"Phone" sim in router

[Bigbird]

Hi sorry if this is a newbie question but the 35$ per month iPad plan I've been using suddenly stopped in my nighthawk and i was recommended to look at the cricket more plan unlimited data without the normal 8mb cap (supposedly)I was reading their acceptable use policy and it stated "You are prohibited from inserting a Cricket SIM Card into a device other than a Cricket authorized phone, smartphone, or tablet Device to access our data services." Does that mean eventually they will notice it's being used strictly in a router and cancel my plan or is this just something to discourage you from trying? And if so is there something to prevent them from detecting it? Again I'm sorry if it's a dumb question I'm new to all this since moving to where I am. Thanks in advance.

[LoveMeSomeCALTE]

"You are prohibited from inserting a Cricket SIM Card into a device other than a Cricket authorized phone, smartphone, or tablet Device to access our data services." Does that mean eventually they will notice it's being used strictly in a router and cancel my plan or is this just something to discourage you from trying?

Unfortunately due to ineffective and overbearing regulation in the U.S., wireless data is not competitive.

It's solely not the provider's fault, we, including homeowners fighting tooth and nail when setting up more towers (because "towers give you the SARS-COV2" or "towers cause cancer") are all to blame for this.

This has lead to a restricted bandwidth problem - which is to say, wireless data providers DO NOT want you to use them for your home internet. Their numbers depend on the breakage model and the home internet pool (like almost everyone here) distorts and breaks the breakage model.

This is all to say your reading of the Cricket T&C is correct.

If your usage pattern cause your neighbors harm and trigger the alerting on the towers and the backend, they will ban your account. ATT is also known to blacklist IMEIs for repeat offenders.

There is a market for these ATT banned devices and certain resellers do "TMobile" specials for such now and then.

Just like the iPad plan could be used in routers until it couldn't, the cheap Cricket more plans currently work in routers until they day it won't.

And if so is there something to prevent them from detecting it?

There are tricks, and all are in a gray area.

Some are literally and entirely illegal so we don't do them here. THE ONLY way to "fix" these are through meaningful reform of current regulations that reduce the burden on providers, reclassify them as essential utilities instead of as providers of entertainment services and empower us citizens to build their own last mile runs.

Cricket definitely has an eye on this kind of usage and as of yesterday released a dedicated $90 data only plan that is more in sync with your needs.

While no guarantee it won't stop working, it's "less in a gray area" (where we all operate there wrt to "phone plans in routers").

For perspective, over 200 homes in my unincorporated, very rural city operate using a mix of TMobile and ATT phone plans for home internet with some Verizon thrown in where there's LTE coverage.

We have effective communication/messaging protocols using Nextdoor and Facebook groups in place for those needing to watch a game together on a Friday evening or a job interview and so on to keep all of us and our wireless data providers happy.

The unofficial pact seems to be as long as we are all on the same page, maintain our subscriber count, pay them ontime, don't complain unless it's really not our fault, we get to do what we need to do.

[Bigbird]

[quote=LoveMeSomeCALTE post_id=11102 time=1597243821 user_id=3064]


Cricket definitely has an eye on this kind of usage and as of yesterday released a dedicated $90 data only plan that is more in sync with your needs.
quote]

I really appreciate the reply and that's honestly what I figured and where did you find the 90$ "data only" plan from cricket I couldn't find it might not be on their website yet. And do you happen to have a opinion on the unlimitedtogo blue plan for 99$ they claim unlimited data use in a hotspot device unless it's a data usage amount that interferes with others (whatever that means) I live in a fairly unpopulated area and tend to use 3-400gb a month not sure if you have heard about it or not but it uses att as the network which tends to be the best in our area. If you haven't that is fine just wasnt sure about any plans like this. Again thanks a lot

[LoveMeSomeCALTE]

And do you happen to have a opinion on the unlimitedtogo blue plan for 99$ they claim unlimited data use in a hotspot device unless it's a data usage amount that interferes with others (whatever that means)

AFAIK, unlimitedtogo blue is ATT.

My opinion about ATT resellers is here https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1171#p11131

If this is your primary/critical internet connectivity, please have atleast a backup plan ready.

I request you to read: http://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1495#p10118

[wdwilson99]

This is my first post and while Cell systems are new, I am an old time electronics/computer hobbiest. I just bought a cricket 40MB data only plan. Their automated web systems have a catch-22 in them. TO create an account, you need to enter your phone number (on the sim card order) and a userid and email address. They then text you a temporary password to your account. Catch-22! They did activate the sim, but I don't have any account access to check my useage or even to pay them for the next month. 30 minutes later on tech support and they don't have any idea how to get me a password other than texting it to me! They tried to pass me to another tech but that disconnected the call. I will try again another day.

Meanwhile-----

I had a KuWfi WE-826-T2 (uses EC25-AF modem)that I put the sim in and I could see it connecting via the admin interface. I had Internet! That lasted all of 10 minutes. Enough for me to test with Netflix and see that they do indeed throttle video streaming to 4.4mps. Speedtest.net showed over 80Mbs download but then upload failed with a disconnect. I reset everything, tried again, same result except this time the 826 is no longer responding. I powered down, waited and tried again. I get DHCP on ethernet port, but no console and no internet. I then tried the hard firmware reload of holding the reset button for over 15 seconds while powering on, no response. I know this used to work, I just did it an hour ago to make sure it worked. Was hoping to load generic OpenWrt on it, but thought I would get it working with stock firmware first.

So, either it's a generally bad Karma day and it just crapped out right after a disconnect event, or can the carrier send a kill signal?
I did check the IMEI on crickets web site which said the modem is supported!

[wdwilson99]

It was a bad Karma day. I replaced the KuWfi with a gl.inet x750. Gl.inet is better supported and you can find openwrt and golden orb builds for it. I am using stock firmware for now. I have it working for 24 hours now, will continue to test. The gl.inet allows access to sms texts, so I was able to set up my cricket account finally.

[Didneywhorl]

It was a bad Karma day. I replaced the KuWfi with a gl.inet x750. Gl.inet is better supported and you can find openwrt and golden orb builds for it. I am using stock firmware for now. I have it working for 24 hours now, will continue to test. The gl.inet allows access to sms texts, so I was able to set up my cricket account finally.

Yeah the openWRT and Goldenorb firmwares have access to SMS. You can access them via AT commands, but its a pain in the ass.