Best products from r/ATT

Leaving my original reply below for reference, but I think you're best served by CircuitSwitched's reply. I didn't realize just how bad your DSL setup was. There's also some further conversation that might be of interest here.

ORIGINAL REPLY:

As mentioned by another, port to Google Voice. But instead of using the web interface they suggested, get an Obihai 200 - you connect it to your internet router and to your house's landline phone jack & all the phones on the landline become VoIP using GV. Service will be free and you can treat the phone just like you always did, dialing numbers directly.

EDIT: I should mention that this assumes you've dropped landline service. You should test the setup by plugging a phone directly into the Obihai before you drop landline service itself. You can port the landline number after you've verified it's working (just let Google assign a random number to the account for testing - you can port after the fact). In fact don't drop the landline directly - porting the number out should automatically end landline service, and you don't want to drop service until the port is done.

You also needn't worry about the bandwidth - I've successfully made GV calls even when throttled to 64Kbps on Sprint, so 0.5Mbps is plenty. The time it might be an issue is if you've got some other internet activity sucking up bandwidth (streaming video, etc), but your router may have options to prioritize certain traffic if that's a concern.

weBoost Connect 4G (470103) Indoor Cell Phone Signal Booster for Home and Office - Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint - Supports 5,000 Square Foot Area https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RHMFQTO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Zj5BDbXM5CX29

I know it's expensive but that may be your best bet. I have a Cel-Fi and honestly I don't see a difference but likewise it only supports 4 bands. It is an older unit. The unit says it's working but when I check my signal strength with it on or off the numbers don't change on any of my AT&T devices. I did buy it used tho so maybe it's defective. But the Weboost seems to get a lot of good reviews and supports all carriers so that may be your best bet. It is expensive too tho but if you plan on staying there awhile you can think of it as a long term investment

Yes, Are you using a Yagi antenna 3g Booster?

http://www.amazon.com/Phonetone-Booster-Repeater-Amplifier-Antenna/dp/B00SIUHG42?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

I am not trying to sell anything here but use the above as an example of a product booster. Seems from the review somebody with cricket wireless like you had the same issue and is getting 5 bars of 4g :) Hope it all works out!

let me know how it goes.

Also you might want to look at into a 3g booster that does both 800Mhz and 1900Mhz, So you can always use it if in other areas where its only 1900Mhz. :)

I just setup my parent's on an ATT hotspot for their home Internet, replacing Frontier DSL 3Mbps service. I am using the TP-Link Travel router. https://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WR902AC-Wireless-Travel-Router/dp/B01N5RCZQH

There's a few different options with this device as it includes a USB port and Ethernet port. You can both power and tether the USB hotspot to the router through the USB port and share the Internet connection over wifi 2.4 & 5Ghz wirless networks. You'd think they'd allow connection to the LAN port for an external switch or Ethernet device, but they do not. They allow the port for a secondary WAN connection in this mode.

The other mode, in which I operate my parents, is using the hotspot wifi signal to share the hotspot internet (Hotspot sharing mode). So the Travel Router takes the hotspot wifi, and bridges it as the WAN connection. You then use the router as any regular wireless router, setting up the wifi networks (both 2.4 & 5Ghz) and then you can also connect a switch to the LAN port. The Travel Router has it's own DHCP services, so there is a double NAT involved, which really shouldn't affect anything unless you're hosting anything with port forwarding.

What's nice about this router is it is fully features, including Firewall and port forwarding options, DHCP reservation & MAC address blocking, DNS override, and my favorite: WAN port bandwidth throttling per device IP. Comes in handy when streaming video and have a data cap and want to save some gigs.

Yeah, the cheapest way used to be to pick up the kit at Walmart or Best Buy or wherever, but most places seem to have stopped carrying SIM cards and prepaid phones. Because of that, you'll probably need to go to a corporate store, order online, or through Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/T-Mobile-Prepaid-Complete-SIM-Kit/dp/B00LPPHHFK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487802178&sr=8-1&keywords=t-mobile+starter+kit)

Once you do that, you can pre-pay (using credit/debit or a prepaid card, which are still available just about anywhere) for service. Personally, I've encouraged those who want to test to get the $30 plan (100 minutes, 5GB data, unlimited texts) as it has all the other benefits like BingeOn and Music Freedom (unofficially) and will really let you test out capabilities. Keep in mind that that plan can only be picked when you set up your account and if you transfer away, you'll lose it. You can actually order that from here: https://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/other-prepaid-plans

You'd need to pay for a month of service on that plan, but it's about the lowest full-featured one out there.

You could get a SIM and activate the $3/month voice/text option: https://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/pay-as-you-go This will still show you signal strength and you can buy a data pass for a day ($5) or week ($10), so that might get you all the information you'd need.

I did some network testing myself and went with one of the other plans initially on a starter kit that came with about $30, called and had them switch a few days into testing, am now on the $3 plan, and then just added some data here and there if I need to test. Otherwise, it's basically a $3/month dumbphone line that will work until the funds deplete sometime later in the year.

Best deal is here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E45043A/

Highly rated phone, bought several for family members and they have been happy with it. Plus at that price, it is great. Just buy it, and pop in your Sim Card and you're good to go. If you want an upgrade to that phone, then I'd suggest:

http://www.amazon.com/AT-Nokia-Lumia-635-Contract/dp/B00LBFFSNM/

That adds a quad core processor, a larger screen, and a few other things.

For best performance from an external antenna on the Nighthawk you are going to need two antennas at a 90 degree offset to each other. You can't split one antenna. Something to do with MIMO not working if you only connect to one antenna port and some other stuff. check out LTE hacks on FB and you can find some pretty good info on antenna and hotspot use.

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Or you can do something like this. It has 2 antenna built into it.

https://www.amazon.com/Proxicast-Cross-Polarized-High-Gain-Fixed-Mount-Antenna/dp/B01NBSLNJ6/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=techtoo+4g+antenna&qid=1565200161&s=wireless&sr=1-7-catcorr

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or this one, I personally have his one connected to my MOFI and have been pleased with it. Unfortunately i is not available at the present time.

https://www.amazon.com/TECHTOO-Directional-698-2690MHz-Cellphone-Amplifier/dp/B0130QUUUU

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there are also other options to go with depending on your needs.

you definitely want the nighthawk. the lb1120 is missing a lot of bands. even if the site near you isnt broadcasting the full suite of bands yet, it will eventually and youll want to be able to take advantage of it.

edit:

just to expand so it doesnt sound like im not explaining why:

lb1120: LTE Category 4 (up to 150 Mbps): B2, 4, 5, 12

mr1100: LTE CAT 16, 4-band CA and 4x4 MIMO
LTE/4G Bands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 14, 29, 30, 66

having b14 and b30 will be very helpful as theyre deployed a lot in suburban/rural areas and b66 will be helpful too if att deploys it in your area.

definitely worth it to be futureproof.

you can grab an unlocked/unbranded one on amazon warehouse for $245, just damaged box, im actually getting one myself today.

NETGEAR Nighthawk M1 Mobile Hotspot 4G LTE Router MR1100 - Up to 1Gbps Download Speed | WiFi Connect up to 20 Devices | Create a WLAN Anywhere | Unlocked to Use Any SIM Card https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G5KWZ3H/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_YYLHDbMKZRFWG

I've had a few friends put in a TP-Link Archer AC1200 Smart WiFi Router – Dual-band Gigabit (C1200) and they seem to run great. $58 right now (paid $70 when I got it for mom's house).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IUDUJE0/

A friend has it in the corner of their 2,200 sq. ft. place and it covers the whole place.

I'm wondering if manual band selection is going to help me? Looking at Cellmapper.net, the closest tower is about 13mi away, and has bands 2 and 4. there are two more only a couple miles further that have bands 4, 12, 17, and 30. I don't really know much about any of this, as far as what bands are better, etc.

What yagi antenna's would you recommend? was looking at this one, but sounds like there's issues with it's cable/connection...https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078W787GR/ref=emc_b_5_t

thanks for your reply. I've seen your posts in some other threads.

I use two of these if I have to connect to an antenna 4mi away: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XH92RQV/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

One of these to connect to the tower 1.5m away:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BJ61LDY/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Both improve my signal and speeds. Just gotta find that sweet spot for the best signal. It's not always near a window if you mount it indoors.

I tried to do this very same thing. There are 2 possible solutions.

1: Buy a little device that will take the wifi signal and put it back out over Ethernet. I used this one and it was great.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015CYDVG8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_49ogzb58N17XB

Ultimately i wanted a all wired solution to the router so I ended up purchasing a zte home base device. Model z700a. I found it for $29.99 on eBay but they seem to be going for $49 now. It's a hotspot made for home use with an Ethernet jack built in.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/162504931800

Hope this helps.

First, go to Antenna Search and locate the tower you want to pull from. Then find the contact person for that tower by clicking on it. Email that person explaining your problem, and then you'll have a local expert helping you out.

When I ran in to this issue I got 2 yagi antenna, the proper low loss cabling, the adapters to connect to the antenna and to my hotspot, a mounting pole, and put them at a 45 degree angle pointed right at my tower. Then I set the band priority on the hotspot based on what the tower tech told me was the optimal band coming from that tower.

When you get in to the world trying to optimize your LTE connection, you will probably want to join up with the LTE Hacks group on facebook.

so I use this router:
https://www.amazon.com/GL-AR150-Openwrt-pre-installed-Repeater-Tethering/dp/B015CYDVG8/ref=pd_sim_147_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B015CYDVG8&pd_rd_r=NVV3P2R3A7K44PJV1P35&pd_rd_w=bYb4R&pd_rd_wg=9z0nU&psc=1&refRID=NVV3P2R3A7K44PJV1P35

for usb tether to the hotspot and turn off wireless on both the hotspot and this device and connect the lan out from the travel router to a full fledged ac router that i had and use that for dhcp and wifi. It works perfectly for me.

I know I have an extra router in there but the reasoning was the ac router I have is a great one with long range, but no usb input and i didnt want to spend $100s on a new router and the travel router has about the same range as the hotspot so anything on the other side of my house has no connection. This solution worked for me as I only had to sped 26 bucks for the travel router and thats it.

Sorry for the slow update I was out out town. Anyways I purchased this antenna on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DN3J03O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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And now for some reason it's doing the Carrier Aggregation with the two bands I have setup in Putty. I thought this was very strange if I remove this antenna I loose the CA. My RSRP went from -105 to around -100 and my Quality from around 40 to around 45-50dbm. See the picture above to see the CA between bands B12 and B2. if you guys have any questions on commands and how to set it up please let me know or post here I'm getting more familiar with it the time I've used it. If someone can explain why it's CA now with the new antenna and not the internal that would be awesome!

I've been having the exact same experience with my Nighthawk M1. Was seeing 40-60Mbps, now I'm seeing about 4-6Mbps. It's been falling for the last 3-5 weeks maybe. I'll look into my signal stats this evening, but it's very interesting to hear someone else with the Nighthawk M1 is having a similar experience. I'll also try pulling my antenna to go from strong 2x2 MIMO to a weaker 4x4 MIMO.

I'm using a Netgear Aircard antenna and a UniFi gateway/switch/access point. Adding the access point roughly doubled my speeds (30-40 up from 15-20) and the antenna gave another 50% for the 40-60Mbps speeds. The gateway and switch have no impact on speed, they just allowing me to connect a Hue hub, put my Roku on a wire, add a PiHole for whole network ad blocking, that kind of thing. The PiHole is a nice speed boost on LTE internet btw.

I don't have much experience with the external antennas as I don't need them. However, my kid who lives in mountainous California says this antenna helped him. Just use the signal strength meter on the Nighthawk's diagnostic page to find the best placement.

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Also remember that LTE shows as a lower signal than we are use to, so 2 bars would be at least 3 bars for 3g/4g.

My wifi sucks from my AT&T modem as well. I went with installing two of these access points in my house: https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-EAP225-V3-Wireless-Supports/dp/B0781YXFBT TP-Link EAP-225, they are connected to the modems ethernet switch ports. I have two installed, one on each floor. I then turned off the modems wifi. My wifi has been great since and they have been trouble free, house is around 4000sqft.

Netgear DC112A-100NAS AirCard 4G LTE Signal Boosting Smart Cradle Router https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06X3QV7LX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_4AMXAbYVHES6R

Maybe I shouldve said had a dock...

> I went with installing two of these in my house: https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-EAP225-V3-Wireless-Supports/dp/B0781YXFBT TP-Link EAP-225, they are connected to the modems ethernet switch ports.

This is the one recommended by small net builder dot com, and gets very good reviews.

Netgear Dc112a smart cradle router.

Netgear DC112A-100NAS AirCard 4G LTE Signal Boosting Smart Cradle Router https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06X3QV7LX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_2tcmzbT450E3B

Backordered on Amazon but AT&T also sells it

While I haven't used it myself, Netgear does offer their own antenna that I've heard good things about. It's for sale on Amazon and isn't too pricy:

https://www.amazon.com/Netgear-6000450-MIMO-Antenna-Connectors/dp/B00DN3J03O/ref=sr_1_1?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1486605194&sr=1-1&keywords=netgear+4g+antenna

I went with https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00RHMFQZI/ref=ya_st_dp_summary found a good price from Amazon warehouse for 150

If your phone is unlocked, consider buying this sim card from amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/PrePaid-destinations-including-European-countries/dp/B01FI1JW72/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=uk+three+sim+card&qid=1562541404&s=gateway&sr=8-3

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We bought it and activated in 3 day before leaving for Italy and it worked flawlessly all over Italy. Yes, it wasn't 4G, mostly 3G and sometimes 2G, but we were able to use WhatsApp to talk and text back to the U.S.

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If you do not feel comfortable with that option, you can also get the TIM (a wireless carrier in Italy) Tourist Sim card for 20 euros that comes with 15GB of data. You will need to fill out the form first and then when you arrive, go to the nearest TIM store to get your sim card:

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https://www.tim.it/tim-tourist-en

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REMEMBER! Your phone MUST MUST MUST be unlocked. If it's not unlocked, none of the options will work!

I did this for a family member of mine who lives in rural Colorado.

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Got the hotspot plan, then popped the SIM into a Netgear Unite Explore.

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Then, purchased the Netgear Router attachment from Amazon to make it a full-fledged WiFi Router. Has been up for about 8 months now with no problems. Streams Netflix on smart TVs and everything. Would probably be a little laggy due to 4G ping for a game console.

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Here is the router accessory https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06X3QV7LX/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

To unlock your iPhone go to this link UNLOCK As long as you own the phone outright ATT will unlock it for you within 5 hours. Vodafone ES is very affordable. I was able to get a 7gb sim for €15 with talk and text.
My other travel hack is to buy British SIM cards when visiting the EU off of Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FI1JW72
ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_CD76BbEKZ3JES) that are meant for tourists because you can refill them easily because the website is in English and use them in the EU (yes, Spain counts) for no extra cost with EU regulation.

These have been recommended to me. I have not tried them yet.

Wilson Electronics Wideband Directional Antenna 700-2700 MHz, 50 Ohm (314411) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J14YEHQ/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_6PQQCbGMC2RMT

1 of Netgear 6000450 MIMO Antenna with 2 TS-9 Connectors

Also have 2 directional antenna setups using dual Wilson Electronics Wideband Directional Antenna 700-2700 MHz, 50 Ohm (314411)

I only got the netgear from amazon; but those should still be the same models.

I ordered this. Like I said, mixed reviews, but all the antennas had that. I think sometimes it just won't change your signal. If your signal is too weak it won't help, but also if you already have a good signal, it obviously isn't going to make it much better...

this one?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00DN3J03O/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1518830861&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=netgear+mimo+antenna&dpPl=1&dpID=418JWOpGRBL&ref=plSrch

Netgear MIMO antenna

Here are some router options:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01IUDUJE0/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1501034015&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=routers&dpPl=1&dpID=41zgzzt6DML&ref=plSrch


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0168G0KZY/ref=mp_s_a_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1501034104&sr=8-9&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=routers&dpPl=1&dpID=41hCKE-ZROL&ref=plSrch

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01LXL1AR8/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1501034167&sr=8-11&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=routers

https://www.amazon.com/Netgear-6000450-MIMO-Antenna-Connectors/dp/B00DN3J03O

I have used this:
https://www.amazon.com/Netgear-6000450-MIMO-Antenna-Connectors/dp/B00DN3J03O/ref=pd_bxgy_img_3/145-5035802-2440838

I found it to make almost no difference in RSSI (and speed, as one would expect given that fact). Someone else can comment, but I think you may lose 4x CA when you use an external antenna, as it disables the internal antennae when connected.

This was in a remote location with HSPA+ on Band 2.

(On a related note, if anyone with any power/knowledge happens to read this, can you please tell the folks at Northeast Wireless to chug a fatty. And maybe drop a quick explanation here of why they exist at all? AT&T just forgot to buy spectrum in northern new england and they're holding you hostage, or, wtf... Since it's not really AT&T does that mean no FirstNet?)