The internet has become more and more important in peoples daily lives, this is particularly so for people who like us don’t live in one place surrounded by bricks and mortar.
We have felt for some while that our boat system was seriously falling behind the times as we have been using the same set up since around 2014 and technology advances to routers and antennas in that time has been considerable and we have been researching how we could best upgrade our system. After we bought the motorhome we decided that whatever system we bought it must be switchable between the boat and motorhome.
Being big Avtex fans, having had several of their TV’s, a soundbar and a navigator all of which have proved very reliable since we bough the first TV in 2009 and experienced their superb customer service when things do go wrong we were keen to get one of their WiFi systems – not cheap – but very good. The next decision was wether to get a 4G or 5G router, the 5G is considerably more expensive but our current mooring has a strong 5G signal which is getting ever more common.
So, an “Avtex AMR105X 5G Wi-Fi 6 Mobile Internet Solution Ultrafast Dual Sim Router” was what we eventually settled upon, we then started to research re-sellers (Avtex don’t sell direct to the public) and this was where we came unstuck we simply could not find anyone with stocks of this kit, Avtex suggest a number of their re-sellers who “may” have stocks but nothing. One of the UK’s biggest independent caravan/motorhome accessory suppliers said ” . . . Avtex stuff is great we can sell all we can get, the problem is getting it . . .”.
We then turned our attention to  Maxview, a company well known in the caravan industry for satellite TV dishes, receivers etc., etc., and found they did a range of router systems specifically for the mobile market. The Roam 5G WiFi System was just what we wanted, there was, as always, a downside in that the price was eye-wateringly expensive and we needed tan extra antenna which on its own was £260.
The next three months was spent trying to find suitable alternatives but finished up swallowing hard and buying the Roam 5G WiFi System with an extra antenna together with a special bracket to mount it on the boat roof and cable extensions so the antenna could be mounted in the best place.
The results have been very pleasing, our old  system internet speeds has generally Been around 10/15mbs but now is consistently better, the best we have seen was as the picture below:-
However that was when conditions were just right. The following photo shows what we expect, in the boat, on a dat to day basis.The motorhome is a little different as we often stay on remote rural sites but have never had a problem streaming films or TV.
