Affordable Alternative to ATT iPad?

[thejohnfist]

Started using the AT&T iPad plan a while back, works great except that I'm in an AT&T dense user area. Anytime there is an event at the local school, my internet plummets to being borderline unusable.

Previously I was using Sprint and never had this issue, but it's tough to find a Sprint supplier at a reasonable price.

Tmo isn't available in my area, and Verizon seems to be overpriced as always.

Anyone have any suggestions or recommendations? I'd like to try Netbuddy for Sprint but they won't sell it monthly or without the hotspot unit that I don't need. :/

[swwifty]

Started using the AT&T iPad plan a while back, works great except that I'm in an AT&T dense user area. Anytime there is an event at the local school, my internet plummets to being borderline unusable.

Previously I was using Sprint and never had this issue, but it's tough to find a Sprint supplier at a reasonable price.

Tmo isn't available in my area, and Verizon seems to be overpriced as always.

Anyone have any suggestions or recommendations? I'd like to try Netbuddy for Sprint but they won't sell it monthly or without the hotspot unit that I don't need. :/

All the "cheaper" mobile carriers are just reselling ATT/Tmobile/Verizon.

If you have Verizon cell service, or know someone that has it, you could do some testing before committing to their service.

[thejohnfist]

Yeah I have good Verizon and Sprint coverage in my area. Most Verizon resellers want north of $100/mo which seems absurd to me.

There's a few more affordable options for Sprint, but none seem to be monthly.

[swwifty]

Yeah I have good Verizon and Sprint coverage in my area. Most Verizon resellers want north of $100/mo which seems absurd to me.

There's a few more affordable options for Sprint, but none seem to be monthly.

I thought Verizon had an unlimited plan again that was around 70 bucks a month? Maybe I'm dreaming, but I got mine a while back when they had their $65 a month unlimited plan.

Is the issue with AT&T frequent enough that it warrants ditching them?

[thejohnfist]

I think it might be a band issue. I'm going to try locking out B30 but not sure if that's possible without getting a usb adapter for my modem.

[BillA]

I think it might be a band issue. I'm going to try locking out B30 but not sure if that's possible without getting a usb adapter for my modem.

Yeah their TOS spells it out clearly... next! lol
"After 50 GB of data use on a line in monthly bill cycle, data reduced to 2G speeds for remainder of bill cycle. Subject to this QoS policy, tethering at 600 Kbps & video streaming at SD quality (about 480p)."

[Didneywhorl]

CalyxInstitute.org Sprint service, pay a year at a time. $500 First year gets you a device included

[thejohnfist]

Yeah their TOS spells it out clearly... next! lol
"After 50 GB of data use on a line in monthly bill cycle, data reduced to 2G speeds for remainder of bill cycle. Subject to this QoS policy, tethering at 600 Kbps & video streaming at SD quality (about 480p)."

I don't think this is accurate -- My speeds are never reduced unless there's congestion. Downloads were running at 3MB/s last night (which is lower than usual but it was a busy night in town for churches) and I'm probably at around 80GB of usage right now.

[BillA]

I don't think this is accurate -- My speeds are never reduced unless there's congestion. Downloads were running at 3MB/s last night (which is lower than usual but it was a busy night in town for churches) and I'm probably at around 80GB of usage right now.

It varies by location and also by gigs used. Most router users go well over 100gigs a month, some over a terabyte per month (1,000GB). So you mileage may vary.

[thejohnfist]

I'd definitely say that we use around 200-250GB a month if I don't have any new big Steam purchases to download. Only time I've ever had speed issues is when there's an additional 500-1000 people in the town I live in. Usually caused by church events or High School sports or other events.

[bukzin]

I am thinking about signing up for the 'unlimited' Vision data sim. Don't care if its pre or post paid, have good credit.

Are there any requirements to sign up? Don't game so long ping times not an issue for me.

Can anyone comment on its usage in their Cradlepoing CBA850LP6?

Is there an better SIM option for my type usage?

[BillA]

I am thinking about signing up for the 'unlimited' Vision data sim. Don't care if its pre or post paid, have good credit.

Are there any requirements to sign up? Don't game so long ping times not an issue for me.

Can anyone comment on its usage in their Cradlepoing CBA850LP6?

Is there an better SIM option for my type usage?

If low cost is the only thing you're looking for then Visible should be fine.
Otherwise you may want to take a look at other prepaid option out there.
https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?p=5790#p5790

[bukzin]

Bill, with the router I have (850) from Jim will the Visible work without updating its software or
having to do other configurations? Those type of changes are currently over my head.

Guess I'm looking for a plug and play option.

[BillA]

Bill, with the router I have (850) from Jim will the Visible work without updating its software or
having to do other configurations? Those type of changes are currently over my head.

Guess I'm looking for a plug and play option.

Sorry I'm not familiar with the Cradlepoint CBA850LP6-NA, but from the specs it looks like a standard CAT-6 device. It should work with Verizon/Visible with the proper APN set.
For more info about Verizon/Visible, you would probably want to ask the user Gscheb at > https://wirelessjoint.com/ucp.php?i=pm&mode=compose&u=1402

[mr.busy]

I have been testing with visible in a number of phones and devices (s9, pixel 3a, netgear mr1100, and gl.inet mifi with the ec25-af modem). My findings are that you can I get decent speeds on devices themselves, put packet response (ping times) are generally high (100ms +). It worked on all of the list above except the ec-25af... I could not get that to work not matter what I tried. I was able to beat the 5mb hotspot limit, however, regardless of method, I could never get more than 15mb down unless i was testing directly on a phone (s9 or pixel). If I was tethered in any way, even via easytether pro, I couldn't break the 15Mb limit even if I was getting 50Mb on the phone itself. I did modify TTL and "settings put global tether_dun_required 0" on the phones. Same 15Mb ceiling occured on the mr1100. I haven't yet tunneled traffic over VPN.

[dmc83]

I have definitely had the same experience with higher pings on visible. I dont think I have ever seen it under 100ms. I can't find anything similar for the price though.

[mr.busy]

I have been testing with visible in a number of phones and devices (s9, pixel 3a, netgear mr1100, and gl.inet mifi with the ec25-af modem). My findings are that you can I get decent speeds on devices themselves, put packet response (ping times) are generally high (100ms +). It worked on all of the list above except the ec-25af... I could not get that to work not matter what I tried. I was able to beat the 5mb hotspot limit, however, regardless of method, I could never get more than 15mb down unless i was testing directly on a phone (s9 or pixel). If I was tethered in any way, even via easytether pro, I couldn't break the 15Mb limit even if I was getting 50Mb on the phone itself. I did modify TTL and "settings put global tether_dun_required 0" on the phones. Same 15Mb ceiling occured on the mr1100. I haven't yet tunneled traffic over VPN.

Quick update - I was able to see full bandwidth via tether with Visible today via Clockworkmod tether. I'm not sure what they are doing differently under the covers vs. easytether and others, but i was happy to find something that worked and wasn't throttled down.

[Didneywhorl]

Quick update - I was able to see full bandwidth via tether with Visible today via Clockwordmod tether. I'm not sure what they are doing differently under the covers vs. easytether and others, but i was happy to find something that worked and wasn't throttled down.

Define full bandwidth. What speeds are you seeing? What did it change from-->to?

[mr.busy]

I can get 40Mb down on the the phone itself, and if you read my earlier post that I quoted, I could never get more than 15Mb tethered (I tried quite a few ways, including setting TTL, etc). Clockworkmod tether is the first time I've been able to match the speed I can get on the phone itself - I have no idea why it works better than other methods.

[Didneywhorl]

Probably just a better written/coded app.

[BillA]

I can get 40Mb down on the the phone itself, and if you read my earlier post that I quoted, I could never get more than 15Mb tethered (I tried quite a few ways, including setting TTL, etc). Clockworkmod tether is the first time I've been able to match the speed I can get on the phone itself - I have no idea why it works better than other methods.

Are you sure the phone is not connected to WiFi router while sharing its high speed data through Clockworkmod? (you may want to check) jk!
Normally you can only get around 15Mbps and 100+ms latency on Visible, but if in fact you're getting 40Mbps through a phone (though you didn't mention latency in a phone), there are a couple possibilities for not being throttled.

1. No throttling due to the sim inside a phone IMEI. There's not much you can do if using the sim card in a router.

2. With Clockworkmod/PDANet and other tethering software, the link between the phone and tethered device is encrypted using a local VPN. You could run a VPN on your pc to hide your usage, and hopefully you won't be throttled. Unfortunately VPN itself slows down data significantly, so even if it helps getting higher speeds, it would cancel each other out.

[mr.busy]

Are you sure the phone is not connected to WiFi router while sharing its high speed data through Clockworkmod? (you may want to check) jk!
Normally you can only get around 15Mbps and 100+ms latency on Visible, but if in fact you're getting 40Mbps through a phone (though you didn't mention latency in a phone), there are a couple possibilities for not being throttled.

1. No throttling due to the sim inside a phone IMEI. There's not much you can do if using the sim card in a router.

2. With Clockworkmod/PDANet and other tethering software, the link between the phone and tethered device is encrypted (much like a local VPN). You could run a VPN on your pc to hide your usage, and hopefully you won't be throttled. Unfortunately VPN itself slows down data significantly, so even if it helps getting higher speeds, it cancel each other out.

I probably over simplified my answer - I have some ideas why/why not. Visible seems to do more inspection than most, something on the network/packet level besides TTL. For example, they seem to penalize me for even using VPN on the phone itself. Just to fill in some holes - I'm getting latency of 80-120ms, and speeds up to 50Mb now (they did some updates/upgrades/changes to their systems locally according to their official comms). I was just happy to find a tether mechanism that got under the radar as I've tried quite a few now.

[Didneywhorl]

i think the excessive ping is because they route traffic through their own servers after it goes through verizons.

[BillA]

i think the excessive ping is because they route traffic through their own servers after it goes through verizons.

That is correct, as it was confirmed by their tech support. The more hop points for your data the slower, more latency.

[mr.busy]

visible update - I have no idea when or what changed, or whether it's some good faith effort related to Covid19, but the restrictions I was facing on most devices while tethering seem to have been removed. I have an unrooted S9 and a rooted pixel 3a and neither are experiencing the throttling that I used to see.

[BillA]

visible update - I have no idea when or what changed, or whether it's some good faith effort related to Covid19, but the restrictions I was facing on most devices while tethering seem to have been removed. I have an unrooted S9 and a rooted pixel 3a and neither are experiencing the throttling that I used to see.

Yes it's true, I was sent an email notice by the carriers I'm an authorized dealer for, most have temporarily lifted data restriction during the lock-down period. Many carriers are also giving unlimited data even on non-unlimited lines including hotspot, some through May, while others through June, but likely the restrictions will be reinstated once this is over, after all that's how they make money.