trimster

UPDATE: 26 Oct 2021 Moved to Coronado monument east of Albuquerque. AT&T service was strong, fast and reliable. However, the router side of the Insty would do weird things. Connect with no data. Change from the High Speed to Long Range (different wifi frequencies) and that often would fix it. There were times when the router could not be logged into via the url, so a power down and back up was required. Insty really needs to put a switch on the router. Pulling the little plug on the side of the router is a pain. NOTE to future owners... if you hard wire it to your RVs 12v side of things, install an in-line switch. But things got ugly when we needed to stop on the road (headed to the Petrified Forest) in Gallup, NM to join a virtual meeting. Checked AT&T coverage and Gallup was good. Tested the Insty an hour before and had 20Mbps download. But when I tried to join the meeting, download speeds dropped to .7 Mbps. Needless to say, it didn't work. Missed the meeting. But I'm sure it's not Insty's problem. I think it's AT&T. But T-mobile was no better. I've been impressed with Insty's customer support. Always helpful and fast response times.

Okay then.... core charge for NOx sensors is a thing. Legit. And of course the only take back factory cores. The truck is back on track. Running great. Soot levels are now very low. We'll see how it goes. The tech indicated that the next thing that will fail, based on their experience, is the SCR and that should happen around 700k miles. I'm at 668k. The SCR is a spendy bugger to say the least. So will I put on 40k miles over the next few years? Maybe not. This truck performs so well now. A pleasure to drive. Travel day tomorrow from where we are outside Albq. to the Petrified Forest for a few days. Then on to Phoenix for 2 weeks.

Bought the sensors thru eBay as I recall. I can't let let this go. Calling dlr service departments I trust for research.

It looks like the NOx sensors (aftermarket) are causing issues. Has thrown 190 errors since the computer was cleared in July. Sensors have been in the truck since July last year. Still not convinced that this is the problem. More like service does not like them & want to sell factory....and they are charging me $250 core charge because they can't return them for Re-man. Not sure that's legit. So out the door...$2500. Parts, 4hrs labor, tax, core charge, regen included.

Just got back from the volvo dlr here in Albuquerque. Computer points to the SCR. Ugh. Spendy part. The service writer confirms what we mostly know, bad DEF is rarely the issue. "Typically some sensors get out of whack and all the computer knows how to respond is bad DEF." He also felt that the SCR failure is a bit premature in his experience. Truck goes in first thing tomorrow for the tech to prove further. A hard/hot regen might fix it....for now.

That didn't fix it. Now in full derate. Unplugging the speed sensor for now. Then taking it for a run. Maybe try the regen again after.

Ya, inspection. It was a contentious purchase with Rush. Not much got done that should have. I think I'm gonna buy a code resetter. Not sure which one yet. Re-gen in progress. Fingers crossed.

Replaced the DEF filter. Not sure how long it's been in there but obviously...too long.

Changed the DEF filter. Ugh. It was way past dirty.

The RVTravel fix is for Cummins engines. Mine is a volvo. Not sure that will work. But I am going to start cheap... replacing the DEF filter. Found one at a local NAPA store. Easy replacement location. I'm not sure what has been done with this truck by the past owner, as far as annual maintenance. The dealership I bought it from threw out all the records left in the truck. So, we'll start with this filter and work our way to the spendy stuff.

Where's the sensor? Def tank?

Got a dash message..." DEF system detects bad DEF. Derate in 60 min." I ran it to the the next town and did a parked Re-gen. New message is "120 min to de-rate". Got to the campground in an hour so I have time on the de-rate clock. Soot level is between 2 and 3. DEF was purchased from a Volvo dlr in June 23, 2021. I have a half DEF tank left. Does this stuff have a shelf life in the truck tank? Otherwise, I need some help on this one. I'm in Bernalillo, New Mexico, west of Albq. Thanks

Local tire place tore one of mine up on the machine a month ago. They had to get a new one from MB directly. Took a week.

New update.... The folks at InstaConnect are wonderful. Customer support is outstanding. They got back to me in 24 hrs. They even did a screen cast video explaining what to look for and tips to fix the issue. Wow! We've moved from that location to a much better AT&T signal spot. I still have a sneaking hunch that AT&T are intentionally throttling streaming when they sense it. Maybe there's a setting in the router that I can do that would fake what the router is (more like a hot spot or cell phone)? Hmmmm.

Soooo, stability went to hell in a handbasket yesterday. Download speeds racked wildly from 2-cans-and-a-string speed, to 25 Mb in a matter of minutes. Signal strength keeps changing from 45% to 78%. Same tower. Same channels. Dug into the FAQs on InstyConnects site. Found that the firmware was a version behind. Upgraded that. Some things got better. Others, like download speeds and signal strength didn't. Not sure where the issue is. Major part is AT&T prepaid. Many are now complaining that they just have a messed up management system for their towers. And from what I am reading, a CEO who is clueless to manage their problems. Anyway, have a support ticket in the works with InstyConnect. They have been very helpful.

UPDATE: We're now in Bayfield, Colorado in a campground with a somewhat limited view to towers. Our T-mobile connection is useable so hot-spotting is working for most things. With the InstyConnect antenna on pole about 6' above the roof of the trailer, oriented NE to SW.... we get 65% signal strength. Change the antenna orientation 90 degrees and we get..... Lower the antenna 2' and the signal drops to 51% but the data rates go up. Now, I am experiencing the same issues with AT&T prepaid that other are. Randomly the data thru-put drops like a rock to unusable speeds. Their throttling makes no sense. As well, not sure if this is an AT&T issue or InstyConnect, but router boot times are loooooong to get a internet connection. Sometimes 15 min to get a full handshake with AT&T. My bet is on AT&T for the issue.

Thanks for the info. It was you review that helped me make the decision.

I would like a test as well. I'm still digging into the software side of things so I can't answer your question. My understanding is that right now, it does failover. However, Insty is hinting at further upgrades on the software/firmware side that might open this ability. So fired it up here in Fruita, Colorado. AT&T signal is strong so good base numbers for a hot signal. Connect speed test.... The system can lock to a tower manually or you can let the system roam towers looking for the better (less) traffic. I have it set in auto/roam.

I purchased the Insty Connect system (4G) and antenna (without the mount they offer). Over the next few posts I'll share my experiences. Spoiler alert... so far so good. Insty-Connect is a really small, new provider of Cell Data solutions for us RV'ers. The owners are part time RV'ers and really cleaver folks, seemingly thinking a bit outside the box. The purchase went without a hitch. Arrived promptly and well packaged. The included instructions are fairly good. Unfortunately written from the 'nothing will go wrong' perspective. For decades I have created instructions for stuff, so a bit sensitive to those that assume all will go well. One of the issues I had is with the power hard wiring pigtail included with the system. The instructions only mention using the 120v wall wort. The issue is with the included red and black leads from the pigtail. Which is the hot lead? Cars typically use red as B+, and RVs often use black. A quick note via their support web page got an answer in a day. And they are going to clarify that in the instructions and on the FAQ support page. Nice. Everything I needed was included in the box to mount the router in my chosen location (the cabinet above the toilet) which has a vent pipe chase through the floor to the basement. Easy cable run for power and the antenna cable. On the antenna cable... it's USB cable. I purchased the extra 15'er knowing I was going to use a temporary mast arrangement for the Angle Wing antenna. You are going to mount the antenna on the roof of your RV, the 15'er included with the kit will be fine. Note: they advise not going over the total 30' foot run unless you use a powered USB cable. They do not offer that but easily picked up on-line. The line power added to long USB cable runs keeps the signal from dropping. Why USB for the antenna connection? They put the cell modem in the antenna housing to cut line loss to the router. So the cell data functions are taken care of in the antenna, then the resulting data signal is sent via USB to the router. Stroke of genius I think. And you can upgrade the antenna or the modem without having to replace the whole system. I used a painters poll and some Harbor Freight suction cups to create a mast. . Works great. Fired the system up and followed the instructions. Everything went well. Just be ready for certain operations to take longer than quoted in the instructions..."this could take a minute or so." I will appear to be frozen at times. Grab a beverage and chill. The suggested updating of firmware takes the longest and seems to freeze. But it works fine. I purchased an AT&T data only plan ($55/mo for 100 gigs) sim. Although the folks at the store said it might now work because the literature says 'hot spots' and not explicitly modems/routers. IT worked fine. System found it, initialized the system and found the tower. I had the Angel wing antenna just laying in the RV basement (not ideal for sure) and the antenna had a darn good signal with good data rates. We're located in Salt Lake City by the way. I'm now on the road and will fire it up this week to do more testing. In a few weeks we will be in a more challenging location for cell service. More information and photos to come. NOTE: I have nothing to do with Insty-Connect other than as a customer. I looked at other solutions (PepWave was one) and decided to try the new guys on the block. Some technologies I wait for them to get the bugs out. Other stuff, I jump on when it's fairly new. Not always with good results but the ride is interesting at times.

Thanks. Locked, loaded and pulled out today for a few months.... Not done yet but road worthy. Loaded.... Bit of overhang.... Truck really likes the extra weight on the bed. Ride is nice. Turns out that we needed some cheater ramps to clear the front air dam on the Smart from hitting the ramps, and the break-angle on the truck bed. Stored them on the bed with a bracket I fab'd that threads into the bed. Thanks for all the help on this folks. When I get back to Salt Lake, the side skirts (water jet cut before we left) will get installed and painted. So next up... Fruita, Co (here now), Delta, Colorado, Durango, Co., Bernalillo, NM, Petrified Forest, Phoenix.....

Lids and struts now installed. The lock sets come today.

Bit of an update on the finishing touches to our bed build. Those openings in the rear top of the bed are now covered. The Drivers side is just a lid/door to cover the aux gas tank for the geni. The passengers side is a storage bin for air hose, extra water hose, extension cord, etc. Both will have gas lift struts to hold them up. When the water tight latches come in, I'll post photos of those. Rather a cleaver design... and lockable.

Finished fabricating the winch snatch block mount bar on the front of the smart. Came out nice I think. The bar mounts to the tow bar mounts the previous owner put on the car. One of the reasons we bought this one. Saved us a bit of money and a ton of time installing it. I'll be putting it to the test tonight when I pull the car up on the bed so I can mark were the wheel chalks will mount. Fortunately, the CanAm and the smart have the same width for 2 tires, so I just need to align and fabricate the mount locations for the Smarts other 2 tires. Oh, following the Dr Who theme where the truck is the 'Tartus', the Smart is the doctors trusty companion 'K-9'. Ya, a bit geeky... but what's a guy to do.

That would be interesting to know which ones. Not even sure how to search for that.

Ya. That would not come out well.