ATT MIFI

[jspringator]

I'm going to Rodman Campground next month. The reviews list 2 bars for Verizon and 3 bars for ATT. Connectivity is very important for us. My business phone calls come in on a VOIP, and I would need to return calls every day. I have a Verizon MIFI with an external antenna that is only OK. My Verizon iPad does at least as well, sometimes better.

Is there a good ATT MIFI that I can turn on for the month I need it, and turn it off when I don't?

[ghiotom]

Rodman is in the middle of nowhere, but is a decent campground. It's Florida, so there will be gnats and mosquitoes, but you should miss the love bugs that usually come in May and can be a pain to wash off the front of whatever you are driving. We camped there back in January. I had a SureCall booster that amplified my Verizon signal from -110 dBm to -82 dBm (if I laid the phone on the interior antenna), but did nothing to help my data rates. I was still able to stream YTTV at night through the phone hotspot and a Firestick, normal voice calls were not an issue, neither should VOIP.

[jspringator]

Dutch_12078 wrote:
We were at Rodman a few weeks ago, and using our Netgear Unite Explore AC815S with our dual aimable yagi MIMO antennas gave us speeds in the mid-20 Mbps range on AT&T using our Mobley Connected Car unlimited data plan. Our Novatel MiFi 7730L was connected to dual omni MIMO antennas and gave us a solid 5 Mbps, the max that our Visible unlimited data plan allows on Verizon towers. Either service worked quite well for streaming and surfing, as well as VOIP phone calls.

I should be good then. If I need an ATT MIFI, I'll go get one.

BTW, how did you like Rodman? Were the bugs bad? It looks like a pretty cool spot and was easy to get into. We're going to use it as a base to explore FL on a motorcycle.

[NamMedevac_70]

Maybe look for another close by campground on or near major highway that has better bar signals review. Good luck and cheers to the brave.

[Gdetrailer]

jorbill2or wrote:
I don’t think they are looking for an engineering class on why ??

Actually, having some firm solid understanding to why and how something works or doesn't work can be very helpful to avoid pitfalls.

Some folks have paid tens of thousands of Dollars to get the same "Engineering class" that I presented and the OP got it here for 100% free.

When someone says signal "bars" don't matter, that is not correct. They do matter, otherwise cellphone manufacturers would simply not bother to spend the money in writing the code to interpret and display those silly bars..

When employing a booster, success hinges on the booster getting strong enough clean signal (IE "bars")to overcome the RF noise, the booster only amplifies the signal and garbage it sees, it can't clean it up, only amplify..

That is why they sometimes work and sometimes not and the only way to find out is to try one.

OP could of coarse go to the campsite and then see if they have consistent cell connection, but if they can't get a consistent connection they will not be able to stay due to their work needs.. I think the OP was trying to be proactive and be prepared just in case things don't work without a booster..

[Dutch_12078]

We were at Rodman a few weeks ago, and using our Netgear Unite Explore AC815S with our dual aimable yagi MIMO antennas gave us speeds in the mid-20 Mbps range on AT&T using our Mobley Connected Car unlimited data plan. Our Novatel MiFi 7730L was connected to dual omni MIMO antennas and gave us a solid 5 Mbps, the max that our Visible unlimited data plan allows on Verizon towers. Either service worked quite well for streaming and surfing, as well as VOIP phone calls.

[theoldwizard1]

jspringator wrote:
Is there a good ATT MIFI that I can turn on for the month I need it, and turn it off when I don't?

The hardware you use is less important than the DATA PLAN you choose !

None of the cell companies actually manufacturer the equipment (they may add a few custom software features).

Reception depends a lot on the antenna, so make sure what ever you buy has an external antenna connector.

[jorbill2or]

I wasn’t confusing anything . I wasn’t talking about my booster which I rarely use. I’m not new at this. I was discussing the raw signal the phone or hotspot recieves. As I already stated I bought a booster years ago when I started this and rarely use it. The hotspot with , maybe a mimo antenna is in 95% of my uses enough.
The op was considering a 400$ booster i merely suggest they may not need it. I don’t think they are looking for an engineering class on why ??

[Gdetrailer]

jorbill2or wrote:
In 6 years of full timing all over the country …. DW needs zoom calling every day for her contract work. the powered booster has been more problem than solution. ( but it has made impossible possible a few times ) sorry but with 6 years real use I must disagree with signal strength ( bars). I’ve had 2 bars and got fantastic service and full and lousy. I have Verizon and att hotspots and most times “bars” isn’t what I look at before deciding which to use.

Your confusing BOOSTER output strength to what the signal the booster is getting at it's input.

That is an entirely different animal.

If your booster is seeing 1 bar of signal it also can be adding more problems to the mix even though your cellphone now sees more bars.. In reality your cellphone is now seeing the output strength of the booster.

The booster acts as a "repeater", picking up the weak signal, amplifying and re transmitting what it sees, but it is amplified or boosted to your cell phone and your cellphone now reads 1 or 2 bars more..

A booster can't improve connectivity or speed if it does not have strong enough clean signal to work with at the input. Speed will be limited to what the booster can negotiate with the cell towers it sees and that connection speed gets passed to your cellphone.

The problem is along with the weak signal comes RF noise, then the booster in the process of amplifying that weak signal with noise will amplify the RF noise it sees at the input and add additional (internal) noise to the final output..

Basically garbage in = louder garbage out.

To get boosters to work you need to start out with as strong of signal as possible, this often means an external high gain antenna mounted up as high as possible, cellphone frequencies do not follow the curvature of the earth.

1 or 2 bars of signal at the booster input may just be enough to get you a solid enough connection so sometimes they do work and sometimes they don't..

[jspringator]

Thanks for your insight. To be honest, my iPad is a better hotspot than my MIFI with an antenna. I'm just going to hope for the best.

[jorbill2or]

In 6 years of full timing all over the country …. DW needs zoom calling every day for her contract work. the powered booster has been more problem than solution. ( but it has made impossible possible a few times ) sorry but with 6 years real use I must disagree with signal strength ( bars). I’ve had 2 bars and got fantastic service and full and lousy. I have Verizon and att hotspots and most times “bars” isn’t what I look at before deciding which to use.

[jspringator]

After giving it some thought, I may be better off with a signal booster like this.

https://www.weboost.com/products/drive-x

[Gdetrailer]

jcpainter wrote:
"Bars" don't tell the story anymore, especially with data. Do your research and you will understand why.

Umm, you are definitely wrong.

The amount of signal strength (cell and WiFi) has a profound effect on just how much "data" whether it is voice or it is Internet data that will get sent and received.

HERE is one simplified explanation..

"Does signal strength affect 4G speed?

Signal strength, which is called RSRP in 4G LTE and 5G networks, definitely matters. If your RSRP signal is stronger than around -100 dBm, then a stronger signal won’t help increase your data rates."

How does that relate to "bars" of signal?

Simple, the bars are a simplified signal meter..

The more bars you have the stronger the signal, less bars than full bars the less signal you have to work with.

OK, so how does the signal strength affect data?

Simple, cellphones and even WiFi dependent devices actually autonegotiate the connection speed which depends on how strong the signal is and how much noise is present in that signal.

Why?

Data loss/corruption gets much higher when there is very low signal strength which results in the devices to have to re transmit the data packets over and over until the packets are received in tact and decodable without corruption. Because of this, cell phone and Wifi devices are designed to negotiate the connection speeds until there is consistent data transmission with minimal loss.

One or two bars of signal basically means you will not have sufficient signal to get the full data speed that you subscribed to and possibly due to noise sources around you it is entirely possible that no data will be passed until you reduce the RF noise or increase the strength of the signal..

For a less simplified signal strength reading most Android phone you can go to SIM card status and you will find the actual signal strength reading..

My cellphone currently has one bar of signal and that is translating to -120 dbm per the SIM status page (-120 dbm is LESS signal strength than -100 dbm).. And yes, data barely works to no works and is painfully slow when it does work. Voice and text generally works OK at that level but trying to use the Internet on my cellphone is darn near the same as a dial up phone modem at times.

If I move around at my home I can get 2 bars in some places which translates to -114 dbm on the SIM status page and the Internet starts working better..

[jcpainter]

"Bars" don't tell the story anymore, especially with data. Do your research and you will understand why.

[stickdog]

some of the pay as you go use ATT. I know our consumer cellular runs on ATT network.