Spending too much on useless service?

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uselessinfodude
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Spending too much on useless service?

Post by uselessinfodude »

So we have been traveling in an RV on and off for a while and getting high speed internet has always been a challenge. We are looking to possibly buying a home out in the country soon where we will also have the same issues with connectivity as none of the major broad band providers offer service in the area. However I do know at least one of the houses we are looking at has cell service from the 3 big carriers. This is what we currently use.

1. Phone with Sprint 50GB hotspot plan
2. Phone with old grandfathered T-Mobile unlimited plan
3. Old Verizon unlimited prepaid hotspot

I have found the Verizon hotspot to be the most useless of the 3. I will usually have reception but I'm guessing they are throttling me down to unusable speeds. Honestly it seems like a waste of $65. My T-Mobile is usually very fast when I have reception but that is only on my phone and I would really like something we could have setup at the new house permanently so we can have cameras and what not connected while we are not there.

Anyways I'm very new to this so not sure where to start. Is there some way to un-throttle the verizon hotspot or is that thing just a waste of $$? Anyway to have my phone hotspot connected to a router for all my other devices? That may solve the issue while we are home but not when we are gone. I guess I just need some general direction as I'm not even sure where to start. Thanks!
Dr-BroadBand
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Re: Spending too much on useless service?

Post by Dr-BroadBand »

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BillA
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Re: Spending too much on useless service?

Post by BillA »

uselessinfodude wrote: Sun Nov 15, 2020 11:12 am Anyways I'm very new to this so not sure where to start. Is there some way to un-throttle the verizon hotspot or is that thing just a waste of $$? Anyway to have my phone hotspot connected to a router for all my other devices? That may solve the issue while we are home but not when we are gone. I guess I just need some general direction as I'm not even sure where to start. Thanks!

Here's a guide for some alternative services > https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?p=5790#p5790
Dr-BroadBand
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Re: Spending too much on useless service?

Post by Dr-BroadBand »

SIM Solution, 100GB, 5G, T-Mobile, $50

Not sure if you can bring your own device.
I am still reading

SIM Solution, 100GB, 5G, T-Mobile, $50 :o


See
https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/5 ... got-better
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BillA
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Re: Spending too much on useless service?

Post by BillA »

Dr-BroadBand wrote: Sat Dec 12, 2020 5:26 pm SIM Solution, 100GB, 5G, T-Mobile, $50

Not sure if you can bring your own device.
I am still reading

SIM Solution, 100GB, 5G, T-Mobile, $50 :o


See
https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/5 ... got-better

I'm surprised that Tmobile is limiting their high speed data to just 100GB/month especially on their data plan. Wooot?! lol
For the same hard earned 50 bucks, resellers/MVNO's are offering truly unlimited data. I use over 500GB per month, and it's fast throughout the entire month. The average mobile router user goes through about 200Gb/month.
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Re: Spending too much on useless service?

Post by Dr-BroadBand »

Can you list one MVNO that offer unlimited data for $50.

All I ever see is how every it breaking the term of agreement on a $20 iPad SIM and then they are
surprise when it stops working!
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BillA
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Re: Spending too much on useless service?

Post by BillA »

Dr-BroadBand wrote: Sun Dec 13, 2020 9:33 am Can you list one MVNO that offer unlimited data for $50.

All I ever see is how every it breaking the term of agreement on a $20 iPad SIM and then they are
surprise when it stops working!

Cricket/Metro/Simple all have truly unlimited for $50/month, and they include 5G at no additional cost (course you need a 5G device to get those speeds). Just because they have scary TOS'es, it doesn't mean that can't be done with a little tweaking. Unfortunately all Verizon based services are limited to 200GB/month at this time, hopefully that will change in the future. Here's some more info:
https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?p=5790#p5790

An excerpt from Tmo's 5G press release....
"An absolutely WILD deal for 100GB of mobile internet data for just $50."
Now the question is, will they give a refund to all the people who only use say half of 100GB/month?!
Cuz I want my $25 back since I only used 50GB while I paid $50.... a bunch of crooks! xD
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Re: Spending too much on useless service?

Post by Dr-BroadBand »

Can you send me a link for your #1 best MVNO(The most data, for the cheapest price, usable speed)
That that will allow you to BYOD, and you do not need to lie about having an iPad.
That also offers Tech Support for the SIM/Data Plan

A 100GB for $50 from a tier one cell carrier is the best deal I have seen as of 12Dec2020 :D
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Didneywhorl
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Re: Spending too much on useless service?

Post by Didneywhorl »

Technically I dont lie about the ipad on my ipad plan. I put it an different devices all day every day and it works, no imei trickery. No tech support needed yet.

It wont likely last forever, but it works for now. $35 with fees included. Not bad.
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Re: Spending too much on useless service?

Post by Dr-BroadBand »

Why would the SIM stop working?? Could it be that the terms of service are NOT being followed! :shock:

If you have an iPad SIM that works that’s cool. I am just saying the days of this working is limited.
Would start looking into a Plan-B

See link
https://forums.att.com/conversations/ph ... 23d68d1676
mtl26637
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Re: Spending too much on useless service?

Post by mtl26637 »

The only reports of getting shut down that I've seen are from the 'old' $35/mo ATT ipad-tablet plan. The newer $20/mo. tablet plan seems to be just fine. Not saying it won't happen in the future but for now it seems fine. If one is looking for something with absolutely no worries then it would be best to turn to the business plans that are offered instead I would think. I don't think plan B will be here anytime soon, especially with 5G devices that are going to really suck up the data right around the corner. The providers are going to be dishing out much more data per device in the coming month/years anyway.
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Re: Spending too much on useless service?

Post by tetranz »

Are there any reports of IMEIs being blacklisted?

Having an account shut down is a pain but not a huge issue but I'd be unhappy to have my Pepwave router blacklisted so it couldn't be used for any plan on that carrier. That's what scares me off some of this stuff. I know, of course, that nothing in life is risk free.
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Re: Spending too much on useless service?

Post by Didneywhorl »

Verizon seems to be the only one that aggresively blacklists imei's. I've not seen it on ATT, but that doesn't mean much I guess.
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BillA
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Re: Spending too much on useless service?

Post by BillA »

tetranz wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:19 pm Are there any reports of IMEIs being blacklisted?

Having an account shut down is a pain but not a huge issue but I'd be unhappy to have my Pepwave router blacklisted so it couldn't be used for any plan on that carrier. That's what scares me off some of this stuff. I know, of course, that nothing in life is risk free.

Some carriers are also looking at Hostname/DNS/MAC/TTL/etc, so it's best to go with an OpenWRT router which has support to set those values. While Pepwave devices are nice, they use proprietary firmware which could cause issues down the line.
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Re: Spending too much on useless service?

Post by Dr-BroadBand »

AT&T Pulls Prepaid DataConnect $34.99/Month Unlimited Tablet Plan

See
https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/att-pu ... ablet-plan
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