This is a long one, so here we go. I'm an AT&T customer who lives in a wooded rural area. We do not have any other internet or satellite options where. We have used the mobile Hotspot data on our phones for streaming and gaming, basic computer stuff. We do not have unlimited Hotspot data and every month we max out and our speeds are cut to nothing, can't even open an email. We do have an unlimited mobile data plan and here's where we found a grey area. An AT&T rep gave me this advice when I recently upgraded my cell phone and complained about our internet situation. He recommended this device to me. It was cheaper on Mifspot than anywhere else. Plus I can send it back if it doesn't work for me, Prime has a fantastic return policy. This is what I did:
1. Add another line on my wireless plan for an unlimited mobile data plan.
2. Register an old smart phone I had laying around
3. Obtain a new SIM from AT&T assigned to that old smart phone
4. Put that same SIM card in the Netgear device.
The netgear device isn't registered in my mobile plan, the old phone is. So we access it from our devices as WiFi meaning we don't use it as a hotpot with capped data. Total game changer for my family! We can stream, game, etc with no issues. Our unlimited data plan works fairly well and since we registered an old phone rather than a mobile Hotspot, we access the unlimited data plan rather than a limited data Hotspot. I'm not a tech wiz so I'm not sure about connection speeds and all that. But our download speeds are just as good as our mobile wireless devices and that's good enough for us!
Activating the device was a bit difficult. If you're not tech savvy at all, call customer support. I figured it out, but it was trial and error. Battery life is so so but it doesn't get hot when we plug it in. And we leave it on 24/7 it doesn't get hot. I also bought the antenna and I really haven't noticed a difference with or without it. The cords for the antenna are shorter than what I would like. I may send it back and buy an off brand and see how it functions. All in all, I'm pleased with the device and I like that I can use 5G or the other one as my printer is old and doesn't function on 5G. Now I can use Smart Home devices as it was difficult in the past using our cell phones as mobile Hotspots. My kids can even connect with this in their rooms upstairs, they don't get a strong connection at that distance, but it still works. If you're looking at this and don't need insane high speeds or 10 devices streaming at once, this is it. I haven't had a firmware update, so I can't speak to the issues others are having with that.
