Winegard GW-1000 Gateway 4G LTE WiFi Router for AIR 360+ Antenna

We purchased this to go into our fifth wheel as we had the wiring but we did not have this in it in order to get our Wi-Fi. It was a little difficult to set up as far as connecting it to our Wi-Fi. We had to call and talk to Wingard who explain to us in an easier way that You can’t have it set up through Wi-Fi. It Has to go through some cell option on your phone. so I suggest if you can’t get it figured out you call Wingard and talk to them personally and they will walk you through setting this up and making sure the setting is correct but you do need to be close to another Wi-Fi or have your own Wi-Fi hooked up because you have to have one item on your new setting up Wi-Fi and your other item phone laptop tablet whatever you’re accessing it on on another Wi-Fi during the set up process, so good luck, but this product does work fantastically just a little difficult to set up

Final Update 3/28/2023: I hate posting negative reviews, but, I want to be completely honest. Everything about this gateway has been a struggle. In Wifi mode the gateway constantly disconnects and often freezes up requiring a restart. In my case, speed tests show the gateway is much slower compared to using straight laptop wireless. The only thing this gateway is good for is to hide the screw holes in my ceiling. What a bummer!Update 10/30/2022: I do not recommend this product if you plan to use it as a cellular data modem. In some areas where signal is one or two bars, the modem drops the data connection and you have to frequently restart the entire gateway. I am getting substantially faster data rates with a portable data hotspot I bought from my cell provider (Verizon) plus I get 5G where available.I learned this Wi-Fi unit (not cellular) only uses the 2.4Ghz bandwidth which is the slowest. So while you might get a better signal, it won't be the faster bandwidths like 5 Ghz.I primarily use the gateway WiFi, but the 4G function is useful. Coupled with the Winegard 360+ this is a great way to boost your WiFi and cell data internet experience.If you are using this gateway chances are you have a an RV that is "prewired" for this product. Prewired does not always mean plug and play. Expect to splice some wires in your installation, but don't worry, it is not as daunting as you might think. First make a decision whether you want to use the power switch or have the gateway always on. The gateway uses so little power it really doesn't need a switch. If you do use a switch, keep in mind the supplied power wire might be shared with other equipment. In my case, the power wire was shared with the In-Command touchscreen, so the switch really does not make sense to use.I knocked off one star because the gateway should have a built in power switch, not one you add on after the fact. Also, the Gateway is 4G only. No 5G is available on this model. At the time of this review, Winegard did not have a 5G gateway product, but they should!Winegard has a supplied SIM chip installed the gateway so you can purchase prepaid data. This is expensive, so I recommend calling your local cell provider and purchase a data plan that makes sense for you.

Update:I reached out to Winegard support, within a few minutes with them on the phone they realized it had a problem and quickly sent me out a new unit and it is working flawlessly, I would now highly recommend them and the great customer service.I received the gateway 1000 very fast, box looked to be resealed several times, looks like a return.Installation was easy and fast, when I inserted the att SIM card it was not recognized in the top slot 1, removed the Winegard sim from slot zero and placed the att sim in slot zero and it worked.Unit reboots randomly also the WiFi disappears and no internet connectivity I think the unit is defective.I reached out to Winegard support and after going back and forth with them via email they are shipping me a replacement so we will updat the review after installing the replacement, fingers crossed it works as expected.

I purchased this router in June 2023 to add to my new travel trailer, which was preinstalled with the Air 360+ TV/WiFi antenna. At the time installation went well, and initial use with the preinstalled FreedomGo SIM card and AT&T service was OK. Speeds were not great, and my phone's hotspot (also AT&T) was much faster. Lots of buffering when watching YouTube TV, and the device restarted often. There were many times when we were using our Internet service OK, then something appeared to hang up, only to check our device's WiFi settings to see that we were no longer connected to the GW-1000 via WiFi. With AT&T service, our speed tests results were in the 2-5 MB.Eventually I gave up and began trying other options. I added a 50GB/month SIM from my own AT&T service plan, which only solved the issue of getting a separate billing from FreedomGo. I ordered an Inseego 3000 hotspot with T-Mobile 5G service and unlimited data, available to FMCA members for $59.99 per month. That worked well in areas with cellular data service, but not in areas with poor quality service. We are in Texas so the quality of cell service diminishes greatly when you are in the western half of the state, away from major roads. In populated areas, we could get 150-300 Mbps service consistently, but in rural areas we were still getting much lower speeds, typically in the 3-6 Mbps range.I purchased a Starlink Gen 3 Standard kit during the 2024 sale, and so far we've been satisfied with it, except for when the trailer is in storage (covered, powered storage with metal walls and roof). Starlink needs a few hours to get consistent speeds, but now in rural areas we are getting service around 300 Mbps, but now in the urban areas we are getting speeds around 20 Mbps.With the introduction of RV Halo, and the October firmware upgrade for the GW-1000, I wanted to try the device again. I was able to transfer the T-Mobile SIM from the Inseego device to the GW-1000 (using the old sim's punch out to contain the new SIM, so the T-Mobile micro sim could go in the standard SIM slot in the GW-1000), and that detected right away and connects at much faster speeds. On the Starlink, I separated the networks to 2 and 5 GHz networks, and connected the GW-1000 to the 2 GHz network. This is supposed to improve compatibility for devices that only support 2 GHz WiFi networks. I then set the GW-1000 to use both connections at the same time. Speeds are now around 16-20 Mbps, which is acceptable but not ideal.Overall this is a compromise I'm willing to accept. RV Halo just introduced the ability to connect remote sensors ('smart home' type devices) such as temperature/humidity, water, motion, and contact (door/window open), along with an Alexa voice assistant and integrations with other vendors' products such as solar controllers, door locks, etc. Having the FMCA T-Mobile service with unlimited data while in storage gives me the ability to geofence my trailer and get alerts if there is an issue. I expect that for many use cases, the T-Mobile service alone will be sufficient, but having Starlink available for some of the more remote trips, stopping that service for long periods, is a great backup option.This is a good device for weekend warriors who take different types of trips and want to stay connected to relatives or social media. A true remote worker road warrior will probably need something heftier, if only for the stability. The theoretical max speed for 4G service over 2.5 GHz is around 150 Mbps, but actual speeds delivered will be lower.I think the potential to get water leak alerts or temperature alerts is a giant benefit for pet owners or those who need to store their RVs away from home. That benefit offsets a lot of the frustration that I've experienced until this point.At this time Winegard's 5G mobile offerings are very expensive, and this device is a good consumer-quality multi-wan router with dual-SIM slots, WiFi (bridge and extender), and LAN/WAN ports, offering some great failover options. The best thing you can do is use the FreedomGo plans initially and see which providers offer the best service. Also check and make sure the antenna wires are plugged in securely. It's not going to beat the service you might expect at home, but it should offer a reliable connection over a wide variety of journeys.I expect most of the issues that people have with this device are inherent to the 2.5 GHz service, not specifically this product or manufacturer. In the past, before I had 5GHz service at home, I would experience frequent disconnections and home WiFi was not a consistent or pleasant experience.