AT&T Unlimited 4G LTE for $20 a month

[PopPop51]

Ordered mine this afternoon. The entire process went smoothly. Order confirmation received. Don't expect to get a shipment notice until sometime after the holiday.

[Back2PA]

I think this forum is singularly responsible for the global Mobley shortage 

[NY_Dutch]

I think this forum is singularly responsible for the global Mobley shortage 

The Mobley deal is all over pretty much all the RV related forums.

[RLSharp]

All the Mobley needs is a source of 12 volt power.   Ebay and Amazon have numerous AC, 12 volt and USB custom adapters available.  It's become a regular cottage industry.

Another option is to get the USB power cord and run it from a USB phone charger plug-in cube, a USB port on a computer or a USB pocket battery like you'd use to charge a cell phone.

Lou,

Am I right in assuming that the Mobely USB Power Cord requires an OBD II plug or receptacle on one end and a USB plug on the other end. If so, how does one use a cigarette lighter adapter to power the Mobely? What is the voltage range acceptable to the Mobely? I dug through my junk box and found several USB phone charger plug-in cubes with voltage outputs varying all over the place. I am confused about the options to power my soon to arrive Mobely. Thanks for any help you can give me.

R

[Lou Schneider]

Richard, the Mobley takes +12 volts on Pin 16 and ground on Pins 4 and 5.  The USB adapters convert the USB +5 volts to +12 volts.  Current ranges from 2.5 ma at idle to 280 ma while transmitting at full power.  I presume the upper voltage limit is 13.5 - 14 volts, the same as a car's electrical system.  Less than 11.5 VDC will start the shutdown timer to avoid discharging the car's battery.  This can be disabled in the setup menu.

The Mobley has a male ODB II connector to plug into the car's female OIB II socket. It just takes power from the socket, there's no connection to the car's data buss.

Before my ODB II socket power adapter arrived I just used a couple of small female spade terminals on a 12 volt DC wall wart.  One spade fit nicely over the Mobley's male pins 4 and 5, the other I cut in half to fit on pin 16.

If you're interested, there are numerous Mobley threads on the Howard Forums mobile phone board:
http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php/378-Data-Cards

[Terry A. Brewer]

Richard

This is what I used...http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Adapter-for-AT-T-ZTE-Mobley-OBD2-LTE-Wi-Fi-Hotspot-20-unlimited-data/252924247536?_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3Dd5ee501f68524907bb4cac4de074b598%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D13%26sd%3D252848130883&_trkparms=pageci%253A43c46569-4431-11e7-9859-74dbd180ccd9%257Cparentrq%253A52b7ea7915c0ac8077b01a44fffd1b62%257Ciid%253A1

[NY_Dutch]

I used a USB 5V to 12V converter assembly and an OBD2 female socket to make my own Mobley adapter. Just two solder connections and it was done. Both items were found on eBay with a total cost of $3.85 including shipping...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1Meter-DC-5V-to-DC-12V-Step-UP-Module-USB-Converter-Adapter-Cable-2-1x5-5mm-Plug-/122505977568?hash=item1c85ecdee0

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262864520851?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

The photo shows the Mobley adapter connected to a USB battery pack.

The second photo shows the 120VAC adapter I made from a spare 12-volt wall wart and a free salvage yard OBD2 socket.

[RLSharp]

Thanks Lou, Terry and Dutch. My Mobely is suppose to arrive tomorrow. If I can find my OBD II port on my motor home, I will use that until I get the Mobely hooked up to either the cigarette lighter outlet or a 110 VAC adapter. Thanks again for the information. R

[NY_Dutch]

What year and make chassis is your coach built on, Richard?

[RLSharp]

What year and make chassis is your coach built on, Richard?

Dutch, Our coach is a 2013 Itasca Sunstar 35B built on a 2012 Ford F-53 chassis. R

[NY_Dutch]

Dutch, Our coach is a 2013 Itasca Sunstar 35B built on a 2012 Ford F-53 chassis. R

Ok, then your OBD2 port should be on the right side of the steering column, possibly attached in a relatively easy to reach location if Winnebago followed Ford's body builder instructions. Otherwise, it may still be attached directly to the steering column, but higher up under the dash where it's hard to see. It also has a plastic cap on it that makes it even harder to find. If you can't locate it, try taking a picture up under the dash near the steering column. Post the photo and we may be able to help you spot it. One giveaway is that it has a loop in the excess cable that's provided for relocation. I moved mine out where it's easily accessed.

On edit: This Ford SVE bulletin may help you locate the OBD2 port:

F53/ F59 OBDII Diagnostic Connector Location

[LindaSue]

I just tried to order - AT&T is out of Mobleys - again. I will keep trying - too good of a deal to pass up. Thanks for all the info on this!

[kdbgoat]

I just tried to order - AT&T is out of Mobleys - again. I will keep trying - too good of a deal to pass up. Thanks for all the info on this!

Same here.

[Dreamsend]

Same here.

Hi Guys
I just ordered one right now.  Went through fine, no delays, no hang-ups and I got an order confirmation email.  But shipping date is sometime after June 19, I think is what it indicated.  I did have to resort to using my desktop computer, as the order site worked screwy when I tried to order through use of the Kindle. 

One thing, I'm not an existing ATT mobile customer, so I had to sign up for Connected Car Unlimted (the $20 per month fee) and I purchased outright without the contract.  Maybe new customers have it easier??. . ?? . .??  Linda

[Back2PA]

Timing could not have been better. Leaving in 2 days on a 6 week trip and today received both the Mobley plus (from eBay) the USB adapter. Latter wasn't supposed to arrive for another week.


Ironically, had to drive away from our house to test as we have no AT&T coverage there. First test came in at 21 Mbps down and 8.5 Mbps up. Ya baby. 

[Tom]

Finally got around to ordering a 110V adapter for the Mobley. It shipped almost immediately, and arrives next Monday. Meanwhile, the Mobley has shipped and arrives tomorrow. Like Scott, great timing for our departure next week.

[Dreamsend]

Whoa!  The Mobley ordered yesterday just showed up on my porch!!  Guess they really want that new acct activated.

So a little help please.  Could someone point me to the adapter choices needed to use this in my house and drop cable internet.  I have computer, modem, router, kindle and blue ray.  Where does the Mobley plug in?  Any powered USB port on the computer?

Not ready for this.  Just barely over the worse of a bad asthma attack/infection and not 100% with it yet.  Linda

[Lou Schneider]

The Mobley is a wi-fi hotspot.  If you currently have a wi-fi router, it will take it's place, all you have to do is tell your devices to use it instead of the router.

It's designed to plug into the ODB II socket in your car.  A quick search for Mobley on Google, Ebay or Amazon will turn up many entrepreneuers selling power adapters with an ODB II socket on one end and an AC adapter, cigarette lighter plug or a USB plug on the other end.

It just depends on how you want to use your Mobley.  The USB cord is the most flexible but is more expensive by the time you include an AC or cigarette lighter USB phone charger.  It lets you power the Mobley from your laptop's USB port, making it fully portable.  If you're just going to use the Mobley in your RV, the cigarette lighter cord is less cost, as is the 120 volt AC power cord if you're going to use it in your house.

[NY_Dutch]

Lou, I've never seen the On Board Diagnostics port called an "OIB" socket. It's always been the OBD(I or II) socket as far as I recall. Has something changed I haven't heard about?

[Lou Schneider]

Nope, just a typo from my fat fingers.  It uses an ODB II socket.  Sorry about that!

[Dreamsend]

Thank you Lou.  You covered very well all my options; much appreciated.  All the devices listed are wireless, and I also have a printer that is set to operate wirelessly currently and I think the Mobley could handle that as well.  Won't have a TT for a year yet when the fulltime plan kicks in, so I was looking to use Mobley in my residence if possible for now.  I was kinda playing "the lemming" and following what many of you savvy tech guys are doing by acquiring the Mobley while the plan is available.

It will be interesting to see if my s&b data needs can be met via the Mobley.  ATT has good coverage here in the city, and given the nature of the neighborhood, the demand on towers should not experience severe overload too often it seems to me, but then, I'm waaayyy less than competent in the mobile communications arena.  Again, sincere thanks for everyone's input on this topic.  Linda

[Lou Schneider]

Linda, just keep in mind the Mobley's internal router is limited to 5 wireless devices. If you have more than that, there is a workaround using either Wifi or a USB feed from the Mobley to feed an external router but it gets complicated.

[Bob T]

Interesting, I am trying to order and would have delivered to a US address but Best Buy does not give option for delivery.
Just option to pick up from store and it seems that no stock anywhere.
Could this be because I am connecting from Canadian location?
Bob

[Heli_av8tor]

I ordered from the ATT.com site yesterday choosing the "no contract" option. The process went smoothly. The expected delivery was stated as June 20 - 27.

However, this morning I got an email that it has been shipped. 

Tom

[Dreamsend]

Hi Bob T

The Mobley requires ATT Connected Car Unlimited Plan which is only available in the U.S. currently. See

https://www.att.com/devices/zte/mobley.html#sku=sku7700323

[Howard R]

I tried to order the other day on the ATT site and it wouldn't take the order ... I declined the optional insurance, don't know if that had anything to do with it though. 

[Lou Schneider]

The ATT.com site https://www.att.com/devices/zte/mobley.html#sku=sku7700323 is currently accepting online orders as a new customer with June 1- June 5 shipping dates, down from the June 17-21 dates a few days ago.

Apparently AT&T is still scrambling to meet the demand.

[Tom]

The Mobley arrived today. Not bad for something that wasn't in inventory! Waiting for the AC adapter to arrive Monday.

[Bob T]

Hi Bob T

The Mobley requires ATT Connected Car Unlimited Plan which is only available in the U.S. currently. See

https://www.att.com/devices/zte/mobley.html#sku=sku7700323

Thanks Linda

I understand that, actually, I just spent about 45 minutes in a chat with a senior supervisor on the AT&T chat page. 
Since I would only be using this while travelling in the US, I would be fine getting the Mobley.

Where it might not work like I want it is the throttling after the 22GB mark.  Speed is reduced to 1258Kbps which is alright for basic surfing, basic email but not fast enough for streaming.  We don't tend to stream now so that may not be an issue at all. 

I am assuming that the AT&T towers in populated areas (like most other large carriers) are always busy, so what constitutes congestion?  Would the Mobley always be throttled for the balance of billing period once the 22GB plateau is reached?  I honestly don't know, just asking the question.

Has anyone had it long enough to experience throttling?  Is it slow and for how long.

[NY_Dutch]

We've been using an AT&T Homebase since February plus a Mobley for the past month or so, with both subject to deprioritizing at times. While we do sometimes see slow downs during peak usage times in higher density areas, I've never seen our speeds drop below 3-5 Mbps minimum. And then only for fairly short periods of time. Even when we're not subject to deprioritization we sometimes see slower speeds on heavily congested towers, just as we did with our previous costly Verizon 4G/LTE plan.

Keep in mind, the Mobley is subject to "deprioritization", not "throttling", for the balance of the cycle after the full speed 22MB is used. But keep in mind, that's not a full time reduction, just something that can occur during excessively busy periods, with a return to normal speeds when the congestion clears up. I think you'll find that AT&T's towers are not as busy as you might think even in larger cities. And in testing, I haven't had any problems streaming video content using our 1-3 Mbps Verizon 3G service, so that 1258Kbps (1.258 Mbps) may not be as much of a problem as you think it will for the short times it occurs.