WiFi for Caravan, Motorhome, or Camper - Is It Worth It?

Avtex WiFi unit for Caravans and Motorhomes
Price (not including installation): Prima Leisure - £349.99, Caravan & Motorhome Club Shop (members only) - £332.49
The following info is from the Prima Leisure (primaleisure.com) website:
Exclusive FREE SIM card and data package
Avtex offers an exclusive and truly flexible O2 data package. Designed for touring, the data package gives you the control to easily switch between UK and EU tariffs, or when you’re not travelling, you can pay a ‘parking fee’ that keeps your SIM live, ready to reactivate when you set off again without the hassle of signing up again! However, the unit is unlocked, so you can use it with a SIM from any network.
Unlimited UK data - £24.99
50 European data - £34.99
Parking fee - £3.49
*For ultimate control and flexibility, tariffs are on a simple30-day rolling subscription and easily switched.
*EU Roaming must be purchased before travelling to the EU
5G ready, but can operate of 3G/4G
Dual unlocked sim slots
Dedicated phone line and remote access support 7 days a week [Avtex offers free one-year dedicated telephone and remote access support to ensure hassle-free internet browsing and data streaming in your caravan or motorhome]
• Reliable 3G, 4G, 5G
• Secure with multiple VPN services, embedded firewall and various encryption protocols.
• Advanced - supports up to 100 devices with the latest in mobile internet technology.
• High gain 5G ready antenna.
• Dual SIM slots unlocked to any network for ultimate connectivity and cheaper roaming data abroad.
• Flexible 12 V / 24V
• High speed 4G LTE Cat 4 router with speeds up to 150 Mbps.
• 4x Ethernet ports to enable connection to TVs and laptops.
• Works in motion when travelling, or stationary.
• 19cm antenna diameter
• 1 metre cable
• Simple fixing with just a single drill hole and locking bolt
Installation
The unit is easy to fit and is installed on the vehicle roof with a single drill hole and locking bolt. The compact router is fitted inside. Please be aware the unit must be fitted by a manufacturer-approved retailer or service centre to maintain the warranty on your caravan or motorhome bodyshell.
• FREE SIM card included in the box.
• Unlimited UK Data.
• No Contract - just monthly payments that you can cancel anytime.
• 3 Flexible Tariffs - switch easily to the tariff that suits you best:
o UK Unlimited Data - just £24.99 a month.
o EU 50Gb Roaming Data - just £34.99 a month.
o Holding Tariff - £3.49 a month puts your SIM on hold and ready to reactivate with instant live data, without the hassle of signing up again.
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[@kenlane6636]

Found to be very helpful as we are looking to purchase same unit, having been left in the lurch on so many CAMC and CC sites. Thanks,

[@peterlethbridge7859]

word of caution: If you are on a campsite with lots of other vans, there a very good chance that the local 4/5g post will get overloaded and your download speeds will drop considerably. This happened to me recently, ended up having to use Starlink instead

[@alexholmes3]

An interesting review. I will soon be adding a similar 4g antenna to the roof of my van and using alongside my mifi unit to give the van its own wifi system. I thought the avtex kit was different in some way, but still relies on a sim card package to operate. Its effectively an all branded glorified version of what myself and others have been doing for years.

[@hairywol]

I can see how it might be useful for families, with lots of streaming and lots of gaming, but for couples with decent phones and data, way too expensive.

[@magwich18]

I thought it’s only the antenna that is 5g ready not the router? When 5g is needed the router with the aerials will still need replacing?

[@caravanbatters]

In April we took delivery of our Bailey Unicorn 5 Cabrera and we had the Avtec fitted as a optional extra, we found it to be great the first few times we went away in UK, but in June we went to France for the first time in our caravan and we were most disappointed that the Wifi didn't work, we contacted the provider on their 7 day phone line and when they eventually got back to us they couldn't explain why it wasn't working, so refunded our payment (monthly costs). we go away to Europe again in September so looking for a new sim deal and keeping fingers crossed!! Have you used yours in Europe yet? Graham & Claire

[@laughs6785]

Good advise mate . Just a bit long winded and stating a lot of basic facts. best cutting to the chase in the future and your subscriptions will rise.

[@MrG.42]

How did you get on with the system while on IOW? An update would be very interesting.

[@TinTent]

It continued to work on the IOW, which surprised me. My EE phone never works and checking O2 coverage (the wifi box is on O2) on a map, phone signal seemed patchy at best. However, it found signal and worked for the duration of the long weekend, even allowing us to hotspot 9 phones - 5 of which belonged to our camping neighbours. It's worked really well at all the sites we've visited so far, but I'm determined to find a location where it won't work!

[@simonbaxter8001]

Never understood the benefit over using a mobile phone with unlimited data and tethering it for other devices in the caravan to use as a wifi hotspot! Done that now for 2 years and never had any issues. Not sure if we could justify the extra price tag of the wifi hub for the number of times we get out in the caravan, which only adds up to about 30/40 days a year. That's works out to be a big daily cost (when used), when I already have the capability in my pocket! I'm yet to be sold on this. Also, if the caravan is a fibreglass/foam construction, why do you need to mount the antenna outside on the roof? At 4G/5G frequencies, the signal loss through the caravan walls is negligible ... that then wouldn't affect your ingress warranty!

[@RubiRock1]

We have an EE dongle that has unlimited data for £25 per month it works everywhere

[@britsd6397]

I thought the same and asked when I was looking to take a contract with three for a mobile wifi router. The difference I was told is that using your phone as a hot spot means the phone has to share the bandwidth with data and any calls made or received from the phone at the same time, as you will know you can still use the phone when used as a hotspot. With a dedicated mobile mifi or router such as the Avtec, it uses the full bandwidth just for data and should in theory be better when using data.

[@simonbaxter8001]

@@britsd6397 The amount of bandwidth your phone uses for background tasks is insignificant compared to what you would use when using streaming data services. The only benefit you have with a dedicated MiFi device is that it has a more optimised antenna (so a much better signal to the network). Mobile phones have very compromised antennas due to their size! Plus a MiFi has more power available for transmission to the cell tower, so it can maintain higher speeds for longer (feel your phone after tethering and streaming a movie through it for a couple of hours!!!).

[@waynekirman]

Have you used it as a booster from the sites WiFi? If you use 2 sims does it aggregate the bandwidth? Also although the antenna is 5G comparable the router is not and an upgrade will be required when one becomes available.

[@boysinthebailey]

Great video, very helpful, thank you. We’re looking at getting this fitted to our 2022 Phoenix+ and wondered if your ‘van was “pre-wired”? If not, is the “pre-wiring” in the same location as shown on your video? Looking at the location of your antenna, that’s right where our solar panel is 😕

[@TinTent]

All 2022 Bailey models are pre-wired for wi-fi, but as my Phoenix 650 is older than this, it wasn't. I've just checked the wiring location with Bailey and I'm told that the wiring runs up the front offside of the caravan, finishing in line with the TV aerial that's on the nearside. Hope this helps, Lee

[@boysinthebailey]

Thank you so much @@TinTent! This is a massive help, all the information I needed and my fears of the solar panel being in the way have vanished! Have a great day 👍🏽

[@philipaldred8417]

I still don't really get it. If it works by using mobile data then surely it'll be the same strength as reliability as a hot-spot from your phone? I'm not being contrary, just want to understand, as we too sometimes get a bit sad with both site WiFi and site mobile data both being bad sometimes.

[@TinTent]

To be honest, my thoughts were exactly the same as yours. I’d been hot-spotting my phone for a number of years, signal permitting, and could see no reason why a dedicated WiFi unit would be any better. To date, I’ve yet to see it fail, even when my phone throws in the towel. Our last trip was to a busy site (only 3 pitches left out of 100+) and we still managed to stream a Netflix film. Bizarre

[@britsd6397]

Hi Philip. I thought the same and asked when I was looking to take a contract with three for a mobile wifi router. The difference I was told is that using your phone as a hot spot means the phone has to share the bandwidth with data and any calls made or received from the phone at the same time, as you will know you can still use the phone when used as a hotspot. With a dedicated mobile mifi or router such as the Avtec, it uses the full bandwidth just for data and should in theory be better when using data.

[@paulh1860]

Well it has a dock-off Ariel on the roof for starters

[@A___Way]

Since you showed the password on the device, change it to something you only know.