Reconfigurable wireless modem adapter including diversity/MIMO modems

A method to use data services to move data onto and off of a vehicle, the method comprising:

• communicatively coupling an onboard-system interface of a control board to at least one onboard system on the vehicle;
• communicatively coupling at least one diversity/MIMO antenna on the vehicle to a radio frequency switch;
• selecting one of at least one data service provider available to the at least one diversity/MIMO antenna at the control board;
• configuring a data multiplexer on the control board to activate a selected one of at least two dissimilar modems, the at least two dissimilar modems including at least one diversity/MIMO modem, the configuring being based on the selecting of the available data service provider, wherein the control board is communicatively coupled to the radio frequency switch via the selected one of the at least two dissimilar modems;
• and
• initiating a network acquisitions process based on processing internal to the selected one of the at least two dissimilar modems.

A reconfigurable-wireless-modem-adapter system, comprising:

• a control board having a plurality of user-data interfaces for a respective plurality of modems, the control board comprising;
• a data multiplexer,
• a processor,
• control logic, and
• an onboard-system interface to an onboard system;
• at least two dissimilar modems attached to a respective at least two of the plurality of user-data interfaces, wherein the at least two dissimilar modems include at least one diversity/MIMO modem;
• and
• a radio frequency switch communicatively coupled to the control board in parallel via the at least two dissimilar modems and communicatively coupled to at least one diversity/multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna on a vehicle, wherein, when one of the at least two dissimilar modems is selected by the processor, the control logic configures the data multiplexer to activate the selected modem, wherein one of the at least one diversity/MIMO antenna is communicatively coupled via the selected modem to the onboard system communicatively coupled to the onboard-system interface.