Leakproof weBoost Drive 4G-X RV Flag Pole Installation

ISSUE WITH NORMAL RECOMMENDED INSTALL

Thanks for stopping by to check out our Leakproof weBoost Drive 4G-X RV Flag Pole Installation on our 21ft travel trailer. One of the main reasons we decided to go this route, might be a little surprising to some. We actually tried to do a dry test on the weBoost Drive 4G-X RV by just setting it up on our roof at various different places while visiting Acadia NP.

Every single location resulted in the dreaded blinking red light (meaning there was not enough separation between the internal and external antennas). We even tried mounting the weBoost external antenna to the top of our HD attenna, but yet again, still not enough separation.

I started digging through YouTube trying to find other solutions for people with the same issue, but most installations seemed to be on larger rigs…or they didn’t complain about the blinking red light. The few amazon reviews I found online described the same problem I was having, but their solution was to downgrade their internal antenna to the little bar which (from what I understand) doesn’t spread out the signal nearly as far within the RV.

This solution wouldn’t work for Deanna and myself as we work from different desks and can’t quite sit on top of one another (comfortably) in order to both be near the booster whilst on cellphones with work.

–FYI, this post will include various Amazon Affiliate Links (disclosure).

RESEARCH

I saw someone that had an idea online that seemed like it would work. They used a flag pole in order to avoid any possible obstruction that might be in the signal’s path. They used suction cups, placed the pole on the slide of their RV and fed the wire itself through the slide seal on their RV.

WeBoost actually came up with a similar design themselves recently, releasing the connect RV 65 model that utilizes a flagpole style external antenna paired with even strong internal and external antennas.

After looking at both of these solutions and seeing what our rig currently had, we came up with a game plan to install our own flag pole design with no drilling (ON TOP) of the RV required.

SOLUTION

Our solution was to use the flag pole method, but utilize a 2″ hitch receiver already install on our RV when we purchased it. The previous owners used to take their bikes along with them on the journey, but since we currently didn’t own any bikes, that 2″ receiver was just sitting there unused. By the way, I couldn’t find the specific hitch receiver that is currently on our trailer, but here is something similar if you are looking for one (can neither confirm or deny if this is a quality product):

If you don’t already have a 2″ hitch receiver on the RV itself, you can buy flagpoles you could either park on to stabilize, OR you could stick that flag pole mount under your front hitch (if you own a trailer) to stabilize it.

Example (can neither confirm or deny if this is a quality product):

We decided to go with our final design for a few reasons.

1) It wasn’t too expensive since I could buy a lot of parts at local hardware stores.
2) It was utilizing equipment that was already set up on our RV.
3) LEAKPROOF. If we drill up from the bottom of the RV and patch it with silicon…there is a lot lower chance for water damage compared to drilling upon the roof.
4) If we didn’t have enough separation between the external and internal antennas…get a bigger pole.
5) It is a module system, meaning we don’t have to put it up if we have good enough signal. We just use it where needed.

INSTALL

This isn’t a precise install guide as I’m sure many of you will have different setups. Between all the various types of RVs… Class A, B, C, Trailers, 5th Wheels, its not going to be a one size fits all solution.

ITEMS LIST:

Amazon Affiliate Links (disclosure)

We also bought:

1 1/2″ diameter PVC pipe (came in 10 ft long segments, we cut down to about 8 ft to fit in the back of our truck diagonally).
1 1/2″ diameter PVC cap
1 1/2″ diameter to larger diameter (somewhere between 2-3″) female to female PVC adapter

I’ll try to organize this in a step by step fashion on how we went about installing this setup, but keep in mind, we are NOT experts or currently affiliated with weBoost so use this  advice at your own discretion.  I’m sure drilling holes in your RV could also void certain warranties, so be careful to check those out prior to taking on any project like this yourself.

STEP BY STEP (mostly)

1) I had already tested our weBoost prior to this install…but obviously test to make sure the booster works in the first place.

2) After buying the supplies, we first mounted the Camco hitch mount on our 2″ receiver. (*Also requires a hitch pin which isn’t included with the flagpole mount).

3) We then measured how much PVC pipe we would need to raise up above everything as well as fit in the back of our truck for transportation.
4) To be fair, I actually had the nearby hardware store cut the pipe down to size for me as I’m sure they would do a better job than myself haha. For us 8 ft was the max that could fit in the back of the truck, so that was plan A. Luckily Plan A was all we needed.

5) Figuring out where to mount the weBoost was fairly easy for us since we had a little extra room on the plywood I used to install our solar charger on. Folks such as Technomadia suggest putting these in your ‘tech’ cabinet though which we would have if we had room for one.
6) I then did a rough measurement with the included cable to make sure we would have more than enough cable to reach from the top of the flag pole to where we were going to mount the booster.

7) After being fairly certain we were good on cable length,  I measured from above and below 2 separate drill hole points to make sure I wouldn’t run into any obstructions.

8) I then drilled two holes, both within the pass through storage. The first hole was from the pass through storage underneath the RV. The second was from within the pass through storage up into the cabin of the RV itself next to the mounting area.

If you follow this method, please be careful to watch out for wires or any other obstructions that could be in the way of your drill holes.  There are no take backs and it is slightly scary to do. So as always, measure multiple times, drill once in each spot as needed.

9) After drilling the holes I then ran the cable from the internal antenna to the booster itself.

10) We then tightened up the wire and secured it down to get it out of the way as possible leaving any slack we had towards the flagpole end of the wire. Between the included wire management systems in the weBoost kit and our velcro straps we bought from Amazon, we were able to organize the wires fairly well.

11) We filled the drill holes with the gorilla clear silicon solution that I also used on the solar install. Seems to hold up well and although difficult, you can still remove later on if needed.

12) At this point you are pretty much done with the main install and just need to cable manage as necessary.

13) I wasn’t satisfied with how the pole sat in the flag pole mount and I wanted to add another layer of waterproofing to prevent rust on the flagpole holder itself. That is where I added the female to female PVC adapter to act as a water barrier as well as a stabilizer in higher winds.

A file worked well to grind off the stopper within the female PVC adapter itself so the PVC pipe would slide all the way through. A little hitch grease on the pipe itself helped slide it through the adapter up to where I needed it to stop. Using a rubber mallet I sped up the process and avoid damaging the pole.

14) I also added a small layer of that same gorilla clear silicon sealant around the connecting female PVC adapter to prevent any water from leaking through the cracks.

15) For more stabilization, I stuffed some foam insulation on the flagpole itself and wrapped with duct tape to keep the pole from bouncing around. I’m sure there are better methods of doing this, but this has worked well for the month we have used it thus far.

This was just OUR install, but we wanted to offer this information out there to anyone else that might be needing a similar solution. Let me know in the comments below or within the YouTube comments if you have any questions and I will try my best to answer!

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Also be sure to check out Deanna’s food blog when you get the chance! A lot of awesome and healthy recipes to use there!

Adventure On!