How to get internet wifi for your DIY van build

***This article was updated on 4/25/2023 to reflect changes in our internet system now that we have been on the road since 2019. We both work remotely, so fine-tuning and tweaking has happened to ensure that we have the best internet possible. Updated content has been marked with a date stamp, so you understand what we initially used vs subsequent updates. ***

If you’re like us, you’ll want to stay connected to the rest of the world in some capacity while gallivanting about the country. Even if it’s just to say “hi” to your mom. For us, our internet connection is crucial to our survival, as we both work remotely, including using Zoom for meetings and classes, streaming content, and uploading/downloading huge video and other software files (find out what we do here). Finding a solution that was going to be reliable took a lot of research. We are happy to report that we found a great solution and we’re here to share it with you.

Our system is comprised of three different systems that work together to provide quality internet on the road. The first system is the use of a cell booster. The second system is a wifi router/hotspot, and the third system is the use of Starlink. Together, these two systems have worked well for us during our travels.

The cell boosting system we chose is an all-in-one product by weBoost. The weBoost Drive Reach Overland gives you everything you need to boost weak cell signals in remote or challenging locations. This system comes with the actual cell booster, an exterior antenna that you should mount at the highest point on your roof, and an interior antenna to provide you with better signal regardless of where you are in your RV or van (and possibly outside the van too). The weBoost Drive Reach Overland increases your connection speeds up to 32x whether you're stationary or driving. It also works with all major US carriers, so you’ll see the benefits of the booster regardless of who your cell plan is with. Something to keep in mind - a cell booster isn’t magic. It will not create signal where there is none. The booster will increase speeds of existing signal only, so if you have one bar - a booster will bump it to 2 or 3 bars. If you have zero bars, a booster will boost your signal to zero bars… If you read our article about finding places to stay, we explain our process of determining whether a location is a good candidate for coverage or not before we get there. The other thing that isn’t magic about the weBoost is the interior antenna that broadcasts the boosted signal inside. The boost is real when you are a few inches from the antenna, but as you move away from the interior antenna, the boost drops off quickly. This is annoying, but we have located our routers right next to our booster to combat this.

The wifi system comprises 3 major parts. An exterior antenna, a wifi router, and a SIM data plan. Each of these parts was purchased separately. We are using a SureCall Wide Band Antenna on our roof. This is an omni-directional antenna that picks up signal far more efficiently than relying on an antenna source inside your van. For those that plan to park it for long durations, you may want to consider a directional antenna instead. A directional antenna picks up a signal better than our omni-directional antenna, but it requires that you climb onto the roof and point your antenna towards the nearest cell tower. This is too much work for us, and we’ve been perfectly happy with the solution that we have. SureCall Wide Band Antenna comes with all the hardware necessary to attach it to your rig. We have attached ours to our DIY $300 roof rack. You will also have to buy a cable to connect the antenna to the router inside your van. We used this one. Keep the length of your cable as short as possible for the strongest signal. We also love our Cable Glands that were made for boats. These waterproof glands are great for passing multiple cables through the same hole in your roof, and we have had ZERO water penetration through them.

The wifi router translates cell signal information into data that can be received and used by phones, tablets, and laptops. It also serves the reverse function of transmitting data back to the cell tower. We are using the MOFI4500-4GXeLTE router for our build, and it has been amazing. This unit comes with two stock antennas and two MOFI Ultra Wide Band Antennas, which provide 10% - 30% better signal and speed over the standard units. Our SureCall Wide Band Antenna that is mounted on the roof, replaces one of the Ultra Wide Band Antennas that Mofi supplies. Upload and download speeds will vary by your location, but Mofi touts speeds of up to 300Mbps download and 50 Mb/s upload with this router and we believe it. We oftentimes find ourselves both watching movies AND cruising the internet with no issues. Beyond wifi, the router also has ethernet ports and USB connections for hardwiring devices and creating network drives.

The MOFI4500-4GXeLTE uses cell towers to transmit signal. In order to use this functionality, you have to provide a data SIM card and insert it into the Mofi SIM card slot. Mofi makes different routers for different carriers, so make sure you understand which router you are purchasing. We are using a router that supports AT&T data, as well as T-Mobile, Verizon, and others. We use GoogleFi for our actual phone plans. Google’s plan gives you a phone sim card and a data sim card with every phone line. GoogleFi offers an Unlimited everything plan (50gb of data before throttling) for $65- per person. The nice thing about this plan is that GoogleFi uses T-mobile’s service, so we use this sim in our Mofi router. We use this plan sparingly, as 50gb doesn’t get us very far in a month. If you need more data - there are a number of places to find unlimited data plans, such as Unlimitedville, Netbuddy, Mint Mobile, or Visible among others - but our plan is already included in our phone bill.

(12/13/20) After having been around the country over the past year, it became clear that T-Mobile isn’t the best service provider in every location and we use use way more data than our plan provided, so we have added Verizon to our arsenal. We wanted to increase the coverage options of our system and also wanted to take advantage of a 5G system, which the MOFI4500-4GXeLTE does not support. We purchased one “Get More Unlimited” plan, which is running us approximately $89.00per month with taxes. This Verizon plan give us 150 gigabytes of Verizon 5G/4G hotspot service. Speeds are throttled after you use the 150 gigs on a sim card to 600kbps. We are using the sim card on a Verizon MiFi M2100 5G UW hotspot, which allows us to take advantage of 5G speeds in cities and gives us greater coverage options when we’re in the sticks. If you HAVE to be connected for work, you may want to consider having redundant carriers (T-Mobile and Verizon, in our case), to ensure that you have at least one that is providing fast speeds for work.

(6/15/22) In June of 2022, we purchased a v2 Starlink dish. This has been a game changer for us, as it allows us to quit having to rely on cell towers for our internet connectivity. We still use our MOFI Router and Verizon hotspot, as we like to be connected to the world when driving, in cities, or in forested areas. Dishy McDishface does not like trees, so only relying on Starlink in all locations is a huge gamble. We have found we use Starlink about 90% of the time when boondocking, but there are times that it is just too hard to find a clear view of the sky, so we’ll use of cell options instead.

Starlink when can be nice and zippy with an unobstructed view. Using Starlink in more populated areas can suffer from some congestion.

A quick note on this: There are a lot of sexy looking accessories to attach your Starlink Dish to your rig, but we don’t recommend this - gear heads will prioritize these accessories over better connectivity. Strapping your dish permanently to your rig means that you will have to park your rig in an open area for a good connection. We prefer to park our van in the sweet spot (towards the view/in the shade/away from the road, etc) and then just locate our dish where it will have the least obstructions using the included 75’ cable (you can buy 150’ cables too). We would recommend a solution (like this mount) where you have the choice to leave the dish attached to the van or being able to locate it in the field, as it would make setup time quicker - just don’t cast shade on your solar panels!!!

We are happy with our internet and have been on the road now since 2019. We both use the internet all day while working and often use it at night when we feel like a movie, show, or video chatting with friends. Our setup has given us confidence that we will be able to make money while traveling, which was a huge concern when planning our new adventures. As with anything, this system isn’t failsafe. Starlink requires a clear view to the sky, and it’s a little silly to set up in metropolitan areas where congestion and obstructions can occur. With cell options, you must be in a location where a cell tower can reach you (35 miles is considered typical cell tower range). If you’re in a deep, remote valley - you’re probably going to be out of luck with cell coverage. We’ve found that we’ve been able to circumnavigate this by looking at carrier coverage maps and checking cell signal strength on our phones. Having a cell booster has been helpful in this regard, as the Wi-Fi router can use the boosted signal when it would otherwise be too weak to function properly. In fact, we located our booster next to our AT&T Mofi and Verizon Mifi routers to boost both of their signals.

Shoot us any questions you have below, and let us know when you get your van Wi-Fi up and running! We can’t wait to hear from you!