Router Recommendation to hide Tethering from AT&T

[jearango]

I am looking for recommendations for a router that can hide tethering from AT&T in the US. I have an unlimited account but tethering is limited to a certain amount of data per month. Here are my requirements:

1. That the router be able to hide tethering from AT&T.

2. That doing so is easy. This is a preferred requirement but not mandatory. I am proficient with technology but I am just not interested in investing too much time in researching and tweaking.

3. That the router provides WIFI with good range. That throughput performance is good. I don't need anything outrageous with respect to range and throughput, just something good enough to watch Netflix on a smart TV, provide Internet access to a 1080p security camera, and to be able to work remotely.

4. That the solution provided by the router be stable and work long term. I am not interested in things that stop working after a reboot or that might stop working soon.

[Didneywhorl]

If you want a plug and play option, it doesn't exist.

The carriers smash any device that can do this plug and play. This is why we build our own systems.

I say this because you said you wanted something reliable that will always work. When it comes to these systems the reliability is more based on how well you set it up and how good you are at troubleshooting small issues.
If you pick up quickly on how these systems work and the nuances of them then I can definitely recommend something that's very simple and likely will be very reliable over a long period of time.

If you just want to open up a box plug it in pop in your sim and get some amazing performance, stable powerful Wi-Fi, and seamless support for all types of devices, and very little need to learn anything for troubleshooting, with a high expectation that some customer service is going to troubleshoot for you, then you need to go with a major name brand router and go ahead and get a regular data only hotspot plan.

I'm not saying that's your expectation. I'm saying that if it is and you're not saying it yourself then that's what you need to expect. I've helped many people that expected it to just work and be amazing and last forever not understanding that they're trying to use a phone plan as a hotspot and the carriers really don't want us to do that. Which makes it quite a bit less plug and Play and in some cases reliable.

I've set up systems with plans that are meant to be on the phone that didn't need to be touched for years. I set some up that keep me playing with it every month.

There's so much variability in the location the management protocols that are in place on the towers at the location. The level of signals also has a role as well as the availability of bands and of carriers. Not to mention the type of plan somehow only working in a particular way in that region of the United States versus an entirely different region. So many unknown variables that are hard to control by the end user that we are.

All that said, simple modems to get working for what you want with a phone or tablet plan : Quectel modems.

Router for the modem that can do what you want in tandem with the modem: depends on your needs. Gigabit LAN a must, or is 100M LAN good enough? You want really great wifi? Get a top tier dedicated wifi access point, don't worry much about the wifi in the cellular gateway routers. They aren't all terrible, but they can be pretty meh.

Will you need outdoor antennas? How far fr your router will they be? Might ne easier to get a POE router and place it next to the antennae outside. This means you'll definitely need a dedicated WiFi access point system, or a high end second router for the WiFi indoors.

On and on.

Excuse my typos if there are any, typing on my phone, and using voice to text.

[LoveMeSomeCALTE]

jearango, I am really impressed with the well defined 4 points.

Infact if you added the following as a 5th point, Elon and Bezos would halt their satellite initiatives and just write the company/team addressing all these 5 points a few billion dollars check instead:

5. That the solution provided, be reliable and affordable across localities

So, the answers to your questions are:

i. Yes, there are solutions available that address your requirements at a city/county level. This is extremely location specific. I help run two NPOs in a rural setting where there's no wired solutions possible
ii. No, those of us who have built these solutions, will not hand it over, precisely because they will be exploited, misused and abused where the data providers we depend on, will block these solutions from continuing to work. Our users don't have a backup outside LTE so their very livelihood is on the line here and we take this extremely seriously.

If you have the time to go through my posts from a year ago, you will see how I have helped a few people here setup a $60 all in router + modem combo running GO.

That solution will work with most AT&T plans (unless you swap SIMs often, and there's another thread for that) but:

We cannot help you hide tethering from AT&T - although there are certain AT&T plans out there that don't care about tethering - so theres not need to hide tethering in the first place.

Didneywhorl has given you all the information you need to proceed and make high quality decisions. If you skipped over what he said, let me repeat these two:

> they're trying to use a phone plan as a hotspot and the carriers really don't want us to do that
> There's so much variability in the location the management protocols that are in place on the towers at the location

All this said:

a. What's your monthly budget for this?
b. What's your setup budget for this?
c. Beyond what monthly costs would you give up and pay to have fiber/cable dug and provisioned to your house where you're trying to set this up?

[Rich Hathaway]

I am looking for recommendations for a router that can hide tethering from AT&T in the US. I have an unlimited account but tethering is limited to a certain amount of data per month. Here are my requirements:

1. That the router be able to hide tethering from AT&T.

2. That doing so is easy. This is a preferred requirement but not mandatory. I am proficient with technology but I am just not interested in investing too much time in researching and tweaking.

3. That the router provides WIFI with good range. That throughput performance is good. I don't need anything outrageous with respect to range and throughput, just something good enough to watch Netflix on a smart TV, provide Internet access to a 1080p security camera, and to be able to work remotely.

4. That the solution provided by the router be stable and work long term. I am not interested in things that stop working after a reboot or that might stop working soon.

Plug and play devices are available just not commercially, they are from small biz peeps, M1 or M5 would work well for you
and both can be modified to hide tethering and to mimic phone data without a single issue, 4k video streaming is patched on both of them as well.
having said that I can only speak for myself but all work is permanent and sticks thru factory reset on either of these devices.
can work well on ATT, VZW, Tmo etc.

[jearango]

I don't need outdoor antennas or tweaking bands to get good reception. Coverage is good in the area. Having said that, I might see myself tweaking with bands later on. My overall goal is to be able to bypass the hotspot usage limit on the plan.

I did some research yesterday and it looks like I need a router capable of:

1. Changing IMEI number to the one on the phone registered with the plan. Looks like you do this with an AT command but I am not sure if it works on all routers running openwrt.

2. Change the TTL value to 64 with passthrough enabled or 65 in passthrough disabled.

3. Set the proper APN value. I am unsure if I should use "NXTGENPHONE" or "Broadband"

4. Is any other thing necessary?

I ordered a GL.iNet GL-X750V2 (Spitz) and GL-E750(Modi). I will first try the Spitz and if it works I will return the Modi. I like the Spitz primarily because of the antennas. I know I said I don't need them but if they are included it is a plus.

[Adm1jtg]

All of your above research is correct, though we do not talk details about changing imei in here as TECHNICALLY its illegal to be doing that. From my limited knowledge you will need to reseach the exact At command on your own but the quectel modems are the easiest to do this on while the sierra modems take much more effort, or so i have seen posted.

As far as the correct APN you can usually find that on in the settings on your original device on that plan as any device using the plan would need the correct APN