Tips For Using Winnebago’s New Roof Port


This post may contain affiliate links.

Winnebago has started building a roof port feature onto some of their rigs, particularly their campervan line. It’s a simple but brilliant feature, because it means you can add any sort of roof accessory, like an antenna, without having to cut a hole yourself in your RV’s roof!

We made this video for the WinnebagoLife blog, so see the full post with more details over there, otherwise watch the video here:

 

In the video, I demonstrate how to access the roof port as I run cable to set up a new cell booster antenna on top of Parky, the Limited Edition National Park Foundation Travato we’ve been traveling in.  I share a few tips along the way that will help ensure your success if you work with the roof port in the future.

Feel free to leave comments or questions below.  Happy Modding!

 



James is a former rocket scientist, a USA Cycling coach, and lifelong fitness buff. When he's not driving the RV, or modifying the RV (or - that one time - doing both at once), you can find him racing bicycles, or building furniture, or making music. In his spare time, he works for a large IT company.


    27 thoughts on “Tips For Using Winnebago’s New Roof Port

    1. Steve Bolton

      insulation is in the way – do I need to poke a hole through that as well? Also, the aft hole sends the cable in the wrong direction of the access port. We have a solis pocket

      Reply
      1. James - Post author

        If it were me, yes, I would make a hole through the insulation.
        We never tried to use the port on a Solis Pocket, so I can’t say what might be going on there. Perhaps get some fish tape and use that to run your cables through?

        Reply
    2. Len Kawell

      We’d like to install a Pepwave Mobility 22G which has 5 wires that need to be run from the antenna to the Pepwave box inside our Travato 59KL. Would you recommend drilling 5 small holes in the access port box or 1 larger hole? I was thinking that 5 small holes would be easier to seal well with silicon sealer. But I’m a bit wary of drilling 5 holes. Any thoughts?

      Reply
      1. James - Post author

        I agree the smaller holes would be easier to seal, but how many holes is too many? I don’t know.
        When RV manufacturers like Winnebago need to run multiple wires out through one hole, they use expanding foam sealants to seal the hole and the gaps between the wires. Perhaps you could try something similar?
        They make “foam pond sealant” that’s black and waterproof, so it would be better looking than the typical home-center Great Stuff foam…
        That’s probably what I’d try. Along with a grommet or something around the edges of the hole.

        Reply
    3. Shelley

      How long of a cord do you think you would need if the antenna is 4 feet from the roof opening? Trying to understand how far it needs to travel between antenna and the inside unit. Looking at a cellular modem and I’ve seen posts that say the longer the cable, the more strength you lose. Thanks!

      Reply
      1. James - Post author

        I’d say 6 feet would probably get you to where you need to go, but I’m just guessing. I don’t know what’s on your roof, and we no longer have the loaner rig in the video.
        Easy enough to figure out with a piece of string though – lay the string out, tape it in place, and then measure it.

        Reply
    4. Michael Wiegmann

      I am trying to install the WeBoost antenna cable from the roof port box to the inside of my 2022 Winnebago Travato. Got cable into roof access port but can’t find it from inside cabinet port. I removed a small wooden block that was hiding the port hole but cannot find any of the cable even though I pushed several feet of the cable into the roof port. Is it behind the foam that has been glued to the wooden bar beside the inside port hole? I hate to rip it all out if I don’t have to. I wanted to use my weBoost on our vacation but was not able to find the cable that I pushed through the roof port box from the inside. Your wonderful instruction video didn’t say anything about this problem. After making several attempts to find it, I finally gave up and left on our vacation anyway. Any ideas?

      Reply
      1. James - Post author

        That seems odd. Whenever I’ve used the roof access port box, there has been a clean shot from the inside port directly to the inside of the box. It’s nothing more than a hole through the roof with a box on top of it.
        There must be something amiss with yours. I would just try to move whatever is blocking the hole aside.

        Reply
        1. Kelly Edwards

          I must say, the roof access port sounds enticing. However, I just completed the install of a booster in my 2022 Travato 59GL.
          The “Parky” video makes it look so easy. And a scale of 1-5, its a 6.
          This is NOT a simple pass through. In my mind, I would expect a large hole on the roof hidden under the plastic box on the roof that channels down to the 1 inch hole below. Without seeing whats under that box on the roof, Im assuming that its only a 1 inch hole drilled in the roof at an angle.
          I ended up needing to fish a #10 copper wire through the small 1/2 hole that I had drilled through the box on the roof. My g/f underneath with a flashlight and her finger stuck up into the hole underneath. I wiggled, wiggled, wiggled, wiggled…..(for 30 minutes) until she could feel my wire. Then, I came inside and could feel it. Back on the roof, and down and back and down and back and down. I had to move it until I could get the end of the wire(that I had looped) over the hole and then try to “hook” it with another #10 wire underneath and pull it through. And, this is all blind by the way, no way to see anything that is going on inside there.
          FINALLY, I got it through. I didnt break anything, and its a clean install. But, what a pain in the ass!!! It would have been a hell of allot easier for Winnebago to provide a bucket of sealant and a drill bit and let us just do it ourselves. Lot less headaches involved if I had of just drilled it out myself.

        2. James - Post author

          Fishing wires is no fun… we’ve all been there.
          It really was pretty easy in Parky. I think it may just sort of luck of the draw with where the hole in the roof is and how it relates to where you drill the exit hole in the roof box.
          I used the same hole in our new EKKO to fish a wire for Starlink, and it wasn’t too bad.
          Sounds like you got it done – eventually – in a clean way. Thanks for chiming in!

    5. Ed

      James. I just started the same install on my Boldt. When I removed the interior cover to the roof port, all I ran into was insulation. Is this what you experienced? I ultimately dug through and found my wire but it was very hard. Now I’m trying to decide whether to leave the excess cable on the outside, wound up and cable tied down or pull it inside. Pros or cons?

      Reply
      1. James - Post author

        Didn’t hit much insulation when I did it.
        As far as cable outside or cable inside… I’d go with cable inside. Won’t flap about in the wind. Not exposed to UV or the elements. But it’s probably not much of a difference.

        Reply
    6. Jim Perry

      James

      I know this was a temporary install in Parky. However I did notice that you secured the cable inside the cabinet as it came through the roof port access and turned toward the front of the T. What did you use? Is there wood behind the cabinet’s liner so that you can simply use small wood screw to hold a standard cable clip?

      Thanks!

      Reply
      1. James - Post author

        It’s been a while, but I think I just secured it with regular cable clips. I don’t recall doing anything fancy, and I had to keep it simple because I wasn’t supposed to mod the rig that much.

        Reply
    7. Dan

      Great couple of videos, installing mine now on our new NPE kl. I’m curious if you installed yours on Lance now and if you shortened the rg6 cable coming in from the outside. If so, what did you replace the ends with? The cable seems smaller then typical rg6 cable used in homes, hence my ask.

      Reply
      1. James - Post author

        Lance already had a cell booster that works really well, so we decided to leave well enough alone on Lance.
        I know what you mean about the cable. But the connectors are non-standard, so I don’t have the tooling to be able to successfully shorten one.
        I don’t think the extra length hurts it too much.
        Perhaps Wilson sells a shorter cable as a parts department item???

        Reply
    8. Craig Zerbe

      James, thanks for the video. What did you use to secure the cable onto the roof, as it runs between the box and the antenna?

      Reply
      1. James - Post author

        That was easy. There’s a channel in the side of the roof rack. I just tucked the cable into there and zip-tied it into place.

        Reply
      1. James - Post author

        It’s pulled inside and coiled up in the cabinet.
        (Remember, Parky is just on loan to us. I’ll have to remove the install one day soon, so I didn’t go to a bunch of trouble to hide the extra cable.)

        Reply
    9. Shauna

      Hello I just love all the information that you 2 give. I do have a few questions.
      I am a first timer in Rving. I have been looking for 2 years and am interested in a Class B and possibly 4×4, All weather would be great, not quite sure if always needed. I do know that i do need a shower and enough water. I will be traveling with my 144 pound dog also. I am 54 now and am ready to start traveling on weekends and vacation from work. I truly trust your opinions Would you have any suggestions on which makers to look at? also what Engine would be safe to travel. is it good to buy used or just get new? Thank you in advance!!

      Reply
        1. Sammy Hamish

          Have you found that the internal antennae can be left in cabinet to function adequately. How much does having the cabinet door closed impact the signal enhancement

        2. James - Post author

          If you watch our other video on the install, you’ll see that the cabinet we put it in does not have a door on it. So no issues there!

    10. Dhiraj Dewan

      Hi, another YouTube group – you might have heard of them: rv lifestyle , Mike Wendland – he had this same booster. He mentioned it didn’t work well and took it down. He also mentioned when going 60/70 miles it makes a constant loud sound. And when it’s windy, same issue. They switched to a Winegard antenna.

      Reply
      1. James - Post author

        We’ve not heard any unusual noises from our install, and the booster works just as you see in our other video.
        I can’t really comment on what problems Mike may have had, as I haven’t talked to him about it.

        Reply

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Comment moderation is in use. Please do not submit your comment twice -- it will appear once we have had the chance to review it.