We are needing to find an alternative to the PCMCIA Mobile Routers we are using now and are looking into Mikrotik for a stable on the go solution. If you have any tips you are willing to share, please do. These are being placed in RV’s to allow for internet access while moving down the roadway. We hope to allow Mapping, GPS, Online Gaming and VoIP to utilize the access. Streaming of video isn’t really a necessity due to the CAP of data allowed.
My testing will be with Crickets 3G (72762) service. Currently I have the Huawei UM185C which is not in the http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Supported_Hardware list. However, the A600, EC1705 and UM175 are supported. The UM175 is no longer available to purchase from Cricket.
I will be needing assistance with mitigating the use of file share programs etc and implementing Caching to allow for better data efficiency.
My biggest concern is with keeping the USB 3G device connected to the provider as consistently as possible while travelling down the highway.
We have done this with a MT411U with a Sierra Wireless 3G card onboard. Not USB as this was not as reliable in our tests.
We had an external mounted indoor 3G antenna attached to the Sierra Wireless 3G card.
We placed it on a London train going to Manchester and at +100mph we created a wifi hotspot and surfed the web via my laptop 2 and a half carriages away.
Other passengers tried to connect too and we turned on the trial button for them on the hotspot.
I also had a full PPtP connection running and the dude server in Ireland was monitoring the routerboard too via the VPN.
I have used 411U in car with 12 volt system, powered from cigarette lighter connector. Sometimes starting car causes such big drop in voltage that board will boot. Maybe I should get new battery to car. Otherwise I don’t have had problems using it in car.
What comes to 3G, I have only tested with unreliable huawei e160e usb 3g modem. And now seeking solution to replace that with more reliable mini pcie card. That threat is in hw forum.
With huawei I would not guarantee anything. My huawei sometimes freezes when it should roam from 3g station to next 3g station. Have tried it with external antenna and got little better signal, but that don’t help with problems with that stick. But in stationary it somehow works in home use.
Connection quality is likely depended how reliable modem is and antenna. So this is what I have got with that unreliable huawei. With good 3G signal I have had acceptable results for web surfing, but latency and jitter will change much while moving down 60 mph. And when connection drops to edge or gprs it will be quite slow. And some hills and tunnels will cause drops to connection and middle of nowhere it won’t get signal at all. So at least my modem is not good for gaming or VoIP when moving and if you get lost in middle of nowhere it wont be good for maps either. Receiver in huawei is not as sensitive as mobile phones, so it drops from network faster than normal phone. That is my experience.
But results could be much better with good modem and antenna as interpoint writes.
I could report more when I firstly find mpcie card that supports 900 and 2100 MHz 3G bands and is supported with ROS.
Thank you both so much for the information.
It sounds like using the “sim card” is better managed by the ROS. We were looking at the usb device for the ability to swap out due to 5GB tranfer limits and coverage by different companies in different areas. We are making the assumption that most Motor Coaches stay to the larger roadways, which have better cellular coverage. We have purchased two of the 3G hot spot boxes from Titanwirelessonline.com and have picked up the U598 and U760 from Sprint to test on two Motor Coaches. One is Sierra Wireless the other Novetel, however, both have the Qualcomm chipsets I believe. We will be using an external antenna as well to try to achieve a more reliable and constant signal. I will also post our experiences here after our two weeks of testing.
Thank you again.
Sorry for bringing up old topic, but I am very interested in this topic. Maybe the original post owner will answer me, or if someone has also experience in this I would appreciate it.
What 3G card did you use? What antenna did you use? How did you power the routerboard and how long was the cable to antenna?
Sorry for bringing up old topic, but I am very interested in this topic. Maybe the original post owner will answer me, or if someone has also experience in this I would appreciate it.
What 3G card did you use? What antenna did you use? How did you power the routerboard and how long was the cable to antenna?
Hi, I powered the routerboard from the 220v powersupply on the train using the normal 12v transformer.
I used a 3G external magnetic antenna. I am not sure of the model
The cable for the antenna was 1 meter long
The 3G card that I used was made by Sienna
To be honest the tech has moved along way since the days when I posted above. MT has made many improvements and will work with many USB based 3G modems and also LTE wireless now.