WiFiRanger SkyPro LTE

[Marchos77]

Hello,
I was curious as to how many of you have used the WiFiRanger SkyPro LTE kit? I have had it for about 3 weeks now and not overly impressed by it.  It does work but it seems either the hardware is very slow or the code that operates the equipment is written inefficiently that it runs really slow.  Connections take a while to make even with the LTE module.  I find the failover system cumbersome causing more outages than connectivity. Also, the I find that there is not much advantage to the LTE since it requires a separate data plan that is very pricey with Verizon in order to use it.  Its about an extra $70/mo just to have 8GB of data which is nothing. I am wrestling with returning the entire system and just getting the SkyPro without the LTE and the Go router and come up with my own solution for internal WiFi of the couch and putting in an LTE booster so that devices within the couch can connect via LTE when there is no WiFi.

Thoughts?

 

[Frank B]

Yeah, there are a lot of ways to achieve the same result.


We bought a uniden 60 db Wi-Fi booster, and connected it to a yagi style highly directional antenna that I mounted on top of the foldable batwing TV antenna. That way I can rotate it to point to the best signal. this works well for our needs, but I find that the device that will be receiving the boosted cellular signal needs to be physically close to the output antenna of the cell booster. In our case, I mounted the cell booster under the kitchen cabinet, and put a plastic rack directly beside it to hold an older cell phone. That unlocked cell phone contains a SIM card with an unlimited data plan from AT&t. Costs about $65 a month, and we get 22 gig high speed, and then unlimited but throttled after that.


In addition, I installed a Wi-Fi booster/repeater in the trailer to pick up the signal from the cell phone, and rebroadcast on another channel so that the signal is available outside and nearby the trailer as well. However, I don't use that much anymore.

 

[docj]

Hello,
I was curious as to how many of you have used the WiFiRanger SkyPro LTE kit? I have had it for about 3 weeks now and not overly impressed by it.  It does work but it seems either the hardware is very slow or the code that operates the equipment is written inefficiently that it runs really slow.  Connections take a while to make even with the LTE module.  I find the failover system cumbersome causing more outages than connectivity. Also, the I find that there is not much advantage to the LTE since it requires a separate data plan that is very pricey with Verizon in order to use it.  Its about an extra $70/mo just to have 8GB of data which is nothing. I am wrestling with returning the entire system and just getting the SkyPro without the LTE and the Go router and come up with my own solution for internal WiFi of the couch and putting in an LTE booster so that devices within the couch can connect via LTE when there is no WiFi.

With respect to the slowness of the Ranger system, I respectfully suggest that you may have one or more settings set incorrectly.  The Ranger is quite capable of switching from one connection to another in ~a minute or so.  If it's taking any longer than that, something is wrong.  I suggest you contact WiFiRanger Customer Support for assistance.

As for the Failover process, it's designed to switch the Ranger to another "tagged" connection after the set Failover interval has passed.  It is not an "immediate" switchover, but it does maintain connectivity after the selected interval has passed.  Be sure that you've set the Failover interval for the desired time (usually 5 minutes is the preferred choice).

As for the LTE portion of the system, you can put any Verizon (or AT&T) SIM you desire into the SkyPro. You complain about the Ranger requiring another "plan" but any active cellular device has to have its own SIM and that SIM represents a separate plan.  But you aren't required to pay $70/mo for 8 GB.  For example, you could get the new prepaid, totally unlimited plan for $65/mo and put that SIM into the rooftop unit.  Shopping around for a plan is the customer's responsibility; it's not part of the WiFiRanger package.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The Skypro LTE is a cellular modem as well as antenna and wifi hotspot, so yes, it needs  its own LTE data plan (Verizon or AT&T).  If you only wanted a wifi booster, that wasn't the right product to buy in the first place. If you wanted a cellular data/voice booster without a modem, WeBoost has several excellent choices. If wifi boost only was the objective, then one of the other WifiRangers would have been a better choice.  Perhaps yu didn't think long enough about exactly what you were trying to achieve (it's more complex than most people think, so easy to go astray).

 

[docj]

The Skypro is a cellular modem as well as antenna and wifi hotspot, so yes, it needs  its own LTE data plan (Verizon or AT&T). 

Actually, the basic SkyPro is a wifi-only device.  If someone was purchasing from the WiFiRanger website, the LTE option can ONLY be ordered by using a drop-down box and the cost of the option is $200. 

If the SkyPro was accidentally ordered with the LTE option and the buyer doesn't wish to use that feature, it can easily be turned off from the Ranger's control panel using the Setup tab.  If you have any questions about how to do that you can call WiFiRanger Customer Support for assistance.

 

[Marchos77]

My ultimate goal is to be able to work on the road from my coach wether we are at a campground, National Park or Walmart parking lot.  My thoughts were to be able to capture WiFi from the campground or where there is free WiFi and redistribute that within the coach or a wifi booster.  This is where I believe WiFi Ranger has the best product available for the task.  I liked the SkyPro LTE because it would be able to use either or depending on availability of WiFi.  The issues I had with the LTE were that Verizon did not permit the modem in the SkyPro to be used on the mobile plan. It had to be used on a separate plan where there was a $20 connection fee and a data plan that offered only limited data.  4GB, 8GB, 16GB, so on and so forth. 4GB was $40, 8GB/$50, 16GB/$70 per month plus the plan.  Using the Coach for approximately 30-45 days a year I can't justify that cost. Using any other carrier is a waste of time since AT&T, who is Verizon's closest in coverage area is just as pricey.  Sprint and T-Mobile sparse coverage at best not worth the time and additional bill to use them.

I believe the best solution for the moment is to get the WiFi Ranger EliteAC without the GoAC router and use an Amplifi router from Ubiquiti as my router.  This should cover the Wifi portion.  For LTE, I was thinking of going with an LTE booster that will receive existing LTE signal and boost it within the coach like WeBoost or Chinese knock off.

 

[Marchos77]

With respect to the slowness of the Ranger system, I respectfully suggest that you may have one or more settings set incorrectly.  The Ranger is quite capable of switching from one connection to another in ~a minute or so.  If it's taking any longer than that, something is wrong.  I suggest you contact WiFiRanger Customer Support for assistance.

As for the Failover process, it's designed to switch the Ranger to another "tagged" connection after the set Failover interval has passed.  It is not an "immediate" switchover, but it does maintain connectivity after the selected interval has passed.  Be sure that you've set the Failover interval for the desired time (usually 5 minutes is the preferred choice).

As for the LTE portion of the system, you can put any Verizon (or AT&T) SIM you desire into the SkyPro. You complain about the Ranger requiring another "plan" but any active cellular device has to have its own SIM and that SIM represents a separate plan.  But you aren't required to pay $70/mo for 8 GB.  For example, you could get the new prepaid, totally unlimited plan for $65/mo and put that SIM into the rooftop unit.  Shopping around for a plan is the customer's responsibility; it's not part of the WiFiRanger package.

In my world of where we work in milliseconds, a minute is an eternity.  I don't believe establishing a connection via the LTE modem should take over a minute to do so yet it does.  That is extremely so.  That was very frustrating to me as well as switching between WiFi and LTE.  It took forever.  Again, this is relative. For me its a long time when my job is to ensure that my clients have seamless connectivity to their off-premise environment regardless if their connection switches from one ISP to another. I may have set my expectations higher than I should have but spending $650 + shipping on a product I would expect the software and hardware to be a little better than that of a Pi. Customer Service wasn't all the best either.  The gentleman that I talked to was quick to dismiss my issue and kept stating I needed to get back with the carrier for the LTE part, which he was correct but it was the method in his response which was irritating to me. I don't want to beat down the company or the product too much being that I don't think anyone else offers a product such as this I just didn't have the success that I was hoping to have with it. 

 

[docj]

In my world of where we work in milliseconds, a minute is an eternity.  I don't believe establishing a connection via the LTE modem should take over a minute to do so yet it does.  That is extremely so. 

I won't quibble with you as to whether or not the switchover takes "over a minute" but I would like to point out that if you have speedtesting enabled it can take the better part of a minute by itself.  I'm also an impatient person so I usually operate with the Ranger's speedtesting functions turned off.  Please note that each connection (wifi, cellular and Ethernet) all have their own speedtesting functions which you would have to  disable. 

As for your issues with Verizon, do you happen to know if they were related to the fact that you were bringing a "SIM in a foreign device" to them and asking for it to be activated?  If OTOH you already owned a Jetpack under a postpaid or prepaid plan, I can't think there would be any way for them to prevent you from transferring it to the SkyPro.  Sure, this means that you might have to buy a Jetpack if you don't already own one, but that might be preferable to abandoning the approach altogether.  JMO

As for your disappointment with WiFiRanger Customer Service, I can only apologize for your unsatisfactory interaction with them.  We always try to please our customers but sometimes we fall short. You can always contact me via PM if you want to discuss this matter further.

Joel (AKA docj)

 

[Marchos77]

When I bought the unit the original plan was to have the service transferred from my iPad to the SkyPro LTE which I did. There was not SIM switch since the SIM in the iPad was a much smaller card than the one in the SkyPro. When I transferred the service from the iPad to the SkyPro LTE the modem would not activate. Called WiFiRanger a couple of times and they insisted that I would have to speak with Tier 3 support and it would need to be activated like a JetPack. Finally after the 3rd call with Verizon they had figured it out but had to break out the SkyPro into a separate plan for data.  When I got back to the WiFiRanger documentation it does mention that very thing that it would not work with the typical Cellular plan for phones. Wish I would have read that earlier. You make a very good point that the speed test was on the whole time and that would definitely slow the connection down.  I should have thought of that.

 

[docj]

Finally after the 3rd call with Verizon they had figured it out but had to break out the SkyPro into a separate plan for data.

FWIW, these days, with the advent of the new, completely unlimited, prepaid Verizon plan the best course of action would be to put the SkyPro SIM on one of those accounts.  The issue would be if Verizon CSRs understand that a "data only" Jetpack plan can exist without the customer actually owning a Jetpack! That's why it might be easier to purchase a used, inexpensive Jetpack just so you can take its SIM and more it to the Ranger once the SIM is active.

BTW, it's been my experience that when you need change the size of a SIM to go from one device to another, a local Verizon company store can easily do this for little or no cost.  I had to do that once with phones as the size of SIMs got smaller with each new phone!

 

[Marchos77]

I went ahead and reordered the SkyPro pack without the LTE and give it another shot. What I plan on doing is getting a booster for my phone and use that as an LTE hotspot for the WiFiRanger. Hopefully that should handle both sources of internet for the WiFiRanger.