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.

 

[mike0000]

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.

Thank you

 

[kcflhrc]

I moved my SIM from the Mobley to a Netgear LB1120 And then put a Netgear Night Hawk with external antennas behind that modem. The M1 will not give you as good as wifi coverage than a device with external antennas will. But either is a good alternative. You can put any kind of wireless router behind the LB1120 which is a great benefit if you have a large area to cover with wifi, even a good Mesh System will work and give you fantastic coverage. Hell my Chicken's even have wifi it works so well

 

[the old grind]

The RV folks have been on top of this for a few years with the Mobley and SIMs. Firmware updates beyond a certain version will force-reset any SIM card inserted to the default PUK. Multiple failed attempts to activate one in another device can lock out a SIM permanently so I'd advise searching for the latest info.

AT&T may no longer be anxious/willing to share PUKs (two levels, btw) due to huge home data vs vehicle use as originally intended. Timeouts are also forced with firmware updates. Newer plans/devices are intended to limit such 'abuse'.

Be wise not to interrupt your account if looking to expand/upgrade and it's possible. Once closed there may be no option but to start over with Spark program. Still cheap but timeouts are one thing that can't be disabled with the newer plans and rates are higher, ~$10/mo or so. Tread with caution.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Took me a couple tries but I finally got the PUK codes for mine, and been running in a netgear ever since.

 

[TractorGuy]

This is the ZTE Velocity unit I switched to. Super easy SIM install and setup. Has it's own rechargeable battery so you can take it anywhere and have wi-fi.

At home I run a AR-GL300 EXT travel router behind it and connect everything on my home network to the router. The ZTE Velocity only sees the one connection from the router. I added longer antennas to the router but I'm not sure they help. I have one wi-fi camera set out almost 500 feet from the house that connects to it. I have 4 other cameras ranging from 50 feet to 300 feet from the router I can connect to and view over the network.

Used working units start around $35 on eBay. Careful not to buy one that says for parts only.

Pardon Our Interruption...

Mine has been running non stop for over 3 years but I just ordered another for backup.

 

[BigBlue1]

I moved my SIM from the Mobley to a Netgear LB1120 And then put a Netgear Night Hawk with external antennas behind that modem. The M1 will not give you as good as wifi coverage than a device with external antennas will. But either is a good alternative. You can put any kind of wireless router behind the LB1120 which is a great benefit if you have a large area to cover with wifi, even a good Mesh System will work and give you fantastic coverage. Hell my Chicken's even have wifi it works so well

Good advice. The built-in wifi in the M1 is really geared towards the "mobile hotspot sitting next to the laptop" scenario. Definitely not a full home wifi situation.

Rob

 

[BigBlue1]

The RV folks have been on top of this for a few years with the Mobley and SIMs. Firmware updates beyond a certain version will force-reset any SIM card inserted to the default PUK. Multiple failed attempts to activate one in another device can lock out a SIM permanently so I'd advise searching for the latest info.

AT&T may no longer be anxious/willing to share PUKs (two levels, btw) due to huge home data vs vehicle use as originally intended. Timeouts are also forced with firmware updates. Newer plans/devices are intended to limit such 'abuse'.

Be wise not to interrupt your account if looking to expand/upgrade and it's possible. Once closed there may be no option but to start over with Spark program. Still cheap but timeouts are one thing that can't be disabled with the newer plans and rates are higher, ~$10/mo or so. Tread with caution.

That's been the talk since forever (about AT&T cracking down), but other than a lot of people speculating and worrying about it I have never heard of anything coming from it. At this point, 4-5 years since the $20 Mobley plan was first offered, I think it is such a miniscule thing to AT&T that they have zero care about it. They may discontinue it just because it is an old plan and very lightly used (compared to any mobile phone plans volumes) but I'd bet money they will never 'crack down' due to usage.

Good advice about not changing your cell plan if you have the $20 Mobley plan on it though. That would be the major risk. It is what has kept me from changing to another phone plan these past 4 years.

Rob

 

[mike0000]

I sure appreciate all the recommendation, we have been using a GL iNet 300M Mini Smart Router with the Mobley. It works ok but distance isn’t so good, it does allow us more than the 5 connects through the Mobley. May decide to upgrade that too.

Mike

 

[Midniteoyl]

Good advice about not changing your cell plan if you have the $20 Mobley plan on it though. That would be the major risk. It is what has kept me from changing to another phone plan these past 4 years.

Rob

I switch from the old Family Share plan to the Unlimited Starter with phone upgrade in a ATT Store and they made sure the Mobley plan remained untouched. Been about a year now and all's still good. Make sure its a real ATT store and not one of the 'authorized' ones that look the same.

 

[the old grind]

Indeed an AT&T 'company store' vs an affiliate is the way to go for anything, if one can. Going to even that a few yrs ago to set up my plan the employees didn't know what I was asking for at first. One guy got through it all and was explaining it to others by the time I left.

btw, if I'm not mistaken a router can be assigned as just one of the five devices connected and what-have-you connected to that. I don't use a router or better antenna with the Mobley so can't confirm the possibility. I DO like taking my own i'net along vs logging into public access when on the road or on a job. I'm keeping it simple vs making waves to get more data/usage. 5 Mb down & 1.5 Mb up isn't much but it's enough for my use, .. one device at a time.