Ok, now this will likely be over the heads of most. But we have been asked over and over to show OUR system and how we do Internet on the road. So I thought the best way to was to make a video showing you our current system and how we get the fastest, most reliable, Internet we can.
This video is NOT a tutorial, it is showing you how we currently do Internet while on the road. Even though it may be beyond some people who read our blog, you still may find it interesting seeing we are asked often how we do internet and keep a connection.
The products used to do our VPN bonding are listed below. Windows 10 was installed as the OS. You can feel free to buy a small machine already built, but be sure it has an SSD drive so it does not get killed with it driving down the road! :)
Software:
Connectify HotSpot Software: http://bit.ly/2HCijKU
Speedify VPN Bonding Software: http://bit.ly/2SgiU91
Hardware:
Zotac ZBox Mini Computer: https://amzn.to/2G7gyTv
8 Gig RAM Module: https://amzn.to/2CThmYZ
120 Gig SSD Drive: https://amzn.to/2GaFBow
weBoot 4G RV: https://amzn.to/2Tlo9Sb
7″ Touchscreen HDMI Monitor: https://amzn.to/2BiP1ev
Small Wireless Keyboard: https://amzn.to/2TnJjz3
SIDE NOTE…If you streaming services like NetFlix, NetFlix DOES NOT LIKE VPN’s and will not stream if they detect you are on a VPN. They do this to so people can’t use VPN’s to get around content restricted areas or blackouts etc. It is not just NetFlix, most content streamers check for VPN’s. So for me to use NetFlix, I need to switch Connectify to use one of the JetPacks or the RV Park and not go though Speedify. (Or have my streaming device connect to the JetPacks Wi-Fi and not to my local network which is going through Speedify.)
Now on to the video!
As always, amazing information! I wish you were in the business of selling plug and play systems like this!
Thanks for the video; very interesting and informative. Yes, some of it was over my head but I think that your set-up is awesome. (No, I’m not asking you how you did it…. I have an IT friend that I can show your video to). I had not even given a 2nd thought to bonding VPN. Absolutely great download speeds compared to a park (assuming you can even get a decent connection to begin with). Keep up the great work, David and Brenda.
So, you’ve also got 3 unlimited data cell phone contracts?
Yuppers. :)
I mean this in the most complementary way, You are a sic puppy. ?
Really enjoyed this.
I didnt know about the VPN bonding how cool. But yes your network makes perfect sense to me. And to have that uninterrupted service for download and uploads for a mobile network is seems essential. But i am assuming when you lose connection with one of your jetpacks you lose your bonding speed. Brilliant especially for a mobile network.
Nice job
Yes, you will loose bonding speed as you dropped a data connection that was providing some of that speed. But at least if you have one up, it does not matter. :)
Very interesting!
I used an all UniFi system at home and am just about ready to get the CloudKey Gen2 Plus and some cameras. That will also let me shutdown the Controller software that runs on my Ubuntu NUC8i3 system I use for Home Automation.
I’d love it if you could post a block diagram of your system. I think it would be quite interesting.
BTW, do you do anything with MQTT or IFTTT in the coach?
“BTW, do you do anything with MQTT or IFTTT in the coach?”….I do not. I don’t have a diagram and really no reason to make one up really so I don’t think it is something I would be posting.
David,
I am interested in your setup. We are full time on the road and will be producing High School US History videos. You setup is what I have been looking for since we started. Do you have a full list of what you used and a diagram of the setup? I am a bit of a techie so not afraid to tackle this setup.
Dan Kealy
I am sorry, I do not. If you are a techie, then the information I talked about in the video and the links should be all you need to get something like this up and running. Not sure what else you may need really. :)
Perfect. I am technical and this was just enough to help me compare parts for shopping list.
And glad to hear just enough, but not so much that it’s for non-technical people.
I think anyone who has setup their home Cable modem, and Firewall and Router and Wi-Fi can clearly do this.
I give it a medium technical rating. When you start talking about UDP and TCP and the potential for lost packets then… you are at medium+ technical.
I will watch a few of your live driving broadcasts, it would be interesting to see how it handles the loss of a single carrier and a few of the live stream UDP packets.
You are my hero!!!!!
Thanks for sharing!
What a great post! I didn’t know about the bonding software. I have an AT&T and Verizon unlimited plans. Using an older small laptop/tablet hanging around, I got a bonded connected for the price of the software. It’s easy to set up and manage.
Thanks for this one!
David,
Great introduction to VPN Bonding.
When you make changes to your system could you please post to this blog. I’m sure lots of us would appreciate it.
Thank you,
Alan G
Great video! I’m currently setting up a Unifi network in our travel trailer. I have a Nanostation, USG, Unifi switch and I’m running the Unifi controller on a Mac Mini (which is also a media server).
A couple questions for you. Any problems with heat from all the equipment in one cabinet? Also what model access point are you using inside the coach?
Keep up the great videos!
Hi…I have a fan that pulls air out in that cabinet. If you look close, you can see it…It’s black. I use the UniFi AP-HD in side and a UniFi AP-AC-Mesh out on the roof for when we are outside the coach. If I were to do it today, I would used the NanoHD. It is smaller yet so very powerful… https://amzn.to/2Y7HNDN But they only have two for outside, the AC-Mesh, and the AC-Mesh-Pro which is too big and flat to put outside on the roof. (And really is not needed for the outside use when the AC-Mesh does very well.)
Thankyou for the info. I think (with some research) I could do this (eventually) ;-) I did get your (under $100 wifi booster) up and running with a Linksys router I has sitting around works great. Have yet to give it a try while rving though. We went to Alaska for 2 months last summer and wish I would have had it for that trip
I have a Wilson Weboost that has a small patch antenna for inside vehicle. Curious how you are connecting your MiFi’s to your Wilson amp – are you using an SMA splitter adapter with pigtail SMA cables. What do you do with your cell phones to take advantage of the Wilson?
No…I the JetPack right next to the antenna. I mean right next to it, touching.
How many mobile wifi units max can you connect to that system/software? I know you said you had 2 att 1 verizon but could you have 4 or 5 units connected for faster combined upload and download speeds. Of course maybe mod the computer and a few other things to drive it all faster…?? I need to be able to upload at 30 minimal and would love 125-150 down. Also could you use a mac mini for the computer and be on a mac os for this kind of set up. Any ideas?
Hi…I think the max using this software is 5. So I have 3 JetPacks and then also the NanoStation that is connected to the RV Parks Wi-Fi. So then I can even choose which ones to use. But the speeds you are talking…while it can be done, is not something you will likely see. The reason is the use of a VPN via a shared server when it selecting what to use where. They do offer a dedicated server, which you may likely need in this case for such speeds to work, but that is $120 a month. SIDE NOTE…If you streaming services like NetFlix, NetFlix DOES NOT LIKE VPN’s and will not stream if they detect you are on a VPN. They do this to so people can’t use VPN’s to get around content restricted areas or blackouts etc. It is not just NetFlix, most content streamers check for VPN’s. So for me to use NetFlix, I need to switch Connectify to use one of the JetPacks or the RV Park and not go though Speedify. Hope this helps.
David,
Great content and keep it coming.
What do you suggest for equipment from Ubiquti starting with the antenna down to the modem/router?
I notice you are using a Ubiquti Security Gateway and switch? What else? I use their APs and Cloud key for management of my network. I currently have Unix systems doing things like firewall, router, DNS, DHCP etc and would like to do something similar in the RV just to be consistent.
Any unix equivalent for Connectify / Speedify that you know of?
The technology doesn’t bother me. I’ve done network provisioning for a large national telecom.
My main thing is looking for the hardware to extend / boost an RV park WiFI as well as use my cellular hotspot if necessary. I may or may not worry about bonding, but the option is nice to have.
Thanks again and keep up the great work.
Kevin
Hello Kevin…
Seeing I put in UniFi networks for fun in RV Parks, of course I run a full system in our coach. (I think I was the first one ever to use a full commercial system in a motor coach LOL) My Ubnt UniFi system in our coach contains a UniFi USG 3P, three UniFi 8-Port 60 Watt POE Switches, one USF5P outdoor switch (beta unit not out yet) in the engine bay, one AP-HD-AC in the center of the ceiling, one AP-AC-Mesh on the roof, and a CloudKey Gen2+ as the controller. Seeing I am using the Gen2+ as the controller, I also use it for UniFi Protect running three security cameras…a G3 Flex out the dashboard view and rear view (like the tow car cam), and a G3 Micro inside view.
When we are at the “Bott-Lott” here at Southwoods RV Resort, my network then expands to another 8 Port 60-watt UniFi switch, one more AP-AC-Mesh, two UVC-G3 cameras and another 3G Flex Camera adding to the security. (This is all part of our shed and outdoor area) This part of the network just plugs into USF5P outdoor switch that I have in my engine compartment when I arrive here. Connect it up and POOF, it all comes back on-line. :)
I also then, when needed, use a AirMax NanoStation M2, M5, or 5AC to connect to an RV Park and that then feeds in via another port in the engine compartment.
The USG 3P handles all DHCP needs, firewall, security, etc and I have it hand out a custom DNS IP that goes to my unRAID NAS that is running PiHole via a Docker (Full ad blocker etc). I use WAN1 as the main and WAN2 as a failover to the Speedify/Connectify setup that has three JetPacks. 2 AT&T and one Verizon. I did with a friend of mine a custom roll of a Bonded VPN running on a Pi3 to my personal VPN server in Dallas Texas that I have in a Level3 NOC that worked well, but I give that up to use Speedify/Connectify due to features and expandability (Up to 5 bonded sources at once!). My friend also did the same and he is a Linux guru! I know of no Linux system like it or we would not have built one of our own. (There are ones that can do failover, but not bonded VPN that we had found.) We are not Windows fans, but the little box is doing just one thing so it is more or less locked down. It could all run on a HDMI Intel Windows stick as it does not require a lot of power.
I can if I choose add the RV Parks Wi-Fi connection that I get via a NanoStation into Speedify thus being able to have that along with the two AT&T and Verizon Jetpacks. The only draw back I have found to using Speedify is NetFlix and some others don’t do VPN’s and I get blocked. So I just tell Connectify to use just one of the connections vs using Speedify. (Speedify shows up as a port you can use as such, you can switch Connectify to use anything that has Internet on it.) I could also just tell my FireTV box to use one of my JetPack Wi-FI SSID so I don’t need to worry about switching anything. But right now I have 178Mbps down coming into the coach from the resorts Wi-Fi so I am using that as the WAN1 main on the USG. :)
As a side note, I have 37 Wi-Fi devices connected to my network and 16 wired as we are parked right now. :) Hope this helps in some way.
David
Topology Map of the network. If you ZOOM in you can see the labels as we are currently parked and setup.
David,
Excellent reply. That is the type of information I’ve been looking for. Looks like I’ll start with the USG and Nanostations (M2, M5). I’ve been to parks that have both 2 & 5 GHz available.
For speedify, etc either I’ll have to break down and use windows, or write my own…. I’ll try and do some research on the later… There may be something obscure out there that helps. Not holding my breath though.
One of my gigs was to provision networks from the DSL modem or ONT/modem at the house all the way back to the internet backbone. Links could be any mix of Ethernet or ATM. Some used VLANs others did not, depending on scale of the particular provider. Some providers were small municipalities (thousands to 10’s of thousands of subscribers), others were regional carriers with millions of subscribers.
I’ve also thought a little about some IOT type devices to tie in with the A/C, thermostats… Maybe even tank sensors, level sensors, etc. Not all coaches have a unified system where you can get status from anywhere.
I’m a bit of a techno-geek too. Electrical engineer / computer scientist who loves gadgets including my oscilloscope.
David,
Did you happen to create any VLAN’s, say to segment video cameras from computers, from other lighting/controls?
Kevin
In 2916 me and a friend developed this…
https://outsideourbubble.com/introducing-coachproxy-for-tiffin-motorhomes/
…we actually had the first voice activated coaches! Here is my bud Michael showing it off the first time…
https://youtu.be/flkd99oMDLI
…It ties into the CAN bus and we can control anything that is on our Spyder System. :)
Oh, if you want to try something in the linux area, look into ROOTer which is based on OpenWRT. See this page for more into… https://www.ofmodemsandmen.com/
Taker care. :)
Sorry, missed this one… Yes, I use VLAN tagging. Very simple in UniFi.
Just curious how you tether the Verizon jet-pack. My guess at this moment is USB to Ethernet adapter and put it on one of the Ethernet ports of the Zotac. Is this correct?
USB out of the JetPack right into USB port on the Zotac or even MacBook. On the Mac it picks it right up but on Windows, I THINK I remember you may need to have a driver and that would depend on the JetPack. Also Connectify may install the drivers needed for USB tethering.
We have a jetpack and love it. Most of the time we use opensignal and we have the Verizon unlimited plan. Haven’t needed anything else so far. However……sometimes we LOVE being disconnected. Get out of the RV sometimes and re-connect with the outdoors. I mean, that’s why we are out here right? Good info.