I am on T-Mobile Magenta. It gives me 5GB of 5G Hotspot and unlimited after. So now I am wondering if I should just get rid of home internet for good and get an additional line ($10/mo) that I leave at home. I figure I use a gaming adapter to connect Hotspot to my Mesh wifi (for coverage) and connect USB-C to HDMI/USB-A adapter for Video streaming that I would control with wireless USB KB/mouse (so not using hotspot). T-Mobile works for everything in the house except my Juicebox but to cut my home internet bill to just $10/mo would be worth it. Anyone tried something like this?
Hm... this could work. I am now using a Samsung S20 FE. It is connected wirelessly to a Roku TV for display and using a BT keyboard and the phone itself as a touch pad. As this is running off the phone, I am not using up Hotspot data. Slightly clunky but gives me an alternative from having to get a home high speed internet.
Watching youtube on the Samsung browser.
Watching Netflix full screen using the Netflix app.
There are all sorts of options if you know how to fool a carrier so that it doesn't tabulate the data that you're using as hotspot data. I think Chelle posted some advice years ago on how to use PDANet to do that. My advice would be to not abuse it too much, although it's hard to know where that line is. But if you cross it, you should expect T-Mobile to flag your account.
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We used a cellphone for internet for about 4-1/2 years and it was a good experience. I went back to a cable modem after they cut the price way down in our area.
In my case I used T-Mobile. And I used PdaNet+ so that it looked like "on-device" data to T-Mobile (rather than hotspot data).
I connected an old laptop to a T-Mobile phone using PdaNet+, then let my laptop be my wifi router for the house. You can do that organically in the laptop, but I found it easier to manage the WiFi access by using an app called "Connectify".
So PdaNet+ got the internet to my laptop and Connectify shared it to my devices. I also set the laptop so that I could keep the lid closed.
I've set some friends up on Visible Mobile, recently, because it has unlimited hotspot data. Due to deprioritization they sometimes experience buffering when watching video but they're more than happy with the trade-off.
T-Mobile's network is the best choice, around here, so if I went back to cellular that's how I'd go.
BTW- I'm not sure what speed the "unlimited" hotspot data is, but I know that it's deprioritized compared to on-device data. So that might be a consideration as to whether or not you use PdaNet+.
Hm... I would likely be deprioritized. I use about 300-500gb of data a month. Would be much less if I watch video at 720p.
The default streaming speed on verizon is 2Mbps. Most non verizon providers can't change that. Probably where the buffering comes from on visible. A vpn may help. Also hotspot is 5Mbps unless you've fooled it into thinking it is on device data.
Cudy 4g routers are easy to configure out of the box if you want to unlock a cell plan. Or you can modify an orbi lbr20 or netgear nighthawk m1 fairly easily. Both are solid home routers. The lbr more preferable since it is meant to be a home router.
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Can your cellar provider tell that the SIM is installed in a router or can you spoof a cellphone?
Changing the ttl is an option in the settings on cudy routers. Which is usually enough to look like on device data. You can go further and change the imei within the settings and replace with an old cellphone imei if you want to make it look like it is a cellphone. Though I am not recommending that as it may be illegal. The other ones I mentioned can do the same with a bit of work.
The gl.inet routers can change the ttl via a few lines added to the firewall and there is something else special about them but I can't remember what it is that helps to bypass tethering restrictions.
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TMO now has a special of $25/mo for life home internet, wonder if this is will be a new trend. At this price, no need for all these work arounds.
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That's a great deal with T-Mobile. As good as they are around here they're still not offering home Internet in my area. I hope that deal continues long enough for me to take part.
The T-Mobile Home Internet $25/mo deal requires a T-Mobile voice plan. However, it has been mentioned that their $20/mo UT&T plan qualifies. Otherwise, anyone can get TMHI for $50/mo TOTAL.
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I managed to get for free a standalone Arcadyan wireless router that comes with the T-Mobile Home Internet service. I think whoever had it got it through Metro, but after testing it I found that the device works on the entire T-Mobile network. You can even put in a regular phone SIM...it works on my wife's current Mint 10gb/month and on a friend's voice line, and I'm currently using it extensively on a Lycamobile SIM.
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Very interesting! OnStar wants $25/mo for in-car wifi. Get an Internet Gateway off eBay, add a BYOD line, install in your car. LOL
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My new TMO Internet caps out at 100mbps. I guess I can't complain at $25/mo. LOL
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Mine still averages around 150Mbps. Lows are in the 130s and highs are just below 200.
Upload averages around 18Mbps for me.
Well my Arcadyan gateway was upgraded to the 1.00.18 firmware and my 5G would not connect and my internet now is slow and lags between 1-10mbps. I called in and CSR and they claim there is a 'local tower issue' despite my phone working fine. Looked into shipping a replacement gateway to me but someone above her said no. CSR asks I give the engineers some time to try to resolve the issue so I guess I can hobble along for a week and just use my phone/hotspot if it gets really bad. I got a $25 service credit for the inconvenience.
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I got a Cudy LT500 because I was curious how well it would work on Visible. And after two days of testing, it seems to work great! I'm getting around 25 mbps download speed, and the only thing I had to do was correctly configure the APN. I didn't have to mess around with the TTL. 25 mbps isn't good enough for my family but I think it's good enough for my mom and dad, especially if I can reduce their internet charges to only $10/month with the way I use referrals.
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Magenta Max is eligible for a free Samsung Galaxy S23 with trade in.
They fixed my service Monday, took a week. I think they had to fix some access list.
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