Cheap $20 a month Stand Alone Unlimited Rural Internet through AT&T Wireless

[techman]

I have been an ATT wireless customer for years. Went to the ATT store and was told it was online only. I then tried calling to order, and after 5 transfers and 3 hangups, I was told again only online. I ordered it online, only to have the order cancelled within 15 mins. Went to the ATT factory store again and after 1 hour of them chatting to someone I was told I had a fraud alert and to contact a credit bureau. Left in frustration, went home and found and called the ATT fraud department. Helpful lady, found a wrong digit on my account number when I tried to order, which then triggered a new account buy, which flagged since I already had an account. She cleared it and said all is good, go and reorder. Reordered online, order cancelled within 15 min. Called fraud number again, they said there is nothing in the system and I was clear. Ordered again, again cancelled within 15 mins. Next morning called fraud line and again all was good. Ordered again and again it cancelled. Called fraud again, they said all was good and I tried to order again. Now ATT online said it was out of stock and would not take an order. Frustrated I checked BBuy and they had them in stock. Went to BBuy, after 30 mins and getting the ATT fraud people to say no problem (again) I was clear. Guy put in the order but did not have any ability in his system to give me the plan. Again frustrated I just bought the Mobley hardware ($ 80). Then went to ATT store again. Finally got a female rep who was really good. She cut through the crap and finally got the plan activated. She had to start with the 1 gig plan, and called and had it changed to the $ 20/unlimited. When I get the bill I will check to see if it was correct. Went home and called ATT fraud line again and again confirmed that all was clean, so I asked to be escalated to a manager to find out what was going on. I was told a manager would get back to me within 3 business days. 3 days passed and no call. Called ATT and was connected to the loyalty dept (every call you have to give your life history). Finally the guy on that call did a lot of digging, but could not find anything to cause the fraud alert or cancellations. He saw the notes from the fraud dept saying all was good. He was able to credit my account for the $80 BBuy purchase and waived the activation fee, so finally a break. More than a week for the ordeal. To top it off, I recommended it to a co-worker who has no ATT history. He ordered online, no questions or problems.

For power I ordered the $ 35 socket>USB plug off ebay. Works great. I did some digging and found the OBD plug on ebay for about $ 2.20 w/free shipping (from Hong Kong) and the USB plug, which contains a 5 volt to 12 volt converter in the plug (looks like a longer plug housing) for $ 1.70 on ebay, also free shipping. I ordered a few of each and will make up a couple for friends at work. Total $ 5 for the adapter. I paid for the first one and consider it a learning experience. I get 19-20 meg up and down at work and home. Firmware was updated and set to no timeout. Great deal.

I have to thank TBN for letting us all know about this deal.

paul

 

[sd455dan]

This looks very interesting, But how do you figure out if there is ATT coverage at your home?

We are on Hughesnet
175 Mb Per day and then the hard throttle starts .

Lucky to be able to even connect to this site on most days after hard throttle kicks in

We all have tracfones and- This may be a really dumb question , but how do I make sure we aren't in an ATT dead spot before ordering one of these ATT OBD2 hot spot devices

 

[techman]

This looks very interesting, But how do you figure out if there is ATT coverage at your home?

Either find a friend with an ATT phone, and check that you have LTE or 4G at your home. Alternatively if you google cell tower locations you can find sites that will show you maps and where cell towers are located. Just make sure you look for ATT towers.

paul

 

[sd455dan]

Thanks, will do:thumbsup:

 

[newbury]

<snip>

Wish I had a way to get my phone to tell me the signal strength at that window. <snip>

On my phone I go
Settings --> About device --> status --> Sim card status and there is a field for signal strength
There is also an app "Network Signal Info" by KAIBITS Software

 

[techman]

Thanks, will do:thumbsup:

If you are near a town of any size, see if there is an ATT store there and ask if you have LTE coverage.

 

[sodamo]

I get terrible AT&T phone service, have to use the M-Cell to get decent service. BUT, I have also seen 2 bars LTE standing on my roof. So I recently installed a MOFI 4500 with 2 external antenna. Signal usually in the -90 dub range, but I see dl usually in high 20's plus. Ordered the Mobley along with external power and antenna connection and hope to see decent results with the possibility of replacing my $80/mon plan with the $20/mon.

 

[dalroo]

I was intrigued by this, but went to the local AT&T store and after lots of discussion, the store mgr told me there would not be any real advantage, other than battery life, to going with the mobile wi-fi instead of just hotspotting from iphone. I already have a pretty robust data plan, and can stream video, do online meetings, etc. from hotspot, so I just left well enough alone.

 

[techman]

I already have a pretty robust data plan, and can stream video, do online meetings, etc. from hotspot, so I just left well enough alone.

I bet you pay a good chunk of coin for your "robust data plan" !

paul

 

[newbury]

I get terrible AT&T phone service, have to use the M-Cell to get decent service. BUT, I have also seen 2 bars LTE standing on my roof. So I recently installed a MOFI 4500 with 2 external antenna. Signal usually in the -90 dub range, but I see dl usually in high 20's plus. Ordered the Mobley along with external power and antenna connection and hope to see decent results with the possibility of replacing my $80/mon plan with the $20/mon.

I understand the external power but what is the "antenna connection" and can you provide a link?