PSA: AT&T Doing away with $35 iPad Unlimited.

[BillA]

I have great external antennas. Before receiving the message from t-mobile I was getting about 30 mbps down. Is there a setting I need to check/change? TTL is set for 65. I'm far away from home and my mailing address so I need to use the equipment I have. I think its because travel data sold me a plan that is limited despite claiming unlimited. That or I may have a setting wrong. Hoping for the latter.

A couple of possibilities...
1. They sold you a limited plan with say 30 gigs total. Once you use that up, there are no setting which would bypass that.
2. They sold you an unlimited plan with only 30gigs of hotspot data, therefore once that's used up, your data stops, though the phone data is still unlimited. In this case, it might be possible to bypass it with some TTL settings or UA change, but I'm not familiar with Tmobile's prepaid service, only with SimpleMobile which has worked for me for the past 5 years. I usually put on over 300gigs per month all high speed between 50 to 100Mbps. Course speeds do vary depending on time of day (peak/off-peak times), congestion, and the phase of the moon. ;D (well maybe not the last one), lol

[lloyd.arms]

Anyway to tell me which settings to try for TTL? Also UA? Lost me there. I'm still very new to this and lack ample time to study currently.
Thanks!

[BrentV]

I went through the list and didn't see this mentioned, although I haven't read all the pages. Has anyone tried a normal At&t unlimited phone line such as the At&t Unlimited extra and change the TTL settings? Does this work?

EDIT: Read through all the pages, I have another question. Does anyone know the requirements for an AT&T Enterprise account and what type of plans/ lines /data they offer?

[Twoods196]

My Autopay Prepaid iPad plan is still working currently. I don't think they've cut anyone off mid billing period yet. Usually if it keeps renewing you may be safe.

My guess is they have a threshold for data usage and if you pass that it's game over.

Can you provide the link where you login to your prepaid iPad plan? The one I was using is saying this is no longer where you login too. Thanks

[Twoods196]

Also has anyone tried Visible Mobile? They offer Verizon an you can do a party pay with 4 people can even be people online as you get your own login etc. 1 person is 40 an if you have 4 people for party pay it's $25.

[BillA]

Also has anyone tried Visible Mobile? They offer Verizon an you can do a party pay with 4 people can even be people online as you get your own login etc. 1 person is 40 an if you have 4 people for party pay it's $25.

Verizon based Visible $40/mo, 5-10Mbps speeds, 100+ms latency, deprioritized during congestion

It's cheap, but you get what you pay for, slow speeds with high latency makes playing fast action online games near impossible. It works for some, not for others.

[thejohnfist]

Can you provide the link where you login to your prepaid iPad plan? The one I was using is saying this is no longer where you login too. Thanks

I just use the ipadlanding page, which forwards me to:
https://dcp2.att.com/OEPNDClient/

[Rwc2002]

Has anyone's att iPad plan with autopay stopped working? Yesterday mine just stopped working. The signal is showing zero, I've done a ton of different things trying to get it to work. I also can not login to the att iPad plan but it's been doing that for awhile saying I need to login from a different place. I took the sim card out an put it in a phone an couldn't get it to work either. Even forced it to LTE only an the first time I forced it onto it, it worked for about 5 seconds an then quit. Can anyone confirm the apn you use for a cellphone, or anything you have to do on a cellphone to make it work. Just wanna make sure it's the account an not the router/modem. Thanks

Mine just stopped last week one day I'm about mid billing period and it just says mobile data disconnected. I can still log in and see my plan, no emails about being canceled can't get it to work in my phone either which it used to work fine in phone or mobile router. Have you been able to figure anything out on your service? I would think if they canceled mine they would send an email or something. I don't wanna get billed again next month for internet I can't use.

[BillA]

Mine just stopped last week one day I'm about mid billing period and it just says mobile data disconnected. I can still log in and see my plan, no emails about being canceled can't get it to work in my phone either which it used to work fine in phone or mobile router. Have you been able to figure anything out on your service? I would think if they canceled mine they would send an email or something. I don't wanna get billed again next month for internet I can't use.

Put the sim card into a phone, call customer service from another phone (800-331-0500 or 800-901-9878), tell them that it has stopped working all of a sudden, and ask them to fix it. Course don't tell them that you're going to use it in a router. If they were able to fix it, do NOT put it back into the router, instead follow this workaround:
First make sure you can go online on the phone's browser, then connect the phone to the router via usb, turn on the USB Tethering on the phone, in the router's settings select the phone as the modem, set the proper APN and TTL, then run some speed tests at > https://www.bing.com/widget/t/speedtest

If the above doesn't work then I'm afraid that all good things have come to an end eventually, make sure to remove your credit card from auto-pay. You may want to consider going with a different carrier from this list:
https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?p=5790#p5790

[Rwc2002]

Put the sim card into a phone, call customer service from another phone (800-331-0500 or 800-901-9878), tell them that it has stopped working all of a sudden, and ask them to fix it. Course don't tell them that you're going to use it in a router. If they were able to fix it, do NOT put it back into the router, instead follow this workaround:
First make sure you can go online on the phone's browser, then connect the phone to the router via usb, turn on the USB Tethering on the phone, in the router's settings select the phone as the modem, set the proper APN and TTL, then run some speed tests at.

If the above doesn't work then I'm afraid that all good things have come to an end eventually, make sure to remove your credit card from auto-pay. You may want to consider going with a different carrier from this list:
https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?p=5790#p5790

I finally got an email today from att like almost a week after it quit working. It was pretty funny how they worded it. It said my plan had been canceled due to my request or inactivity, then gave me a link to resign up, which obviously doesn't have the unlimited plan anymore. Its nice how they billed me then canceled my service so they got my payment first lol. I switched back to my dsl for now but it is horrible at 7mbs compared to the 150 to 180mbs i was getting with att. I may check out the tmobile or simple mobile one them options. We use a ton of data so not sure any will work out in the long run.

[xdavidx]

I finally got an email today from att like almost a week after it quit working. It was pretty funny how they worded it. It said my plan had been canceled due to my request or inactivity, then gave me a link to resign up, which obviously doesn't have the unlimited plan anymore. Its nice how they billed me then canceled my service so they got my payment first lol. I switched back to my dsl for now but it is horrible at 7mbs compared to the 150 to 180mbs i was getting with att. I may check out the tmobile or simple mobile one them options. We use a ton of data so not sure any will work out in the long run.

Thanks for reporting on your experience. Do you know about how much data you were using, in recent months?

[Rwc2002]

Thanks for reporting on your experience. Do you know about how much data you were using, in recent months?

My wife and daughter stream TV and you tube basically 24/7 we were in the terabyte a month range so I knew we would be high on the radar. Although this month when they canceled it we were only at like 200gb.

[xdavidx]

My wife and daughter stream TV and you tube basically 24/7 we were in the terabyte a month range so I knew we would be high on the radar. Although this month when they canceled it we were only at like 200gb.

Thanks, that helps. They may be setting their scan for recent past use, not just going by current or previous month usage.

Normally, for my household usage, I wouldn't be as worried about showing up on the radar, but the stay at home order for my state has us consuming a lot more. I may get 2 different plans and swap Sims at the 1st and 15th of each month to see if that keeps them at bay. More money, but less hassle if/when one of them pulls the blanket at 6 am and something is needed quickly. If all goes well until after the virus situation settles down, I can cancel one of them if others have showed signs the providers have retired their deathstar squadron. :-/

[BillA]

Thanks, that helps. They may be setting their scan for recent past use, not just going by current or previous month usage.

Normally, for my household usage, I wouldn't be as worried about showing up on the radar, but the stay at home order for my state has us consuming a lot more. I may get 2 different plans and swap Sims at the 1st and 15th of each month to see if that keeps them at bay. More money, but less hassle if/when one of them pulls the blanket at 6 am and something is needed quickly. If all goes well until after the virus situation settles down, I can cancel one of them if others have showed signs the providers have retired their deathstar squadron. :-/

To be more cost effective, you could temporarily change the plan on one of your personal phones to unlimited (or permanently for that matter), and tether it to the router as a modem whenever ATT boots you off their network.

[xdavidx]

To be more cost effective, you could temporarily change the plan on one of your personal phones to unlimited (or permanently for that matter), and tether it to the router as a modem whenever ATT boots you off their network.

Trying to play this one through in my head. In my case, my cellular router is on the roof, so I don't think it is a viable option for me, as I need my cell phone during the day. If I had the router inside, and would be near it most of the time, I can see that as a possible short term solution.

If I somehow did do something like this, I would be leary about doing it in a non-temporary way, because if they shut you down for terms of service reasons, now your main phone account is affected too.

It is definitely a quick way to get something up and running and would save money. Unfortunately won't work in my situation due to network topology. Thanks for the idea. I do appreciate it. Maybe it will work better for someone else.

[BillA]

Trying to play this one through in my head. In my case, my cellular router is on the roof, so I don't think it is a viable option for me, as I need my cell phone during the day. If I had the router inside, and would be near it most of the time, I can see that as a possible short term solution.

If I somehow did do something like this, I would be leary about doing it in a non-temporary way, because if they shut you down for terms of service reasons, now your main phone account is affected too.

It is definitely a quick way to get something up and running and would save money. Unfortunately won't work in my situation due to network topology. Thanks for the idea. I do appreciate it. Maybe it will work better for someone else.

If there's a will, there's a way.
To solve your topology issue, you could run any length USB cable by simply daisy chaining as many 16 foot active cable section as you need. I'm running an 80 feet long USB cable perfectly fine made up of 5 sections. Then there's USB to CAT5/6 cable adapters so you could extend the router's usb port using a cheap CAT to USB cable/adapter too.
I can see your concern about using your personal phone for data, however it would work as a temporary data backup. By the way, while your phone is plugged into the router's USB port extension, you can still use it for calls and data.
As another solution without the need to even plug the phone into the router, you could simply turn off the power to the router, and turn on your phone's built in hotspot by setting the WiFi hotspot's name the same as the router's, this way no need to reconfigure any of your connected WiFi devices.

[xdavidx]

If there's a will, there's a way.
To solve your "topology" issue, you could run any length USB cable by simply daisy chaining as many 16 foot section of active cables as you need. I'm running an 80 feet long USB cable perfectly fine made up of 5 sections. Then there's USB to CAT5/6 cable adapters so you could extend the router's usb port using a cheap CAT to USB cable/adapter too.

I *almost* mentioned that option in my post, but let it slide. Lol I did look in to these options when designing my system. With the added cost and complexity, I opted to pass on them. At the time, I was thinking the usb 2 port on my router, could, under optimal scenarios, be a limiting factor, especially down the road with a higher carrier aggregation capable modem. Having said that, I believe my m.2 to mini pci adapter is also using the USB bus under the covers and would be the weak link anyway.

But if we ignore that, and ignore very expensive fiber optic repeaters to extend USB 3, I was under the impression I would still need some active extenders at each end and be able to shield them from the elements. Those do seem to be available at reasonable prices for some models, from a quick search, but not sure of the quality and speed aspects. Are you using any active extenders in your daisy chain, or just normal, passive USB male type A to female type A unions?

I can see your concern about using your personal phone for data, however it would work as a temporary data backup. By the way, while your phone is plugged into the router's USB port extension, you can still use it for calls and data.
As another solution without the need to even plug the phone into the router, you could simply turn off the power to the router, and turn on your phone's built in Hotspot.

Yep, would work temporarily if needed.

The Hotspot plan doesn't work for me either, other than those things fairly close to the phone location. I have a high power wireless access point that is physically connected to my main router over ethernet and it handles all the wifi for the house. A phone Hotspot generally can't create as big of a bubble. I have used phone Hotspot for some areas of the house when the internet has gone out before though, so definitely doable in a pinch.

More than one way to skin a cat, for sure.

[Rwc2002]

Thanks, that helps. They may be setting their scan for recent past use, not just going by current or previous month usage.

Normally, for my household usage, I wouldn't be as worried about showing up on the radar, but the stay at home order for my state has us consuming a lot more. I may get 2 different plans and swap Sims at the 1st and 15th of each month to see if that keeps them at bay. More money, but less hassle if/when one of them pulls the blanket at 6 am and something is needed quickly. If all goes well until after the virus situation settles down, I can cancel one of them if others have showed signs the providers have retired their deathstar squadron. :-/

I was quite surprised they are canceling plans during the stay at home deal. Att is giving me extra data on my phone plan and I read all this stuff that even if you can't pay your bill they will keep you connected. Then the day before my daughter starts her online schooling our ipad plan gets canceled. I would pay 100 or more a month if they would just give me a legitimate unlimited plan to use as I wanted. Thats the only part of rural living I hate its either slow dsl or make something like this work. I'm either gonna bump my phone plan to the unlimited att and tether my phone to router when needed for the extra speed or check out tmobile and see how it works.

[xdavidx]

I was quite surprised they are canceling plans during the stay at home deal. Att is giving me extra data on my phone plan and I read all this stuff that even if you can't pay your bill they will keep you connected. Then the day before my daughter starts her online schooling our ipad plan gets canceled. I would pay 100 or more a month if they would just give me a legitimate unlimited plan to use as I wanted. Thats the only part of rural living I hate its either slow dsl or make something like this work. I'm either gonna bump my phone plan to the unlimited att and tether my phone to router when needed for the extra speed or check out tmobile and see how it works.

I agree. It does seem like a very bad time for them to be doing it and is surprising. They might be extra congested due to all the people using the towers now during the day and are trying to provide more capacity by knocking some users off. Deprioritization already handles that, though, so it would be nice if they just let it work like it is supposed to.

The problem for us rural people is lack of competition, even at higher prices. (which is obviously exacerbated by lack of population density from the provider point of view) The dsl operators love it. They don't have any incentive to improve, because most people are going to stick with them, rather than jumping through all these other hoops.

Sorry this happened to you. If you can report back on what you did and how it is working, that would be great.

[BillA]

I *almost* mentioned that option in my post, but let it slide. Lol I did look in to these options when designing my system. With the added cost and complexity, I opted to pass on them. At the time, I was thinking the usb 2 port on my router, could, under optimal scenarios, be a limiting factor, especially down the road with a higher carrier aggregation capable modem. Having said that, I believe my m.2 to mini pci adapter is also using the USB bus under the covers and would be the weak link anyway.

But if we ignore that, and ignore very expensive fiber optic repeaters to extend USB 3, I was under the impression I would still need some active extenders at each end and be able to shield them from the elements. Those do seem to be available at reasonable prices for some models, from a quick search, but not sure of the quality and speed aspects. Are you using any active extenders in your daisy chain, or just normal, passive USB male type A to female type A unions?

Yep, would work temporarily if needed.

The Hotspot plan doesn't work for me either, other than those things fairly close to the phone location. I have a high power wireless access point that is physically connected to my main router over ethernet and it handles all the wifi for the house. A phone Hotspot generally can't create as big of a bubble. I have used phone Hotspot for some areas of the house when the internet has gone out before though, so definitely doable in a pinch.

More than one way to skin a cat, for sure.

I have 5 pieces of 16 foot long active USB2 extensions daisy chained together for a total of 80 feet to extend the external modem enclosure from the attic down to my office where I have the WE3526 router box. No extra power is need on the far end, only a high powered USB hub connected to the router and the extension cable, it's a very simple yet effective setup. I took a different approach to the dilemma of putting everything up on the roof, instead of extending the ethernet port I rather have the router down on my work desk for easy access/maintenance, and less heat build-up. I just extended the external modem enclosure with the antennas connected to it via two short coax cables. The long USB2 extension is plenty fast for up to about 400Mbps real world speeds (480Mbps in theory but there's always some overhead). I'm pretty sure nowadays they even have USB3 extension solutions.

Back to the hotspot, if your main high power access point/router is OpenWRT flashable, then you could connect your personal phone to it via both USB or WiFi tether, that way you would get the same high power WiFi signal throughout the home as with the mobile router. OpenWRT has fail-over built in, so tethering the phone to it would switch seamlessly between the mobile router's and phone's internet.... just a thought.

[xdavidx]

I have 5 pieces of 16 foot long active USB2 extensions daisy chained together for a total of 80 feet to extend the external modem enclosure from the attic down to my office where I have the WE3526 router box. No extra power is need on the far end, only a high powered USB hub connected to the router and the extension cable, it's a very simple yet effective setup. I took a different approach to the dilemma of putting everything up on the roof, instead of extending the ethernet port I rather have the router down on my work desk for easy access/maintenance, and less heat build-up. I just extended the external modem enclosure with the antennas connected to it via two short coax cabled. The long USB2 extension is plenty fast for up to about 400Mbps real world speeds (480Mbps in theory but there's always some overhead). I'm pretty sure nowadays they even have USB3 extension solutions.

Yep, that's exactly the reason I pondered it initially. Nicer to have the router inside to play with it if wanted/needed. I'm going to put a heat sink on my modem to reduce the heat levels. We'll see how that works.

If you have any links to the extenders you use, that would be great. Pictures are always fun too.

[xdavidx]

A couple links of possible products for anyone who is looking. You can get them in longer lengths to reduce the number of links and to reduce the total price:

https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Hi-Sp ... B0002D6QJO

https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Hi-Sp ... B000W0BVTW

[BillA]

Yep, that's exactly the reason I pondered it initially. Nicer to have the router inside to play with it if wanted/needed. I'm going to put a heat sink on my modem to reduce the heat levels. We'll see how that works.

If you have any links to the extenders you use, that would be great. Pictures are always fun too.

Here are the advantages of using a USB extension cable for extending the router's usb port instead of its ethernet port:

1. The router can be placed anywhere indoors for easy viewing of the status lights, maintenance, diagnostics/testing, and reducing exposure to heat, cold, and humidity.

2. Only the modem and the antenna needs to be placed at the remote location (roof-top, pole, etc), which means less gear to mount, maintain, or break.

3. Using a high powered USB3 hub with at least a 3Amp power adapter connected to the router's usb port, allow the USB extension cable to carry power to the remote modem, eliminating the need to run a separate power cable or the need for a power injector/splitter.


I remember buying some Tripp-Lite cables from Provantage.com a long time ago, but I'm sure NewEgg.com and others have it too. At the time all they had was 6ft. long, but now they have anything between 6ft to 65ft (3 to 20meter) long, and multiple cables may be daisy chained together for for up to 135ft (60meter) lengths. However, it's recommend to use the shortest one piece cable, or the least number of daisy chained cables possible that reaches to the remote device, in order to minimize power loss and maximize speed.


Tripp Lite 5M USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Active Extension Repeater Cable (A M/F) 5meters/16ft
https://www.provantage.com/~7TRPA1WU.htm


Tripp Lite 10M USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Active Extension Repeater Cable (A M/F) 10meters/33ft
https://www.provantage.com/~7TRP92TT.htm

Tripp Lite 15M USB 3.0 Active Superspeed Extension Repeater Cable USB-A M/F 15meters/50ft
https://www.provantage.com/~7TRPA2R5.htm

Tripp Lite 20M USB Active Extension Repeater Cable 20meters/65ft
https://www.provantage.com/~7TRPA2RM.htm

[xdavidx]

I remember buying my Tripp-Lite cables from Provantage a long time ago, but I'm sure NewEgg and others have it too. At the time all they had was 16ft. long, but now they have anything between 6ft to 80ft long. Both Tripp-Lite and StarTech are great bands.
Just use a high powered USB2/3 hub connected to the router's usb port, then connect the usb extension into the hub so it can supply power to the remote modem too.

https://www.provantage.com/service/sear ... le&MAX=100

Tripp-Lite 20meters (about 65ft.) USB3 with power jack at the remote end so you can power your modem without having to run extra power to the roof-top. Can be daisy-chained up to 135ft. (about 45meters).
https://www.provantage.com/tripp-lite-u ... RPA2RM.htm

StarTech 80ft (about 25meters)
https://www.provantage.com/startech-usb ... TR93A5.htm

Thanks for posting that. Could come in handy for someone.

Regarding powering the usb enclosure remotely, with one of the extenders that has the extra power jack, that's only needed if you aren't using a powered hub?

Good stuff, if for no other reason, than it could be done, so it was done.

[BillA]

Thanks for posting that. Could come in handy for someone.

Regarding powering the usb enclosure remotely, with one of the extenders that has the extra power jack, that's only needed if you aren't using a powered hub?

Good stuff, if for no other reason, than it could be done, so it was done.

Actually you need to use a USB3 powered hub or some other usb power injector at the router either way. A powered USB3 hub is the easiest way to inject plenty of power, since it's able to supply more power than a USB2 hub.
The breakout jack at the remote location is just a bonus jack which allows to plug in other devices like a camera with a round power connector. By simply plugging in the extension cable into the modem enclosure, it should be able to supply enough power, provided that you have at least a 3Amp power adapter at the hub.
Older "MC" series modems seem to use more power therefore a powered hub is needed, while the newer "EM" series modems tend to use less power so you might be able to power them directly from the router's USB power without a hub.

[shwaba]

Here's a list of currently available unlimited prepaid plans for mobile routers


1. ATT

ATT tablet/iPad plan $35/mo, 30Mbps speeds, 50ms latency, deprioritized after 30GB, has been discontinued.
ATT unlimited prepaid $65/$75/mo, 30Mbps speeds, 50ms latency, deprioritized after 30GB
ATT based Cricket $65/mo, 8Mbps speeds, 50ms latency, deprioritized after 30GB
ATT based H2O $60/mo, 8Mbps speeds, 50ms latency, deprioritized after 30GB

Note: Must be used in an OpenWRT router with the TTL set to 65, otherwise the data will not work in routers like the Netgear M1 Nighthawk, LB112x modem, etc.
According to reports, currently the ATT $65/$75 plans are not working in mobile routers due to ATT blocking modems.
As a workaround, you can try putting the sim into a compatible phone, first make sure you can go online on the phone's browser, then connect the phone to the router via usb, turn on the USB Tethering on the phone, in the router's settings select the phone as the modem and also disable or pull out the internal modem, set the proper APN and TTL, then run some speed tests.
You see, when carriers give you lemons, you gotta make lemonade!;)


2. Tmobile

Tmobile unlimited prepaid $60/mo, 100Mbps speeds, 40ms latency, deprioritized after 50GB
Tmobile based MetroPCS $50/mo, 100Mbps speeds, 40ms latency, deprioritized during congestion
Tmobile based SimpleMobile $50/mo, 100Mbps speeds, 40ms latency, deprioritized during congestion

Note: Must be used in an OpenWRT router with the TTL set to 65, otherwise the data will not work in routers like the Netgear M1 Nighthawk, LB112x modem, etc.


3. Verizon

Verizon unlimited prepaid $70/mo, 40Mbps speeds, 50ms latency, deprioritized during congestion
Verizon based PagePlus $55/mo, 40Mbps speeds, 50ms latency, deprioritized during congestion
Verizon based Visible $40/mo, 5-10Mbps speeds, 150+ms latency, deprioritized during congestion

Note: Must be used in an OpenWRT router with the TTL set to 117, otherwise the data will not work in routers like the Netgear M1 Nighthawk, LB112x modem, etc.

Does a carrier specific APN have to be used with any of these plans? If so I assume you would not use the same one for Verizon as you would for PagePlus that's what I'm getting at.

[BillA]

Does a carrier specific APN have to be used with any of these plans? If so I assume you would not use the same one for Verizon as you would for PagePlus that's what I'm getting at.

Yes, they are pretty much all different. Which one in particular are you looking for?

[shwaba]

Yes, they are pretty much all different. Which one in particular are you looking for?

PagePlus and Simplemobile

[BillA]

PagePlus and Simplemobile

PagePlus APN is "tracfone.vzwentp" (without the quotes)
SimpleMobile APN is "simple" (without the quotes)

[mtl26637]

Another option could be to have your secondary setup such as a cheap WE826-T2 with usb/phone connection inside house and run single long ethernet cable from it's lan port up to the WAN port of the main router on roof. This would only require running ethernet cable up to roof. Then load balance on the roof router. Only downfall would be your inside router is using normal antennas inside house rather than externally mounted antennas. Then again, if using a phone for modem then wouldn't be using external antennas anyway.

I never had much luck with trying to extend USB as it uses common connected ground which can be troublesome whereas ethernet uses differential voltages and that doesn't come into play. Thats just from personal experiences and using old house wiring. Thanks for those links though, I might grab me some of those USB extension cables as those could def. come in handy in the future.

[xdavidx]

Another option could be to have your secondary setup such as a cheap WE826-T2 with usb/phone connection inside house and run single long ethernet cable from it's lan port up to the WAN port of the main router on roof. This would only require running ethernet cable up to roof. Then load balance on the roof router. Only downfall would be your inside router is using normal antennas inside house rather than externally mounted antennas. Then again, if using a phone for modem then wouldn't be using external antennas anyway.

Yep, that topology would work, but I have very poor signal inside my house, so that keeps it from being a functional solution for me.

[mtl26637]

Yep, that topology would work, but I have very poor signal inside my house, so that keeps it from being a functional solution for me.

If using a phone as modem I think it would be inside either way no? Would be a matter of either running usb cable to roof or running ethernet cable to roof. Sorry if I missed something..

[BillA]

Yep, that topology would work, but I have very poor signal inside my house, so that keeps it from being a functional solution for me.

There's an even simpler way.
Keep the mobile router in the house, connect a powered USB3-hub to its usb port and a single USB3 extension cable into the USB3-hub and run it to the roof. On the roof connect a second USB3-hub to the end of extension cable so you can plug in two modems, or a phone and a modem, with external antennas for better signal. Must use USB3-hubs and USB3 cable for long runs and power. Here's the diagram:
Mobile Router > powered USB3-hub > USB3 extension cable to the roof > powered or non-powered USB3-hub > 2x Modems in separate enclosures OR 1x Modem in a USB enclosure + a phone (optionally the phone my be left downstairs attached directly to the first hub, without the need for a second hub on the roof).

[xdavidx]

There's a better and simpler way.
Keep the router in the house, connect a powered USB3-hub to its usb port and a single USB3 extension cable into the USB3-hub and run it to the roof. On the roof connect a second USB3-hub to the end of extension cable so you can plug in two modems or a phone and a modem and antennas for better signal. Must use USB3-hubs and USB3 cable for long runs and power. Here's the diagram:
Router > powered USB3-hub > USB3 extension cable to the roof > powered or non-powered USB3-hub > Modem/Modem or Modem/Phone

Not sure about simpler, but definitely an option for some people. Not an option for me due to me needing external antennas on the roof for proper signals. 2 usb enclosures on the roof would work for 2 cellular modem chips and external antennas. In that case, the wifix software can do 2 Wan connections over the singular connection from the hub, I take it? Makes sense that it can, since normal USB devices can share a port that way. Just wasn't sure if it was smart enough to allow for 2 wan sources over USB or was limited for some reason.

No shortage of options! Good discussion.

[BillA]

Not sure about simpler, but definitely an option for some people. Not an option for me due to me needing external antennas on the roof for proper signals. 2 usb enclosures on the roof would work for 2 cellular modem chips and external antennas. In that case, the wifix software can do 2 Wan connections over the singular connection from the hub, I take it? Makes sense that it can, since normal USB devices can share a port that way. Just wasn't sure if it was smart enough to allow for 2 wan sources over USB or was limited for some reason.

No shortage of options! Good discussion.

The setup I have suggested does exactly what you need, two modems in separate USB enclosures or a modem and phone (in any combination) on the roof close to the external antennas using short coax cables. It simply extends the mobile router's usb port from downstairs to the roof, so the two modems up there in an external USB enclosure can be load balanced by a single OpenWRT flashable router (ex. WG826, WG3526, WG1608, Asus, DLink, Netgear), while keeping the mobile router on your desk for easy tinkering, firmware upgrading, and status LED's.
This method is the reverse of mounting the router up on the roof, instead of extending its ethernet port, you would leave the router downstairs and extend its usb port only.
The advantage of extending the USB port instead, are less gear to install, maintain, and protect against the elements like humidity, cold and heat (which is especially bad for electronic circuits, chips, and caps), plus full physical access to the router in the comfort of your home without having to climb up there for diagnostic/testing, or tinkering purposes. Also, having the router downstairs can be used to blanket the entire home with a strong WiFi signal, without the need for additional access points (unless of course you would want/need to).

[gscheb]

Hello all.
Just wanted to know if anyone has had their AT&T shut down? Currently my sister's house has been shut down. Was getting it thru a reseller. My parents on the same reseller and theirs is still working.

[xdavidx]

Hello all.
Just wanted to know if anyone has had their AT&T shut down? Currently my sister's house has been shut down. Was getting it thru a reseller. My parents on the same reseller and theirs is still working.

Mine is still working, but it is being used very little at the moment and has been used not at all the past several months. I have some technical hurdles I need to overcome to get 2 antennas optimally aligned and to see if carrier aggregation is regularly working. I am currently using one antenna. Congestion seems to be stronger now due to stay at home covid orders in my state.

[Greenday1]

When going through the T-moble website to purchase the plan, $60 "Simply Prepaid Unlimited Plus", their website is a little goofy and took me a minute to find the bring your own device checkbox to continue. It automatically adds a 3-in-1 SIM Starter Kit. Do I need to be aware of anything else before processing the plan?

Thanks

[nathmane]

Hey folks My At&t $35 plan stopped working in mofi 4500 around 3/26. The plan auto-renewed on 4/1. I received an email on 4/5 saying "Your data account above has been canceled either at your request or due to inactivity on the account.". So, looking for options, may try pageplus

[gscheb]

Hello.
If you do try pageplus please report in and let us know how it does. Very interested in how much it is deprioritized.
Thanks

[shwaba]

@ gscheb found this about PagePlus, https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?p=6785#p6785. Doesn't sound promising with a Sierra modem.

I just received my Quectel EM12 modem. Hopefully I'll have some time to try it out on PagePlus this weekend and see if I can get better results.

[optymyze]

@ gscheb found this about PagePlus, https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?p=6785#p6785. Doesn't sound promising with a Sierra modem.

I just received my Quectel EM12 modem. Hopefully I'll have some time to try it out on PagePlus this weekend and see if I can get better results.

Please post here how it goes

[Rwc2002]

Hey folks My At&t $35 plan stopped working in mofi 4500 around 3/26. The plan auto-renewed on 4/1. I received an email on 4/5 saying "Your data account above has been canceled either at your request or due to inactivity on the account.". So, looking for options, may try pageplus

thats the same way mine went, charged me for the month first then cancelled my service a few days later with an email saying I canceled it. I'm using the tmobile prepaid 60 dollar plan and working ok so far but its only been like 5 days so we will see.

[thejohnfist]

Hey folks My At&t $35 plan stopped working in mofi 4500 around 3/26. The plan auto-renewed on 4/1. I received an email on 4/5 saying "Your data account above has been canceled either at your request or due to inactivity on the account.". So, looking for options, may try pageplus

Curious to know what you think your monthly usage in GB was. Seems that high data users were the ones getting canned. At least so far from what I've seen.

[nathmane]

Curious to know what you think your monthly usage in GB was. Seems that high data users were the ones getting canned. At least so far from what I've seen.

Oh, I was blowing through 800-900 GB.

[mr.busy]

Well I said before time will tell if places are legit resellers with AT&T.
If you read this message seems they where more than likely selling the ipad plan.

Got this message today thru email.
https://traveldata.page/?na=v&nk=41-b981308a6f&id=3

Seems all these resellers are moving to T-Mobile and don't require any special TTL setting so what plan are they using thru T-Mobile? Does anyone know what they are doing?

If they aren't buying special blocks direct from T-Mobile, my best guess is they are reselling Teltik.com plans. I use the $30/mo unlimited tablet plan but they are picky about IMEIs (some phones/modems work, some don't). They have $40/mo unlimited phone plans and also a $50/mo unlimited plan that appears to have no restrictions under the IOT section, which is what I'd guess people would resell.

[gscheb]

What ever traveldata.page is selling it has unlimited hot spot data. Do any of these plans work with unlimited hotspot data with no TTL settings?

[mr.busy]

What ever traveldata.page is selling it has unlimited hot spot data. Do any of these plans work with unlimited hotspot data with no TTL settings?

I THINK the $50 IOT X150 Data Failover plan would fit the bill, but I have not tried it personally since I'm able to get by on the $30 tablet plan.
More info here: https://www.reddit.com/r/teltik/
someone asking about the x150 plan here: https://www.reddit.com/r/teltik/comment ... iot_plans/

[puechuter]

I intend to try tmobile w/ a router that allows me to change ttl. Closest tower is .9mi away using bands 2, 12, 71.

Can anyone recommend a router that fits these needs AND has POE? Not critical, but I already have the infrastructure in place and an external antenna setup (proxicast antenna and what was once an lb1121 powered by ipad line).

[Didneywhorl]

An LM960 modem installed a WG3526-P router would fit the bill

[BrentV]

Well simple mobile appears to be throttling me to unusable speeds now in my we826 w/ mc7455. Had been working fine since Mar 31. Strangely if I go through a VPN it's decently fast and actually usable. When I disconnect from the VPN it wont even load a webpage. I was hoping it was some sort of network issues, but I think if that were the case the VPN wouldn't help the situation. On the plus side, using a VPN is at least a workaround. In the meantime I'll monitor the situation and Might try some other providers. Was looking into teltik but information is limited.

Edit: billA is working on a possible solution. Will also be testing page plus in the coming days. Will reply back with the results.

[puechuter]

An LM960 modem installed a WG3526-P router would fit the bill

Thanks! Do you have any other reliable sources for the router and modem? Looks like The Wireless Haven is sold out of the router and doesn't carry the modem.

[BrentV]

How do we contact ATT over these prepaid plans anyway? I have a line that used 1131 GB and appears to have been shut down 5 days before the bill was due on the 12th. But they charged me again for a new month and have an email that says it was successfully renewed. The Sim card doesn't have data, when I throw it in an IPAD it shows full At&t signal but has no internet access.

[Didneywhorl]

You'll likely get this email soon....

Your data account above has been canceled either at your request or due to inactivity on the account. To re-subscribe, please visit Settings > Cellular Data on your iPad.

Thank you for choosing AT&T.


PLEASE DON'T HIT REPLY
Please go to att.com/contactus for questions or other options. This is an automated email so replies to the address will not be answered.


©2020 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T and Globe logo are registered trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.
Privacy Policy
Legal Policy Center

[BrentV]

So how do I get a refund since they shut the data off several days before the renewal? I'm not worried about the previous month but there's no reason to spend $35 for a full month of non service.

[Didneywhorl]

call em. They did it to me the day after renewal. I didnt ask. I just let it go.

[Twoods196]

Wanted to put a post here to inform an possibly help someone. My iPad data plan was closed about 2 weeks ago. Couple days ago I decided to call them. Luckily for me their was a issue with there site an there database with customer info. Long story short they are reactivating the account but here is where things start to get interesting. While talking to the rep I was talking to him about the iPad unlimited plan an no longer available. He said, it's still available we just had to put some some security measures up to stop people from abusing them in hotspots. Being in CyberSecurity this kinds Intrigued me so I spent about 2-3hrs looking into some stuff then I finally figured it out. This is where your gonna be disappointed, unfortunately I can not tell how to get around this as if I did it would just be fully removed or patched. I just wanted to throw this out there for anyone that wants to put in the time to figure it out. If anything changes where I can post instructions I will. Good luck all

[Didneywhorl]

Direct messages where requested is pretty secure, no?

[shwaba]

So how do I get a refund since they shut the data off several days before the renewal? I'm not worried about the previous month but there's no reason to spend $35 for a full month of non service.

If they are unwilling to refund you , why couldn't you dispute the charge with your credit card company? You paid for a service they did not provide it. The cancellation emails they are sending out are not stating that their TOS has been violated. Just my 2 cents

[BrentV]

If they are unwilling to refund you , why couldn't you dispute the charge with your credit card company? You paid for a service they did not provide it. The cancellation emails they are sending out are not stating that their TOS has been violated. Just my 2 cents

Yeah Im sure I could. I havent even tried asking them, I wasnt sure where to contact them. Id prefer to just open a chat or send an email, but the contact page from the prepaid login seems to send me in circles.

[jackstack]

A t t is shutting these accounts down by checking the imei on device for the original imei that is supposed to be on the ipad device, if they don't match it shuts down the account. You will notice when you go to the signal it will go to wcdma and nothing else. It is really nice of them to do this now when so many counted on it.

[Didneywhorl]

Reports so far show that none of the post paid ipad plans are being shut down. For now. Some people work around the imei problem. Not legal in the US

[jackstack]

What makes me mad as these mother fu kers shut down these accounts 1 day after payment was made for the month and they knew what was going on, and they wait until the very worst time and then steal all this money from everyone. That's all I will say but, they will never get my money again.

[thejohnfist]

Just another update -- Mine has renewed twice. Still working fine. I believe this is more geared/targeted against high volume users. Haven't heard of anyone using less than 400GB getting canned yet. Guess we'll see. I try to keep mine below 300. Usually doable.

[Didneywhorl]

Just another update -- Mine has renewed twice. Still working fine. I believe this is more geared/targeted against high volume users. Haven't heard of anyone using less than 400GB getting canned yet. Guess we'll see. I try to keep mine below 300. Usually doable.

Pre paid account or Post paid?

[thejohnfist]

Pre paid account or Post paid?

Autopay - so Prepaid?

[shwaba]

Just another update -- Mine has renewed twice. Still working fine. I believe this is more geared/targeted against high volume users. Haven't heard of anyone using less than 400GB getting canned yet. Guess we'll see. I try to keep mine below 300. Usually doable.

Both of my prepaid ipad accounts are still active too. We use 600GB per month load balanced at 300GB per account. Working for now.

[Byulos]

.
.
Here's a list of currently available unlimited prepaid plans for mobile routers


1. ATT

ATT tablet/iPad plan $35/mo, 30Mbps speeds, 50ms latency, deprioritized after 30GB, has been discontinued.
ATT unlimited prepaid $65/$75/mo, 30Mbps speeds, 50ms latency, deprioritized after 30GB
ATT based Cricket $65/mo, 8Mbps speeds, 50ms latency, deprioritized after 30GB
ATT based H2O $60/mo, 8Mbps speeds, 50ms latency, deprioritized after 30GB

Note: Must be used in a router with the TTL set to 65 such as the WE826, WG3526, or any OpenWRT flashable router like an Asus or Netgear, it will not work in others like the Netgear M1 Nighthawk, LB112x modem, etc.
According to reports, currently the ATT $65/$75 plans are not working in mobile routers due to ATT blocking modems.
As a workaround, you can try putting the sim into a compatible phone, first make sure you can go online on the phone's browser, then connect the phone to the router via usb, turn on the USB Tethering on the phone, in the router's settings select the phone as the modem and also disable or pull out the internal modem, set the proper APN and TTL, then run some speed tests. You see, when carriers give you lemons, you gotta make lemonade!;)


2. Tmobile

Tmobile unlimited prepaid $60/mo, 100Mbps speeds, 40ms latency, deprioritized after 50GB
Tmobile based MetroPCS $50/mo, 100Mbps speeds, 40ms latency, deprioritized during congestion
Tmobile based SimpleMobile $50/mo, 100Mbps speeds, 40ms latency, deprioritized during congestion

Note: Must be used in a router with the TTL set to 65 such as the WE826, WG3526, or any OpenWRT flashable router like an Asus or Netgear, it will not work in others like the Netgear M1 Nighthawk, LB112x modem, etc.


3. Verizon

Verizon unlimited prepaid $70/mo, 40Mbps speeds, 50ms latency, deprioritized during congestion
Verizon based PagePlus $55/mo, 40Mbps speeds, 50ms latency, deprioritized during congestion
Verizon based Visible $40/mo, 5-10Mbps speeds, 150+ms latency, deprioritized during congestion

Note: Must be used in a router with the TTL set to 117 such as the WE826, WG3526, or any OpenWRT flashable router like an Asus or Netgear, it will not work in others like the Netgear M1 Nighthawk, LB112x modem, etc.


4. Sprint

Sprint doesn't offer any prepaid plans themselves, but you should be able to use one of their unlimited postpaid plans. Boost Mobile does have a Sprint based unlimited prepaid service with some coverage and speed restrictions. Tmobile has announced that the takeover of Sprint should be completed by April 2020. The actual integration of Sprint's towers and spectrum will likely be completed during the course of a year, which should provide both company's customers improved coverage and speeds.


5. Other
Walmart has their own StraightTalk service at $45/mo using various carriers, but they add on a bunch of taxes and fees, and throttle pretty aggressively to the point of being almost unusable. As they say "You get what you pay for."
Then there are a bunch of other smaller prepaid providers, but they are all just reselling the major carrier's services at higher prices.


Note#1
The above speeds/latencies are real world experiences using a Quectel EP06-A CAT-6 modem, with good signal, and no congestion or deprioritization. Your results may vary depending on the equipment used, location, and time of day.

Note#2
Most prepaid services offer an auto-pay discount, but they also add on a bunch of taxes and 911/FCC fees, so your final cost will end up to be around the regular listed prices. Nowadays using credit cards online is risky, with companies getting hacked every day. You can usually find a local dealer on the carrier's website, therefore it's highly recommended to pay locally, they usually offer a cash discount along with complete anonymity, or online by PayPal if available which is much safer.

Note#3
You can purchase a PagePlus (red packet) or SimpleMobile (green packet) activation sim kit from BestBuy, Target, Walmart or online on Amazon or Ebay. If you don't have a compatible phone to use for activation or just want to do it quickly and anonymously, I can help you activate it remotely, disable video throttling, make a test call and test the data before switching the service over to your sim card. I can also help you out with any setup issues, all you have to do is simply insert the sim into your router, and it should be good to go. If interested, just send me a private message.


Here's all the hardware you need to get started with a mobile router.

Mobile router/modem
https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?p=6272#p6272

Antennas
At first you can try your service with the "stubby" antennas which comes with the router, and if you'd like to improve your signal/speed, you may want to get a pair of high gain external antennas.
https://thewirelesshaven.com/product-category/antennas/

And finally, to make it all work together, you need to flash the router with OpenWRT firmware.
https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?p=6007#p6007

Hey BillA,

I am currently on the ATT $35 plan, and am looking into possible alternatives for when/if it ends up being cancelled. I use about 500-600GB a month. When looking at T-Mobile, I see there are two plans. The $60 "Unlimited Plus" and the $50 "Unlimited". The only difference being the Plus has 10GB of mobile hotspot. Am I right to assume the $50 plan is the one I should get? Plan on using it in a WE826-T2 with a Sierra Wireless EM7565 that I put together. With MetroPCS and SimpleMobile it sounds like they get deprioritized to level even lower than T-Mobile customers, so I would prefer to just deal with them directly. Unless there is another reason to consider them besides the cost. Thanks for your help.

[BillA]

Hey BillA,

I am currently on the ATT $35 plan, and am looking into possible alternatives for when/if it ends up being cancelled. I use about 500-600GB a month. When looking at T-Mobile, I see there are two plans. The $60 "Unlimited Plus" and the $50 "Unlimited". The only difference being the Plus has 10GB of mobile hotspot. Am I right to assume the $50 plan is the one I should get? Plan on using it in a WE826-T2 with a Sierra Wireless EM7565 that I put together. With MetroPCS and SimpleMobile it sounds like they get deprioritized to level even lower than T-Mobile customers, so I would prefer to just deal with them directly. Unless there is another reason to consider them besides the cost. Thanks for your help.

You should be able to use the $50 Tmobile prepaid, the only difference is that the $60 plan comes with more hotspot data, which may not be needed with the proper TTL settings. All the other Tmobile based prepaid services have the same level of prioritization as Tmobile's own prepaid, while postpaid users have the highest priority.

[gscheb]

Postpay TMobile has a options to have HD streaming included.
T-Mobile are the only ones I know of that offer a unlimited HD streaming.

If you are over 55 years of age can get the 55+ plan.
Step 1 Get one line of 55+ magenta for $50
Step 2 then Add-ons for the "plus up data" which add 20 gigs of hotspot and HD streaming, for extra $15. So $65 flat with taxes and everything.

If you have friends to share it with can get two lines for $90 of magenta plus. Magenta plus has the HD streaming.

Just did this for someone else this weekend. T-mobile website was super clunk took 24 hours for that option to ever even show up. The sim card was activated right in the MC7455. The sim was mailed to me set up account over the phone. After it set it up used rooter to send and receive text messages. This is under modem then sms messages. This is very useful to get confirmation codes when you are on the phone with them and also to set up your online account.
This way got to keep sim card full size. Don't have to deal with sim card adapters which can be troublesome at times.

APN=fast.t-mobile.com
TTL= 64

Also if you decide to go with the T-Mobile HD plan will have to activate the HD streaming. They try to trick you into not using it.
See this post here.
https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=579

[mr.busy]

gscheb, I'm unable to get into my PMs, I probably don't have enough posts yet to read/send.

[JimHelms]

gscheb, I'm unable to get into my PMs, I probably don't have enough posts yet to read/send.

The PM's and social logins have been temporarily disabled for the forum while we try to figure out where the high CPU usage is coming from--which is producing the SQL errors.

Once corrected, they will be restored.

[bamabuck20]

Gypsy wireless has att unlimited hotspot data plans. Just have ur unactivated sim card handy and setup only takes 30 min to receive service after signing up. I'm on it.

[hw1353]

Postpay TMobile has a options to have HD streaming included.
T-Mobile are the only ones I know of that offer a unlimited HD streaming.

If you are over 55 years of age can get the 55+ plan.
Step 1 Get one line of 55+ magenta for $50
Step 2 then Add-ons for the "plus up data" which add 20 gigs of hotspot and HD streaming, for extra $15. So $65 flat with taxes and everything.

If you have friends to share it with can get two lines for $90 of magenta plus. Magenta plus has the HD streaming.

Just did this for someone else this weekend. T-mobile website was super clunk took 24 hours for that option to ever even show up. The sim card was activated right in the MC7455. The sim was mailed to me set up account over the phone. After it set it up used rooter to send and receive text messages. This is under modem then sms messages. This is very useful to get confirmation codes when you are on the phone with them and also to set up your online account.
This way got to keep sim card full size. Don't have to deal with sim card adapters which can be troublesome at times.

APN=fast.t-mobile.com
TTL= 64

Also if you decide to go with the T-Mobile HD plan will have to activate the HD streaming. They try to trick you into not using it.
See this post here.
https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=579

Did you have to do anything else to activate the SIM other than receive SMS? I also ordered a SIM card from T-mobile, curious if theres any additional steps to activating in the MC7455.

[gscheb]

Hello hw1353,
I put the sim directly into the router with the MC7455 and it activated immediately. Then used the messenger in the router to activate my account online and talk to them on the phone when I had issues. Customer service was the biggest issues. Took like 24 hours for the add on I needed to show up on the account just so I could select it.
Was setting this up for someone else that lost their AT&T plan.
The guy on the phone even recognized that it was in a "hotspot device". Those where the words he used. Didn't seem to phase him a bit, he didn't care.
Maybe they don't care considering they sell ISP plan for only $50 per month. Just like the AT&T plan it is all good till it isn't.