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Activating a Calyx Router in a non-Sprint region
Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2021 9:46 am
by mtnchar
I was looking at Calyx as data option. This was a Sprint plan initially, now turning into T-Mobile but that process will take years apparently. They still issue routers with Sprint sim cards.
I asked Calyx if the router could be activated in an area covered only by T-Mobile (so router would be on extended LTE coverage not native Sprint LTE).
Of course the answer was call Sprint as Calyx has no clue. The map shows I am in LTE extended coverage for Sprint (presumably T-Mobile coverage).
Will the router activate if only extended coverage is available when it is turned on initially? Sprint never had any native coverage here to begin with but T-Mobile is expanding here.
Thanks for the help.
Re: Activating a Calyx Router in a non-Sprint region
Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2021 9:32 am
by Didneywhorl
The hotspot they send should definitely work in areas that there are no Sprint bands available.
It will default to even one Sprint band if available, but if not it should use tmobile bands just fine.
Re: Activating a Calyx Router in a non-Sprint region
Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2021 2:01 am
by chovy
I have the calyx. It was getting sprint up until about a month ago. Now it’s showing T-Mobile. I read somewhere that august 2021 they were switching over all towers to T-Mobile.
Definitely do it. It’s by far the best deal.
Re: Activating a Calyx Router in a non-Sprint region
Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2021 3:29 pm
by mtnchar
I am happy to say Calyx has worked reasonably well except for streaming video.
Have been running Calyx 4g LTE for about 1 month. 4.8 miles away to somewhat tree obstructed tower, getting 20-40mb/s down 3-5 mb/s up with external antennas. Speeds can be quite variable. It will get over 60mb/s down in the early am hours, goes down in the mid 20mb/s in the evening which is still very usable. Ping latency here is 70-100ms.
Has been good for general web use, my tower must have a bit of congestion, netflix is throttled to 2.4mb/s consistently. So it is will not usually stream 1080p.
My hotspot was t-mobile branded and using a t-mobile sim. I have played with the APNs, hotspot defaulted to fast.t-mobile.com, but also trialed r.ispsn, both seemed to work about the same with same throttling on video.
Not sure how to get better upstream speeds, but am going to move the MIMO yagi pair outside to see if this helps improve things when I get a chance.
So far happy for what it is for the price, maybe as T-mobile expands in Montana there will be less throttling. Right now they have far fewer towers that are very spaced out then either ATT or Verizon. Sprint was never present in Montana.
Re: Activating a Calyx Router in a non-Sprint region
Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2021 1:59 pm
by radec
mtnchar wrote: ↑Tue Dec 14, 2021 3:29 pm
I am happy to say Calyx has worked reasonably well except for streaming video.
Have been running Calyx 4g LTE for about 1 month. 4.8 miles away to somewhat tree obstructed tower, getting 20-40mb/s down 3-5 mb/s up with external antennas. Speeds can be quite variable. It will get over 60mb/s down in the early am hours, goes down in the mid 20mb/s in the evening which is still very usable. Ping latency here is 70-100ms.
Has been good for general web use, my tower must have a bit of congestion, netflix is throttled to 2.4mb/s consistently. So it is will not usually stream 1080p.
My hotspot was t-mobile branded and using a t-mobile sim. I have played with the APNs, hotspot defaulted to fast.t-mobile.com, but also trialed r.ispsn, both seemed to work about the same with same throttling on video.
Not sure how to get better upstream speeds, but am going to move the MIMO yagi pair outside to see if this helps improve things when I get a chance.
So far happy for what it is for the price, maybe as T-mobile expands in Montana there will be less throttling. Right now they have far fewer towers that are very spaced out then either ATT or Verizon. Sprint was never present in Montana.
I've been using Mobile Citizen (same as calyx) for 4+ years now. it has been amazing. But I have noticed way more throttling the last few months. I used to stream video all the time. But I pretty much can't anymore. It is still great and is for sure the best internet option I currently have but I do download during off hours rather then stream.
The only part that is a major bummer is Video chat has gotten way worse. Used to be just fine, but its gotten pretty bad recently. Might have to upgrade my antennas, I could improve my signal for sure.
I would be curious to know if they throttle certain bands more then others, it would be interesting to get some data points from other users on this. I've mostly been using band 25, I should try switching to a t-mobile at some point.
Re: Activating a Calyx Router in a non-Sprint region
Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2021 10:38 am
by Didneywhorl
I think T-mo is forcing even the old Sprint unlimited contracts to their SIMs pretty soon. You may want to call MC and see if they can replace your SIM with an updates SIM.
Re: Activating a Calyx Router in a non-Sprint region
Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2021 5:49 pm
by radec
I think T-mo is forcing even the old Sprint unlimited contracts to their SIMs pretty soon. You may want to call MC and see if they can replace your SIM with an updates SIM.
Yeah that is probably a pretty good idea. I'm sort of surprised MobileCitizen hasn't just started doing that. Seems like they would have a lot of old sprint sims out there.
edit: added quote
Re: Activating a Calyx Router in a non-Sprint region
Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2021 3:30 pm
by Didneywhorl
That would take 'work'
