MIMO antenna for mobile hotspot router

[@Michael]

Originally Posted by avanti

If you value maximum connectivity, you still certainly want two carriers. But, IMO it is no longer true that they should be AT&T and Verizon.

Because of the large-scale rollouts of new low frequency spectrum by T-Mobile and ATT the last few years, it's best to make sure your router/hotspot/phone is fairly up-to-date and can handle the lower frequency bands. With T-Mobile, you want to be certain that your hotspot/router/phone can operate on bands 71 & 12, with ATT you need band 14. Devices without those bands you loose quite a bit of coverage.

Likewise with external antennas. The antenna needs to be designed for 600 & 700mhz bands to be effective in rural areas that depend on those bands.

(Low frequency bands (600-700mhz) handle long distances better & provide better coverage from the same towers.)

[joelm]

Avanti, can you say more about the $10 T-Mobile plan?

I only see a $10/1GB phone plan. Is there a data plan somewhere? I've tended to travel with both T-Mobile and VZ devices and have recently found that T-Mobile has been better in a lot of areas we've camped

[avanti]

Originally Posted by joelm

Avanti, can you say more about the $10 T-Mobile plan?

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/t-m...-for-10-month/

After the 30mb, it throttles to 600Kb unlimited, although I find that when travelling away from my home tower, it is often not enforced.

Also, if you need more fast data, just buy two and you have 60mb for $20. Just plug them both into your Peplink router, which has two sim slots.

[jakegw2]

We use the T-Mobile home internet router. It is a fully 5G capable cellular modem, supports all the latest bands that TMO uses, and is only a $30/mo add-on for unlimited data if you already have a T-Mobile phone.

I routinely see 200Mbps+ data speeds on it.

I have not tried this, but I have heard from a reliable source that you can open it up, disconnect the internal antennas, and attach your own external antennas to the 4x QMA ports inside.

If you use external antennas make sure that the two MIMO antennas are cross-polarized relative to each other. If there are four ports, mount the second MIMO antenna as far from the first as you can to maximize multipath performance.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by jakegw2

We use the T-Mobile home internet router. It is a fully 5G capable cellular modem, supports all the latest bands that TMO uses, and is only a $30/mo add-on for unlimited data if you already have a T-Mobile phone.

I have heard great things about that service. Note, however, that mobile use apparently violates their TOS, and the scuttlebutt is that they are preparing to start enforcing this. I have no first-hand info, though.

[jakegw2]

I seriously doubt they will cut off mobile users anytime soon.

I am in the industry and have had this very discussion with people who would be involved in making this decision. There are economic drivers that would make this a poor choice at this time. I will leave it at that.

[avanti]

https://tmo.report/2024/04/uh-oh-t-m...s-eligibility/