Internet Options: Satellite or LTE Routers with unlimited data plans?

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integraoligist

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Apr 7, 2008
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So we are moving our small office to our Warehouse area in the country. Problem is, we are to far away from the phone company and cable company to get any kind of service. They even told us the cost of the build out for them is to much and they will not do it.

We can work with speeds 10mb down and 1mb up but not slower... and we average 150gb a month.

So we've only found 2 options.
1. Use Satellite internet (which only 2 companies are offered in our area) and their max speed in 12 down 2 up and 10GB for the month. 10GB! What are we supposed to do with this? Once we hit the 10gb they drop us to 1mb down and .5mb up. WOW!

2. We have decent Cell service from Verizon and AT&T (not sure about T-Mobile as no one here has them). I've read that using an LTE Router with a SIM card will get us online. Of course Verizon and AT&T do not have data plans more then 25gb... however the other carriers that use their network do! I spoke with a Cricket rep and asked them about using their SIM with the Unlimited Data plan for $70mo. in a LTE Router, she said as long as it works with AT&T network then it will work. We also found Boost Mobile for $50mo Unlimited over Sprint network (which is terrible coverage here) and MetroPCS for $60mo Unlimited over T-Mobile.

So my first question, does anyone have any other ideas to highspeed internet with at least 150gb data?

Secondly, if the LTE Router is the only way to go, has anyone used one of the carriers above with unlimited data? Any issues? And because our building is metal, is there some type of antenna we can get to put outside to get better LTE reception for the Router?

And what LTE Routers are the best? Does one pickup more reception and speed over LTE then the others?

Thanks all for the help!
 
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Maybe I used the wrong term...instead of modem I should have said usb dongle ?. These are designed to be used on PC. Unlike a PC though you can not load device drivers so the router must have the device driver built into when the firmware is built. Of course they release new firmware reguallary but you can not add a driver yourself....well sorta. Third party firmware like DD-WRT has the largest supported device list but it tends to be complex for non technical people to use.

Now if really want a carrier specific router you can look at cradlepoint. These at one time were the only way to get mobile broadband routers. They still make routers that have wireless radio card internal and you can just use a sim card...except for...
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Snipergod87

Snipergod87

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May 26, 2009
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We use Verizon 4G LTE routers with a business contract and unlimited data.
The routers in question are CradlePoint MBR1200B's (Provided via Verizon).
No issues for us we use them at satellite sites where a wired internet connection would be difficult or to expensive for a build out and have VPN tunnels running over them. They are much more powerful in terms of a stable data connection compared to a cell phone or a mobile hotspot.
 
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jsmithepa

jsmithepa

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Jun 14, 2014
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Yes buy a LTE router with an external antenna for max flexibility and yes there are cellular booster/enhancers, but nothing beat having 5-bars.

Looks like cellular is it for you. But if you are dealing with MVNOs, that's the official name for cellular resellers who piggyback on the big 4 (AT&T, Verizon, T-M, Sprint), you have to make sure they are not throttling down on you, sometimes they do, and if they offer you unlimited data, more reason to question. I know of one MNVO with unlimited data because they slow it down so much, they figure there is not enough seconds in a day for you to be able to use up the data anyway.
 
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integraoligist

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Well we just contacted Verizon and questioned them about the Unlimited Data, "we do not have unlimited plans currently. We do have 100GB for $710 per month right now though".

AT&T is the same.... but they didnt give us the $710 option :\

MVNO seems to be our only solution. Which company was it that was throttling speeds that you know of? Cricket guaranteed us there is no throttling on the unlimited plan, but they are also saying their fastest speed is 8mb down and 1mb up. hmmmmmmmmmm
 
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bill001g

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You won't even find a router than supports a single carrier in all locations. The radio frequencies that the carriers use are very different depending on what ranges they got in the auctions.

In most cases the simplest way to do this is to get a router that support external modems. asus and tplink have a large list of external broadband modems they support. You could then change the modem if you wanted different carriers.

Good lucky finding a carrier that does not throtle or cap data plans People will massively abuse any carrier that does not restrict it. People have been pushing 500g on the old grandfathered verizon plans and verizon has been using loopholes to try to cancel them.

Verizon has a new service where you can buy true unlimited data by the hour. It is not real expensive if you do not buy a lot of hours. You could run on a capped plan and then when you need to download big stuff buy unlimited time by the hour. This is something very new so not a lot of info on it yet
 
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integraoligist

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We were able to find the ASUS the TPLink Modem/Routers... but we're having issues finding carrier specific modems. What brands are there the make those?

Thanks!

Also, if we're just using a carrier specific modem that we can swap depending on the carrier.... wouldn't any regular router work? As its just seeing the incoming internet feed like any other modem would produce?
 
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bill001g

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Aug 9, 2012
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Maybe I used the wrong term...instead of modem I should have said usb dongle ?. These are designed to be used on PC. Unlike a PC though you can not load device drivers so the router must have the device driver built into when the firmware is built. Of course they release new firmware reguallary but you can not add a driver yourself....well sorta. Third party firmware like DD-WRT has the largest supported device list but it tends to be complex for non technical people to use.

Now if really want a carrier specific router you can look at cradlepoint. These at one time were the only way to get mobile broadband routers. They still make routers that have wireless radio card internal and you can just use a sim card...except for the cdma ones of course where the sim comes built in.
 
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