Question What are the best Cellular data plans currently available???

[VTPete]

I’d agree with Neal but have just started using T-mobile. Technically band 66 should be superior with them, but that’ll only help if they have a tower!

 

["EZ"]

I’ve also heard this 3rd party reseller for ATT has an unlimited plan that’s similar, 400-600GB+ for $99/month Unlimited / Unthrottled 4G LTE & LTE-A Data Plan - Monthly

This link is dead. Think these people went out of business? Does your account still work? Is it still unlimited?

 

[docj]

Over the past several months, AT&T has pretty much destroyed the reseller market for data services. For whatever reason AT&T has effectively put a number of resellers out of business. It's not the fault of the resllers; it's AT&T that has caused the chaos.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

My experience in AZ is Verizon has best coverage in the sticks.

 

[ComplicatedVan]

If I use all 3 carriers and a second ATT line I’m at $130/mon

How is this possible? Are these mostly all old, cheap plans that are grandfathered? All the 3rd party plans I'm seeing on RV Mobil Internet are at least $100 and require you use their equipment.

 

[lemondrop9344]

Finding data plans with sufficient data allowances can be difficult, not to mention expensive. 3rd party resellers can be questionable. Buyer beware.
I believe it's generally accepted that Verizon has better coverage & AT&T is faster.
What type of cellular equipment are you using? A lot of good information can be found on the manufacturer's web site on what data plans work. Equipment not certified for use by the carrier on their plan can present issues. Sometimes there are work arounds & sometimes you get cancelled if you are caught in violation of the terms of service.
I use a grandfathered AT&T plan from a reseller I acquired in May, 2020. Availability is now questionable. Also have multiple SIMs (30gbs/mos) from Verizon on a grandfathered plan.
Not trying to discourage you, just trying to provide information.
Good luck in your search.

 

[docj]

I'm currently paying ~$300/mo for "high limit" plans with all three major cellular carriers. That's my decision because I wanted to make sure I always have adequate data and download speed.

 

[ComplicatedVan]

Finding data plans with sufficient data allowances can be difficult, not to mention expensive. 3rd party resellers can be questionable. Buyer beware.
I believe it's generally accepted that Verizon has better coverage & AT&T is faster.
What type of cellular equipment are you using? A lot of good information can be found on the manufacturer's web site on what data plans work. Equipment not certified for use by the carrier on their plan can present issues. Sometimes there are work arounds & sometimes you get cancelled if you are caught in violation of the terms of service.
I use a grandfathered AT&T plan from a reseller I acquired in May, 2020. Availability is now questionable. Also have multiple SIMs (30gbs/mos) from Verizon on a grandfathered plan.

I'm planning on Max Transit Cat 18. Peplink offers no information on plans that work other than pictures of the major carriers logos.

Currently only T Mobile even offers a sim for use in a mobile router. ATTs 100gb plan is for hotspot only and Verizon only offers a sim through Visible, whose ping rates appear too high for me. It strikes me as utterly bizarre that these mobile routers are sold with no support for how to get the absolutely necessary sims.

Thanks for your response.

 

[lemondrop9344]

Should have been a little more specific & stated Peplink forum. Other sites which may assist you in locating data plans are ltehacks.com, howardforums.com, Mobile Internet Resource Center has a list which is pretty complete, Mobile Must Have has an AT&T reseller they use if you buy equipment from them & I suspect there are others. I believe there are several members on this forum who use the same device you are considering acquiring, or other Peplink products, who have 'uncovered' ways to acquire sufficient data to use their products.
In defense of Peplink, I suspect most of their devices were developed for commercial markets which typically have dedicated IT support people. They are providing the same level of support on securing internet connectivity as a company like Arris, CISCO or NetGear provides you when you select one of their products for use in a permanent physical location. Essentially, you find what's available on you own. Probably don't like that answer, but, you either do it yourself or pay a systems integrator to do it for you.
Do you have any feel for how much data you will consume in a month & what you will do with it (as in transmit & receive over the internet)? Is it time sensitive, can it be compressed, does it need to be secure & those type of things? You may find your data needs are not as high as you think they are. Then again, you may find they are much higher than you anticipated.

 

[ComplicatedVan]

Thanks for your thoughtful response. I doubt my usage is more than 100gb per month, but I want to take advantage of the equipment that I have and therefore want a Verizon data plan in my router. I would use the T-Mobile most of the time, whenever I get coverage with them, and then use Verizon sparingly/for work. I prefer Verizon over ATT based on what I've read on forums and elsewhere, but even if I went with ATT through Mobile Must Have it's $349 upfront and $160 each month thereafter which is really expensive. I will check out those other websites you mentioned. I have been a member of Mobile Internet Resource Center and that's where I got the information on what sims are legit available in my previous post.

 

[lemondrop9344]

I have the CAT-18 & I work from my RV. I typically access remote servers to transmit & receive files, send multi Mb attachments via email, attend ZOOM & Skype meetings. I am fortunate that the RV park we are sheltering in place at has really good WiFi, so we stream all our media entertainment that way. I use cellular connectivity exclusively for work & any financial transactions. Cellular data consumption varies by month based on work load, however, the average data consumption has been 91GB a month over the last 9 months.
The AT&T plan at Mobile Must Have is indeed expensive. The good news is that it has worked reliably since May, 2020 with no increase in the initial base rate. The bad news, the upfront charge has continued to increase as has the monthly charge & they now have a hard stop at 500GB.
I sympathize with you as the equipment is certainly more capable of providing what we need compared to what the cellular providers are allowing us to use.

 

[VTPete]

I’d get the T-mobile plan, then get iPad sims from your cell phone provider, they are usually 20 or so a month. I have several cell phones with att, so I got a couple iPad sims for my iPad and the wife’s, and they work great in my Max transit and MR1100, unthrottled. If I moved my cell plan to Verizon I could do the same thing there I was told by a Verizon rep.

 

[Gizmo]

We are getting ready to purchase the FMCA Sprint plan for 50.00 a month and unlimited, unlike the FMCA Verizon plan that has a data cap. I currently have a Verizon unlimited grandfather plan for 65 bucks a month.

Here is the description of the FMCA spring plan.
"The Sprint Mobile Hotspot plan is a truly unlimited data plan with no data cap. Sprint does, however, reserve the right to network manage at any point and this can happen in congested areas from time to time."

 

[PartTimeRVer]

We are getting ready to purchase the FMCA Sprint plan for 50.00 a month and unlimited, unlike the FMCA Verizon plan that has a data cap. I currently have a Verizon unlimited grandfather plan for 65 bucks a month.

Here is the description of the FMCA spring plan.
"The Sprint Mobile Hotspot plan is a truly unlimited data plan with no data cap. Sprint does, however, reserve the right to network manage at any point and this can happen in congested areas from time to time."

Well lets all hope that the Elon Musk plan of satellite cell service with current data plans come to fruition. Hughs has a satellite plan but good gravy its expensive.

 

[VTPete]

It may be around the corner for starlink

SpaceX moves to beam Starlink internet into trucks, boats, and aircraft

Pending FCC approval, SpaceX’s Starlink internet is expanding beyond homes for the road, sea, and air.

www.theverge.com

 

[VTPete]

I just picked up the ATT 100GB/$55 prepaid plan yesterday. I then dropped one of my $20/mon ATT lines.. may drop another one I have for lack of use.. going to wait and see.


I really hope Verizon falls in line and offers something to compete.. how could they not with ATT and T-Mobile both doing so? I recently went back and pickedup a hotspot plan for the summer travel season. I canceled my previous plan last year as they throttled me hard at 25GB or so. The Verizon agent told me they'll now let you go to 30GB or so before doing that. There's just times where I need a Verizon option, so I reupped at $45/mon and they sent a new SIM for my 8800L.

So currently I'm running my CAT18 Peplink with T-Mobile as Primary and ATT as backup, with the ATT Nighthawk on the WAN port with the new ATT 100GB plan, and my 8800L with the Verizon sim on 5Ghz Wifi as WAN. At least I have all my options now.

I'll run this for the summer travel season. Testing at home, my setup runs about 30-40% faster with Verizon in the mix vs just ATT and T-Mobile. We'll see what happens IRL.

 

[Neal]

That would be much better than the T-Mobile 100GB/$50 IMHO. People that don't have the gold nugget Mobley plan should dive on this like white on rice! If my cell plans weren't adding up to "horrendous" I may dive on this myself for something I need at home.

 

[AbdRahim]

I just picked up the ATT 100GB/$55 prepaid plan yesterday. I then dropped one of my $20/mon ATT lines.. may drop another one I have for lack of use.. going to wait and see.


I really hope Verizon falls in line and offers something to compete.. how could they not with ATT and T-Mobile both doing so? I recently went back and pickedup a hotspot plan for the summer travel season. I canceled my previous plan last year as they throttled me hard at 25GB or so. The Verizon agent told me they'll now let you go to 30GB or so before doing that. There's just times where I need a Verizon option, so I reupped at $45/mon and they sent a new SIM for my 8800L.

So currently I'm running my CAT18 Peplink with T-Mobile as Primary and ATT as backup, with the ATT Nighthawk on the WAN port with the new ATT 100GB plan, and my 8800L with the Verizon sim on 5Ghz Wifi as WAN. At least I have all my options now.

I'll run this for the summer travel season. Testing at home, my setup runs about 30-40% faster with Verizon in the mix vs just ATT and T-Mobile. We'll see what happens IRL.

Still not available on ipad as of this moment. Still only 25 GB for $40/mo.

 

[Neal]

Still not available on ipad as of this moment. Still only 25 GB for $40/mo.

can you just get the SIM and not tell them what it's for, or fib, whatever just to get the SIM then put it where you want it.

 

[VTPete]

can you just get the SIM and not tell them what it's for, or fib, whatever just to get the SIM then put it where you want it.

They only let you get it in the store. I don't see why you couldn't take your ipad with you.