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

[kcflhrc]

I'm talking about WiFi signal strength from a router not the cell signal to the modem. Any router with external antenna's will perform better than one without. The M1 is a modem/router without external antennas for the WiFi.

 

[BigBlue1]

I'm talking about WiFi signal strength from a router not the cell signal to the modem. Any router with external antenna's will perform better than one without. The M1 is a modem/router without external antennas for the WiFi.

Ah. Gotcha. Well, irrelevant in my case since I'm tethering it to a regular wifi router, as I did with the Mobley. And I have wifi disabled on the Nighthawk M1 due to this. You're correct that the M1 by itself would not make a good whole-home wifi solution.

Rob

 

[coldsteelva]

I have been going strong with not one, but two Mobley devices since I first learned about them here in 2017. Compared to the local wireless broadband (shared use) provider and the satellite internet provider ($80/mo metered and capped), these things have paid for themselves many times over. I have one connected via USB to a router (ASUS AC1900) which we use for all of the house devices and adult use and then our son uses the 2nd standalone for his PC and console games. Both are still on their $20/mo connected car plans. When we take a road trip, we actually take the 2nd one with us - keeps everybody happy. Here is the usage of the main house Mobley for the past month:

 

[kcflhrc]

They are gonna get wise one of these days with these high data users. But I guess until then, carry on. We don't stream a lot and primarily just use the internet for shopping, bill's etc.. Not sure what my usage is but it's quite low. I'm trying to not throw up a red flag and lose the only decent internet I can get.

 

[sodamo]

They are gonna get wise one of these days with these high data users. But I guess until then, carry on. We don't stream a lot and primarily just use the internet for shopping, bill's etc.. Not sure what my usage is but it's quite low. I'm trying to not throw up a red flag and lose the only decent internet I can get.

Hopefully,it will be a targeted response. i’d really hate to lose mine. Have 3 and rarely hit 100gb between them on average.

 

[kcflhrc]

Hopefully,it will be a targeted response. i’d really hate to lose mine. Have 3 and rarely hit 100gb between them on average.

My highest has been 70gb in one billing cycle

 

[coldsteelva]

I understand what you all are saying, but I live in a rural area, so I never even get throttled (at >22GB) since there is NEVER network congestion. At this point they would be hard pressed to change their policy. Unlimited (no cap) with the vague 'threat' of throttling is good enough. But even with two of them, I'm paying $40 month and not the $80+ for Exede that we were paying.

They are just starting to bring fiber out to the sticks here, so I will get it someday, but it looks like 5G may be a more viable option than paying for a fiber to be run up to the house 900 feet from the road.

 

[BigBlue1]

I understand what you all are saying, but I live in a rural area, so I never even get throttled (at >22GB) since there is NEVER network congestion. At this point they would be hard pressed to change their policy. Unlimited (no cap) with the vague 'threat' of throttling is good enough. But even with two of them, I'm paying $40 month and not the $80+ for Exede that we were paying.

They are just starting to bring fiber out to the sticks here, so I will get it someday, but it looks like 5G may be a more viable option than paying for a fiber to be run up to the house 900 feet from the road.

This ^^^ There seem to actually be very few instances reported of AT&T slowing speeds on any device (phones or hotspots) for going over 22GB usage. I've had 4 teenage/adult kids with phones that routinely use well above 22GB/mo and they have never been slowed down in 7 years. Maybe if you are using your device in a very congested location they may do it but mostly I think it's just a scare tactic and a cover for them if they do find a need to do it in certain situations.

As for a prior comment about hoping AT&T doesn't 'get wise to this' with the Mobley/$20 plan, I think the number of subscribers to this plan is so low compared to the volume of their mobile phone customers that they don't even pay attention to it. We're talking something in the sub-100k range versus tens of millions of phone lines. They have bigger fish to fry.

Rob

 

[TractorGuy]

They are gonna get wise one of these days with these high data users. But I guess until then, carry on. We don't stream a lot and primarily just use the internet for shopping, bill's etc.. Not sure what my usage is but it's quite low. I'm trying to not throw up a red flag and lose the only decent internet I can get.

Hopefully,it will be a targeted response. i’d really hate to lose mine. Have 3 and rarely hit 100gb between them on average.

Are you kidding? This whole thread is based on being able to use the device and package for unintended purpose.

Unless you are only using the original Mobley plugged in to the OBD port of a vehicle you are as guilty as the rest of us.

 

[kcflhrc]

Are you kidding? This whole thread is based on being able to use the device and package for unintended purpose.

Unless you are only using the original Mobley plugged in to the OBD port of a vehicle you are as guilty as the rest of us.

Yes, we are guilty. But our responses are directed to folks that really abuse the Mobley plan and are in the 300 to 500 gb per month range. Gaming and streaming everything. My thoughts are that those folks are the one's that may ruin this great deal for all of us. But so be it if it happens. I have satellite for tv and the Mobley plan for our light internet use and occasional movie stream, but that's about it. Do they have bigger fish to fry? Maybe so. Maybe I'm concerned over nothing at all.

 

[TractorGuy]

Yes, we are guilty. But our responses are directed to folks that really abuse the Mobley plan and are in the 300 to 500 gb per month range. Gaming and streaming everything. My thoughts are that those folks are the one's that may ruin this great deal for all of us. But so be it if it happens. I have satellite for tv and the Mobley plan for our light internet use and occasional movie stream, but that's about it. Do they have bigger fish to fry? Maybe so. Maybe I'm concerned over nothing at all.

Forum threads like this one are the most likely cause if the package comes to an end.

They are probably still making money hand over fist so it's unlikely it will cease to be kept.

 

[BigBlue1]

Yes, we are guilty. But our responses are directed to folks that really abuse the Mobley plan and are in the 300 to 500 gb per month range. Gaming and streaming everything. My thoughts are that those folks are the one's that may ruin this great deal for all of us. But so be it if it happens. I have satellite for tv and the Mobley plan for our light internet use and occasional movie stream, but that's about it. Do they have bigger fish to fry? Maybe so. Maybe I'm concerned over nothing at all.

Three plus years into the program with number of lines on the plan waning I highly doubt anything is changing with peoples' usage habits or AT&T's worrying about them. I'd wager that you're concerned over nothing.

Besides, all the Mobley users who actually use it in their car are saying the same thing about your use being a risk to them...

 

[BigBlue1]

Forum threads like this one are the most likely cause if the package comes to an end.

They are probably still making money hand over fist so it's unlikely it will cease to be kept.

Because AT&T is trolling the web forums looking for us scofflaws talking about our long-term abuse of their plan??

 

[TheMan419]

This ^^^ There seem to actually be very few instances reported of AT&T slowing speeds on any device (phones or hotspots) for going over 22GB usage. I've had 4 teenage/adult kids with phones that routinely use well above 22GB/mo and they have never been slowed down in 7 years. Maybe if you are using your device in a very congested location they may do it but mostly I think it's just a scare tactic and a cover for them if they do find a need to do it in certain situations.

As for a prior comment about hoping AT&T doesn't 'get wise to this' with the Mobley/$20 plan, I think the number of subscribers to this plan is so low compared to the volume of their mobile phone customers that they don't even pay attention to it. We're talking something in the sub-100k range versus tens of millions of phone lines. They have bigger fish to fry.

Rob

Most folks who live in a city where the cell network would be congested have a wired internet service (ATT Uverse, Cable Company etc) so they are not going to be using the same kind of data on their mobile devices. Those of us that live in the sticks just need to get a bit more creative.

 

[jcummins]

My Mobleyis starting to give me some issues. I read in this thread that it was fairly common for people to unplug the Mobley because AT&T cutting service off. Some have even resorted to putting a timer on it to shut it off in the middle of the night and I have done the same thing. But I'm beginning to think that it's more than just that it may be the Mobley itself. I thought if investing in one of those travel routers and more recently I saw an Wi-Fi 4500 unit that I think it could replace the Mobley. My concern is this an AT&T issue or a Mobley device issue. Is there any way to really tell?

 

[TractorGuy]

My Mobleyis starting to give me some issues. I read in this thread that it was fairly common for people to unplug the Mobley because AT&T cutting service off. Some have even resorted to putting a timer on it to shut it off in the middle of the night and I have done the same thing. But I'm beginning to think that it's more than just that it may be the Mobley itself. I thought if investing in one of those travel routers and more recently I saw an Wi-Fi 4500 unit that I think it could replace the Mobley. My concern is this an AT&T issue or a Mobley device issue. Is there any way to really tell?

Probably some of both. After my mobley died and I swapped the sim to a velocity I would have spells of needing to restart, reset, etc.

I think some of my issues was tower related although I don't know why restarting would resolve that temporarily.

There are times when the towers loose power and won't work. During the last hurricane we had very weak cell service. Turned out people kept stealing the generators from the cell towers. I think they had to post a National Guard until they got regular power restored.

This comment is going to jinx me but my unit has been running steady for a couple of months.

 

[jcummins]

Inclined to think it's the Mobley, since unplugging / plugging has always brought it back. BUT hate to spend the money and it fix nothing.

 

[TheMan419]

Inclined to think it's the Mobley, since unplugging / plugging has always brought it back. BUT hate to spend the money and it fix nothing.

Buy something off Amazon with a good return policy.....

 

[the old grind]

Bruce Springsteen - 57 Channels (And Nothin' On) Acoustic - YouTube

 

[BigBlue1]

Buy something off Amazon with a good return policy.....

Some eBay sellers have good return policies too (free return shipping). That's how I bought my 'refurbished) Netgear Nighthawk M1/MR1100. But Amazon is probably the easier of the two options if you can find what you want for a good price there.

Rob