Whole Home Internet Solution?

[MitchDudley]

Need help with a “Whole Home” Solution. Ideas welcomed!!

Currently using the “Home Phone and Wireless Internet” solution from AT&T. The modem is the ZTE Z700A router (with internal antenna’s). I have the AT&T Unlimited Plus Multi Line plan. I used about 168 GB last month (between 4 Phones and Router). I get 1-2 bars during the day on the router. Usually 4-5 mbps download speed in non-congested times. Once congestion hits the tower (which is about 3 miles away…wooded terrain), It drops to 1-2 mbps. This router is near a window (but no antenna’s). Just an fyi…at 2:30 am this morning I happen to walk outside with the dog. Just for the heck of it, I did a speed text on Ookla on my iPhone 6S. I got 35.7 mbps down and 11.2 up. The system was not congested of course, and I was getting 3-4 bars.

So, I recently purchased a Verizon T1114 router from ebay. Purchased a Prepaid Hotspot (30 GB) account from Verizon and Boom! I was getting 15-20 mbps (inside..no antenna’s) during the day. The Verizon tower is only 1.3 miles from the house. Less congestion. Much improved, however, I burned through the 30 GBs in about 8 days.

So, that’s my story to this point. I would like a better setup. Antenna’s will help the AT&T speeds, but I’m not sure how it would handle the congestion issue. Verizon has better speeds but the plan is limited. All advice is appreciated. I would like to be able to improve my experience and have enough capacity to run security cameras and some streaming.

[swwifty]

External antennas almost always help (especially if this device has integrated internal antennas) but there's no way to no for sure without actually testing. Every situation is different, even day to day. Only thing to do is try some external antennas on the outside of the modem, and or preferably outside the house.

[brad2388]

Be aware that the z700a only has band 12 so theres no CA with it. If you can figure out what bands are at that att site you can get a modem to suit your needs and hopes of a better speed.

[swwifty]

Be aware that the z700a only has band 12 so theres no CA with it. If you can figure out what bands are at that att site you can get a modem to suit your needs and hopes of a better speed.

AT&T pretty much has band 12, band 2, and band 30 deployed on nearly every tower then own. I would get a EM7565 if I was starting out from scratch, as that supports 3 CA, and all those bands.

[brad2388]

My closet tower just has band 12 i hope they come soon to upgrade it.

[Woolaroc]

I've been doing a very similar activity as you have been. At my house I had Point to Point Wireless Internet from a local provider and was paying $70/month for 8mbps. I started going down this LTE rabbit hole a little over a month ago by buying the Netgear LB1120 but wasn't getting great speeds, around the same I was with my current ISP. I realized it was because it's band limited and didn't have CA. I returned that device an purchased the Netgear Nighthawk M1 (MR1100) from Best Buy as they carry the version that has Band 14 support. I immediately was getting 35-50mbps inside the house with NO antennas.

I began seeing some speed fluctuations and total internet drops so did some research on the device and found that it has a tendency to switch bands and towers to optimize CA. Well in my case this was detrimental. I would get faster speeds at times but would also have a total loss every 30 minutes to an hour. There is a way to Telnet into the device an issues some AT commands to add the ability to Band Lock onto specific Bands. Since I've locked onto only Band 4 I consistently get 30mbps with zero issues. I'll take that over a potential higher speed and drops.

Now to the reason I joined this board a few days ago. I've been looking into purchasing the EM7565 and adding it to a Raspberry Pi since I already have a home network backbone and don't need the built any routing capabilities the Nighthawk or MoFi 4500 provides. I'm also expecting better CA control on this device which would give me the faster speeds I've occasionally seen on the Nighthawk without all the connection drops.

Hope my rambling story helps. My advice would be either start off building your own modem w/ Raspberry Pi (or router, instructions on this site) with the Sierra EM7565 or buy a Nighthawk M1 from BEST BUY and if it works great. If it doesn't then you can return it. Don't waste your time on anything else.

[MitchDudley]

ok...here's what I have so far.


WE826-T2 4G LTE WiFi Router
12V 2.5A 30W Power Adapter (2.1mm Tip)
Sierra Wireless EM7565 CAT-12 LTE-A Pro Modem
USB3.0 to NGFF M.2 Key B Adapter Enclosure with SIM Card Slot
MHF4 Pigtail Jumper Cables

I will probably mount a external antenna's...Still trying to figure all this out.

lol...I'm a farmer, not an Electrical Engineer.

[swwifty]

My closet tower just has band 12 i hope they come soon to upgrade it.

strange, the tower that Verizon is on near my house only had band 13 (the 700mhz frequency) which is very similar to band 12.

They finally upgraded it about 3 months ago, it was so congested with only band 13 it was nearly worthless.

[swwifty]

ok...here's what I have so far.


WE826-T2 4G LTE WiFi Router
12V 2.5A 30W Power Adapter (2.1mm Tip)
Sierra Wireless EM7565 CAT-12 LTE-A Pro Modem
USB3.0 to NGFF M.2 Key B Adapter Enclosure with SIM Card Slot
MHF4 Pigtail Jumper Cables

I will probably mount a external antenna's...Still trying to figure all this out.

lol...I'm a farmer, not an Electrical Engineer.

That's funny, i'm a Systems Engineer pretending to be a farmer

Let me know if I can help, but it looks like you're off to a good start. I recommend buying a setup that is as flexible as possible so you can add on / upgrade, or replace parts easily.