Hi There,
I have the max br1 pro 5g with a 42g antenna setup in my campervan. Works great but recently had an issue without any cellular connection. Tmo. Don’t have a backup Sim installed yet but will next time. They had wifi in campground though.
Anyway, originally I had the 4 cellular and GPS connect to the 42g antenna and used the included stick antennas for the wifi in the cabin. I configured wifi for Wan and connected one of the antenna (b) to the 42g but couldn’t seem to connect even though if I stood on the roof my phone could pick it up. I also tried using both to no avail. I could see in configuration menus the ssids but it would not connect at around 100meters. Then had issues with wifi in campervan since it’s like a big Faraday box.
Questions:
Is splitting the wifi ports one internal one external okay? I guess I lose mimo right? Other pitfalls?
Guesses on why a simple phone, albeit standing on the roof, could get it but the 42g basically same location couldnt?
I’m guessing the device doesn’t have internal antennas since the in cabin wifi dropped significantly once both ports connected to external.
Is internal ap the only solution if I want to use for external wifi over wan?
Hi Tim,
Q. Is splitting the wifi ports one internal one external okay? I guess I lose mimo right? Other pitfalls?
This is not recommended. Device will be expecting MIMO. In the best case, there will be many packet retransmissions in the air until the data rate will fall back to SISO data rates. The performance will be very bad.
Q. Guesses on why a simple phone, albeit standing on the roof, could get it but the 42g basically same location couldnt?
If the 42G was properly installed outdoors, there should be no issues to get Wi-Fi WAN on the BR1 Pro 5G. If this is the case I would suspect some misconfiguration.
Q. I’m guessing the device doesn’t have internal antennas since the in cabin wifi dropped significantly once both ports connected to external.
Yes, the device (BR1 Pro 5G) doesn’t have any internal antennas. There are only 2x RF connectors for the Wi-Fi
Q. Is internal ap the only solution if I want to use for external wifi over wan?
Yes, this is the best option for a camper van. As you mentioned in your post, since the MB-42G is installed outdoors the signal inside the van will be weak. Thus having a dedicated AP inside, will be a better option. Also, in such configuration you can expect a better performance since BR1 Pro 5G will be dedicated for Wi-Fi WAN while AP for local coverage. You should get less noise and interference from outside.
One last question on this. Is the AP One AX Lite a good option for this for inside the van? Seems to be the smallest one you have that also supports wifi6.
Could you connect to access point if closer?
My my br1 pro 5g connects to most access point no problem with inside paddle antennas, if it can see them in a scan it means its getting a signal. On my last RV with external antenna and SOHO mk3which has 3x MIMO I would connect one outside and two inside or two outside and one inside didn’t seem to make much difference typically.
I have had a few occasions where it simply won’t connect to the AP even though it sees it just fine in a scan, doesn’t seem related to signal strength but some incompatibility and the logs say nothing. For instance my parents have a TP-Link mesh system set for WPA2 mode (the default) and the BR1 will simply not connect even though it seeing a very strong signal in scan list. If I lower security on the mesh to wpa/wpa2 it connects fine. My phones and all their device connect no problem on WPA2. Waiting for 8.3 firmware before I report because it list some fixes to WiFi WAN that my help.
Separate internal AP like One AX is ideal to split radios especially if RV has metal walls but adds complexity and power usage.
Hi Tim,
yes, the AP One AX Lite is the one. If I would have a campervan this would be my choise as well 
