Johnynorthland

Update on the nighthawk; I did the install the way I explained it, installed a separate battery backup, removed the nighthawk’s battery, the nighthawk is plugged in all the time while camping. I run the Blink camera with no issues. When we travel I do a test and I leave the nighthawk running and I get 2.5-3 hours on the road while we travel using the battery backup this is while using the WiFi to run the camera, my iPhone using the Waze GPS app and my wife is constantly surfing and looking at campgrounds. Obviously all this can be done via our phone service, but it’s nice to know what I can do via my UPS only.

If you do this on solar make sure you install an automatic transfer switch to automatically start the generator once your batteries get depleted to the point where there is enough power to start the generator. I don’t have this type of setup yet because we made trade up in the next year or 2 and I don’t want to spend the money only to trade in or sell. I do have a mobile internet router and a Blink camera that monitors the temperature of my rig while my dog is left alone. I have it set to email me if temps get to low or to high. We are also thinking of a hide a key and posting our phone number in the event my dog needs to be rescued!

I have ATT business plan provide by Nomad internet. I have had it for 1 month and used it while traveling the east coast from Fl to PA with no issues as long as there is ATT service. We only encountered one area in the mountains of MD that was weak, but we still had service, just couldn’t stream videos. I have external MiMo antennas but have not installed them yet. I’m sure if I did I could have brought in a stronger signal but it was only a layover for the night.

That’s exactly what I wanted to do but with this device; Gosund Smart Power Strip Work with Alexa Google Home, Smart Plug WiFi Outlets Surge Prot... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TS2GZCJ/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_i_ugboFb... With The camera and a WiFi T stat maintaining a constant WiFi connection, it might drain the nighthawk battery quickly, I’ve read that if the nighthawk’s battery get low and you go to charge it, it can overheat and shut down the router. So by installing that smart power strip I can check the status of the battery and could figure out when the nighthawk needs to be charged and configure the outlet remotely to go on/of at those intervals. But then I thought in to it a bit further and thought; why not just remove the nighthawk’s battery, and use a separate battery backup. what do ya’s think I should do? Give the nighthawk’s battery a try first?

Thanks Hill Country, I already pulled the trigger on nomad internet. I’m a bit rushed since we will be full timing in 10 days! Hopefully it works out for us. i plan on using the router to monitor my dog when we are away from the rig with a wireless Blink camera and a WiFi thermostat. Does anyone have any experience with the Nighthawk using it this way? I plan on removing the nighthawk battery and use a UPS (battery backup/surge protector). I was going to use the Nighthawks battery with a WiFi enabled surge protector to cycle on periodically to charge the Nighthawks battery but I’ve been reading that it’s battery over heats and shuts down the router sometimes, so I think I’m better of removing its internal battery.

I know I follow Erick On his YouTube channel.. I did a bunch of research a few weeks ago. They seem to be pretty much on the up and up. I also look at this morning on the Better Business Bureau website, to complete, it seem like they were a big deal, I’m hopeful resolved properly. I do know can’t make everybody happy! So I pulled the trigger and Ordered the Netgear nighthawk with their service for $129 a month. I’ll report back once again after I’ve used it for a while.

Also if you need any great cell antennas or booster products you need to check out Hertzain Labs. They have an array of great products, but most importantly they are made in the good old US of A! And David Urbasic, president, was great to deal with. He seems more Interested on making great products through R&D than pushing a sale! john

Update; I was misled by ATT!, I spent 1:44 on the phone with them to ensure my mobile hotspot was unlimited, I even talked with a supervisor before placing my order. But it’s not! I discontinued service and will be sending back my router tomorrow! I was pretty upset, they gave me a $25 credit for my troubles ! Terrible misrepresentation of their services! so now I’m still on the hunt for a provider. I’m looking at one of those 3rd party venders/providers, like nomad internet. Does anyone have them as a provider? Or can anyone recommend anyone else?

Thanks Greg. what mobile router do you have? Also do you have any speed test results you can share. john

I just signed up for a supposedly unlimited hotspot plan with AT&T for $50 a month. I added it to my AT&T unlimited cell service account which has 3 phones with an unlimited plan. I received my mobile router, the Nighthawk M1, 2 days ago. After I set up the NightHawk it displays that I have a 5 GB Plan and shows my data remaining and the SIM card was suspended! I called AT&T yesterday to activate the sim and I complained that this is suppose to be an unlimited plan, and they assured me again, that it was an unlimited plan. I’ve rebooted the Nighthawk several times it still states I have a 5 GB plan! Going to the store sometime this week and if that’s not the case I am going to return it within that 14 day window! When I first called AT&T and set up this plan and added it to my account I spent 1 hour and 44 minutes on the phone with them, Having them ensure me that this was in fact an unlimited plan with no throttling. I did this because of the research I’ve been doing. I found that most of these service providers will throttle you down with high usage. AT&T told me with my plan they would never throttle me down due to my own personal high volume usage, however, their network, as a whole, may slow down due to high volume. I repeatedly asked the same question, I even held on the phone for 30 minutes Just to speak to a manager to double check this!. FRUSTRATING! I will give an update once I’ve found out what is really going on.

It’s my understanding that external antennas should only be use when you have little to no service. It could in-fact make you signal worse. In the case of the nighthawk, there are 4 in internal antennas, when you use the external antennas connections you drop down to two. It’s best to speed test, not go by bars, and most improvement of externals might be upload speeds. there is a “hack” on YouTube to connect the 4 internal antennas on the Nighthawk to four external antennas, (2 x 2 mimo). This would require a kit that you can buy on eBay, but it involves drilling through the Nighthawk case, (voiding its warranty), and installing 2 small jumper cables/connectors. I have not done this or know of anyone that has. But It looks intriguing to me.