Weboost Drive Sleek

[SWharton]

I am thinking about getting a Sleek to help with the Mobley when I don't have a strong signal. My problem is how/where to put the antenna. Can I just put it in an upper cabinet of the MH or does the antenna need to be mounted on the roof? How strong is the magnet? I have a fiberglass roof so that is another problem. I also wouldn't trust a magnetic mount while driving down the road.

What solutions did you all come up with?

[Technomadia]

Greetings - you'll get the best performance if you can place the antenna on the roof with as much of a clear 360 degree line of site. You'll also want to provide at least a 8x8" piece of metal underneath it, as it requires what is known as a 'ground plane' under it to function optimally. 

Here is more on ground planes: https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/resources/ground-planes-for-rv-use-of-mobile-cellular-boosters/

The magnet is very strong - they're designed to stay put on top of a car/truck while moving down the highway.  And if for some reason they get knocked over (such as hitting a tree branch), they usually right themselves. 

 - Cherie

 

[SWharton]

Thanks, Cherie, I had read about the ground plane but didn't realize it was a critical component to the antenna. Just thought it was someplace to put the antenna. I hate to put more holes in the roof but I guess there is no choice. 

[Dutch_12078]

I have two 12"x18" 14 ga painted steel plates on my roof for ground planes. I attached them with double sided 3M trim tape and sealed the edges with Dicor. The tape is the same stuff car manufacturers often use these days to attach the trim on cars and trucks. One is near the front of the coach where there was already a cable pass through for a satellite dish, and the other I installed on top of the rear A/C shroud with the antenna wire routed through the fridge roof vent. The size I used are larger than needed for cell antennas, but were something I had on hand left from another project.

[SWharton]

Dutch, That sounds good as we have a sat dish on the roof. I'll need to look into this method a bit more.

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

We use a Sleek with a roof mounted antenna using a piece of sheet steel like Dutch_12078.  Photos and description.

[docj]

1 minute ago, Mark and Dale Bruss said:

We use a Sleek with a roof mounted antenna using a piece of sheet steel like Dutch_12078.  Photos and description.

X3, but I used a piece of stainless steel that is ferromagnetic (a magnet will stick to it) so I didn't have to paint it.

One thing that I noticed about the Sleek on our recent trip is that it was an effective amplifier for hotspots both on the cradle and underneath it.  Our AT&T hotspot sits in the Sleek's cradle and our Verizon MiFi sits underneath it on a shelf.  Both have good amplification.

[SWharton]

Two questions:

DocJ, like the idea to the stainless, where did you buy it

and for both, would HD or Lowes have the ground plane material if I can't find the stainless?

Thanks, I knew you guys would come through.

 

[Lance A Lott]

Some stainless is magnetic and some is not so take a magnet with you when you go shopping. Keep in mind stainless is not rust proof it is rust resistant. If your rv roof is aluminum then you will definitely want stainless, or epoxy the antena on maybe even use a pice of aluminum as a sacrifice pice between the roof and the antena. Back in the seventies we had several magnetic CB antenas and if failing memory serves they did cause rust.

you might find cheep stainless ata recycling center.

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

I got my sheet steel from Home Depot.  I used Rust-o-leum but it still rusted.

[docj]

1 hour ago, SWharton said:

DocJ, like the idea to the stainless, where did you buy it

As I recall, it was a local hardware store.  It had a collection of cut pieces of sheet metal of various types.

[SWharton]

We are going to be near a bigger town tomorrow, I need to check to see what stores they have and will look for the sheet metal. If I can't find it tomorrow I am sure when we get to Amarillo in a week or so I should be able to find it,

Thanks

[Smitty77_7]

And on the Sleek, if WeBoost has not changed things, they get very hot. Hot enough to burn hand, if you touch the metal antenna connector. And until we realized it was hot enough to provide dual service toasting bread, we did get a slight melting of a vinyl are of our dash. 

This was not the same with the previous generations of Sleek we've had, just the current latest and greatest as of about 14-16 months ago. 

It is not online very often, as we have the Maximum Signal Amp. And also with our Rooftop Magnetic Mobile Mark MIMO antenna, we find we don't require signal amplifications near as often as we used too. (We keep the Sleek in a bag in our Toad, so if we need it while out and about in more remote areas sightseeing:)!) And I think three, maybe four times, we found we got a better signal with another roof top Maximum Signal 13" Magnetic antenna, yep - on two pieces of the the painted galvanized sheet metal on top of our AC shroud, feeding the Sleek. 

While playing around, I also found that on temporary setup's inside of our coach, that just sticking the Stub Magnetic on the back of the metal fan over our dashboards, in the windshield area, provided adequate signal gain. Not recommend for long term, but it works. I've also 'borrowed' a 14" square baking pan, and placed that on the dash near the windshield, with adequate signal gain too:)! (But as I recall, some constructive input from the DW about the inappropriate usage of her cooking apparatus followed...:)!)

Whenever we use the Sleek, we're aware of the heat build up and place it accordingly. In the coach I bought a 18" square piece of heavy porcelain tile, and cut to fit the bottom of our communications cabinet. It protects form the heat, and acts as a sort of heat sink. The cabinet also has a computer fan that I can switch on if I feel the temperatures in the cabinet are too high, and it exhaust the heat into the cabinets next to it. Maybe use that fan two time a year, and usually in Arizona when the temps are over 105 degrees outside:)! I'll also leave the cabinet door open, to allow coach AC to assist too. 

The Sleek is a good bargain for the available DB gain potential. And if you buy a second antenna, you can easily switch it to your Toad if needed. 

Best of luck to you,

Smitty

[docj]

11 minutes ago, Smitty77_7 said:

It is not online very often, as we have the Maximum Signal Amp. 

As someone who has had a Maximum Signal amp for several years, I have to say that I've never had success getting it to work reliably.  I've had replacement cables and antennas sent to me but the system continues to be unstable and subject to going into oscillation no matter how far apart I separate the antennas.  

It was after my experience with the Max Signal unit that I realized that the Sleek was all I needed.  All I wanted to do was amplify a hotspot; I have no need to create an amplified "area" inside my RV.  The one time this summer when I needed amplification to make a voice call I simply put the phone on the Sleek and switched to speakerphone.  I could have used a Bluetooth headset, if I had wanted. 

IMHO the concept of having an amplified area inside the RV is an artifact of an era when cell phones were primarily used for voice calls; these days, for us,  voice use is a small fraction of the overall use of our phones.

[jcussen]

I have the Weboost RV connect with the "candy bar" inside antenna. Found that phone/mobley/netgear  devices,  must be pretty close to the inside antenna to boost signal well. But like Docj, just use speaker phone or bluetooth when using a phone.

[SWharton]

We just came home and found the sheet metal and 3M Tape. We were lucky, True Value and NAPA were next to each other so one stop shopping.

I ordered the Sleek from Walmart and it will be ready for pick up on Monday in Amarillo where we plan to be for a few days as a rest stop. I should have plenty of time to work on all this then. At least I hope so. We will be giving the Sleek a good test as we are heading up toward Taos/Page/Jacob Lake for the next 2-3 weeks. 

Thanks all for the support and the "how to". Can't wait. Spouse must agree since there are no complaints about buying this. 

[SWharton]

Totally impressed with Walmart. I ordered the Sleek yesterday afternoon for delivery to Amarillo Walmart. Said it would be available for pick up Monday, no problem, we are taking a break in Amarillo. We received notice today that it is ready for pick up today. Play time!!

[chiefneon]

On 9/26/2018 at 6:36 AM, docj said:

X3, but I used a piece of stainless steel that is ferromagnetic (a magnet will stick to it) so I didn't have to paint it.

One thing that I noticed about the Sleek on our recent trip is that it was an effective amplifier for hotspots both on the cradle and underneath it.  Our AT&T hotspot sits in the Sleek's cradle and our Verizon MiFi sits underneath it on a shelf.  Both have good amplification.

Howdy!

docj, I have a question regarding the Weboost Sleek. We also have the MaxSignal. As you stated we also are having problems getting what we thought we would get out of it. I’m now considering purchasing the Sleek to boost out AT&T homebase 4800 MiFi hotspot. I beleive you have or have had one of these AT&T homebase units. I was wanting to know if the Sleek worked or would work to boost the signal as it is larger than most types of hotspots?

” Happy Trails “

Chiefneon

[docj]

1 hour ago, chiefneon said:

I beleive you have or have had one of these AT&T homebase units. I was wanting to know if the Sleek worked or would work to boost the signal as it is larger than most types of hotspots?

The Homebase fits very nicely into the Sleek's spring-loaded cradle. In fact, it fits better than our MiFi (7730l) which is too small.  

The Sleek's amplified area isn't so terribly small.  It is at least as wide as the extended cradle arm and it reaches several inches above and below.  Our Sleek sit on a "shelf" under which there is a small storage area. I put the MiFi on the lower shelf and it gets just as good an amplified signal as it does if I put it directly on the cradle.  That way I get double duty out of the Sleek, amplifying both AT&T and Verizon devices at the same time!  In fact, one time, when I needed to make a voice call, I put my phone on top of the Homebase and it received enough amplification to successfully make and conduct a call.

[chiefneon]

14 minutes ago, docj said:

The Homebase fits very nicely into the Sleek's spring-loaded cradle. In fact, it fits better than our MiFi (7730l) which is too small.  

The Sleek's amplified area isn't so terribly small.  It is as wide as the extended cradle arm and it reaches several inches above and below.  Our Sleek sit on a "shelf" under which there is a small storage area. I put the MiFi on the lower shelf and it gets just as good an amplified signal as it does if I put it directly on the cradle.  That way I get double duty out of the Sleek, amplifying both AT&T and Verizon devices at the same time!

Howdy!

docj, thanks very much for you help. As stated we still have the MaxSignal but now that I know the Homebase 4800 will fit into the Sleek booster I will purchase one just to boost it. I also have a Verizon hotspot I purchased through FMCA Verizon unlimited plan but the problem with Verizon unlimited is after you use the 25gb it slows to a almost unusable speed. So we rely on our AT&T homebase which is 250gb. We stream a lot of data now that we rely on DTV Now, Netflix’s and Amazon Prime for TV viewing.

I was considering the Weboost RV but most of what I’ve read about it is that your devises have to be very close to it to work well.

Thanks again your help it is much appreciated.

” Happy Trails “

Chiefneon

[SWharton]

I installed the Drive and don't see any improvement in my cell signal, still around -100 dbm.

I just put it on the dashboard of the MH for now.

One thing that concerns me is in everything I read things should get hot. Nothing is getting hot. Is this normal? Yes, it has power, the light is lit on the cradle.

Weboost claims they have support on Sat but there is no answer.

Thanks

.

[docj]

1 hour ago, SWharton said:

I installed the Drive and don't see any improvement in my cell signal, still around -100 dbm.

I just put it on the dashboard of the MH for now.

One thing that concerns me is in everything I read things should get hot. Nothing is getting hot. Is this normal? Yes, it has power, the light is lit on the cradle.

These second generation cellular boosters provide a variable amount of amplification depending on the input signal strength.  A -100dBm signal is quite sufficient for good reception and it's quite possible that the amplifier is limiting itself accordingly. 

I assume you're measuring the signal on the phone or a MiFi's control panel.  The readings will change relatively slowing--wait a full minute or more to see the effect of turning the amp on or off.

[SWharton]

I thought the goal was -60 dBm. Right now I am just testing with my phone. We are going to Palo Duro Canyon tomorrow so I'll put it in the car and test it along the way. When we get home I'll put the Mobley in. After this, we are going toward Taos and Page. Should be a good test.

Thanks as usual.

[docj]

 If you have an Android phone I suggest using an app called Signal Check.  It responds faster and provides more data than the phone itself does.

My Google Pixel 2 (Android) just clocked a ~30Mbps download speed on Verizon with a signal strength of ~-110dBm.  There are other parameters that matter in addition to raw signal strength.  At our location the signal to noise ratio is ~14dB (which is very good) and the RSRQ is -10dB (don't ask me what that means but I know that this is a good reading).  All these factors work together to give you a usable cellular signal.  

You definitely don't need anywhere close to -60dBm.  Do you understand that decibels are a logarithmic measurement?  As a result an increase of 10dBm is a factor of 10 change in signal strength.  Compared to a -100dBm signal, one at -60dBm would be 10,000 times stronger.

FWIW my Sleek doesn't get hot either, but I definitely know it is working (I tested it where it really was needed).

[SWharton]

Thanks Joel. I didn't know it was logarithmic so that explains a log. I picked up the -60 number on the internet when trying  to figure out what a good number should be. I've been using my phone and Open Signal, I just downloaded Signal Check and will work on the alphabet soup later. 

Just getting educated and you are a great help.