive.
@@Everlanders Starlink works great in rural areas where there are no cell towers, and in coastal areas offshore. People complain about starlink being throttled but I don't think they are in rural areas-- its only throttled because there are too many people (and thus they didn't really need starlink anyway.)
Does the "home" T-mob unlimited work well when traveling with it? (Wondering, since it is meant for home use and is not available at every address.). Thanks.
@@bkanegson I went to T-Mobile to get a Hot Spot but the lady there said that I should get the Home Unlimited as that is what others are using. Its half the price and unlimited service. Not sure if its available everywhere, but I haven't had any issues as long as I have a T-Mob 5G signal. $50/mo and unlimited isn't bad. My StarLink is they downshift me whenever they feel like it. Both generally works ok for me until StarLink has a more consistent plan.
Great video. Question...if this was installed in a travel trailer, would the Wi-Fi signal be strong enough in the pulling vehicle to use while you're driving? Also, would the 5G model EM9191 be worth the extra money if traveling in the US?
Yes, that works, but there are several apps that have the tower locations on a map that I've used too. In the early days, I had a script that polled the signal strength from the modem and moved a few degrees until the signal went up and then started going back down. Then it knew it was at the strongest point.
I travel thru Canada and Alaska in some places there are no cell service, what would you recommend to buy something that works great in that king of area ? Thanks!
too lazy to scroll through the comments, does the wan port allow you to plug in other systems (such as the starlink) so that it becomes part of your suite of connectivity ( south africa has a very large "no starlink" zone, so even if it does come out here, there are large swathes of the country where i would have to use 4g anyway from 2 seperate providers) (on anothe rtack, i am using your channel for alot of inspiration for my build, which is just starting over on my channel, improvatech)
Yes, you can plug any source of internet into the WAN, just like your home router... It will use that preferentially, and if it goes offline, it will switch over to cellular. Odd, We know several overlanders wo have Starlink there already, even though it's not supported, it's still working.
the best thing for reliable, highbandwith internet is wan bonding. peplink has some complete devices, but theyr realy expensive and theyr service is costly to. I personaly and for work use openmptcprouter. its a free and opensource wan-bonding solution, working realy great.
@@Everlanders would I still need the Tycoon PoE injector if I purchased the Starlink DC power supply from your vid 5 months ago or would this video's set up still be needed?
Does the router have the ability to do captive portal or whatever it is called? Like have to agree to terms before it allows the internet? I have been forced to ok them with my phone or laptop and then clone the MAC address as a workaround in trucks stops, it’s an annoyance but works.
Will it act as a cellular booster if you don't want to install a sim? Might be useful if it would just boost the signal and enabling you to just use regular phone and plan but through the router.
Hi Jason, Did you use the MoFI 12V power supply limiter or did you power straight from your house 12VDC? Are these routers power input temperamental? Our Victron house system seems stable enough to use with out a limiter…. Thx
Awesome video! Do you know if there is a way to 'split' devices by MAC per connection? So that say one laptop can be using Starlink while the other can be using LTE?
i dont like peplink. its just to epensive and only a single device. I prefere to have a seperate modem and (Bonding) Router and Accespoint. My setup consists of 3 LTE Modems, one DSL Line while stationary and somtimes phones. All these uplinks feed in my openmptcprouter so i get one hight bandwith internetconection, even if a modem loses connection, without a lost of connectifity.
WRT should have QoS. Does this router have it? Pretty easy config or is it complex? Some have easy out of box QoS. Others not so much. I imagine on a larger network like yours with sometimes poor connection/speed it can be critical. Works well?
You Betcha, like I said, I MacGyvered it together with what I had, scraps of aluminum angles and tubes, but these non-affiliate links should get you started. www.amazon.com/Pololu-Universal-Aluminum-MOUNTING-Shaft/dp/B00B887FX8 www.amazon.com/Torque-Turbo-Geared-Motor-100RPM/dp/B01M30I4E7 www.amazon.com/RioRand-Upgraded-Adjustable-Controller-Reversing/dp/B00HTZD9YI
It would take about 5 seconds to add one... I doubt that very many people would find that to be useful enough to justify the cost to everyone else who didn't need it.
Musk Link is almost as fast as wired phone internet use to be in the 90s ... well, I exaggerate but the whole idea and control freak aspects simply are not appealing .... and known issues. wayyyyy too expensive too... waste
We're paying $45/mo for the RV package in South America and getting 250mbps pretty reliably... If that's what you got in the 90's 🤯 - What "Known Issues" should we be on the lookout for?
