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

[BigBlue1]

How can I find out why my speed is so slow?

First of all, try some other speed test sites. I've found I get considerably varying results. Some places are more consistent than others. Some, like the fast.com Netflix test has somehow changed to never get me more then 5 Mb/s on my phone or the Mobley even though I am getting WAY better speeds in reality.

Second, when I talked to ZTE support about the problem of my Mobley's signal light not coming on he indicated that anything below -90 dBm (i.e. your -101 is lower) is "extremely bad signal that is almost unusable. I took that with a grain of salt, because with -92 dBm I was getting I was reliably getting 25-30 Mb/s download. But still, signal strength plays a major role.

Rob

 

[aeblank]

I would also suggest paying attention to usability. Everyone likes to brag about speed tests, but to a degree, who cares. Use it and see how it goes. Can you do the things that you want to do? I doubt you'll be waiting for web pages to load for any abnormal amount of time.

My testing was streaming to the tv, watching youtube, and torrenting 3 files at once. Worked solid (enough for me, anyway) through all of it at -110 to -113db.

I mean, a Dodge Demon is sweet, but my Honda gets me to work too.

 

[fordmantpw]

I would also suggest paying attention to usability. Everyone likes to brag about speed tests, but to a degree, who cares. Use it and see how it goes. Can you do the things that you want to do? I doubt you'll be waiting for web pages to load for any abnormal amount of time.

My testing was streaming to the tv, watching youtube, and torrenting 3 files at once. Worked solid (enough for me, anyway) through all of it at -110 to -113db.

I mean, a Dodge Demon is sweet, but my Honda gets me to work too.

Agreed! I use remote desktop which requires low ping times. Satellite can give some tremendous download speeds, but latency is horrible, thus making remote desktop useless across satellite.

I've used the Mobley for everything from remote desktop to streaming to browsing and general use of all things internet and it is working great for me. I honestly don't know what the signal level is, but I am going to move it around the house to get the best signal.

 

[aeblank]

How is everyone dealing with the 5 device limit? I need to feed my wired network and have more than 5 clients. Seems it tethers to an $80 Asus router. But if I need to put this thing on the roof.......

 

[Xfaxman]

First of all, try some other speed test sites. I've found I get considerably varying results. Some places are more consistent than others. Some, like the fast.com Netflix test has somehow changed to never get me more then 5 Mb/s on my phone or the Mobley even though I am getting WAY better speeds in reality.

These are the three that I use, They are always close:

Second, when I talked to ZTE support about the problem of my Mobley's signal light not coming on he indicated that anything below -90 dBm (i.e. your -101 is lower) is "extremely bad signal that is almost unusable. I took that with a grain of salt, because with -92 dBm I was getting I was reliably getting 25-30 Mb/s download. But still, signal strength plays a major role.

Rob

-99 is the highest that I have seen, but it varies down a lot.

The Mobley is on a window sill, up against the glass.

I would also suggest paying attention to usability. Everyone likes to brag about speed tests, but to a degree, who cares. Use it and see how it goes. Can you do the things that you want to do? I doubt you'll be waiting for web pages to load for any abnormal amount of time.

My testing was streaming to the tv, watching youtube, and torrenting 3 files at once. Worked solid (enough for me, anyway) through all of it at -110 to -113db.

I mean, a Dodge Demon is sweet, but my Honda gets me to work too.

Usability is poor when it drops below -105 dBm. Web pages do load slower and YouTube videos buffer even on low resolution.

 

[zimy]

How is everyone dealing with the 5 device limit? I need to feed my wired network and have more than 5 clients. Seems it tethers to an $80 Asus router. But if I need to put this thing on the roof.......

We just changed to that ASUS router, got it in yesterday and we setup today. Was fairly easy, we bought a 30 ft long USB cable extension off amazon. That way the mobely can stay up high on top of the book shelf by the window and the router is on the other wall next to the old desktop computer and printer. Seems to work really good. The 5 user limit only became an issue when the grandkids where here, shouldn't be a problem now. haven't had much testing with it though.

 

[zimy]

How is everyone dealing with the 5 device limit? I need to feed my wired network and have more than 5 clients. Seems it tethers to an $80 Asus router. But if I need to put this thing on the roof.......

This is the cable we bought off amazon, seems to work good, and was plenty long.
Amazon.com: UGREEN USB Extension Cable USB 2.� Active Repeater Extension Cable A Male to A Female with Built-in Signal Booster Chips (3�ft): Computers & Accessories

 

[wsc9tt]

I bought one of these for $26: Amazon.com: GLI Mini Travel Router GL-AR15 with 2dbi external antenna, WiFi Converter, OpenWrt Pre-installed, Repeater Bridge, 15Mbps High Performance, OpenVPN, Tor Compatible, Programmable IoT Gateway: Computers & Accessories

It tethers to the USB port out of the box and works pretty well. And as a bonus that little router (it is tiny) is powered by a USB cord so I can power both the modem and the router by USB.


BTW: I bought mine from Best Buy on eBay for $80 and it arrived very quickly. I found it impossible to activate the thing over the phone with AT&T. None of the people I talked to knew what this thing was or understood the plan. However, when I carried it into the local AT&T store they took care if it in no time at all. They did make a mistake, when I got the first bill it included a $45 activation fee and a contract. But I took that back to the store and said that since I purchaced the device myself I shouldn't need a fee or contract. They apologised and fixed the problem and removed the fee very quickly. I have to say I was rather surprised, the local store had really good service.

 

[techman]

Got the antenna mod install, pretty easy. Followed to HoFo link.
I then drilled a hole in the case:
Only seeing about 5-8 db improvement, but that good enough to move the Mobley to the interior spot I want to place it.

5-8 db is significant !

paul

 

[Dutch445]

how are you finding the Mobley signal strength?

i finally got my AC adapter, and so far so good.. it does matter where we put the device in the house. first test was outside on the back porch,
good speeds (15-18 down, 10-11 up)
just moved into the house, had it on a dresser between 2 windows, speeds were 3-4 down, 1-2 up. put it on an extension cord
and hung from the curtain rod (can't stay there) and speeds back up to high teens download and 8-10 upload....
we barely get 4-5 from our dsl download, and upload has always , always been less than 1 mbps. so far so good!

now i did notice some youtube videos at 1080 were not loading very fast, and had to buffer,,, so i wonder
if it as Youtube traffic or something else.

wife and i will use this with our 2 laptops, and 2 phones.. and let the kids (family of 4) use the DSL with their
netflix and playstation, phones, and tablets...... (wonder why things slowed????? )