bought a mofi

[Ty_420]

i am new to theses type i had a clearwire before that company shut it off know I have a at&t hotspot beside the mofi....My question is my kid uses them gaming systems. I was looking at one of yours which seems better plus the pci-e card is better for prepaid serves unless theres away for me open more ports on the mofi. I wondering if I return mofi 4500 and buy one of yours is it better then it. From what I have read it seems a lot better because you can change the pci-e modem plus I was wondering when 5g lte will there be another pii-e crad coming out and to replace one that is in there. Thanks Ty

[JimHelms]

The MoFi is a WE826-T2 so the hardware is the same. Your MoFi may also have the Sierra Wireless MC7455 which is a mini PCI-E modem--which may also be changed and/or upgraded.

See this TUTORIAL for more information and pictures of the internal hardware.

[Ty_420]

Do thank a external router would be better or just use the router built into it because my kids do a lot gaming? Didn't mean to take so long to get back with you. Thanks for the information too and help.

[MarkB]

Assuming it has this modem, what would you suggest I do?
Replace it? With what?
Buy completely different modem/router set up?

[gscheb]

Hello,
If you want to return the Mofi Prepare for war! They are terrible to deal with. The return policy is a lie. Be better offer to stop payment on your credit card or just sell it on ebay or here if you don't want it.
As far as gaming goes it is all about ping. Don't need allot of speed for it just latency ping. Outdoor antenna could help with that if you are struggling.

[MarkB]

The Mofi I purchased does not have band 66. This is the band that I'm getting on my phone and the band that I need to access. What would you suggest I do at this point, assuming the Mofi can'tbe returned?

[gscheb]

Honestly I would call Mofi say you want to return it. Say you don't like it don't work right what ever. Then they more than likely will offer you money to keep it. Like $50 to $100. Take that money then sell it on ebay they are going for over $200 on there because Corona virus has made lte product prices go up.
Then buy a set up that has band 66 which can easily be done with the money you will get from the Mofi. Break even basically.
What ever you buy next make sure you see people have had success using it with Visible. Visible seems to be an odd ball work with one or the other. If you are using Visible?
Just one persons opinion though!
Fear the Mofi

[56387f]

Just one persons opinion though!
Fear the Mofi

Also decided to share my personal option about MOFI. Yes, I also have bad experience with getting answers to technical questions - asked twice or 3 times, no response. But when I was buying the MOFI and was communicating with sales dep. everything was great. MOFI even promptly sent to me the missing car power converter and I really appreciate that.

Like Jim mentioned before MOFI is a WE826-T2 so the hardware is the same. Therefore there is nothing to fear when it comes to hardware specs (they are not bad either if one does honest comparison with its direct competitors). But the price of both setups (MOFI/WE826) as was mentioned before is very different !

One place where MOFI really shines is the software - I have another router (GL-750S), I run bare OpenWrt 18 on it and I can clearly see that the guy/team who developed MOFI (customized OpenWrt 14.7 - __pretty__old__release ) software did the great job.
In other words, MOFI is a very feature rich device and therefore it is quite complex. I have certain experience in this field but several times after playing/experimenting with different options/settings I put myself in a tight spot. Luckily, I am a backup guy therefore I always had a backup and was able to roll back my changes.
So, after a lot of different experiments my MOFI works just great (and btw, the stock firmware allows customization (will put it this way) of the modem - people who immediately upgrade their Sierra Wireless modem's firmware lose this possibility right away).
But for the most MOFU users whom I met on this forum the software complexity and lot's of features is actually a drawback, they definitely would be ok with the device like WE826-T2 with the same MC7455 modem and the corresponding software (This forum has a lot of info about this subject).
And I have a strange feeling that if those users would choose WE826-T2 they would be as happy as they are with MOFI or even more happier since, most likely, they would not have that negative experience with MOFI customer support (which I absolutely don't care of -I just don;t need it).

One more thing: MOFI is already the very expensive device (rightfully or not, I don't know). But if you need the band 66 and the currently used MOFI modem does not support it I would try to return MOFI instead of attempting to upgrade it. You simply dont know for sure how MOFI version of OpenWrt will work with your new modem and if after upgrade you have a problem you already know that most likely (based on our experience) you will be on your own.
To sum up all given above - if I were you I would try to return (even with paying restocking fee, a "COVID relief fee", a whatever you call fee but just to be able to return it) MOFI or may to be to sell - which may seem to be like a better option but in reality might turn out more time consuming / nerve wrecking process (unless you sell it fast to a reasonable person).

[MarkB]

OK, after more testing, I have found that the Mofi does have band 66. Still a huge difference in the speed from the Mofi, 4-5mbps, vs. phone at 25-30 mbps. (Samsung S8+)
I have tested on Band 2 with similar results. Also, the upload speed is as much or higher than the download with the Mofi which I don't understand. Of course, being a rookie at this, I don't understand very much of this anyway. LOL!
Shouldn't I be able to get better speed from the Mofi then my phone?

[gscheb]

If you have band 66 that means you have the sim 7 model. Which is a cat 4 modem I believe.
The reason your phone is faster is more than likely because you have one band on your device. Phone is connected to more than one band doing Carrier aggregation.

Here is a video about why different devices matter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxsEEDsgM3c

That is how you will get more speed.
Better signal strength with more Modem power.

[MarkB]

My Mofi router has a Cat4 modem and will not do carrier aggregation. Would a cat18 or cat20 modem with 4 mimo antennas be the way to go to allow for as much flexibility of carrier aggregation as possible? Any suggestions on what modem/router setup to go with?