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Phone & Computer Aerials


Barra Pete 833

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I am after some advice on aerials. I plan to do the big lap in January 12. The advise I have been given is I need 2 aerials; 1 for the phone & 1 for the computer. My 2007 ATV2 does not any aerials. The installation of Next G aerials on either side of the awning seems a daunting and costly installation. Does any KOG have any advice for a solution around this situation.

Thanks Barra Pete 833

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G'Day Pete,

Firstly if you are going to do the big lap....good on you, we only got back from doing the same thing 8 months ago & I'm ready to go again.

You must be with Telstra when you are travelling.... that is if you want any coverage outside the big metero areas.

As far as your phone goes.... the latest style smartphones (iphone etc) will not accept an external aerial....dont know what sort of phone you have. I have one of the 'older' style ZTE phones looks like it came of the ark but it readially accepts the 'patch lead' which is connected to the external aerial on the Toyota & also the aerial we have mounted on the side of the van. I will have several more 'reception bars' than Wendys iphone that isnt connected to an external areial.

I can also use the same aerial for the modem on the computer either in the car or van. When it comes to computer modems you will have to have one that accepts an external aerial, my new Telstra express modem wont accept a patch lead yet my recently updated one would.

You certainly wouldnt need two aerials, I'm sure you could buy a splitter & connect two patch leads to one aerial. Do a bit of searching on the net also visit & talk to several phone shops ....get throughly confused & also hopefully you will get other good feedback from this post.

Have a great trip!!!!

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Hi Pete

Tony's advice is good - the only Next G Phone you can get these days with an external antenna connector is the ZTE ( Telstra Explorer)

If you want to use BOTH AT THE SAME TIME - then you will need to make some arrangements for either a second antenna or the splitte - most splitters lose around 3 dBi - so your signal will be degraded to both devices - this can make a difference when you are a way from the Mobile phone Tranmitters.

you may have an antenna / car kit on you rcar so your phone could work on this fopr your voice unless you need it in your van.

THere was a Netcomm modem ( a 7.2 Mbps ) devie that could handle both Phone ( voice ) connectivity as well as data ( WiFi ) for your PC - this may be an option for you - either to use your SIM from the voice phone with a data pack in the modem or with a separate SIM and voice + Data pack

you will need to watch the connectors - the antenna will usually terminate on an TNC connector ( I think) and you will want to get a patch lead that can come from this to your modem / and or phone

the phone and data card will most probably be different so you will need one for each - best advice is from stores who install car kits ./ CB radios

Your nearest Telstra shop - licensed or Telstra should be able to give you some advice on what they have.

if not come back to me and i will e mail you direct ( or phone you if that is better)

Regards

John

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Greetings Barra Pete.

Agree completely with the above.Telstra is the only carrier for remote area coverage.

I fitted a next G aerial on our XC mounted on a marine swivel mount just above the door so I could raise it standing on the step.I ran the cable into the van at the dinette to attach to the phone or modem.

On our new van we had an aerial fitted again above the door and a second one which was an option on the Saturn TV aerial. These were wired into the van and we have two connections on the wall at the dinette. The aerial in the tv aerial is not quite as strong as the one on the swivel but works well.

My advice from several aerial/lead specialists was that you could not split from one aerial to two devices but this may have changed

We run with the latest pre paid Telstra elite wireless modem ($129 with 3 gig trial for 3 months) with aerial connection and both our phones have aerial connection.

We have found that all Telstra phones (with aerial provision and there are a few mainly the tick phones) use the same patch leads so that is pretty handy.It all works well for us.

If you have any dramas with leads and you live near or are passing brissie try

Wincom

Unit 4/31 Kenworth PL Brendale

Matt is the man on 0411704391 ring before you go there as he is mobile for parts of the day.

He also supplies the adaptors and the marine mounts.

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Hi Pete,

I have a different setup to most everyone. Rather than a modem tied to my Laptop I have an Ericsson W35 NextG modem/access point which runs on 12v and is connected to my external NextG antenna, the sim card in the modem is a Telstra mobile cap with an attached data plan. The advantages I have are: All my devices, laptops, iPhones and iPads have WiFi internet access all round our van through the W35; I have a standard cordless phone connected to the W35 for phone calls in or out; I can connect a fax machine if I want.

Generally I leave the access point turned on as it uses very little power, signal strength is always higher than our iPhones, works a treat for us.

Good luck with it all.

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Hi Pete, we are also travelling around Australia in a topender, before we set off Kedron fitted a next "G" aerial(9db.) on a marine mount to the van.

The lead runs down to a single outlet at the dinette table from there we have two patch leads one which plugs directly into the Bigpond Telstra USB internet modem, check that it can accept an external aerial before purchasing,(one megabyte for app. $39.95 per month.)which we find adequate for general emails.

A second patch lead we had made can plug in and connects to a mobile phone which we purchased from a Telstra shop for $49-00 dollars that is not a typing error

I to found it hard to believe any worthwhile product from a telstra shop would sell for under $50-00. It is a Telstra "T 100" its an outright purchase no plans etc.

My sim card fits this phone (an old Nokia) and reception with the 3G aerial is great, if you want to use the Iphone sim you will need to have the little sim card adapter sold new with the Iphone.

Good luck Regards Mark and Simone

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Hi Barra Pete, Many of the newer type Next G phones can be connected to an external antenna by purchasing a BURY brand car kit, this kit has a passive connect type antenna couple which works very well, it has adaptors to suit nearly all new smart phones including I phone and Blackburry. The cradles may be interchanged if you upgrade to a newer phone. While the complete car kit enables you to charge your phone also, it is not necessary to connect it all if you just want the antenna feature.

Best to Google BURY as there are many kits available.

Once installed you can then set up the Iphone as a "wireless hot spot" and connect your PC via wireless (WiFi). Providing you have a data pac on your phone plan, this way you have both phone and Internet / email available on 1 antenna

If not the Next G wireless USB modem (blue one) has an external Next G antenna input and you would have received an adaptor plug when purchase so you can simply connect direct to the antenna plug

Hope this assists

Regards,

Bear Essentials (Pete)

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Hi Pete,

I'm in the process of setting my comms for the ATV2.

I had a Next 'G' aerial fitting during construction so I had Internet connectivity, and extend my Tx / Rx with the mobile.

Following Lisa's (Kedron) advice I contacted Matt at Wincom (phn. 0411704391) he knew what I required in the way of patch leads to suit my modem & mobile.

The parts are intransit as I type this reply.

I found them very responsive to my needs, informative, and pleasure to do businesss with. The cost for patch leads & cable were the best price out of three other companies.

Give Matt a call, it worked for me.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Gary

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Hi Pete,

under NO circumstances should you connect a wireless modem and a mobile phone at the same time using a splitter. The receivers of these devices are expecting to pick up very weak signals, in the order of micro Watts, while the transmitters will be sending many times that amount. With a splitter, it is possible for the high level transmitted signal of one device to swamp the receiver circuit of the other device, even though they use different frequencies. Additionally, a splitter will introduce a minimum of 6dB of loss into the circuit to each device from the antenna. 6dB is significant.

Better to use one antenna and if necessary, use a custom "tail" for each device that you wish to connect. (Rarely are the antenna plugs in modems and phones the same.) One end of the tails will be the same (the end that connects to the antenna), while the other end will have the plug that matches the device you wish to connect. You will only be able to use one device at a time.

As pointed out in an earlier post, it is now possible to get a single device that allows one device to provide both Internet and phone services using the one antenna. It would be worth looking into these but I suspect that they will require 240 Volts to operate, which will mean using an inverter or generator when bush camping.

Cheers

Russ

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Thanks everyone for your feedback from your experiences. It was a little confusing at the start but now I have a fair idea how to proceed & set up the communications. I live on the north side of Brisbane so I'll make contact with Matt from Wincom to help assist me further.

Thanks again, looking forward to meeting you on the road & feel part of the Kedron family.

Cheers Barra Pete

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