Forum Discussion

PNW_Steve's avatar
PNW_Steve
Explorer
Aug 08, 2019

AT&T Hot-spot performance?

Hello Everyone,

I purchased an AT&T / Nether hot-spot. I have played with it extensively at home and it has worked great. But.... We didn't buy it for home. We bought it so we could have internet connectivity while away from home.

Unfortunately, the device performance, away from home, has been dismal.

The troubles range from constantly rebooting to showing 3-4 bars of signal but not showing connected to AT&T. After several reboots it will connect. The connection lasts anywhere from 10 minutes to several hours. It appears to be worse during the day than early morning or late evening.

Has anyone here run into similar problems? I called AT&T and had no success.

I am wondering if my hot-spot may be defective or if AT&T's service is just that bad?

What do you all think?
  • jcpainter's avatar
    jcpainter
    Explorer
    Aug 13, 2019
    PNW_Steve wrote:

    I have the Nether MIMO external antenna. It does help a little. Not as much as I had expected.


    The Netgear external antenna will not enhance a good signal, you will see the best performance enhancement when the cellular signal is weak. Remember also that it is directional, so the window you place it in can make a difference. Always run speedtests to determine true performance . . . bars don't matter much anymore, especially when there is MIMO communication on both ends.
  • Bill_Satellite's avatar
    Bill_Satellite
    Explorer II
    Aug 13, 2019
    vjstangelo wrote:
    vermilye wrote:
    I'd suspect the hotspot. I use a Mobley, and if I have AT&T coverage, it never shuts down or reboots.


    Ditto.


    Threeto!
  • PNW_Steve's avatar
    PNW_Steve
    Explorer
    Aug 13, 2019
    RobWNY wrote:
    theoldwizard1 wrote:
    The problem with almost all "hotspot" devices is that they have very poor internal antennas. When you are camping, it is typically not close to a cell tower so you have a weaker signal. Some of the aftermarket hotspots (cell phone data to WiFi converter) do have external antennas and they make a big difference.

    Typically, you just swap the SIM card.

    How far away from a cell tower would an external antenna be useful in typical situations?


    I have the Nether MIMO external antenna. It does help a little. Not as much as I had expected.
  • vjstangelo's avatar
    vjstangelo
    Explorer
    Aug 08, 2019
    vermilye wrote:
    I'd suspect the hotspot. I use a Mobley, and if I have AT&T coverage, it never shuts down or reboots.


    Ditto.
  • RobWNY's avatar
    RobWNY
    Explorer
    Aug 08, 2019
    Thanks Everyone. I didn't mean to highjack the thread.
  • Big_Katuna's avatar
    Big_Katuna
    Explorer II
    Aug 08, 2019
    I didn’t care about an external antenna on the puck as I have a Weboost RV amp.
  • Big_Katuna's avatar
    Big_Katuna
    Explorer II
    Aug 08, 2019
    RobWNY wrote:
    Big Katuna wrote:
    I use OTR (ATT service) with a Velocity 2 puck and it works great.
    I bought a month and let it lapsed and it took them a day to restart it but oh well.

    When I reupped I learned that OTR is raising its rates soon.

    ATT 4G is not as fast (5-10 gbs) as my Verizon iPhone 4LTE 15-25gbs but V throttles the data rate often.

    I would buy it again.

    I might add that I also use a Weboost RV cell amp that greatly enhances reliability and speed.

    Do you know how much the rate increase? Because you reupped before the increase are you grandfathered in or will you pay more also?


    The agent I was chatrooming with didn’t know. If you signup for auto renew, you are grandfathered in. I bought two months as we are on the road into Sept.
    When we get home I’ll let it expire as I don’t need it at home. Uverse is cheaper.
  • jcpainter's avatar
    jcpainter
    Explorer
    Aug 08, 2019
    RobWNY wrote:
    theoldwizard1 wrote:
    The problem with almost all "hotspot" devices is that they have very poor internal antennas. When you are camping, it is typically not close to a cell tower so you have a weaker signal. Some of the aftermarket hotspots (cell phone data to WiFi converter) do have external antennas and they make a big difference.

    Typically, you just swap the SIM card.

    How far away from a cell tower would an external antenna be useful in typical situations?


    The newer hotspots have EXCELLENT internal antennas. AT&T's current flagship model, the NightHawk has quad MIMO internal antennas and performs great.

    Location, location, location. If you are in an area with a strong AT&T signal, the Nighthawk is fantastic. If you're in an area with a weak AT&T signal . . . not so much.

    The same applies for all carriers. It's important now, more than ever, to have an up to date hotspot device. Older technology just doesn't perform as well.

    Verizon's flagship is the 8800L and does well also. It's sad that Verizon is still pawning off their old Ellipsis Jetpack (MHS900L) on uninformed customers.
  • RobWNY's avatar
    RobWNY
    Explorer
    Aug 08, 2019
    theoldwizard1 wrote:
    The problem with almost all "hotspot" devices is that they have very poor internal antennas. When you are camping, it is typically not close to a cell tower so you have a weaker signal. Some of the aftermarket hotspots (cell phone data to WiFi converter) do have external antennas and they make a big difference.

    Typically, you just swap the SIM card.

    How far away from a cell tower would an external antenna be useful in typical situations?

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