The new “non-FMCA” WiFi device for RVers?


The new “non-FMCA” WiFi device for RVers?

Recall when business and residential areas were being dug up and “fiber” (fiber optic cabling) was being placed in the ground?  Often, for residential services (and to save money), the carrier would install only Fiber To The Curb (FTTC) where the actual connection into the house employs the existing coaxial cable that was already in place (often called “the last mile” … even though it may only be a few yards).  In my home’s case, power and communication lines are above ground, so I the installer went with Fiber To The Home (FTTH) with a box mounted outside my house at which the photons are converted to electrons for both data and cable-TV signals (and phone service, if needed).  The amplifier makes the needed bi-directional conversion and requires DC power to do so, thus there is an associated AC transformer and power-supply.  Sometimes in such home installations there is a battery providing “battery backup” that can power the “outside box” for up to 4 hours…allowing, for example, home phone service (still being call a “land line”) to function when grid power is temporarily down.  

In the business world, a network connection being functional “to the third digit” means that the larger carriers would promise “up time” of 99.999%, thus fiber was installed into the building of the business (virtually all of which are buried underground) to minimize the potential for communications failure.  

The point of this small history lesson is that a lot of investment was made in FTTC and FTTH throughout the ‘90s and early 2000s.  Guess what happened?  Wireless connectivity with high bandwidth or “broadband” (meaning: high throughput) is on the rise … even when those large carriers are still depreciating their Fiber-To-The-Whatever investments.  But wireless has yet to offer “third digit” reliability so there will be hybrid solutions for data, voice and TV communications for years to come.

For RVs, wireless is a given.  Of course, I’m referring to bi-directional communications here rather than just “cable TV” (unidirectional) that is offered by the campground.  Further limiting the scope of this write-up, I’ll reference 4G and 5G services and in particular, my recent experience with the wireless device offered to us FMCA members.

The T-Mobile data device that FMCA provided me was about the size of a pack of cigarettes and if I recall: “unlimited data”.  It had a 5-volt charger (similar to the device for charging cells phones) and the device had internal batteries that would last about 8 hours.  Such a small device is perfect for packing in a briefcase for the business traveler.  Sometimes us “IT” -guys would call these devices a “brick” … with this slang wording being a hold-over from years gone by when communication devices and/or their power supplies were about the size of a red brick.

As long as your rig is in range of a cell-tower that offers voice and data, the FMCA/T-Mobile device performed nicely for the two attached computers that Dale and I use frequently.  The “data” portion of “Voice & Data” continued to get better when T-Mobile purchased Sprint … and the integration of those two networks came to fruition.  Using our “brick”, email send/receive was quick, but web-surfing was not like that at home (recall: FTTH), but web pages painted nicely…much better than when using our T-Mobile phone’s Hot Spot function.  But the FMCA “brick” didn’t have the throughput to allow us to stream channels that we typically enjoyed back home: PBS, Disney+, Paramount+ … as examples.  On occasion, we found ourselves camping in rural areas where we had voice coverage but no data coverage.  And when you are really in the sticks:  neither voice nor data!

Alas, FMCA advised its users that, coming in July, the contract with T-Mobile was not being renewed…and that AT&T was the new contracted carrier (costing a bit more money).  The T-Mobile “brick” became just that:  dumb as a brick.  The FMCA “Tech Connect” group sent emails advising of this change along with an announcement at the GEAR.  Somehow, I missed all these notices and was surprised when my “brick” was no longer working in early August.

Now, camping near Panama City for a couple of weeks, I drove to a T-Mobile store and showed them my “brick” and asked how I might re-invoke its service.  Short answer: No.  The salesman relayed that the device was initially programmed under a particular contract (aka, FMCA) and that reconfiguring it might be possible but there might be a better way to proceed.  So my paragraphs were included above, hopefully conveying that technology is changing fast… 

The T-Mobile “brick” that I now have is about the size of two red bricks.  There are no internal batteries, so upon loss of AC power, the device is down until AC power resumes (boot-time is only about a minute).  Inverter power from the RV house batteries will solve that minor problem however.

The great news is that this new “brick” (to clarify:  It is a wireless cellular router and wireless WiFi device) has vastly better bandwidth.  Its 5G connection now lets us stream TV with no pauses.  Web-pages are lightning fast.  Data usage is advertised as “unlimited” … and I have not read the fine print in detail just yet, so there is the possibility of a throttling-back (slowdown) of throughput if you’re really hitting hard on this thing.  But we are not “gamers”, so I suspect that we won’t hit a cap (if indeed there is a cap).  More great news:  As senior citizens, this new “brick” costs just over $40/month and there was no start-up fee, and (I hope I am correct here) … no contract.

Set-up of the new “brick” was easy because the salesman installed a management app on my phone.  Further, I was told that when relocating, the new device would perform correctly at my new campground … as long as there was 4G or 5G coverage.  Another app was installed on my phone that allows me to configure the new “brick” and tell it about its new operating area (zip code, I guess).  I’ve not yet used this relocation app.  Story conclusion: I have more bandwidth for less money. Yeehaw. 

C.B. “Robi” Robison

 

 

p.s. 

(AT&T, Verizon, Cox and many others … some of which no longer exist due to mergers).  Remember MCI?

For some additional reading:  https://camperreport.com/rv-hotspot-plans/

  

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