WiFi in MAESTRO is fabulous, albeit the world may stop revolving around its axis, once WAN capability kicks in. However, in many instances, there is no available public WiFi available, yet we must mandatorily check into "The Noontime Net" (7268.5kHz) on a daily, 365x24x7 basis, whilst we are in our diverticulitis causing, gut wrenching local greezie diner, with no WiFi, as the typical owner is a EE flunkout from the 1960's, still using his ancient slide rule to calculate his young girlfriend's cycle, as she is "with him" for his huge savings account, hoping he soon croaks of a massive MI, having never spent a dime on himself, saving every nickel and dime since he was 9 years old. In these, and many other circumstances, we will be left holding the bag, as our WAN access (not possible without WiFi when one is on-the-move) will obviously not do the job.
So, my question is:
Is there anything in the MAESTRO Product Road map to add/integrate a cellular data transceiver module, so we can transparently hop onto Verizon's awesome 4G LTE network, and talk away? I will gladly pay for the extra data device on my Verizon data plan. BTW, I realize one could use their cellular phone in a tethered arrangement, as a sort of Rube Goldberg work around, but that is soooooo yesterday's clumsy and inconvenient old technology. I'm more than willing to pay for it (hey, Verizon and Flex got to eat at the diner, too!), so I really want my cellular built-in, and fully integrated into MAESTRO. Not unlike the built-in WiFi in my modern car. Puhleeze, no more of this old fashioned idea of tethering a cell phone. How early 2000'ish is that old, outmoded approach?!
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Posted 3 years ago
Paul Christensen, W9AC, Elmer
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>"Is there anything in the MAESTRO Product Road map to add/integrate a cellular data transceiver module, so we can transparently hop onto Verizon's awesome 4G LTE network, and talk away?"
Maestro really needs no cellular data transceiver. When the time comes for WAN in SSDR 2.0 (or VPN as others have done), just set your smartphone in hotspot mode and enjoy the 4G/LTE network through Maestro's Wi-Fi connection. I do this now with an iPhone 6 and K3/RemoteRig.
When in LTE mode, communication has been as robust as my high-speed cable modem connection.
Paul, W9AC
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Dan,
Are you familiar with the concept of "sarcasm?!"
73,
Larry
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yep
If your are in the spirit of fair competition with your club, the rules (ARRL) indicate the transceiver has to be located within a certain area. Else, as a single operator, I guess you can do what you want. !! HIHI
Cheers
Kevin, Va3KGS
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Paul Christensen, W9AC, Elmer
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I've got a 40GB monthly family plan through Sprint. With three users streaming stuff, I never see it come close to reaching the monthly limit. However, RemoteRig does not consume the bandwidth of Maestro which appears to be ~ 2 Mbps.
One other consideration for the Flex engineers: iPhone's hotspot function does not activate until it sees a polled request from a Wi-Fi device. When using a K3/RemoteRig, I often have to "jiggle" iPhone settings to finally get it to recognize the RemoteRig request. but once connected, it's solid.
Paul
Paul Christensen, W9AC, Elmer
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I just tried connecting Maestro to my iPhone 6 in hotspot mode. It works and no "jiggling" was needed. Maestro gets far enough into the connection process that the "Select Radio" screen comes up. Of course, it cannot (yet) see the Flex 6K on the other side of the link but this is very encouraging as Flex gets closer to implementing WAN capability.
If anyone has found a way to establish a smartphone VPN connection with Maestro, it's probably Howard or Stu.
Paul, W9AC
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Paul Christensen, W9AC, Elmer
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We have many iPads in this family and they all connect via iPhone's hotspot feature. I wouldn't have it any other way. I don't see it as ancient since a smartphone hotspot connection is not really "tethered," as in a hard-wire connection. As a percentage of total iPad and tablet sales, how many are sold with the cellular feature? Of those, how many keep that feature activated after purchase?
Why not let the cellular and smartphone experts (e.g., Apple and Samsung) handle the problems associated with hardware upgrades and future connectivity issues to tomorrow's cellular networks?
I realize LTE stands for Long Term Evolution, but is Flex prepared to answer cellular/subscriber customer service issues? I could see a situation where Tim and his team receive complaints that Maestro is not connecting via a direct cellular network because the XYL forgot to pay last month's bill!
Paul, W9AC
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I was curious and looked about how many tablets are sold with cell service.
Highlights accoding to the study:
"48 percent of tablet shipments in 2011 were cellular-enabled(mainly driven by supply). The firm expects the share of cellular-enabled tablets will slowly diminish to 37 percent in 2016"
"about half of owners of cellular-enabled tablets did not activate the service with a carrier"
I laugh every time i see a chevy commercial that touts "Built in WIFI" why when everyone has a dam phone that they can turn into a hotspot... Whoops forgot to pay the cars cel phone bill this month!
Paul Christensen, W9AC, Elmer
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Not surprising.
>"I laugh every time i see a chevy commercial that touts "Built in WIFI" why when everyone has a dam phone that they can turn into a hotspot..."
My thought too. A few weeks ago, my brother-in-law was showing me his new Tesla and its Wi-Fi capabilities. On the Tesla, I believe Wi-Fi is standard equipment. Unless there's something that a smartphone hotspot cannot do, then manufacturers like Tesla are unnecessarily adding to the production cost of the vehicle -- although it sure does sound cool to consumers when the vehicle is promoted as "Wi-Fi Ready."
What I would like to see is a center console display that mimics our smartphones. IOW, whatever is on the smartphone screen is replicated on the center dash complete with full touch ability and no more. Make it the size of an iPad or iPad Mini. With that feature, one can ditch the highly touted built-in Wi-Fi feature, NAV system, CD player, and satellite radio. Just give me a plain AM radio for any cross country drives where cell service is unavailable.
Paul, W9AC
Ken - NM9P, Elmer
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I haven't tried tethering yet, When I first got into the game, Verizon wanted to charge about $30+ extra per month if you tethered. So I have never activated the tethering function. Anyone know if they have changed their policy?
Ken - NM9P
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Yep. Fcc told them they had to, you are already paying for data and you are free to use it how you want. Even before that i used an app Called FoxFi that let me.
Ken - NM9P, Elmer
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Thanks,
Ken - NM9P
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Steve - N5AC, VP Engineering / CTO
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With the typical setting shown here, this is the bandwidth Maestro is using on the network:

After lowering the rates all the way on the panadapter and waterfall, the rates now look like this:

So you have quite a bit of control over how much bandwidth Maestro uses. If you want to run the displays at a high rate until you start a contact and then lower them while you are "rag chewing," this will work fine.
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KY6LA - Howard, Elmer
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@Larry
Still remember using my slide rule for those " Girlfriend Calculations" in the early 1960's
So far at our Lunch Bunch I have run Maestro over cellular using a laptop Softether VPN to bridge the IP and a cellular hotspot. (Very kludgy using multiple devices)
I am expecting to use a Raspberry Pi to bridge SoftEther VPN for when I travel back to France at the end of this Month. (still multiple devices but no longer need to schlep the laptop)
VPN will hopefully make it into the V1.8 Updates at which point my Cellular Hotspot will be all that I need. I am a firm believer in using Cellular Hotspots when travelling internationally as you can pick up local SIMs to avoid the outrageously expensive AT&T and Verizon International Roaming Charges.
Finally WAN.. V2.0 that I have been so longing for.. with no need for VPN would make life very easy.
I might suggest you pick up a Cellular Hotspot.. there is more than enough room in the battery compartment of the Maestro to fit one inside it... AND if you are not afraid of screwing up your warranty you might try to integrate one inside the case..
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Chris Tate - N6WM, Elmer
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David Warnberg
Thanks
David
KK4QOE