New here - New Montana Legacy - Montana Owners Club

KevinVan · 01-20-2021, 05:27 AM

On Friday we are taking out our new Montana legacy for the first time. I was wondering about any advice on the Wingard air 360+ and upgrading it to have the hotspot in it. Is it a do it yourself job? How well does it work? What carrier is the best carrier to sign up with for a data plan.

**AZ Traveler** · 01-20-2021, 07:34 AM

Kevin,

Welcome to the forum!

No experience with the Wingard. Have always been happy with using my phone as a hotspot.

**DQDick** · 01-20-2021, 10:27 AM

Welcome to the Forum! May your new rig bring you many years of wonderful memories. We also have no Winegard experience since we also use our cell phones.

432bartman · 01-20-2021, 12:04 PM

Congratulations on the new rig and the first trip. As for hotspot devices, we're using the T-Mobile Franklin hotspot device. It fits in the palm of your hand and has worked awesome for getting Internet. My wife, who teaches via Zoom on her computer, sometimes teaches while we're camping and it has been rock solid. It's been perfect for movies, and everything else. Not to sure on the Air 360 device. The Franklin cost us about $90.00, and the monthly service is $85.00. Ours can hook up to 15 devices at once, so some of our friends who camp with us with their trailers can use it to. From Robert

rames14 · 01-20-2021, 01:11 PM

KevinVan, congratulations on your purchase. I have not taken possession of our new Montana with the 360 Air, but I have been doing my research ahead of time. This device performs three functions, TV, wifi and cell reception. For wifi, yes, the wire is already in the ceiling and can be done yourself. I have found through discussions mixed reviews as to its effectiveness for boosting signal, but have not talked to anyone about carriers. It would appear it may boost a weak signal but it won’t increase the speed or bandwidth. So, it may be limited effectiveness. We use our iPhone hotspot through Verizon, but that buys us a combined 30gb from our two phones which never lasts a month. The Franklin T Mobile router is 100gb per month for $50, but you have to do it 4 months at a time per T Mobile. I have heard that antenna reception is good. I have not heard about cell reception, but where we camp we either have cell service or we don’t. I hope this helped.

carlrx7 · 01-20-2021, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 432bartman

Congratulations on the new rig and the first trip. As for hotspot devices, we're using the T-Mobile Franklin hotspot device. It fits in the palm of your hand and has worked awesome for getting Internet. My wife, who teaches via Zoom on her computer, sometimes teaches while we're camping and it has been rock solid. It's been perfect for movies, and everything else. Not to sure on the Air 360 device. The Franklin cost us about $90.00, and the monthly service is $85.00. Ours can hook up to 15 devices at once, so some of our friends who camp with us with their trailers can use it to. From Robert

Hey Robert, i have T-Mobile and you sparked my intrest. I was able to add the Franklin device to my existing lines, but it only cost me $10 for sim and $10 monthly. What is included in your 85.00 plan?

-cb

432bartman · 01-20-2021, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlrx7

Hey Robert, i have T-Mobile and you sparked my intrest. I was able to add the Franklin device to my existing lines, but it only cost me $10 for sim and $10 monthly. What is included in your 85.00 plan?

-cb

Carl, we went with the most data usage you can get per month. We have never come close to using it all. That could be why we have that payment.

RMcNeal · 01-21-2021, 05:48 AM

I have the Netgear Nighthawk and an AT&T Unlimited plan. The device was $199.00 and the sim card was free. It was just like adding a phone to our plan, so $10.00 per month and we have unlimited data. Current plans from all of the major providers advertise "unlimited" but throttle you at some point after a certain amount of usage. Our unlimited plan has no throttling as we have had it for over 25 years. I was forced on it when my daughter got her first iPhone. I've never been throttled even after using over 200GB of data. I stream TV using Roku and Firestick, and I work from the road as a software developer/engineer. I put together a MIMO antenna which cost me about $20.00 from Amazon and a few dollars in PVC pipe. The most expensive part was the suction cup which I got from TechnoRV. It's been rock solid for us.
As I understand it, AT&T does not charge extra if you go over their 22GB on the current plans but MAY throttle you in an area that is congested.

WLA · 02-03-2021, 02:22 PM

If you're a member of FMCA, you can get unlimited 4G LTE data for $50./month (1000 GB) Joining FMCA is $85/year. They're using an Inseego MIFi800 hot spot on the Sprint/T-Mobile network. For my money, this is the best deal out there for 4G LTE internet.

Kcuddeback · 02-03-2021, 05:39 PM

Message me and we can talk

WLA · 02-03-2021, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kcuddeback

Message me and we can talk

What do you need to know?

Kcuddeback · 02-03-2021, 08:45 PM

Sorry. I hate these forums. Wife and I have been living in our 2021 3120 Legacy Super Solar for three months now and did what your asking, it’s just to long and complicated to do in an email. So we’re in FL, phone is 801-589-5082. I can help you get through a couple bumps installing the modem. It works, not the best but adequate if you’re not teaching online classes.
Ken

FoxFamily91 · 02-04-2021, 12:31 PM

We have the Wineguard 360+ and added the router - it was a simple add on, purchased at Camping World. I love it, it amplifies the campgrounds wifi and only once have I had to purchase data from their plan (which was also simple). I have been working virtually for almost 4 months. I say go for it, we love ours. With the router we also stream all our TV shows - all off the campground wi fi.

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