Best modem for multiple country 4G and legacy GSM-based 3G support

[DonJuane]

I like the quectel modem line since I know most how to manage via AT commands but I am looking for what would have the widest selection of 4G bands suitable for a long trip through various countries and thus the device would still have 3G GSM-style legacy support. I am not sure if any 5G modems have 3G legacy support but the only reason I would ever need 5G is in some situation where 4G was not available and 5G is, but as I understand this coming architecture, 4G and 5G can somehow both share the current and newly proposed tower equipment so since I am not looking for 100+M speeds and just a slow streaming-cabible facility, I don't personally see a big need for 5G, especially it going to it kills 3G because the places I plan to travel where many are not up to 4G even.

So would the EM12-G be the best overall solution and it sufficiently stable in environments use as a USB slab? Or what else is recommended?

[DonJuane]

(superseded by the following post, the contents here have been deleted)

[DonJuane]

Well it looks like still a hodge-podge pool of support for the traveler and it may be a contention between the EG12-G and the EM7455 in the backpack, plus add a few specific modems if you demand "above normal" speed .... There still seems to be no such thing as a true universal modem and there may never be.

*Carrier names are "approved by carrier"; the modem may also work on unapproved carriers*

EG25-G Mini PCIe: 150/50 Mbps cat 5 -35C - 75C
LTE FDD: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28
LTE TDD: B38/B39/B40/B41
WCDMA: B1/B2/B4/B5/B6/B8/B19
GSM: B2/B3/B5/B8
Carrier: Deutsche Telekom (Europe), Verizon/AT&T/U.S. Cellular/T-Mobile*/Sprint*, (North America). Telus/Rogers* (Canada)

EC25-E - LTE B1/B3/B7/B8/B20 - GSM B3/B8
EC25-EU - LTE B1/B3/B7/B8/B20/B28A - GSM B3/B8
EC25-EUX - LTE B1/B3/B7/B8/B20/B28A - GSM B3/B8

EM12-G: 600/150 Mbps Cat 12 -40C - 85C
LTE FDD: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B9/B12/B13/B14/B17/B18/B19/B20/B21/B25/B26/B28/B29 ①/B30/B32 ①/B66
LTE TDD: B38/B39/B40/B41
DL 2 × CA: Inter-band CA/Intra-band CA
DL 3 × CA: Inter-band CA/Intra-band CA
WCDMA: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B8/B9/B19
GSM - (no support)
Carrier: Vodafone* (Europe), Deutsche Telekom* (Germany), British Telecom* (British), Telefónica* (Spain),Verizon/AT&T/Sprint* (America), Telus (Canada), Telstra (Australia), NTT DOCOMO*/SoftBank* (Japan)

EP06-A: 300/50 Mbps cat 6 -40C - 85C
LTE FDD: B2/B4/B5/B7/B12/B13/B25/B26/B29/B30/B66
GSM - (no support)
Carrier: Europe: Deutsche Telekom, Australia: Telstra, America: Verizon/AT&T/Sprint

EM160-GL: 1000/150 Mbps Cat 16 -40C - 75C
LTE-FDD: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B14/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29 ①/B30/B32 ①/B66;
LTE-TDD: B38/39/B40/B41/B42/B43/B46 ①(LAA)/B48(CBRS)
WCDMA: B1/B2/B3/B5/B6/B8/B19
Support up to DL 5 x CA
LTE DL 4 x 4 MIMO Band
LTE-FDD: B1/B2/B3/B4/B7/B25/B30/B66
LTE-TDD: B38/B39/B40/B41
GSM - ??? (no support)
Carrier: TBD ("nearly all the mainstream carriers worldwide")

EM7411: 300/150 Mbps cat 7 -40C - 70C
LTE: B2/B4/B5/B7/B12/B13/B14/B25/B26/B41/B42/B43/B48/B66/B71
GSM bands: B2/B4/B5 3G-HSPA/HSPA+
Carrier: AT&T, SouthernLINC, T-Mobile, Telus, Verizon, US Cellular

EM7455: 300/50 Mbps cat 6 -40C - 85C
LTE: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B41
GSM bands: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B8 3G-WCDMA 3G-HSDPA 3G-HSPA/HSPA+
Air interface: 4G-LTE cat 6 (FDD & TDD) with CA (Carrier Aggregation) and MIMO, 3G-HSPA+DC with Rx Diversity, GNSS
Carrier: AT&T, Bell, Rogers, SouthernLINC, Sprint, T-Mobile, Telus, Verizon, Vodafone, US Cellular

EM7511: 600/150 Mbps cat 12 -30C - 70C
LTE: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B9/B12/B13/B14/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28/B29/B30/B41/B42/B43/B46/B48/B66
GSM bands: B1/B2/B4/B5/B6/B8/B9/B19 3G-HSPA/HSPA+
Diversity, MIMO, GNSS Bias, Connectors: Main, Aux/GNSS, GNSS
Carrier: AT&T (FirstNet), Rogers, SouthernLINC, Sprint, T-Mobile, Telus, Verizon, US Cellular

EM7565: 600/150 Mbps cat 12 -30C - 70C
LTE: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B9/B12/B13/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28/B29/B30/B32/B41/B42/B43/B46/B48/B66
GSM bands: B1/B2/B4/B5/B6/B8/B9/B19 3G-HSPA/HSPA+
Diversity, MIMO, GNSS Bias, Connectors: Main, Aux/GNSS, GNSS
Carrier: AT&T, NTT Docomo, Softbank, SouthernLINC, Sprint, Telstra, Telus, Verizon, US Cellular

FREQS:
LTE: B1 (2100), B2 (1900), B3 (1800), B4 (1700), B5 (850), B7 (2600), B8 (900), B12 (700), B13 (700), B20 (800), B25 (1900), B26 (850), B29 (700), B30 (2300), B41 (2500/TDD)

GSM bands: B1 (2100), B2 (1900), B3 (1800), B4 (1700), B5 (850), B8 (900)

DISTRIBUTION:
Carrier 4G LTE bands Main frequencies
АТ&T 2, 4, 5, 12, 14, 17, 29, 30, 66 - - 1900, 1700 abcde, 700bc
Verizon Wireless 2, 4, 5, 13, 46, 48, 66 - - 1900, 1700 f, 700 c
T-Mobile 2, 4, 5, 12, 66, 71 - - 1900, 1700 def, 700 a, 600
Sprint 25, 26, 41 - - 2500, 1900 g, 850
Europe 3, 7, 20 - - 1800, 2600, 800
China, India 3, 40, 41 - - 1800, 2300, 2500

HOTSPOTS (for contrast)
MR1100:
SKU 4G LTE 3G WCDMA 2G GSM
MR1100-100EUS (Europe Unlocked) Bands 1, 3, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40 and 41 - - Bands 1, 2, 5 and 8 N/A
MR1100-1RDMES (EE UK) Bands 1, 3, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40 and 41 - - Bands 1, 2, 5 and 8 N/A
MR1100-1RDQAS (O2 UK) Bands 1, 3, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40 and 41 - - Bands 1, 2, 5 and 8 N/A
MR1100-1RDMES (Ooredoo Kuwait) Bands 1, 3, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40 and 41 - - Bands 1, 2, 5 and 8 N/A
MR1100-1RDQAS (Ooredoo Qatar) Bands 1, 3, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40 and 41 - - Bands 1, 2, 5 and 8 N/A
MR1100-1TLAUS (Telstra) Bands 1, 3, 7, 8, and 28 - - Bands 1, 2, 5 and 8 N/A
MR1100-100NAS (North America Unlocked)* Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 14, 20, 29, 30, 46 and 66 - - Bands 1, 2, 5 and 8 N/A
MR1100-1A1NAS (AT&T) Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 20, 29, 30, 46 and 66 - - Bands 1, 2, 5 and 8 N/A
MR1100-2A1NAS (AT&T) Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 14, 20, 29, 30, 46 and 66 - - Bands 1, 2, 5 and 8 N/A

[Didneywhorl]

I'm following. This is great information. I hope others can chime in, but you are posting great information for sure.