mobile LTE modem question

Single Cat18 - and you will see differences on some towers. Sometimes speeds, but usually with availability.

I've found multiple sites where I couldn't get anything with a Cradlepoint Cat6 2x2 modem but could get usable internet with a Cradlepoint Cat18 4x4 modem. I have both AT&T and VZ SIMs.

Thanks for the reply. These are tough costing ~$750, but I have no choice. Our last trip was amazing but the internet was painful as the kids were doing school remotely over phone hot spots. It was bad.

If you don't have an immediate need I'd hold off, Starlink is about to go live and it will cover all of North America for less per month than 2 data plans and the hardware is cheaper than $750.

afidel wrote:
If you don't have an immediate need I'd hold off, Starlink is about to go live and it will cover all of North America for less per month than 2 data plans and the hardware is cheaper than $750.

From the Starlink website:
"Can I travel with Starlink, or move it to a different address?
Starlink satellites are scheduled to send internet down to all users within a designated area on the ground. This designated area is referred to as a cell.

Your Starlink is assigned to a single cell. If you move your Starlink outside of its assigned cell, a satellite will not be scheduled to serve your Starlink and you will not receive internet. This is constrained by geometry and is not arbitrary geofencing."

That's interesting since people have already travelled with beta units. I wonder if that's a planned future feature or just a CYA. Btw they are planning to sell to boats, aviation, and the military so mobility is going to be a requirement. Either way I guess we'll have to wait and see what the final product actually offers.

afidel wrote:
That's interesting since people have already travelled with beta units. I wonder if that's a planned future feature or just a CYA. Btw they are planning to sell to boats, aviation, and the military so mobility is going to be a requirement. Either way I guess we'll have to wait and see what the final product actually offers.

Any new technology will take some time to hash out, but that is a good point. We'll see how it goes.

For now I ordered the cat 18 and will try it out.

LTE is 4G, which is worse for your body tissue than 3G but not anywhere near as bad as 5G.
Put that 4G modem right on your tummy as close to vital organs as possible, you won't have anything to worry about in a couple of years...

ajriding wrote:
LTE is 4G, which is worse for your body tissue than 3G but not anywhere near as bad as 5G.
Put that 4G modem right on your tummy as close to vital organs as possible, you won't have anything to worry about in a couple of years...

I've been carrying a 4g phone in a pocket for ~18 hours a day for 12 years, still no issues.

Average power for LTE phones is 2 orders of magnitude less than old analog cellphones, 50% less than 3G phones. 5g phones are about 10% less than 4g phones. And all that power is non-ionizing meaning all it does is heat up the atoms at the surface of your skin a tiny fraction of a degree.

Plus OP is talking about cellular modems, 99.9999% of people don't hold those anywhere near themselves for more than a moment to turn them on and place them in a cabinet or other out of the way place.

ajriding wrote:
LTE is 4G, which is worse for your body tissue than 3G but not anywhere near as bad as 5G.
Put that 4G modem right on your tummy as close to vital organs as possible, you won't have anything to worry about in a couple of years...

This is an interesting thing to bring to this thread.

I am no scientist but it's breast and brain tissue that's really affected by this. Never heard of hip cancer from carrying a phone in your pocket.

Anyway, I do agree with the fundamental idea that this stuff has an effect on us that we don't understand.

Aaaand back on topic... I just started browsing Verizon for unlimited plans and they're up to $70 a month for unlimited.

Anyone know a really good unlimited plan with great coverage in the Southeast?

blaczero wrote:

Anyone know a really good unlimited plan with great coverage in the Southeast?

A Grandfathered Enterprise Unlimited plan from a reseller. They're difficult to come by and expensive, but are the best. We pay $250/mo for AT&T and VZ plans packaged together, and use 600GB-1TB/mo.

There are lists of resellers on the respective provider's pages at rvmobileinternet.com:
https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/gear/att-unlimited-rental-plans/
https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/gear/verizon-unlimited-rental-plans/