I am new to this type of thing and am looking for something to use as a backup to my existing hardwire connection

[zerodamage]

I am currently running FioS in my home but based on where I live, the weather and rain often causes outages of the service due to the old telephone infrastructure and it can take days for the services to be repaired. I am experiencing that right now while tethered to my Pixel 3 phone using Verizon postpaid service.

However, the rest of my house is dark and with a toddler with ADHD, some quiet TV time keeps the rest of us sane but these last few days have been hell. So what I would like to be able to do is have a LTE or 5G (it is available here) modem that I can simply connect to the WAN port of my existing pfSense router and activate the service for the month so ensure everything is still working in my house and my wife not really notice anything more than a hiccup.

A lot of the terminology is still a little new to me despite my being involved in IT for 20+ years. I'd like to find a device and service that can be activated month by month as needed and a device that can simply hook into my existing home router.

I am using a cheap Moxee T-mobile hotspot with a 40Gb cap to be able to work the weekend and feed low quality youtube telletubie videos to my kid but that limit is disappearing fast.

What do I get for a modem? It should probably be an external modem with an ethernet port. Should I maybe get the Cradlepoint MBR1400 V2 With MC400LPE (CAT3) Modem (Multi-Carrier)on The Wireless Haven? It looks to come with everything needed to just work out of the box.

Any recommendations on the service to use? While I use Verizon on my phone without an issue, all of the providers work here so I do not have a preference other than unlimited (if possible). I've looked at nolimitdata but their unlimited is currently sold out. I'd prefer a service that would allow me to just buy a SIM locally such as a Tmobile or AT&T rather than depending on their specialized SIM that they have to ship to me. I've had unused SIMs in the past get deleted from the network and become completely unusable although I'm not sure how common that is. I've looked at NomadInternet but I'm not sold on their model. Would the unlimited AT&T plan be the best way to go with my situation in that I just turn it on month to month as needed?

I'm open to suggestions and appreciate it very much!

[Didneywhorl]

If Verizon works well, I wonder if you could get a Visible SIM and just pay when you want it? Dunno. The Month to month part is the hardest for me.


As far as hardware, you may be good with the plug n play of the MBR1400V2. It's a good unit, but Visible I havent been able to get working with the Cradlepoints. That said ATT SIMs seem to work great.

I always like rolling my own setups. WG3526-P router allows for a gigabit setup. Pop a good modem into a usb3 adapter and tether it to the modem for ease of install and full usb3 comm bus speeds. (The routers internal mpcie slot is on the usb2 bus )