Mounting the WFRBoost

As I mentioned in the previous post, I ordered a waterproof RJ45 plug to mount on the outside of the trailer. Of course you don’t have to do that. You can find another way into the trailer with the wire like the refrigerator vent, cable TV line, etc.

I’m not super happy with the jack I found. It’s zinc coated and not stainless like my water fill and vent that I mounted it next to. It does have a water proof cover for the network wire while it’s plugged in, so that is nice.

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Left is the cable cover, center is the feed through jack, and of course a hole saw :-). On of the things I don’t like about the jack is that the nut is on the outside of the trailer, I think it should be on the inside wall. I know, picky picky. Not shown is a water proof cover that I also purchased in case I end up pulling the antenna off for some reason. I just bought it all at the same time because if I decided I need the cover a few years from now, what do you suppose the chances are of me finding it then?

Drill away. I decided to mount it next to the fresh water tank vent. I had already run the network cable inside the trailer.

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I decided not to use the supplied rubber gasket. I just used some good ol vulkem instead. This shot includes how the water proof cable cover attaches and secures onto the jack with a quick twist lock.

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Inside shot.

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Next on to the WFRBoost itself. It comes pre-wired with a high quality outside rated network cable. I had to remove the cable since I was going to use a much shorter one. I also needed to have a cable a little more pliable so that it could extend and contract in my telescoping mast. I did use an outside rated cable and reused the weather putty tape that WifiRanger installs on the WFRBoost connection. This keeps any moisture out. I wanted a nice transition from the mast to the boost. One that protected the cable when raised and lowered and kept the cable in control. This is what I came up with.

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I basically did something very similar at the bottom, only I secured with screws.

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So here is the final result. I can lower the mast for travel, and extend it when at a campground for better coverage. The network cable stays inside the mast. I did put somewhat of a coil into the cable before securing inside the mast. I’m not sure the long term viability of this solution with network wiring, time will tell. I’m sure most of the time, I won’t even need to extend the mast, but I can if I need to.

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