I am ordering this thru Amazon for $299. Question: What heavy duty Velcro did you use to mount in the front closet? Great location for modem to be able to log into while on the road and have the variety of coverages. Thanks for the video post on this product.
@@kjnichols1327@kjnichols1327 pretty much plug and play. Only if you want to customize things like the SSID name or set up the Wi-Fi forwarding, then there's some setup involved.
One thing, and this may not yet have been available when this video was produced, is that Travlfi now offers an unlimited data plan for $128/month. This paid off great when we were on an extended trip this past summer in which we were using a lot of data for us, grandkids, etc. and would have had to call to update our plan otherwise when we ran out of data. And we were using the Travlfi hotspot with great results. Very pleased.
Great points, agreed. I think it's especially useful for folks that don't need data all 12 months out of the year, or have varying needs each month and don't want to pay the premium price for a competitor like starlink.
I use about 500 gigs per month on my $55 Verizon dealer line. A couple times I put on over 1 TB (1,000 GB) and worked fine, all at high speeds. Watching 4K videos eats up hundreds of gigs per month.
For anyone interested, we ran out of data this weekend before our plan renewed. I wasn't for sure what would happen, but when it's gone it stops. I didn't know if it would do that, or reduce your speed like your cell phone does. However, calling TravlFI was painless, and they let us pro rate to the next tier for the remainder of our cycle. Still impressed with the setup...
Travelfi is right here in Rochester Minnesota. Amazing customer service professionals. I ordered this and drove right here and picked up same day. This router seems to have great range. Then I have a Omni directional antenna out on my ladder if we are really deep in the woods. And our starlink never works here in Minnesota. We have lots a beautiful trees in all our parks. And trees are kryptonite to satellites services. This is best options we found .
I purchased the journey XTR last week. I also purchased Starlink. Unfortunately, the Starlink does not work where I live full-time, which is at a campground. I am under a ton of trees and I can’t get any reception. I will say the journey XTR is an awesome Wi-Fi extender. I just got a new job and I needed a router with Wi-Fi and it’s very fast where I live. Great video. Thank you.
I just received my travlfi journey, and I am Loving it! Im I a deep canyon. I can’t get cell service here. I’ve tried a booster, but still couldn’t get a signal of any cell service. I have to walk a half mile to get one bar. Otherwise I’m I SOS mode. Since I installed the journey, I’m getting 3 bars, and high speed internet. I’m very impressed. It make wish I would have done this earlier.
I just bought the small unit for our motorhome. We only need it for email and some web browsing on weekend trips. I spoke to Colin at the company and he was an enjoyable person talk with. I’m so glad you recommended this. We had a cobbled together expensive mess with an att hotspot, a Verizon hotspot and our cell phones combined data of 40 gb. I will reduce my bills by over $100. It literally paid for itself in the first two month. ❤
@@AdventureRockswell there are a couple things to report back about the TravlFi model. It has much much slower connectivity than yours. However I had to test it with an iPhone 14 not a computer. Regardless I never got better than 10 mbps. We bought it for navigation connectivity not necessarily for actual downloading anything. We ran into a problem or two. First, it cannot be used particularly on a Wi-Fi iPad since it’s not a real tower to triangulate off. The iPhone can pinpoint location well. It seems that the phone and the iPad should sync location but they do not. I contacted the manufacturer about this and of course they blamed it on Apple. But I was able to figure the cloud based server vs a real physical cell phone tower. And I disconnected my phone from it. It worked just fine as long as we were in T-Mobile range, and then it roamed to ATT. As for the TravlFi speeds were dismal. At a sporting event it was in the rv and basically useless. The woman who I emailed told me to put it near a window. I tried to tell her it was on a picnic table but she wasn’t hearing that. Another issue I found with this smaller device is that the SSID and password cannot be changed despite them telling me it could be. Once we were stationary I could read and reply to email on my iPad. I believe part of the difference I experienced was my phone is 5G and the travlFi is not. I’m going to hold off on buying an upgraded system until I can get one with 5G capabilities. That said, it was very reasonably priced and very easy to use. It’s very small - about the size of an English muffin albeit a bit squarer. And charges fast. I’m pleased with most aspects of it, but definitely do not like the customer service people nor the fact that I was told I could change the SSID to something I can remember and get correct on the first try!
@@longgone2023 Thanks for reporting back. Yes, you can actually change the SSID...it is kinda burried in the settings on router, but I keep mine changed along with password. Only downside is if you reset the settings, then of course you'll have to re-change the SSID name again. They might have told you no on the SSID due to that latter functionality as the SSID name is only temporary in that case until you reset the settings...if you do that frequently at least.
@@AdventureRocks well I am sure the big brother model is more robust in all aspects. And I just found out our new Brinkley has the Winegard 360 + that supports 5G. I’m jazzed over that! We wanted a Pinnacle so badly but just too big for our truck. And not really as state park friendly as the little Brinkley. Thanks fo the heads up on the SSID. It’s possible it’s not available on the small model. But at the price it’s pretty much a good little gadget despite its limitations. We have a F250 and it’s going to live in the truck. I’m not thrilled with the Ford navigation system - I’ve used iPhones since they first came out. Over 20 yrs!
Thank you SO much for this information! I spent quite a bit of time investigating what to use for internet in our new RV. Was originally thinking StarLink, but it is cost prohibitive. I purchased TravlFi and set it up after watching this and reading the comments. Will be testing this out this weekend in a moving vehicle and on-site at a campground. I am a remote worker, so consistent, reliable internet is a requirement.
I hear you! Yes, I am in same boat and need reliable internet for work. There's a lot of factors involved doing internet over 4G, but for me I still think the XTR has the best overall balance between cost, reliability, and features. It can take a little tinkering initially figuring out all the settings and such, but I'm still very happy with it. If you find your signal isn't great at your campsite upon arrival you can use the travlfi.com/portal to change the carrier and try another if needed (you'll need internet on your phone for that part). Usually though it seems to do a good job picking best carrier. Hope it works great for you too.
As long as you stay out of really congested areas it’s great for browsing and email. I used mine while moving to do some genealogy research and it was good enough to open my 35K+ person ancestry tree. It did not do well at a busy sports event that saturated all the towers and it did not work well up in remote parts of Lassen county where I was dropped down to 3G.
After having ours for about 3 months, I can say that it is the best we've ever used. We have been locked into Verizon, AT&T, and TMobile, and sometimes multiples in the same day. Ironically, we generally see the fastest speeds when we are on TM. Hit about 125Mb down at Lake of the Ozarks on TM!! I would recommend this solution!!
@@BillAnt I don't disagree with TM, and that's what we have at home. But the beauty of this modem is that it can pick up TM, ATT, and Verizon on ONE device for one monthly price. It picks the best provider for wherever you're located, and at the end of the day, there are spots in the US where TM is just simply is a terrible choice .
@@darrinhiebert- Yes of course, no carrier is perfect in all locations. This TravlFi is similar to Google's Fi service which uses both Tmobile and Verizon, though not ATT.
We got the travel Fi journey 1 and love it. The only issue I found was it can only connect 5 devices at a time. I solved that with a WiFi extender and it works great. We never use more that five at once but having to disconnect devices all the time was annoying. With everyone in the family having a iPad and a cell phone plus your tv, videos games etc your 5 devices fills up fast.
Great point. XTR doesn't seem to have connectivity limits, or at least they are high enough that it doesn't impact typical users. XTR performs much more like a typical router you'd find in a house.
Interesting commercial. I went with a pep Wave router which allows for multiple SIM cards or virtual sims and two carriers can be used at the same time for redundancy or failover. This does seem like a decent enough product for entry level and those not needing much speed.
Peps are great for both simple failover or channel-boding, though the latter required an additional monthly server fee on top of the carrier fee to combine the speed of two carriers.
Great Info, helped Me make up my mind on which way to go now that I'm retired and ready to take to the Road. This should be perfect as I've looked into it and was looking for a good review and this is it! SOLD! lol Thanks for the great Review.. Subbed.. 👍👍🤠
I just recently did some research on Reddit and Amazon and see that there is a rising amount of customer dissatisfaction with this Travlfi product. Verizon seems to be omitted from the provider choices and customer service is horrible to non existent with long wait times. I like your review on this and almost made a purchase but decided against it. I'm a new subscriber and have been trying to find a good fit while on the road only a few weeks/year. Wish this was the one but I'll continue checking out other options.
Btw I think TravlFi has gotten a surge of new customers in the last quarter, so I'd imagine they are rapidly adjusting to build out those resources. They seem to be VERY customer focused and wanting to offer the best service possible, so the long waits and such may just be a temporary thing as they adjust. No Internet is perfect, but I have been using it for several months now and still think it is the best overall solution, especially with the access to 3 carriers.
Great video, one of the few video’s about Travlfi that goes beyond just the basics of what you can find on their website. Curious if you ever connected your XTR to the WInegard Air 360+ and used the roof top antenna to see if it improved your signal.
You know, I never got around to trying to map to the Winegard antenna as I was so pleased with the reception with just the built in antennas. I can only imagine it getting better though if you were in an extreme situation.
Great video on the XTR 4g. We realized right before we went to buy it online that this review is a year old and they now have a 5g model. Would you recommend it now or stick with the 4g. We need it for working remotely and connecting to our home server by VPN.
We have the Winegard in our Alliance but I never set it up or purchased the gateway because it is very old technology. It's a CAT 4 modem that doesn't have carrier aggregation meaning it can only connect to 1 transmitter at a time. I suspect that technology will become useless in a few short years. The XTR is a CAT 7 class modem which does have 2x2 MIMO, allowing it to connect to 2 transmitters/channels at once so I was surprised to see very little difference between the 2 gateways. In my mind, the minimal improvement is not worth the $299 price tag. And since there are CAT 16 or higher modem/routers for comparable prices, I would definitely look elsewhere for hardware. There is a convenience factor in using multiple carriers but swapping sim cards isn't that time consuming.
Great points. For some reason the Winegard was super glitchy for me, plauged by poor software in my opinion. It was glitchy to the point that even if I had a good 4G signal, the router/software on the Winegard would freeze and require frequent reboots. The JourneyXTR has worked near flawlessly for me over the last year, and the ability to switch carriers on the fly is a lifesaver, especially when you're at a remote campsite where your go-to carrier (cell phone) doesn't have service. Keeping up with multiple pre-paid SIMs is challenging and re-activing when they are dormant can be very time consuming they way they recycle phone numbers. So all that to say the JourneyXTR has been great for a weekend warrior like myself.
How did you get it to lock onto the different carriers? I haven't found that screen. I did a scan, and that got me AT&T, but I didn't set it, it did it automatically.
Results at the house: Verizon - 1.5M AT&T - 22M T-Mobile 27M About what I expected. We have Verizon phones, but have TM for home Internet, and have had AT&T previously. TM has been the fastest home Internet. Will see what happens at the lake. That is a weak Internet zone.
Great review. I bought the same unit -working great but wondering how you manually changed cell providers. I can do a scan but I can't find the option to manually change from one to another. I have gone through the menus on the admin panel and read the manual. Maybe I am just missing it.
Great question. It's been almost a year now. The biggest challenge I find is typically my closest cell tower and its capacity/signal strength if I'm camping remote. If the tower has limited bandwidth for 3rd party customers like myself, then the speed may be closer to the 2-3Mbps range...still enough for email and web, just a little slower. I think carriers sometimes prioritize THEIR customers first and downgrade the speed for 3rd parties or MVNOs. Still I keep going back to fact I have 3 carriers with possibilities at least. For a weekend warrior like myself it's still the ideal solution for me between only paying for it when I need it, and having the increased reception compared to just my phone. And the hardware itself is solid.
@@AdventureRocks thanks for the response. I just ordered one and like you am a weekend warrior. I don’t have a Winegard antenna so I may try the Travilfi external antenna down the road, it’s fairly inexpensive compared to other external antennas. ($129)
@@jeffboswell6620 Glad to hear. I've always been impressed with TravlFi team themselves. They genuinely seem interested in improving the product and getting feedback, and they are super friendly team. Nothing is perfect, but it's still my go-to for reliable internet when I need it.
Have you had a chance to connect the Travelfi XTR to the Winegard 360+ antenna? I am waiting for my Travelfi XTR to arrive and would like to connect it to my Winegard 360+. Just wondering if you did that and what were your results. If you haven't, what antenna adapters would I need. I saw in your video the difference in the antenna connectors. Great video and thank you for any other information you can provide.
Thank you. I did not get around to connecting the Winegard. Basically my reception with the supplied antennas has been so good, I haven't needed to. But, there's still a part of me curious how much better/stronger it could be if one were to try. I believe they are std connectors so probably just a matter of searching Amazon for the right adapters.
Excellent review - found this a while back but I need to know the UPLOAD speeds as well as the DOWNLOAD speeds -- could you publish those results here? Thanks.... will subscribe and "wait", lol!
Thank you. I've found the upload speeds vary, but typically less than download. Sometimes upload will be 1/4 download or even 1/8, but right now where I'm at I'm getting 40Mbps download and 25 upload. Definitely one of the better results as I'm pretty close to a tower. I'd say if you need a reliable and faster upload speed, you're probably going to have to look more at a starlink solution.
I'm a happy TravlFi customer, but I noticed the XTRs upload speed was significantly slower than the Winegard. Winegard was a little slower on download. But both are important for use, so I'm not sure that the XTR was a clear winner here. Did you ever successfully connect the Winegard antenna to the XTR?
I did not try antenna mod. I think the slower upload was due to carrier/tower limiting speed perhaps. I've noticed that since XTR is basically a secondary customer/reseller through Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, the carriers may limit speeds to the secondary customers and pioritize their own customers' speeds first. Basically when there is limited bandwidth, the carriers have QoS in place to deliver the best service to their own customers and then what's left goes to the secondary providers...my theory at least :)
Thanks @@AdventureRocks ! Yes, I agree, I love TravlFi, I've always been able to connect, but it is never super speedy. But almost always good enough. I may try the antenna mod, would love to be able to make use of that rooftop antenna. Do you think the exterior cables would have to thread in where the paddles are now? Thanks again, enjoyed the review.
@@mschmeetsYes, I believe so on the ports for the LTE only is where you'll connect. You'll have to report back and let us know how it goes. I'm really happy with the TravlFi XTR for my needs too. I think you're right...it may not be as fast as Starlink or a dedicated carrier-locked hotspot, but for folks like me that are infrequent and just need reliable and quick access only select weeks/months out of year it's a nice match at a great price point.
I live in the forest in the Netherlands, I have T-Mobile unlimited 5G for 35 euros a month, down 800 mbs up 400mbs, I tether my PC to it sometimes, thru my phone USB tethering, my home wifi KPN netherlands is 80mb down and 25 up speed. all of the Netherlands has 5G coverage .. of course we are a small country but most of europe is now 5G
No, but my understanding is the concept and interface is very similar, but the signal strength is naturally less given the absence of external and larger antennas. The journey1 is kind of neat with the built-in battery making it completely portable.
Questions... 1) If in a campground providing WIFI internet where cell coverage is non-existant, can the router be configured to connect to the campground WIFI? 2) If the answer to #1 is YES, will the router chose the fastest of cell and park WIFI? 3) Will data be sent via only the strongest and or fastest cell or will the data be parsed between more than one carrier?
I think if I understand, you're asking about a fall back feature. Short answer is yes, router does have a fall back built-in, but I believe it only works when you're connected to hard wired LAN going into the router for Internet source and if that fails, and then 4G would be backup Internet to your devices connected via WiFi. So, if I'm understanding your question, that function would take place only with if you were primarily plugged in by hardwired cable at campsite to router and that hardwired connection failed...then it'd fall back to the 4G. I haven't tried it, but I believe that's how it works. The WiFi repeating function is an entirely separate though, so when it's repeating or extending the campground WiFi the 4G is not accessible. It'd be pretty neat though if all those functions were tied together like you mentioned at the end where the router could seamlessly keep the internet connection alive and use parameters such as the fastest connection or cheapest data connection and so forth. Maybe something in the future!
It does a pretty good job of determining that for you behind the scenes automatically. But, if you want to change it manually you can do so in the online portal or by calling in. If you run a speed test.net it'll show which carrier you're connected to if unsure.
I have a question could you be driving your truck from a fifth wheel and still get wireless service from this device and also what is the yellow cord for?
Yes, as long as you have cellular service where you're driving, it's similar to talking on the phone and driving along the interstate where your call gets transferred from Tower to tower. As you know, sometimes there are glitches and it cuts in and out in that handoff, but it would be a similar experience with the data. There are ethernet ports on the router as well if you wanted to plug in to a hardwired connection in the park. Or connect a laptop via hardwired.
@@jonsmith527 I found I didn't need any additional antennas as it pulled in great signal with built-in. I suppose there are extreme situations where it may help, but I'm with you totally as far as weighing the cost vs benefit...just a personal decision in the end I suppose.
Thanks for the great review. We are considering the JourneyXTR but I have heard there are some software issues with it automatically finding the strongest carrier signal. Have you experienced this? I know you can manually switch carriers via the portal but that isn't ideal.
The challenge is the strongest signal is not always the fastest signal. And sometimes the fastest signal one day is not the fastest signal the next day. A tower can be congested and have a good signal, but a slow speed. So what I found is I can identify the best myself better by trying each one, and that's the beauty of the system is that it lets you choose which one of the three networks to lock onto if you're not satisfied with the default. I typically let it lock onto the default first, and if I'm not satisfied with the speed then I'll switch to one of the other two. I think it's strongest selling point is that you can switch among the big three seamlessly without having separate data plans. It gives me a lot of assurance that no matter where I go I'll have at least one carrier that'll have a decent signal.
@@markkepley4131 I don't believe so, not yet at least. I just toggle back and forth in browser windows to speedtest.net. Usually I find changing carriers takes about 1-3 min or so. It's always tricky discerning where the bottleneck is, as sometimes it's the signal strength, other times the tower is congested. So far T-Mobile and AT&T have been fastest for me, though Verizon sometimes has stronger signals overall.
No one ever reviews the range of these devices. So how far away can you be from the device and still have acceptable speed? I did see the spec sheet on the one you reviewed and it says 50m, so is that realistic?
Great question. In summary you'll find the WiFi trasmission about same as any other basic WiFi router, so the 50m is indeed accurate for max range with a minimal signal. My tests were done at about 30 ft from the router on my laptop btw. Because my laptop has good WiFi reception, I'd speculate I could get full bars at about 40-50 ft of router on laptop, then as I go further out I'd lose bars on WiFi strength and bottom out around 150 ft likely. The 5G is of coruse weaker compared to 2.4G. If you're using a cell phone via WiFi, the reception is usually half as good as a laptop...just an estimate. But in real world use in an RV, WiFi reception will be strong throughout coach and even accessible in your neighbor's RV, maybe going 2-3 on both sides, weaker as it branches out further.
I've gotten as good, if not better reception using the supplied antennas compared to winegard. Maybe try first without and see if you need more signal?
I hear you saying that you’re setting up the journeys to run with Verizon then you’re setting up the journey to run with AT&T, is there a way you set it up where it just chooses which carrier is sending out the best signal to use?
Yes, by default it'll choose the best out of the 3. But, if you go into the portal (travlfi.com/portal) you can pick one of the 3 specifically. Usually I just let it pick automatically. Once in a while I'll try another if the current is congested or not performing.
I'm a newbie full-time RVer. Would I need to keep my current cell phone data plan to use my phone when I'm out and about away from my campsite? Also, the Amazon reviews aren't so great. Why would that be?
Correct on keeping separate plan for your cell phone. RV Internet is a very passionate subject among RVers and the reliability of mobile Internet has a lot to do with reception at a given campsite. All that to say I think a lot of times the negative reviews and complaints may be more geared at the carriers (cell towers) and weak reception issues. It takes a lot to get Internet from point a to b so kinda have to appreciate that first and understand what goes on behind the scenes. Big selling points on the TravlFi include the access to three big carriers and reasonable data plans. It's still my go-to choice personally.
@@marykennelly6843 No, if you have zero bars you will not get any service regardless of phone or device. But, if you have at least 1 bar or higher, then you will get service. The stronger the signal, typically the faster the speed. But, then cell towers themselves can get congested due to high traffic and can become the bottleneck, just like the T-Mobile example shown in the video. Again though, if you are camping in an area with zero bars, unfortunately you won't get service via cell towers. Then satellite option such as StarLink may be viable atlernative.
Great question! If you're literally out in the middle of no where with no cell tower whatsoever, then this device won't work. But, if you're getting a single intermittent bar on your phone...super weak signal on your phone here and there, then likely the XTR will pickup a stronger signal and be able to get you up and running. Basically cell phones have weaker reception compared to the XTR's antennas, so as long as there is a weak signal where you are, the XTR should be able to pick it up even in cases where your phone can't. Weaker signals can = slower speeds too...just depends. Hope that makes sense.
Basically it picks among the best signal of 3 carriers and uses that carrier. So you don't need a SIM card or data plan with any carrier, just through TravlFi. You can go into the router settings and manually pick 1 of the 3 carriers if desired. For me it works pretty good on the "auto" mode where it automatically picks the best one for you.
There are probably cheaper alternatives out there. Big advantage on the XTR is the antenna/signal strength and option to switch between the big 3 carriers. For example if T-Mobile has poor coverage in an area, then you can switch to AT&T or Verzion with the XTR.
If you ever had a campsite with wired Internet, you could plug in and keep your Wi-Fi. I'm not sure if it's possible though to run a hardwired connection through the router with the 4G source being the internet, but I think you could the way it's set up. I just haven't tested that feature.
I do not. My understanding is the access to the big three carriers is same, so same concept... Likely just less reception/signal given compact size. Maybe somewhere in between cell phone reception and the XTR in terms of strength? That's just complete speculation on my part though!
From the company: The Journey 1 hot spot has roughly half the range for picking up towers and giving out wi-fi signal strength but is portable and able to taken nearly any where in your pocket, Where the Journey XTR is closer to a home router which has multiple antenna and brings in cell signal from twice the distance and gives of significantly stronger wi-fi signal.
I have not tried it out yet. As far as I know it offers the same functionality with it picking best of 3 carriers, without changing SIM cards, etc. I would imagine the reception isn't as good compared to the XTR given the smaller one doesn't have external antennas, but unless you're in extreme remote areas, I don't know it'd be a problem.
Probably just the particular run. Overall reception seems to be about the same for both in my experience even at different locations. The software on the Winegard seems to glitch out, at least for me. I have not tried external antennas yet on the XTR.
How is the Wi-Fi signal that the device puts out, would I have to move it to the truck from the fifth wheel on travel days? My wife works remotely and will need to connect while I’m driving.
I have my XTR in front nose of fifth wheel. When I use my laptop in rear of fifth wheel, furthest point, I have full bars or full bars - 1 on 5GHz WiFi. On 2.4GHz WiFi seems to always be full bars even if outside a good distance. Of course phones and mobile devices have weaker reception, but laptops are pretty strong usually. So I think even if you had XTR in rear of fifth wheel you'd have no issues getting full bars or full - 1 in your truck with a laptop. Phones and tablets may be a bit less depending on their internal antennas. Basically XTR has comparable WiFi output to what you'd experience in home router.
I have not used starlink personally, but the big differences I'd expect include: 1) Starlink requires additional setup as you have to put a dish outside and run a wire into your coach at each campsite, plus you need a clear view of the sky, 2) Starlink is more of a month to month long-term contract as opposed to a pay as you need it (and pricier compared to the lower GB data plans with TravlFi), 3) Starlink likely can delivery MUCH faster speeds with a clear view of sky compared to over 4G LTE networks. So summary...Starlink is likely more consistently faster, but requires more setup at campsites and is likely more $$...better suited to full timers that don't have other internet options and need SPEED as in 50MBps+ (think average is 50-150 whereas 4G will be closer to 10-30).
I just bought starlink I had it for one month now due to the first one they sent was defective. Once I received the second starlink. It was VERY laggy. Obstructions for us was every 2 min. We just returned it today. I did just order the TRAVLFI today so I'm excited . Hopefully it works 🤞🤞🤞
I got a question can you hook your phone up to it instead of using your data on your phone when you connect to the signal in your RV does that make sense
Yes, you can connect phone via WiFi to the router and that'll save your phone data. In fact if you're in an area with poor cell reception, chances are the XTR will pick up a better signal compared to your phone and then not only could you get data, but if your phone has WiFi calling you could end up making calls through the XTR with WiFi calling enabled (WiFi calling is available on select phone models and select carriers).
I believe so...I have not tried an external antenna personally, but I think the router has standard SMA connectors. Double check me, but I think these would work: amzn.to/3qhFeC9 amzn.to/43YdccC amzn.to/3QoAFk0
I haven't tried it myself, but the power specs are listed on the back and it's easily compatible with the readily available 12v power in an RVs, so shouldn't be a problem.
Yes, changing the carrier is done on the TravlFi portal at TravlFi.com/portal ... Click on the sprocket and you'll see the option there to change carrier. Otherwise everything else is done on the router itself. You can also see how much data you've used there in the portal.
@@MrForrest828 there was a widespread outage yesterday, which is the first time I've ever seen one and I remember they sent out a bunch of emails about it, but I believe it was resolved yesterday evening and requires each user to change the carrier to get it to reconnect.
@@MrForrest828 I'll also comment that I have seen periodic errors when I try to change the carrier, that tend to make me think it didn't go through successfully. But then if I refresh a few minutes later, I see that it actually did go through successfully on the carrier change.
Not sure about 5G. Biggest issue I could foresee is that true 5G speeds aren't readily available to most of us, in real world scenarios. Lots of studies conducted showing actual 5G experience is quite limited in current rollout among general population. Carriers and manufacturers hype it up though so we feel as if we're missing out otherwise. I would imagine once it is more widely available, then we'll see more 5G compatible hot spots like the TravlFi, perhaps?
@@AdventureRocks you are correct. The 5G coverage for most carriers is very limited to city areas for the most part. T-Mobile does have a Band 71 5G version which is long range with somewhat higher speeds. Typically, most 4G cell signal will travel up to 10 miles on the lower frequencies (700MHz). For 5G, you might be lucky to get it within 2 miles of a tower with it. To put speeds in context, most streaming services run at DVD quality (480p) which is around 2Mbps. It's the same for video conferencing. For those traveling, getting around 10Mbps is more typical real world, which is plenty for TV, surfing, and gaming. Btw, you might check the data plans and pricing, as it seems they have larger data plans for less, and make an updated video.
@@AdventureRocks You're very welcome. I work in this kind of business as tech support (not Travlfi). If you want a bunch of information and ideas to do related to internet for travelers, let me know. I'd be happy to help.
We are going to be live in our rv at a camp ground up in northern Michigan while we build our home my wife works from home for a airline reservation so she needs a good internet we were thinking starlnk what would you recommend
Starlink is arguably more reliable and faster, but it comes with a price tag. The TravlFi option is definitely more budget friendly, but because it relies on cell service, it would depend on how good the cell reception is in your location. I love the flexibility TravlFi offers month to month combined with access to the big the carriers. But, if very reception is poor to begin with, likely Starlink is better option with clear view of sky.
How do you switch to Verizon? I just received the XTR and am able to switch to Carrier 1 (T Mobile), Carrier 2 (AT&T) but not carrier 3 (Verizon.) I called their support and they told me verizon was only availble through support and a supervisor has to do it. I spent an hour on the phone, 95% of that on hold and never got Verizon working. I'm pretty frustrated it's advertised as "automatically switches" but according to their support it's a manual process that requires a lengthy call. Am I missing something?
Are you using the TravlFi.com/portal to switch? The switching is manual click/selection process there, but I find it takes a couple minutes to take effect. The automatic part is where it will attempt to connect to the strongest signal, but the tricky part is the strongest signal isn't always the fastest signal. Lots of variables there, from congested towers to upstream bottlenecks.
@AdventureRocks Good morning! Thanks for the reply. Yes; using the portal. I can use All Carriers, Carrier 1 and Carrier 2 without issue. Carrier 3 does not work and will never establish connection. I have strong Verizon coverage where I am testing, so it's not a lack of signal. Upon calling I was told I can't manually switch to Verizon through the portal which is where my confusion comes from as you are clearly able in your video. I intend to call back today and will hopefully get a different agent.
@@StephenHoltzclaw I have noticed that sometimes when I switch the carriers in the portal I'll get an error message or it'll time out and I won't get a success message, which makes me think it didn't go through, but then when I run a speed test I realize that the carrier change actually did go through behind the scenes, but I just didn't get a confirmation message. I also did notice that in the portal it changed from listing the specific carriers to just carrier #1, #2, #3 in the last week or so...maybe they are in process of updating...growing pains perhaps as they get more subscribers and work out the kinks.
@AdventureRocks In my case, Carrier 3 is Verizon, 1 is T Mobile and 2 is AT&T. I'm not sure if that's consistent across the board. Are you still able to switch to Verizon at will (manually through the portal) without issue? I'm thinking my Verizon IMEI didn't provision correctly as the other two carriers work fine. I appreciate all your info and help here!
@@StephenHoltzclaw I'll have to try it later and see...another possibility is a temporary outage on that one carrier. So far I've only seen it happen once in the last few months where it impacted all customers. I wills ay TravlFi seems to be great about notifying customers when things are resolved though.
HomeFi is a better deal and seems to be using the same router that you get for free and you'll have 200 GB for $80/month and coverage from all three main providers.
For those interested in purchasing the JourneyXTR:
travlfi.sjv.io/xkvZ63
I am ordering this thru Amazon for $299.
Question: What heavy duty Velcro did you use to mount in the front closet?
Great location for modem to be able to log into while on the road and have the variety of coverages.
Thanks for the video post on this product.
How challenging was the set up?
@@kjnichols1327@kjnichols1327 pretty much plug and play. Only if you want to customize things like the SSID name or set up the Wi-Fi forwarding, then there's some setup involved.
One thing, and this may not yet have been available when this video was produced, is that Travlfi now offers an unlimited data plan for $128/month. This paid off great when we were on an extended trip this past summer in which we were using a lot of data for us, grandkids, etc. and would have had to call to update our plan otherwise when we ran out of data. And we were using the Travlfi hotspot with great results. Very pleased.
Great points, agreed. I think it's especially useful for folks that don't need data all 12 months out of the year, or have varying needs each month and don't want to pay the premium price for a competitor like starlink.
I use about 500 gigs per month on my $55 Verizon dealer line. A couple times I put on over 1 TB (1,000 GB) and worked fine, all at high speeds. Watching 4K videos eats up hundreds of gigs per month.
TravlFi is fantastic - great for use at home and on the road !!
For anyone interested, we ran out of data this weekend before our plan renewed. I wasn't for sure what would happen, but when it's gone it stops. I didn't know if it would do that, or reduce your speed like your cell phone does.
However, calling TravlFI was painless, and they let us pro rate to the next tier for the remainder of our cycle.
Still impressed with the setup...
Wow, that's great to know. Thank you for the udpate!
Travelfi is right here in Rochester Minnesota. Amazing customer service professionals. I ordered this and drove right here and picked up same day. This router seems to have great range. Then I have a Omni directional antenna out on my ladder if we are really deep in the woods. And our starlink never works here in Minnesota. We have lots a beautiful trees in all our parks. And trees are kryptonite to satellites services. This is best options we found .
Glad to hear! I've been really impressed with the TravelFi team. They just seem really customer oriented and willing to help RV folks like us.
I purchased the journey XTR last week. I also purchased Starlink. Unfortunately, the Starlink does not work where I live full-time, which is at a campground. I am under a ton of trees and I can’t get any reception. I will say the journey XTR is an awesome Wi-Fi extender. I just got a new job and I needed a router with Wi-Fi and it’s very fast where I live. Great video. Thank you.
Thank you!
I just received my travlfi journey, and I am Loving it! Im I a deep canyon. I can’t get cell service here. I’ve tried a booster, but still couldn’t get a signal of any cell service. I have to walk a half mile to get one bar. Otherwise I’m I SOS mode. Since I installed the journey, I’m getting 3 bars, and high speed internet. I’m very impressed. It make wish I would have done this earlier.
I just bought the small unit for our motorhome. We only need it for email and some web browsing on weekend trips. I spoke to Colin at the company and he was an enjoyable person talk with. I’m so glad you recommended this. We had a cobbled together expensive mess with an att hotspot, a Verizon hotspot and our cell phones combined data of 40 gb. I will reduce my bills by over $100. It literally paid for itself in the first two month. ❤
So glad to hear. It's been a game changer for me as well!
@@AdventureRockswell there are a couple things to report back about the TravlFi model. It has much much slower connectivity than yours. However I had to test it with an iPhone 14 not a computer. Regardless I never got better than 10 mbps. We bought it for navigation connectivity not necessarily for actual downloading anything. We ran into a problem or two. First, it cannot be used particularly on a Wi-Fi iPad since it’s not a real tower to triangulate off. The iPhone can pinpoint location well. It seems that the phone and the iPad should sync location but they do not. I contacted the manufacturer about this and of course they blamed it on Apple. But I was able to figure the cloud based server vs a real physical cell phone tower. And I disconnected my phone from it. It worked just fine as long as we were in T-Mobile range, and then it roamed to ATT. As for the TravlFi speeds were dismal. At a sporting event it was in the rv and basically useless. The woman who I emailed told me to put it near a window. I tried to tell her it was on a picnic table but she wasn’t hearing that. Another issue I found with this smaller device is that the SSID and password cannot be changed despite them telling me it could be. Once we were stationary I could read and reply to email on my iPad.
I believe part of the difference I experienced was my phone is 5G and the travlFi is not. I’m going to hold off on buying an upgraded system until I can get one with 5G capabilities. That said, it was very reasonably priced and very easy to use. It’s very small - about the size of an English muffin albeit a bit squarer. And charges fast. I’m pleased with most aspects of it, but definitely do not like the customer service people nor the fact that I was told I could change the SSID to something I can remember and get correct on the first try!
@@longgone2023 Thanks for reporting back. Yes, you can actually change the SSID...it is kinda burried in the settings on router, but I keep mine changed along with password. Only downside is if you reset the settings, then of course you'll have to re-change the SSID name again. They might have told you no on the SSID due to that latter functionality as the SSID name is only temporary in that case until you reset the settings...if you do that frequently at least.
@@AdventureRocks well I am sure the big brother model is more robust in all aspects. And I just found out our new Brinkley has the Winegard 360 + that supports 5G. I’m jazzed over that! We wanted a Pinnacle so badly but just too big for our truck. And not really as state park friendly as the little Brinkley. Thanks fo the heads up on the SSID. It’s possible it’s not available on the small model. But at the price it’s pretty much a good little gadget despite its limitations. We have a F250 and it’s going to live in the truck. I’m not thrilled with the Ford navigation system - I’ve used iPhones since they first came out. Over 20 yrs!
Thank you SO much for this information! I spent quite a bit of time investigating what to use for internet in our new RV. Was originally thinking StarLink, but it is cost prohibitive. I purchased TravlFi and set it up after watching this and reading the comments. Will be testing this out this weekend in a moving vehicle and on-site at a campground. I am a remote worker, so consistent, reliable internet is a requirement.
I hear you! Yes, I am in same boat and need reliable internet for work. There's a lot of factors involved doing internet over 4G, but for me I still think the XTR has the best overall balance between cost, reliability, and features. It can take a little tinkering initially figuring out all the settings and such, but I'm still very happy with it. If you find your signal isn't great at your campsite upon arrival you can use the travlfi.com/portal to change the carrier and try another if needed (you'll need internet on your phone for that part). Usually though it seems to do a good job picking best carrier. Hope it works great for you too.
As long as you stay out of really congested areas it’s great for browsing and email. I used mine while moving to do some genealogy research and it was good enough to open my 35K+ person ancestry tree. It did not do well at a busy sports event that saturated all the towers and it did not work well up in remote parts of Lassen county where I was dropped down to 3G.
How did it work in a moving vehicle? I need to be teaching on zoom in a moving car and want to make sure I can do it without any issues.
After having ours for about 3 months, I can say that it is the best we've ever used. We have been locked into Verizon, AT&T, and TMobile, and sometimes multiples in the same day. Ironically, we generally see the fastest speeds when we are on TM. Hit about 125Mb down at Lake of the Ozarks on TM!!
I would recommend this solution!!
Thanks for the update. I am still enjoying it myself.
Tmobile has some of the highest speeds on average in the US due to buying up a lot of spectrum years ago. It's a great carrier.
@@BillAnt I don't disagree with TM, and that's what we have at home. But the beauty of this modem is that it can pick up TM, ATT, and Verizon on ONE device for one monthly price. It picks the best provider for wherever you're located, and at the end of the day, there are spots in the US where TM is just simply is a terrible choice .
@@darrinhiebert- Yes of course, no carrier is perfect in all locations. This TravlFi is similar to Google's Fi service which uses both Tmobile and Verizon, though not ATT.
We just got our Brinkley Model G and thanks to you we now know what we have!
Nice! Congrats on new rig. So many innovative ideas packed into a single RV!
Thank You! I have been looking to a good review of the XTR. The comparison with the Winegard is a real bonus.
Thank you, glad to hear. I've been really impressed with it, even after traveling to different campsites so far.
I have been pleased with my TravlFi device too great service across the states I’ve travelled sence April’23
We got the travel Fi journey 1 and love it. The only issue I found was it can only connect 5 devices at a time. I solved that with a WiFi extender and it works great. We never use more that five at once but having to disconnect devices all the time was annoying. With everyone in the family having a iPad and a cell phone plus your tv, videos games etc your 5 devices fills up fast.
Great point. XTR doesn't seem to have connectivity limits, or at least they are high enough that it doesn't impact typical users. XTR performs much more like a typical router you'd find in a house.
Interesting commercial. I went with a pep Wave router which allows for multiple SIM cards or virtual sims and two carriers can be used at the same time for redundancy or failover. This does seem like a decent enough product for entry level and those not needing much speed.
Peps are great for both simple failover or channel-boding, though the latter required an additional monthly server fee on top of the carrier fee to combine the speed of two carriers.
You answered all the questions I had. Thank you for your review!
Thank you, glad to hear it!
Great Info, helped Me make up my mind on which way to go now that I'm retired and ready to take to the Road. This should be perfect as I've looked into it and was looking for a good review and this is it! SOLD! lol Thanks for the great Review.. Subbed.. 👍👍🤠
Thank you! Hope it all works out.
Travlfi sells the 12 volt cable as well as a whole setup kit for external antenna.
Nice! Thank you for the update!
I just recently did some research on Reddit and Amazon and see that there is a rising amount of customer dissatisfaction with this Travlfi product. Verizon seems to be omitted from the provider choices and customer service is horrible to non existent with long wait times. I like your review on this and almost made a purchase but decided against it. I'm a new subscriber and have been trying to find a good fit while on the road only a few weeks/year. Wish this was the one but I'll continue checking out other options.
Thank you. Yes, I used a 3M brand "industrial" strength similar to this one here: amzn.to/3PGcSu4
Btw I think TravlFi has gotten a surge of new customers in the last quarter, so I'd imagine they are rapidly adjusting to build out those resources. They seem to be VERY customer focused and wanting to offer the best service possible, so the long waits and such may just be a temporary thing as they adjust. No Internet is perfect, but I have been using it for several months now and still think it is the best overall solution, especially with the access to 3 carriers.
Great video, one of the few video’s about Travlfi that goes beyond just the basics of what you can find on their website. Curious if you ever connected your XTR to the WInegard Air 360+ and used the roof top antenna to see if it improved your signal.
You know, I never got around to trying to map to the Winegard antenna as I was so pleased with the reception with just the built in antennas. I can only imagine it getting better though if you were in an extreme situation.
Travlfi came out with an antenna and a mount holder . Also, a 12 voltage plug. Some RVs are coming with travlfi in it
Great tip, thank you
If you want test trav vs wine guard electronic, connect the trav to the wine guard.
Excellent vid, thanks - very helpful for us in our search!
Thank you for the kind words and feedback, appreciate it!
Great video on the XTR 4g. We realized right before we went to buy it online that this review is a year old and they now have a 5g model.
Would you recommend it now or stick with the 4g. We need it for working remotely and connecting to our home server by VPN.
Great question. I am actually testing the new 5G model out currently and plan to review it in the coming weeks. It's very promising.
We have the Winegard in our Alliance but I never set it up or purchased the gateway because it is very old technology. It's a CAT 4 modem that doesn't have carrier aggregation meaning it can only connect to 1 transmitter at a time. I suspect that technology will become useless in a few short years. The XTR is a CAT 7 class modem which does have 2x2 MIMO, allowing it to connect to 2 transmitters/channels at once so I was surprised to see very little difference between the 2 gateways. In my mind, the minimal improvement is not worth the $299 price tag. And since there are CAT 16 or higher modem/routers for comparable prices, I would definitely look elsewhere for hardware. There is a convenience factor in using multiple carriers but swapping sim cards isn't that time consuming.
Great points. For some reason the Winegard was super glitchy for me, plauged by poor software in my opinion. It was glitchy to the point that even if I had a good 4G signal, the router/software on the Winegard would freeze and require frequent reboots. The JourneyXTR has worked near flawlessly for me over the last year, and the ability to switch carriers on the fly is a lifesaver, especially when you're at a remote campsite where your go-to carrier (cell phone) doesn't have service. Keeping up with multiple pre-paid SIMs is challenging and re-activing when they are dormant can be very time consuming they way they recycle phone numbers. So all that to say the JourneyXTR has been great for a weekend warrior like myself.
Got the unit today, and swtup was painless. Doing some testing this weekend to see if i need to use the external antennas on the Winegard.
How did you get it to lock onto the different carriers? I haven't found that screen. I did a scan, and that got me AT&T, but I didn't set it, it did it automatically.
Results at the house:
Verizon - 1.5M
AT&T - 22M
T-Mobile 27M
About what I expected. We have Verizon phones, but have TM for home Internet, and have had AT&T previously. TM has been the fastest home Internet.
Will see what happens at the lake. That is a weak Internet zone.
Did you find it? It's only on the portal online to set specific carrier.
Wow, that's pretty solid. Yeah for me so far T-Mobile and AT&T seem to be the fastest. 27Mbps is pretty solid though!
@@AdventureRocks these results were at the house. I expect they will be less at the lake.
I was using Tmobile home internet in my Semi and it's going up. I bought Travlfi hot spot . Haven't tried it yet
Thanks bud..always so detailed..great job
Thanks, appreciate it!
I agree it works great however i would be curious to see if a Poynting 7-in-1 antenna or pep wave 7-in-1 would improve reception
Great point! I haven't tried that yet, but I would think it could only get better.
Yes of course it can be used with a high gain Poynting antenna for even better performance using simple SMA connectors.
Great review. I bought the same unit -working great but wondering how you manually changed cell providers. I can do a scan but I can't find the option to manually change from one to another. I have gone through the menus on the admin panel and read the manual. Maybe I am just missing it.
Thank you! Yes, to change providers go to travlfi.com/portal - click on the sprocket and it should be under there.
Curious on how the Travifi is performing now that you have had a while and also they now have US Cellular instead of Verizon
Great question. It's been almost a year now. The biggest challenge I find is typically my closest cell tower and its capacity/signal strength if I'm camping remote. If the tower has limited bandwidth for 3rd party customers like myself, then the speed may be closer to the 2-3Mbps range...still enough for email and web, just a little slower. I think carriers sometimes prioritize THEIR customers first and downgrade the speed for 3rd parties or MVNOs. Still I keep going back to fact I have 3 carriers with possibilities at least. For a weekend warrior like myself it's still the ideal solution for me between only paying for it when I need it, and having the increased reception compared to just my phone. And the hardware itself is solid.
@@AdventureRocks thanks for the response. I just ordered one and like you am a weekend warrior. I don’t have a Winegard antenna so I may try the Travilfi external antenna down the road, it’s fairly inexpensive compared to other external antennas. ($129)
@@jeffboswell6620 Glad to hear. I've always been impressed with TravlFi team themselves. They genuinely seem interested in improving the product and getting feedback, and they are super friendly team. Nothing is perfect, but it's still my go-to for reliable internet when I need it.
Willi you do and update review of the journey straight
I plan to in the future hopefully next couple months. Spoiler alert, it is still my go to for internet while camping.
Have you had a chance to connect the Travelfi XTR to the Winegard 360+ antenna? I am waiting for my Travelfi XTR to arrive and would like to connect it to my Winegard 360+. Just wondering if you did that and what were your results.
If you haven't, what antenna adapters would I need. I saw in your video the difference in the antenna connectors.
Great video and thank you for any other information you can provide.
Thank you. I did not get around to connecting the Winegard. Basically my reception with the supplied antennas has been so good, I haven't needed to. But, there's still a part of me curious how much better/stronger it could be if one were to try. I believe they are std connectors so probably just a matter of searching Amazon for the right adapters.
@@AdventureRocks In the next month or so, I'll give it a shot and let you know.
Thank you@@USMC-fh9pk
Excellent review - found this a while back but I need to know the UPLOAD speeds as well as the DOWNLOAD speeds -- could you publish those results here? Thanks.... will subscribe and "wait", lol!
Thank you. I've found the upload speeds vary, but typically less than download. Sometimes upload will be 1/4 download or even 1/8, but right now where I'm at I'm getting 40Mbps download and 25 upload. Definitely one of the better results as I'm pretty close to a tower. I'd say if you need a reliable and faster upload speed, you're probably going to have to look more at a starlink solution.
I'm a happy TravlFi customer, but I noticed the XTRs upload speed was significantly slower than the Winegard. Winegard was a little slower on download. But both are important for use, so I'm not sure that the XTR was a clear winner here.
Did you ever successfully connect the Winegard antenna to the XTR?
I did not try antenna mod. I think the slower upload was due to carrier/tower limiting speed perhaps. I've noticed that since XTR is basically a secondary customer/reseller through Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, the carriers may limit speeds to the secondary customers and pioritize their own customers' speeds first. Basically when there is limited bandwidth, the carriers have QoS in place to deliver the best service to their own customers and then what's left goes to the secondary providers...my theory at least :)
Thanks @@AdventureRocks ! Yes, I agree, I love TravlFi, I've always been able to connect, but it is never super speedy. But almost always good enough. I may try the antenna mod, would love to be able to make use of that rooftop antenna. Do you think the exterior cables would have to thread in where the paddles are now? Thanks again, enjoyed the review.
@@mschmeetsYes, I believe so on the ports for the LTE only is where you'll connect. You'll have to report back and let us know how it goes. I'm really happy with the TravlFi XTR for my needs too. I think you're right...it may not be as fast as Starlink or a dedicated carrier-locked hotspot, but for folks like me that are infrequent and just need reliable and quick access only select weeks/months out of year it's a nice match at a great price point.
I live in the forest in the Netherlands, I have T-Mobile unlimited 5G for 35 euros a month, down 800 mbs up 400mbs, I tether my PC to it sometimes, thru my phone USB tethering, my home wifi KPN netherlands is 80mb down and 25 up speed. all of the Netherlands has 5G coverage .. of course we are a small country but most of europe is now 5G
Have you ever compared Journey1 hotspot vs JournyXTR? Thank you for a very thorough review!
No, but my understanding is the concept and interface is very similar, but the signal strength is naturally less given the absence of external and larger antennas. The journey1 is kind of neat with the built-in battery making it completely portable.
@@AdventureRocks thank you so much for quick reply! I was discussing with my husband and leaning toward XTR anyway.
Questions...
1) If in a campground providing WIFI internet where cell coverage is non-existant, can the router be configured to connect to the campground WIFI?
2) If the answer to #1 is YES, will the router chose the fastest of cell and park WIFI?
3) Will data be sent via only the strongest and or fastest cell or will the data be parsed between more than one carrier?
I think if I understand, you're asking about a fall back feature. Short answer is yes, router does have a fall back built-in, but I believe it only works when you're connected to hard wired LAN going into the router for Internet source and if that fails, and then 4G would be backup Internet to your devices connected via WiFi. So, if I'm understanding your question, that function would take place only with if you were primarily plugged in by hardwired cable at campsite to router and that hardwired connection failed...then it'd fall back to the 4G. I haven't tried it, but I believe that's how it works.
The WiFi repeating function is an entirely separate though, so when it's repeating or extending the campground WiFi the 4G is not accessible.
It'd be pretty neat though if all those functions were tied together like you mentioned at the end where the router could seamlessly keep the internet connection alive and use parameters such as the fastest connection or cheapest data connection and so forth. Maybe something in the future!
How do you know which mbl service is the one to connect to, you said it connects to the fastest but how can you see?
It does a pretty good job of determining that for you behind the scenes automatically. But, if you want to change it manually you can do so in the online portal or by calling in. If you run a speed test.net it'll show which carrier you're connected to if unsure.
Excellent review! Great Job
Thank you, appreciate it!
I have a question could you be driving your truck from a fifth wheel and still get wireless service from this device and also what is the yellow cord for?
Yes, as long as you have cellular service where you're driving, it's similar to talking on the phone and driving along the interstate where your call gets transferred from Tower to tower. As you know, sometimes there are glitches and it cuts in and out in that handoff, but it would be a similar experience with the data. There are ethernet ports on the router as well if you wanted to plug in to a hardwired connection in the park. Or connect a laptop via hardwired.
@@AdventureRocks
Thank you for the response and the information I appreciate it
Thank you looking what do you think now?
I'm still REALLY enjoying the JourneyXTR. This Sunday, 8/4 I'll be publishing a video on the NEW 5G TravlFi router so stay tuned for that one!
what about external antenna its 125-150 $ worth it? Im tiered of playing just want service
@@jonsmith527 I found I didn't need any additional antennas as it pulled in great signal with built-in. I suppose there are extreme situations where it may help, but I'm with you totally as far as weighing the cost vs benefit...just a personal decision in the end I suppose.
@@AdventureRocks Thank you very helpful.im going to try it
Thanks for the great review. We are considering the JourneyXTR but I have heard there are some software issues with it automatically finding the strongest carrier signal. Have you experienced this? I know you can manually switch carriers via the portal but that isn't ideal.
The challenge is the strongest signal is not always the fastest signal. And sometimes the fastest signal one day is not the fastest signal the next day. A tower can be congested and have a good signal, but a slow speed. So what I found is I can identify the best myself better by trying each one, and that's the beauty of the system is that it lets you choose which one of the three networks to lock onto if you're not satisfied with the default. I typically let it lock onto the default first, and if I'm not satisfied with the speed then I'll switch to one of the other two. I think it's strongest selling point is that you can switch among the big three seamlessly without having separate data plans. It gives me a lot of assurance that no matter where I go I'll have at least one carrier that'll have a decent signal.
@@AdventureRocks Thanks, can you run the speedtest directly from the portal?
@@markkepley4131 I don't believe so, not yet at least. I just toggle back and forth in browser windows to speedtest.net. Usually I find changing carriers takes about 1-3 min or so. It's always tricky discerning where the bottleneck is, as sometimes it's the signal strength, other times the tower is congested. So far T-Mobile and AT&T have been fastest for me, though Verizon sometimes has stronger signals overall.
No one ever reviews the range of these devices. So how far away can you be from the device and still have acceptable speed? I did see the spec sheet on the one you reviewed and it says 50m, so is that realistic?
Great question. In summary you'll find the WiFi trasmission about same as any other basic WiFi router, so the 50m is indeed accurate for max range with a minimal signal. My tests were done at about 30 ft from the router on my laptop btw. Because my laptop has good WiFi reception, I'd speculate I could get full bars at about 40-50 ft of router on laptop, then as I go further out I'd lose bars on WiFi strength and bottom out around 150 ft likely. The 5G is of coruse weaker compared to 2.4G. If you're using a cell phone via WiFi, the reception is usually half as good as a laptop...just an estimate. But in real world use in an RV, WiFi reception will be strong throughout coach and even accessible in your neighbor's RV, maybe going 2-3 on both sides, weaker as it branches out further.
My question is I bought the router. Should I buy the antenna would it be worth it. Thank You
I've gotten as good, if not better reception using the supplied antennas compared to winegard. Maybe try first without and see if you need more signal?
I hear you saying that you’re setting up the journeys to run with Verizon then you’re setting up the journey to run with AT&T, is there a way you set it up where it just chooses which carrier is sending out the best signal to use?
Yes, by default it'll choose the best out of the 3. But, if you go into the portal (travlfi.com/portal) you can pick one of the 3 specifically. Usually I just let it pick automatically. Once in a while I'll try another if the current is congested or not performing.
It would be nice if you explain what x Mbps means in context of video streaming. How many Mbps do you need to stream HD video?
Great point. Typically, for standard definition video you'll need 3Mbps and for high definition, closer to 5Mbps. And then for 4K probably 25 Mbps+.
I'm a newbie full-time RVer. Would I need to keep my current cell phone data plan to use my phone when I'm out and about away from my campsite? Also, the Amazon reviews aren't so great. Why would that be?
Correct on keeping separate plan for your cell phone. RV Internet is a very passionate subject among RVers and the reliability of mobile Internet has a lot to do with reception at a given campsite. All that to say I think a lot of times the negative reviews and complaints may be more geared at the carriers (cell towers) and weak reception issues. It takes a lot to get Internet from point a to b so kinda have to appreciate that first and understand what goes on behind the scenes. Big selling points on the TravlFi include the access to three big carriers and reasonable data plans. It's still my go-to choice personally.
Thank you, but now I'm a little confused. In your video the JourneyXTR worked with zero or one bar.@@AdventureRocks
@@marykennelly6843 No, if you have zero bars you will not get any service regardless of phone or device. But, if you have at least 1 bar or higher, then you will get service. The stronger the signal, typically the faster the speed. But, then cell towers themselves can get congested due to high traffic and can become the bottleneck, just like the T-Mobile example shown in the video. Again though, if you are camping in an area with zero bars, unfortunately you won't get service via cell towers. Then satellite option such as StarLink may be viable atlernative.
Thank you!@@AdventureRocks
What if your phone shows no signal
Sorry I meant would this work in an area where phone shows no signal
Great question! If you're literally out in the middle of no where with no cell tower whatsoever, then this device won't work. But, if you're getting a single intermittent bar on your phone...super weak signal on your phone here and there, then likely the XTR will pickup a stronger signal and be able to get you up and running. Basically cell phones have weaker reception compared to the XTR's antennas, so as long as there is a weak signal where you are, the XTR should be able to pick it up even in cases where your phone can't. Weaker signals can = slower speeds too...just depends. Hope that makes sense.
Does it work with US Cellular...tia
Basically it picks among the best signal of 3 carriers and uses that carrier. So you don't need a SIM card or data plan with any carrier, just through TravlFi. You can go into the router settings and manually pick 1 of the 3 carriers if desired. For me it works pretty good on the "auto" mode where it automatically picks the best one for you.
T Mobil has a travel modem for 40 a month 5 G unlimited data ?
There are probably cheaper alternatives out there. Big advantage on the XTR is the antenna/signal strength and option to switch between the big 3 carriers. For example if T-Mobile has poor coverage in an area, then you can switch to AT&T or Verzion with the XTR.
Working with TravelFi, did they discuss the difference between this option & HomeFi???
I believe it's a separate company entirely, but I did not reach out to HomeFi.
What purpose do the ethernet ports serve and have you tried hardwire setup between the Journey and your device?
If you ever had a campsite with wired Internet, you could plug in and keep your Wi-Fi. I'm not sure if it's possible though to run a hardwired connection through the router with the 4G source being the internet, but I think you could the way it's set up. I just haven't tested that feature.
That's what I would like to know. Can I hardware without cell service activated? I would like to hardware and use the wifi as normal.
Do you have a comparison with the smaller hotspot version?
I do not. My understanding is the access to the big three carriers is same, so same concept... Likely just less reception/signal given compact size. Maybe somewhere in between cell phone reception and the XTR in terms of strength? That's just complete speculation on my part though!
From the company: The Journey 1 hot spot has roughly half the range for picking up towers and giving out wi-fi signal strength but is portable and able to taken nearly any where in your pocket, Where the Journey XTR is closer to a home router which has multiple antenna and brings in cell signal from twice the distance and gives of significantly stronger wi-fi signal.
Hi! Thanks for the info. Do you know if the portable version is as good as the Journey?
I have not tried it out yet. As far as I know it offers the same functionality with it picking best of 3 carriers, without changing SIM cards, etc. I would imagine the reception isn't as good compared to the XTR given the smaller one doesn't have external antennas, but unless you're in extreme remote areas, I don't know it'd be a problem.
Thanks!@@AdventureRocks
Can i hook up external antennas to the router?
Yes
Any idea why the upload was so much slower on the journey rather than the Winegard for cellular? I can only assume a weak transmitter or the antennas.
Probably just the particular run. Overall reception seems to be about the same for both in my experience even at different locations. The software on the Winegard seems to glitch out, at least for me. I have not tried external antennas yet on the XTR.
How is the Wi-Fi signal that the device puts out, would I have to move it to the truck from the fifth wheel on travel days? My wife works remotely and will need to connect while I’m driving.
I have my XTR in front nose of fifth wheel. When I use my laptop in rear of fifth wheel, furthest point, I have full bars or full bars - 1 on 5GHz WiFi. On 2.4GHz WiFi seems to always be full bars even if outside a good distance. Of course phones and mobile devices have weaker reception, but laptops are pretty strong usually. So I think even if you had XTR in rear of fifth wheel you'd have no issues getting full bars or full - 1 in your truck with a laptop. Phones and tablets may be a bit less depending on their internal antennas. Basically XTR has comparable WiFi output to what you'd experience in home router.
Looks like Walmart has the XTR at $252
Do they make a 5G option? I'm an OTR truck driver.
Not yet
Which plan do you use ?
The 25GB for $49 covers most of my trips a week or less, otherwise the 50GB for $69 is good for longer.
How does this compare to Starlink?
I have not used starlink personally, but the big differences I'd expect include: 1) Starlink requires additional setup as you have to put a dish outside and run a wire into your coach at each campsite, plus you need a clear view of the sky, 2) Starlink is more of a month to month long-term contract as opposed to a pay as you need it (and pricier compared to the lower GB data plans with TravlFi), 3) Starlink likely can delivery MUCH faster speeds with a clear view of sky compared to over 4G LTE networks.
So summary...Starlink is likely more consistently faster, but requires more setup at campsites and is likely more $$...better suited to full timers that don't have other internet options and need SPEED as in 50MBps+ (think average is 50-150 whereas 4G will be closer to 10-30).
I just bought starlink I had it for one month now due to the first one they sent was defective. Once I received the second starlink. It was VERY laggy. Obstructions for us was every 2 min. We just returned it today. I did just order the TRAVLFI today so I'm excited . Hopefully it works 🤞🤞🤞
@@dontBAnal thank you for sharing! I'm loving the XTR. Been a game changer for me
@@dontBAnalhow are you liking the xtr ?
I got a question can you hook your phone up to it instead of using your data on your phone when you connect to the signal in your RV does that make sense
Yes, you can connect phone via WiFi to the router and that'll save your phone data. In fact if you're in an area with poor cell reception, chances are the XTR will pick up a better signal compared to your phone and then not only could you get data, but if your phone has WiFi calling you could end up making calls through the XTR with WiFi calling enabled (WiFi calling is available on select phone models and select carriers).
Is there an external antenna that I could I can connect, being in a low area?
I believe so...I have not tried an external antenna personally, but I think the router has standard SMA connectors. Double check me, but I think these would work:
amzn.to/3qhFeC9
amzn.to/43YdccC
amzn.to/3QoAFk0
Using an adapter, do you know if a 12v input will power the device?
I haven't tried it myself, but the power specs are listed on the back and it's easily compatible with the readily available 12v power in an RVs, so shouldn't be a problem.
@@AdventureRocks thanks for the quick reply. Travlfi customer support just responded as well. They said it should work.
I noticed that you were able to change the device carrier. I do not see that option in my account. What page do you access to change the carrier?
Yes, changing the carrier is done on the TravlFi portal at TravlFi.com/portal ... Click on the sprocket and you'll see the option there to change carrier. Otherwise everything else is done on the router itself. You can also see how much data you've used there in the portal.
@@AdventureRocks they must have an outage at Travlfi as the port has an error message on the screen.
@@MrForrest828 there was a widespread outage yesterday, which is the first time I've ever seen one and I remember they sent out a bunch of emails about it, but I believe it was resolved yesterday evening and requires each user to change the carrier to get it to reconnect.
@@MrForrest828 I'll also comment that I have seen periodic errors when I try to change the carrier, that tend to make me think it didn't go through successfully. But then if I refresh a few minutes later, I see that it actually did go through successfully on the carrier change.
Any idea when TravlFi will offer a 5G version of the XTR?
Not sure about 5G. Biggest issue I could foresee is that true 5G speeds aren't readily available to most of us, in real world scenarios. Lots of studies conducted showing actual 5G experience is quite limited in current rollout among general population. Carriers and manufacturers hype it up though so we feel as if we're missing out otherwise. I would imagine once it is more widely available, then we'll see more 5G compatible hot spots like the TravlFi, perhaps?
@@AdventureRocks you are correct. The 5G coverage for most carriers is very limited to city areas for the most part. T-Mobile does have a Band 71 5G version which is long range with somewhat higher speeds. Typically, most 4G cell signal will travel up to 10 miles on the lower frequencies (700MHz). For 5G, you might be lucky to get it within 2 miles of a tower with it.
To put speeds in context, most streaming services run at DVD quality (480p) which is around 2Mbps. It's the same for video conferencing. For those traveling, getting around 10Mbps is more typical real world, which is plenty for TV, surfing, and gaming.
Btw, you might check the data plans and pricing, as it seems they have larger data plans for less, and make an updated video.
@@BigMoPrepper great points, very helpful explanation. Thank you!
@@AdventureRocks You're very welcome. I work in this kind of business as tech support (not Travlfi). If you want a bunch of information and ideas to do related to internet for travelers, let me know. I'd be happy to help.
4g is going to give you better results while traveling
We are going to be live in our rv at a camp ground up in northern Michigan while we build our home my wife works from home for a airline reservation so she needs a good internet we were thinking starlnk what would you recommend
Starlink is arguably more reliable and faster, but it comes with a price tag. The TravlFi option is definitely more budget friendly, but because it relies on cell service, it would depend on how good the cell reception is in your location. I love the flexibility TravlFi offers month to month combined with access to the big the carriers. But, if very reception is poor to begin with, likely Starlink is better option with clear view of sky.
Thank you for your time
How do you switch to Verizon? I just received the XTR and am able to switch to Carrier 1 (T Mobile), Carrier 2 (AT&T) but not carrier 3 (Verizon.) I called their support and they told me verizon was only availble through support and a supervisor has to do it. I spent an hour on the phone, 95% of that on hold and never got Verizon working. I'm pretty frustrated it's advertised as "automatically switches" but according to their support it's a manual process that requires a lengthy call. Am I missing something?
Are you using the TravlFi.com/portal to switch? The switching is manual click/selection process there, but I find it takes a couple minutes to take effect. The automatic part is where it will attempt to connect to the strongest signal, but the tricky part is the strongest signal isn't always the fastest signal. Lots of variables there, from congested towers to upstream bottlenecks.
@AdventureRocks Good morning! Thanks for the reply. Yes; using the portal. I can use All Carriers, Carrier 1 and Carrier 2 without issue. Carrier 3 does not work and will never establish connection. I have strong Verizon coverage where I am testing, so it's not a lack of signal. Upon calling I was told I can't manually switch to Verizon through the portal which is where my confusion comes from as you are clearly able in your video. I intend to call back today and will hopefully get a different agent.
@@StephenHoltzclaw I have noticed that sometimes when I switch the carriers in the portal I'll get an error message or it'll time out and I won't get a success message, which makes me think it didn't go through, but then when I run a speed test I realize that the carrier change actually did go through behind the scenes, but I just didn't get a confirmation message. I also did notice that in the portal it changed from listing the specific carriers to just carrier #1, #2, #3 in the last week or so...maybe they are in process of updating...growing pains perhaps as they get more subscribers and work out the kinks.
@AdventureRocks In my case, Carrier 3 is Verizon, 1 is T Mobile and 2 is AT&T. I'm not sure if that's consistent across the board. Are you still able to switch to Verizon at will (manually through the portal) without issue? I'm thinking my Verizon IMEI didn't provision correctly as the other two carriers work fine. I appreciate all your info and help here!
@@StephenHoltzclaw I'll have to try it later and see...another possibility is a temporary outage on that one carrier. So far I've only seen it happen once in the last few months where it impacted all customers. I wills ay TravlFi seems to be great about notifying customers when things are resolved though.
Wineguard is awful. The data plans are even worse and connectivity never works.
The XTR is the best option out there and it’ll only get better.
I'm with you 100%. XTR is really helpful to have on hand when camping.
HomeFi is a better deal and seems to be using the same router that you get for free and you'll have 200 GB for $80/month and coverage from all three main providers.