Twigby--Cell coverage on both Sprint and Verizon

[ericjkelly]

So I am bummed that they have no unlimited plan (2G after using a max of 5B), but they offer coverage on Sprint and Verizon Towers.

I am intrigued.

Anyone try it yet?

https://www.twigby.com

 

[ericjkelly]

answered my own question..... Data on sprint only. Phone and Text on both

 

[John Wetter]

Really seems like it's time to pay the piper with data. Most all of the unlimited stuff has gone away because of abuse most likely...

 

[Mark Blue]

It’s sad that it only takes a few bad apples to spoil the whole bunch. The carriers still use the term “unlimited” but that’s so far from the truth it’s ridiculous. They choose an arbitrary number like 22 GB and call it unlimited, but if you exceed their limit then it’s network management and throttling time. Actually that’s a good chunk of cellular data but apparently not for everyone.

My Verizon plan has carry over data which really helps, but my AT&T hotspot stops at 10 GB. I consider myself pretty lucky to have both and to have locked in our VZW XL bucket before they went away. I believe it’s only fair to allow carryover data which expires at the end of the next month. It’s bought and paid for so when certain carriers just flush it away that doesn’t seem right.

 

[Warren Faidley]

ATT does the same thing. One hint, go into your cell phone system and turn off all unneeded location services. These are the settings that track you for analytics and other tracking / data reporting services you don't need. Also tun off the share my location with apps that are not critical. They eat up a massive amount of bandwidth.

 

[Mark Blue]

ATT does the same thing.

I think you’re referring to rollover data. If not let me know. For whatever reason on my hotspot plan with the newest Netgear router they flush my unused data away at the end of each month. They might not on other plans but on mine it’s gone on the 1st of each month. I don’t have anything other than my hotspot with AT&T as our phones and iPads are on VZW.

 

[Drew Terril]

Mark, I'm going to take a stab and say that AT&T handles hotspot/tablet data plans differently than they do phone data plans. I don't know about currently, but I know as of a year or two ago, they had rollover for their phone data plans. I don't recall them having anything similar for their data only plans. Big reason why I don't intend to get a postpaid plan with them when I diversify my data plans. That, and the fact that I don't plan to have it active year round.

I could be totally wrong, as they may have changed things in the last year or so, but what you're saying seems to indicate that they do not.

 

[Mark Blue]

I researched this and can’t believe I spaced the details as I knew all about it when I bought the Netgear Nighthawk. On March 1st, 2018, AT&T implemented new plans called Unlimited Enhanced, which expressly exempted standalone hotspots. The only way to have unlimited data on a hotspot was to be grandfathered in by being an existing customer with another plan before the deadline rolled around. These are the 22 GB plans I was thinking of earlier, but for now I have the 10 GB of data for $50 per month plan. I’m sure if I wait something will be offered soon enough so I can get a better deal. It is quite fast though in good coverage areas. I took this test yesterday.

 

[B. Dean Berry]

Sprint currently has standalone hotspot plans, $50/month for 50GB.

 

[Mark Blue]

Sounds like a good deal, but Sprint’s coverage where I chase is non existent except for along I-76 and I-70 in eastern CO. With Verizon and AT&T I had coverage just about everywhere I went this last season.

 

[Drew Terril]

Sounds like a good deal, but Sprint’s coverage where I chase is non existent except for along I-76 and I-70 in eastern CO. With Verizon and AT&T I had coverage just about everywhere I went this last season.

I've been meaning to ask how you like that Nighthawk router. It's pretty impressive how far LTE has come in recent years, especially on the uplink end.

I've just been debating whether I want a Nighthawk and get a Wifi-only tablet, or if I want to get a new tablet that has LTE built in.

 

[Mark Blue]

I really like the Nighthawk router and it performed really well for me this last chase season. The user interface is kind of dumbed-down compared to say a Cradlepoint but it has the basics there that most people would use. It’s far and away using the most advanced 4G LTE hardware/technology and it only costs $200 to buy it outright. You could spend big bucks (1K) and not even come close to the Nighthawk’s specs, such as a Cat 16 modem with 4x4 internal MIMO antenna and two external TS9 antenna ports. Here are the highlights of the specs I felt are most important.

• # of Connected Devices: 20 Wi-Fi / Supports USB Tethering & Ethernet
  WiFiRanger Tethering: Works Great
  Pepwave Tethering: Works Great
  Control Panel: http://192.168.1.1 or http://attwifimanager/
  Default Password: "attadmin"
• Networks supported:
  AT&T LTE Bands: 2, 4, 5, 12(17), 14 (see note), 29, 30, 66
  Global Roaming on LTE Bands: 1, 3, 7
  4G/3G: HSPA+ 850/1900/2100MHz - Global roaming supported.
  2G: GSM EDGE: No
• LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation: Yes (4x 20MHz channels)
  
• LTE Performance Category: Category 16
  (Max Theoretical Speed: 1,000Mbps Down / 150Mbps Up)
• Cellular Antenna Ports: 4x4 Internal MIMO Antenna, 2x TS9 External Antenna Ports
• Wi-Fi Technology / Frequencies: 802.11 b/g/n/a/ac - Simultaneous 2.4GHz and 5GHz
• Dimensions: 4.14" x 4.14" x 0.75" / 8.5 oz
• SIM Card Type: 3FF / Micro SIM

I realize speeds are theoretical but the Nighthawk has pushed the boundaries up a couple of notches. It even has wireless AC which is a bonus and carrier aggregation. Good unit overall!

 

[B. Dean Berry]

The thing that I wonder is if the carrier aggregation even matters. It's AT&T, but without additional SIMs/Plans, does it roam onto other formats/carriers? For example, when not within Sprint's coverage area, a lot of my stuff will run on T-Mobile, if it exists there, but that's about it. It'll roam LTE/CDMA/GSM/UMTS/etc, but only where agreements exist. AT&T's stuff is LTE/GSM based, but do they have any sort of roaming agreements with other carriers?

 

[Mark Blue]

Carrier aggregation doesn’t require additional SIMs or plans. One way to think of it is channel bonding with your cable modem at home. With LTE it’s slightly different, so from the Mobile Internet Afficianados website here is the official definition.

“One of the biggest challenges facing mobile network operators is that they have lots of 5MHz and 10MHz bandwidth chunks of spectrum, but to offer the fastest possible speeds LTE requires 20MHz, and LTE-Advanced can take advantage of up to 100MHz.

Carrier aggregation solves the problem by combining discontiguous channels from different chunks of spectrum to make a higher bandwidth virtual channel that can support faster speeds.

This is one of the core features of LTE-Advanced, and some carriers and devices have begun to support this technology.”

It has to be installed on the tower, so I would venture a guess that the only place where it would be supported would be in metro areas vs out in the boonies.

As far as roaming is concerned, there’s a setting to enable and/or disable it in the hotspot UI, but I never noticed it go into roaming mode last chase season. As to the agreements all carriers have them but they’re a little hard to find. I like to use a carrier map called Coverage? (yes it has the question mark in the name) to see the gaps in my anticipated coverage. If I select these options, Verizon, AT&T, and 4G it appears there aren’t many areas where I wouldn’t have a signal. Coverage maps aren’t 100% foolproof either though, so it is only a guide. This is a good read if you’re interested: https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/resources/the-four-major-us-carriers-data-comparison/#verizon. Hope this helps.