Wireless Joint

Hi Wireless Joint!
I’ve just recently found out about the mofi 4500 and how it is capable of getting me untethered data. This product sounds awesome compared to the WiFi service I have now. My WiFi provider is consolidated and it’s total crap. I pay 80$ to get .5 down and 1.2 up. What’s even worse is that I have to share this service with 5 other people. So you can probably imagine how bad it gets.

I found out that t-mobile works pretty well in my area when my brother came over to my home and got 2-3 bars. Knowing that I was able to decide that I want to use t-mobile for the mofi that I am planing to get.

Anyways there is a deal where t-mobile that lets you get unlimited high speed data on a tablet device, which gets 3g tethering. So my question is does anyone know if the tablet plan for t-mobile will work for the mofi 4500(to use without tethering of course)? It only cost 20$ a month whenever you have at least one line active. Also it is a post paid service which I heard is less likely to get taken down than pre paid.

Thank you to those that have made it this far. I appreciate any replies that will help me get out of my crappy internet provider.

If no one answers, you may also want to check the facebook group.

I think people have had success with the CB850LP6-NA as well. The mofi4500 is a white labeled zbt we826 with a sierra wireless mc7455 inside, and custom firmware. It can be built for less. Look into it, decide for yourself.

Check thewirelesshaven.com for products if you like, or google around.

Search tmobile on this forum for a trove of info

I use TMobile but not the tablet plan. If you want the mofi setup but custom built here is a good deal on one that originally came from The Wireless Haven store.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wifix-WE826-go ... 4158641325

For $80 you could get some really high speed data.

Before you commit to one specific carrier, you should evaluate your options. There's ways to make each major carrier work for you, but obviously it depends where you are and what's available. Also depends on if you're set on getting it for significantly less than $80. I think most plans that work are around $50.

Running my mofi4500 on a $50 simple mobile plan which uses tmobile's network. $45 after auto pay. You can pick up a $1 sim kit locally at 711, best buy, target, etc. I'm able to get unlimited data set at TTL of 64 and up to 30Mb/s on the stock paddles. After upgrading the antennas I've seen as fast as 72 down and 25 up so far. I've put roughly 70GB of data through it over the past week with no issues so far.

Didneywhorl wrote: Thu Apr 23, 2020 10:53 pm I think people have had success with the CB850LP6-NA as well. The mofi4500 is a white labeled zbt we826 with a sierra wireless mc7455 inside, and custom firmware. It can be built for less. Look into it, decide for yourself.

I would like to build one but I really have no experience. I’m a total noob when it comes to building things like this.
Also about the CB850LP6-NA that you mentioned. Is it a cheaper version of the mofi or a totally different router?

battletross wrote: Fri Apr 24, 2020 9:19 am Running my mofi4500 on a $50 simple mobile plan which uses tmobile's network. $45 after auto pay. You can pick up a $1 sim kit locally at 711, best buy, target, etc. I'm able to get unlimited data set at TTL of 64 and up to 30Mb/s on the stock paddles. After upgrading the antennas I've seen as fast as 72 down and 25 up so far. I've put roughly 70GB of data through it over the past week with no issues so far.

Yes I’ve considered getting simple mobile because of the price. But the thing is I live in a pretty rural area. And I don’t get as much coverage as t-mobile.

TheRealYayo wrote: Fri Apr 24, 2020 10:57 am Yes I’ve considered getting simple mobile because of the price. But the thing is I live in a pretty rural area. And I don’t get as much coverage as t-mobile.

Simple mobile runs on the t-mobile network. We had been on DSL that maxed out at around 2.4 Mb/s for the past 5 years. Definitely recommend giving it a try.

TheRealYayo wrote: Fri Apr 24, 2020 10:57 am Yes I’ve considered getting simple mobile because of the price. But the thing is I live in a pretty rural area. And I don’t get as much coverage as t-mobile.

Hello,
Live in rural area don't have T-Mobile coverage at the my house or sisters house with a cell phone. But able to get a working signal signal with two log peridioc antennas pointing at tower almost 5 miles out at both locations.

The cba850LP6 doesnt need building, just an active SIM and a few settings changed. Simple stuff.

Does anyone know if the magenta plan for t-mobile would work for the mofi? Or do I need a type of plan that has unlimited hotspot.

TheRealYayo wrote: Fri Apr 24, 2020 9:04 pm Does anyone know if the magenta plan for t-mobile would work for the mofi? Or do I need a type of plan that has unlimited hotspot.

It should work with a TTL of 64

So having an unlimited hotspot plan isn’t necessary?

TheRealYayo wrote: Sun Apr 26, 2020 7:31 pm So having an unlimited hotspot plan isn’t necessary?

For t-Mobile it isn't necessary if you can set a custom TTL to 64.

Can check out this post about how to set it up if you want.
Just set this plan up for some one this weekend.
https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?f=32 ... =140#p7409

Didneywhorl wrote: Fri Apr 24, 2020 5:51 pm The cba850LP6 doesnt need building, just an active SIM and a few settings changed. Simple stuff.

Do you know if the CBA850LP6 has custom TTL settings? As you know most services require it.

I honestly do not know, but Ill ask about.

It does not have the ability. Most people do this via another router between it and the rest of the network.

Here is one example I was given...

https://community.ui.com/questions/HOWT ... 0eb?page=0

Didneywhorl wrote: Mon May 04, 2020 5:58 pm It does not have the ability. Most people do this via another router between it and the rest of the network.

Here is one example I was given...

https://community.ui.com/questions/HOWT ... 0eb?page=0

You mean using the CBA850LP6 as a pass-through modem adapter, connected to a actual router with TTL settings?

Yes. That's what Im told. Effectively making the CBA a big modem adapter with LAN output and antennas. It doesnt have wifi anyway, so most people add a wifi router to it anyway. I'm told.

Just added a new post on this same topic. I guess no one has the answer yet? I should receive my MOFI this week so hopefully I will have some results. I have the t-mobile tablet plan that I use with a sim in my laptop.

battletross wrote: Fri Apr 24, 2020 9:19 am You can pick up a $1 sim kit locally at 711, best buy, target, etc

Just to confirm, these places sell a tmobile (and not "tmobile compatible aka SimpleMobile/Tracfone) SIM card for $1 without requiring activation at the register?

Please keep me posted.

AFAIK, TMobile enforces strict IMEI enforcement across devices, although BillA, among others, will know better.

Simply put, the moment, you - jchonline - plug in your t-mobile tablet plan SIM into your MOFI, you will see sub-1Mbps speeds.

If the OP - TheRealYayo - is still around, it would be nice to continue this discussion.

Just an update,
Days after making this post I decided to get the mofi sim7 and go with the t-mobiles magenta plan instead of risking it and getting the tablet plan since I wasn’t sure if it would work. I’m on a family plan so I’m only paying 35 for the SIM card in the mofi. Also my Internet is sooo much better compared to before. I’m getting around 20 down and 5 up. Is not the best but it’s a huge upgrade to my home Internet. The internet sometimes gets slow because many connected devices causes the mofi to get hot and at times causes it to completely turn off the internet.
So at the moment I’m looking for a router to tether it to my mofi. to try to prevent the mofi from getting hot and to increase the WiFi range.

Also If anyone has any more updates on T-Mobile’s tablet plan I would greatly appreciate if you share your knowledge here.

Thank you for update.

jchonline and you were potential data points. Now it seems like we are waiting to hear from jchonline for an update.

It's possible, BillA, among others, will have some hands on experience about my strict IMEI enforcement theory.

Also, if someone can tell me whether it's indeed a repeatable process - like battletross shared, that one can pick up a $1 sim kit locally at 711, best buy, target, etc, I can see if Teltik can activate next week, such a $1 sim kit.

I know Teltik will credit me the funds towards my account if I plug in the SIM, don't see it work and tell them within an hour or so (which I can do next week), so I'll be out a $1 sim kit but gain a data point to share with you all.

TheRealYayo wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2020 2:36 pm Just an update,
Days after making this post I decided to get the mofi sim7 and go with the t-mobiles magenta plan instead of risking it and getting the tablet plan since I wasn’t sure if it would work. I’m on a family plan so I’m only paying 35 for the SIM card in the mofi. Also my Internet is sooo much better compared to before. I’m getting around 20 down and 5 up. Is not the best but it’s a huge upgrade to my home Internet. The internet sometimes gets slow because many connected devices causes the mofi to get hot and at times causes it to completely turn off the internet.
So at the moment I’m looking for a router to tether it to my mofi. to try to prevent the mofi from getting hot and to increase the WiFi range.

Also If anyone has any more updates on T-Mobile’s tablet plan I would greatly appreciate if you share your knowledge here.

In order to prevent your MoFi from overheating by heavy WiFi use, you would disable its DHCP, enable DMZ (under the Business Services menu), and connect its LAN1 port (must be LAN1!) to the WAN input of a regular WiFi router. Lots of folks are using it this way.

Wow Thanks for the tip BillA. I will give it a try.

After plugging in the internet cable to the wan port of the router am I supposed to change any settings in it as well?

What Bill asked you to do is turn off DHCP, so a static IP needs to be assigned I believe.

To further reduce stress on the CPU, you can turn off IP Masquerading and instead opt in to use DNAT because you have a static IP on the outgress.

I am unfamiliar with the exact details on how this is done on the Mofi as I use GO on a $10 used router instead but those are the iptable configurations you are looking for.

BillA wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2020 9:08 pm enable DMZ (under the Business Services menu)

Bill, is this DMZ option managed using iptables behind the scenes?

Is it effectively removing all filtering and directly bridging the two interfaces together?

TheRealYayo wrote: Wed Jul 08, 2020 10:43 am After plugging in the internet cable to the wan port of the router am I supposed to change any settings in it as well?

All you need to do is disable DHCP, enable DMZ (to pass through all packet without any filtering) on the mobile router. and leave the regular router as is with its DHCP enabled which will manage all your connected devices. What you're doing essentially is turning your mobile router into a dumb modem, providing internet to the regular router.
On a MoFi device you would turn off DHCP under Settings > Business Services. Also, you must connect LAN1 (must be LAN1!) from the MoFi to the WAN input of the regular router.
As far as I know, Tmobile does not have imei blocking on their prepaid and reseller plans, but I'm not familiar with the post paid plan policies.

I might be wrong here but I think there is another way - to enable passthrough mode (I dont use it myself since I dont need it), the link contains the necessary info.

https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1457#p9652

I would suggest TheRealYayo must start from making a backup of his config first.

TheRealYayo wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2020 2:36 pm Just an update,
Days after making this post I decided to get the mofi sim7 and go with the t-mobiles magenta plan instead of risking it and getting the tablet plan since I wasn’t sure if it would work. I’m on a family plan so I’m only paying 35 for the SIM card in the mofi. Also my Internet is sooo much better compared to before. I’m getting around 20 down and 5 up. Is not the best but it’s a huge upgrade to my home Internet. The internet sometimes gets slow because many connected devices causes the mofi to get hot and at times causes it to completely turn off the internet.
So at the moment I’m looking for a router to tether it to my mofi. to try to prevent the mofi from getting hot and to increase the WiFi range.

Also If anyone has any more updates on T-Mobile’s tablet plan I would greatly appreciate if you share your knowledge here.

I just did the same. Have a sim card in the mail. How do I activate it? Do you just put in Mofi?

BillA wrote: Wed Jul 08, 2020 6:25 pm All you need to do is disable DHCP, enable DMZ (to pass through all packet without any filtering) on the mobile router. and leave the regular router as is with its DHCP enabled which will manage all your connected devices. What you're doing essentially is turning your mobile router into a dumb modem, providing internet to the regular router.
On a MoFi device you would turn off DHCP under Settings > Business Services. Also, you must connect LAN1 (must be LAN1!) from the MoFi to the WAN input of the regular router.
As far as I know, Tmobile does not have imei blocking on their prepaid and reseller plans, but I'm not familiar with the post paid plan policies.

Tmobile has imei blocking on their post paid plans.

Has anyone got the t-mobile $20 Tablet plan to work with Mofi sim 7... What settings need to be changed? I'm a newbie.. so any help is appreciated.

I have the apple tablet with the T-mobile $20.00 plan. I also have the Netgear nighthawk m1 unlocked.
I was able to get the Tablet plan to work on my nighthawk without any problems so far. I just acquired a Mofi 4500 sim 4 from a friend and was going to use it as a modem for my amplifier mesh router.
I have not been able to get the Tablet plan sim working in the Mofi. If someone has this working please post the settings as I am new to using the Mofi and have the basic settings set but not getting any service when I put the sim in the Mofi.

samsil wrote: Sat Jul 25, 2020 6:04 pm I have the apple tablet with the T-mobile $20.00 plan. I also have the Netgear nighthawk m1 unlocked.
I was able to get the Tablet plan to work on my nighthawk without any problems so far. I just acquired a Mofi 4500 sim 4 from a friend and was going to use it as a modem for my amplifier mesh router.
I have not been able to get the Tablet plan sim working in the Mofi. If someone has this working please post the settings as I am new to using the Mofi and have the basic settings set but not getting any service when I put the sim in the Mofi.

Follow up so far I have been able to get the T-Mobile tablet plan working on my Mofi 4500 V2 Sim 4 after doing a SYSTEM RESTORE IN RECOVERY MODE: If you do wifi upgrades of the firmware you get bugs that prevent the router from recognizing the T-Mobile and after the system restore it recognized the sim and I am getting 15 Down and 12 up with TTL at 64 on the unlimited T-Mobile over 55 unlimited plan.

battletross wrote: Fri Apr 24, 2020 9:19 am Running my mofi4500 on a $50 simple mobile plan which uses tmobile's network. $45 after auto pay. You can pick up a $1 sim kit locally at 711, best buy, target, etc. I'm able to get unlimited data set at TTL of 64 and up to 30Mb/s on the stock paddles. After upgrading the antennas I've seen as fast as 72 down and 25 up so far. I've put roughly 70GB of data through it over the past week with no issues so far.

Which Mofi 4500 are you running? Sim 4 or Sim 7.

Any updates?
I also have mofi 4500 and am trying to get it to work with post paid t-mobile sim, so far with no luck.