Straight Talk Mobile Hotspot

I don't recognize the model number, but I did buy one last November, for the Verizon network. It worked great, stronger wifi signal and better reception han my phone.

They come in two flavors, Verizon or ATT. Decide which is best for the areas you like to travel.

The ZTE 288C should work well in areas with Verizon coverage. It is in the box with the RED map on it. Currently $49 at Walmart.

The ZTE 289L is on AT&T and has a BLUE map on the box. That one DOES NOT WORK. :M I had one and returned it. No matter where you are in the country the AT&T units go through a proxy server in Florida and slow down on sites not associated with Google. There is a fix for that problem but it requires that you change your computer to have a MTU of 1450 rather than the normal 1500. If you don't understand MTU than that is not the hotspot to buy.


edit: There is an old thread about these hotspots but I can't find it at the moment.

edit2: see update/correction HERE

I found 2 old threads: HERE and HERE

I understand that the StraightTalk units are throttled and don't work at full LTE speeds.

There are 4-5 threads on here about the Straight Talk hotspot. We got the AT&T one because where we were camp hosting last summer, AT&T had the best signal. We do have Straightalk phones and have had them for 6-7 years. Love them and will never go back to a contract phone.

Gene&Ginny wrote:
I found 2 old threads: HERE and HERE

I understand that the StraightTalk units are throttled and don't work at full LTE speeds.

Maybe depending on how much traffic is on the tower, as it's reseller bandwidth versus actual Verizon customer traffic?

I had no trouble uploading or watching Netflix HD with mine.

GordonThree wrote:
...
Maybe depending on how much traffic is on the tower, as it's reseller bandwidth versus actual Verizon customer traffic?...

There was a lot of discussion on HowardForums some time back and the general agreement was that the Straight Talk proxy was throttling them.

speed wise I watch high quality video on our Verizon StraightTalk hotspot. We use it to monitor our pet in the RV when we are away. We point the camera where we can see the thermostat and the pet. Speed has never been an issue.

I am using the Z289L now. It has worked in all states from here to the West coast as long as we have AT&T service. We have not had this very long (about 10 months) so we only have been East as far as AR. and it did fine there.

As for speed it has good days and some days not too good.

It has worked very well on XP, W7 and W10.

I have the Verizon one... I am very well pleased.

The good part... if I don't need to use it for a month or two (or six), it costs me nothing. Simply add a new card on my Iphone app. to start it up again, or renew monthly.

Just $15 a month is all the data I need away from home.

Yes...have their 3g verizon network and it is good.

Note that they have recently come out with a new phone plan that offers 10gb data at high speed, and slowed to 2G after that...$55.00, or 10 bucks more than their 5gb plan...or $2.00 a gb. Great deal.