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

[Midniteoyl]

I'm still using the Mobley plan with a Nighthawk. Working better than ever.

AS am I.. Just gets faster and faster. Avg. 120-150mbps with absolutely no trottling, even when my kid showed up still set up for and expecting gigabit and used up 1.5Tb in less than a month

 

[the old grind]

I'm usually testing at 3-6 down and 1-2 up at home with my Mobley. One day I got 7.6 down & 2.1 up. Don't have the fanciest setup but it works in the car as is.

 

[mike0000]

My Mobley is dying, driving us nuts. It seems to keep shutting down. I don’t think Mobley’s are available anymore. I‘m interested in moving the SIM card to another device. I’m not the best with this type of technology, much better with a wrench or hammer.
I would like to get recommendations on what devices are available to simply purchase and insert SIM card and have my internet service back up and running.

Thanks for any help you can give,

Mike

 

[Midniteoyl]

The Nighthawk M1 portable LTE modem. It's what I use and at one time you could get them fairly cheap through ATT. Problem is though are reports that they locked the SIM to the Mobley after people started switching them to the M1. Not sure if its true or not, but you can try it. You can find the M1 on eBay, Amazon, Best Buy or see if ATT still has some.

 

[BigBlue1]

Indeed the Netgear Nighthawk M1 is a great alternative that is up to 4x faster than the Mobley. While AT&T did add a SIM PIN via a Mobley firmware update, you can (or at least were able to) get the PIN unlock codes and remove it. Look back in this thread for info on that or Google "Mobley SIM unlock code".

 

[mike0000]

Thanks, Midniteoyl, and BigBlue1.
I can order it refurbished, for a little over $200.
leaning towards Walmart due to 30Day return policy.
Amazon has some listed as “unlocked” to accept any SIM card.
Is it important to get one that is “unlocked”?
Will the one from Walmart (Does not mention unlocked) Work?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[BigBlue1]

I don't know whether being unlocked is important. The one I bought was also a refub and it was an AT&T branded unit. As long as you get one compatible with AT&T (i.e. not a Verizon specific model) it should be fine. But agreed that some type of return window would be good to have.

 

[TractorGuy]

My Mobley died a month out of warranty. I bought a used ZTE Velocity off eBay for $25 and switched the SIM to it. This was before the lock code business.

My speed varies but that has a lot to do with my proximity to a tower. Closest tower is 7 miles away over the river and through the woods. Wait,,, That's a song.

I just recently discovered I could go into the wifi settings from the unit and set it to never turn off. Before I was using the PC interface just as I had to do with the Mobley. It would look turned off on the AT&T interface but when I went into the setting on the unit it was still set to 15 minutes. Turned it off there and the unit has stayed on ever since.

When everybody started bragging on the Netgear I bought an LB1120 to try. It has a super finicky SIM holder and was a pain in the ass to get set up. Afterwords it was no faster than my Velocity so I switched back. It sits in a box in the closet.

I like that the Velocity has a screen that I can view and make settings and restarts from. I took the Velocity to Daytona once and had 120 MBps from the hotel so the unit is very capable depending on location.

 

[mike0000]

Hi Tractor guy.
I played around with the settings too, tried reset, disconnecting power, etc. It will work intermittently, may be 5min. 15min. 30 min. Sometimes shaking it will boot it back up, its extremely frustrating, I’m ready to smash it.
I ordered the refurbished one from Walmart, est. delivery by Dec. 6th.
Had some potentially good news Turkey Day, there’s a plan to bring cable to our street possibly in the next few months. Currently the closest neighbor that has it is about a mile from our house.
I’ll believe it when it’s here, in the meantime I have to try to get the current setup working.

Mike

 

[Midniteoyl]

Hi Tractor guy.
I played around with the settings too, tried reset, disconnecting power, etc. It will work intermittently, may be 5min. 15min. 30 min. Sometimes shaking it will boot it back up, its extremely frustrating, I’m ready to smash it.
I ordered the refurbished one from Walmart, est. delivery by Dec. 6th.
Had some potentially good news Turkey Day, there’s a plan to bring cable to our street possibly in the next few months. Currently the closest neighbor that has it is about a mile from our house.
I’ll believe it when it’s here, in the meantime I have to try to get the current setup working.

Mike

I dont know how good your signals are, but with the M1 connected via ethernet to a wireless access point (Netgear EX7000), I consistently get 120+mbps speed, upto ~200mbps. Faster and cheaper than cable. Don't use the built-in wireless on the M1 unless you must, as its weak and limited to about 40mbps.

Also, use a good quality QC 3.0 wall charger and USB-C cable to power the thing constantly. It'll provide better and cleaner power for more consistent connections and speed.