RV Mobile Office for Fulltiming
Local Area Network (LAN)
The local area network (LAN) permits relatively high speed interconnection of computer equipment. It can be connected to the internet via either the satellite internet system, or the Wi-Fi bridge (or both with the proper equipment).
The equipment we normally had attached to the LAN included a couple of laptop computers, a tower computer, and an all-in-one laser printer.
The LAN currently consists of:
- Cat 5e wiring
- Wi-Fi Router with Ethernet switch
Why have hardwired Cat 5E when Wi-Fi is available? Speed and security.
In the past we had a more complex setup. I simplified the installation when we moved out, or as equipment died.
Cat 5e UTP Wiring
Category 5 Extended Unshielded Twisted Pair (Cat 5E UTP) is used throughout the trailer for networking. This is the type of cable that is most commonly used in newer networking installations.
Cat 5E can support gigabit speeds (1000-BaseT), but the installation in the trailer has only been tested to 100Mbps speeds (100-BaseT). The installer did not have access to test equipment for 1000-BaseT.
Using network probe software on my computer, I tested transfers of nearly a gigabye of photographic images at around 800Kbps. Your mileage may vary.
All Cat 5E wiring terminates at a patch panel in the equipment cabinet at the back of the office area, on one end, and at RJ-45 connectors at "drops" on the other end. RJ-45 is the normal Ethernet connector. The "drops" outside of the equipment cabinet all consist of four Cat 5E runs and two RG-6 coax runs.
There are several drops under the desk area: two under the corner desk; one in the printer cabinet; one under the laptop station. These are, of course, the ones we used the most. There are two other drops in the living area: one over the dinette, and one over the sofa. Both of these saw heavy use when we had friends traveling with us (before we started using Wi-Fi internally).
There are also drops in various other places throughout the trailer. I had vague plans for them when I requested them, but most were rarely used. One connection in the bedroom is curently dedicated to the Wi-Fi bridge.
Note that the Cat 5E cabling can also be used for phones. There is a phone distribution panel in the equipment cabinet. Cat 3 patch cables can be used to distribute the phone throughout the fifth wheel over the Cat 5E. It was useful from time to time, but most RV parks do not have "instant on" phone service at RV sites. Most RV parks do not have phone service at RV sites, period.
Wi-Fi Router with Ethernet Switch
To interconnect devices across Cat 5E drops, an Ethernet switch is needed. To connect the LAN to the outside world in a reasonably safe manner, a router is required. To wirelessly connect devices to the LAN, a Wi-Fi access point is needed. Currently, all these needs are served by one device: a Wi-Fi router with a built in four port switch. It is a Linksys WRT54G.
For hardwired connections, Cat 5E drops are connected to the four switch ports via patch cables connected to the patch panel ports for the lines that we use the most. For wireless connections, encrypted Wi-Fi can be turned on.
To provide access to the internet from anywhere on the LAN, one of the wide area network (WAN) sources must also be connected to the router. The two WAN sources permanently installed in the fifth wheel are the satellite internet system and the Wi-Fi bridge.
There were rare cases when we neither the satellite system nor Wi-Fi worked, AND we had a phone line. I have dialed out using a laptop I used to keep in the equipment cabinet, then "shared" its internet connection with the LAN by connecting the laptop to the WAN port of the router. Very slow, but it can be a reasonable way to share a single dial-up line.
Hardwired vs. Wi-Fi LAN Connections
So why have both hardwired Cat 5E and Wi-Fi connections to the internal LAN? Two major reasons: speed and security. A third reason for the hardwiring: "we could". The wiring was installed by the RV manufacturer (New Horizons RV) during construction.
We knew that we would be manipulating a lot of digital photographs. That can be a lot of data. Then there are network data backups, and moving digital movies around. With hardwired connections we can get close to gigabit speeds, and do it reliably. With 802.11g Wi-Fi we can get 54Mbps under ideal conditions. Turning on security (which I see as a must) generally slows it down a bit. Electrical interference is ubiquitous; it slows it down a bit. In some areas there are mystery radio sources that really mess up Wi-Fi. To me, Wi-Fi is a last resort.
It is very easy for a neighbor a few feet away in an RV park to "see" the Wi-Fi signal. With encryption turned on, neighbors probably cannot read the contents or access other machines on the LAN, but who knows. Every other day I read about this Wi-Fi router or that Wi-Fi router being cracked by some kid with a laptop. Why risk it? I normally keep Wi-Fi turned off. An RV park neighbor is NOT going to be connecting to the hardwiring without breaking in to the RV.
It was easy to have the wiring installed when the fifth wheel was built. All of the wiring was put in place by New Horizons RV while it was easiest and least costly to do it.
Wi-Fi was handy when Kay's nephew, Phillip, was traveling with us. It reduced the number of cables we had to manage at his "desk" (the dinette). There were times when the Wi-Fi did not act right; it was nice to be able to drop back to the Cat 5E connection at the dinette. As soon as Phillip went home, I turned off Wi-Fi.
Alternative Setups
The current setup only supports four hardwired LAN connections. This can mean juggling patch panel connections when equipment is moved around, or when there are more devices than ports. We normally had separate switches with more ports so that we could connect drops permanently.
The current setup also requires that the WAN connection be swapped to switch between satellite internet and the Wi-Fi bridge. In the past we had a multi-WAN router that permitted us to leave both connected at once. With the multi-WAN router we could configure which WAN we used, or use both. However, that router died. If I were going to get another multi-WAN router, the one I would most seriously consider is the PePLink Balance.
I generally had a router/firewall between the WAN(s) and the LAN router as an added level of security. Most plain vanilla routers have little or nothing in the way of firewall functionality. An extra firewall may not have really made our internet connection any safer, but it made me feel better.