Two week report using Netbuddy simcard in my Netgear hotspot for internet/data

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decaturbob

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Oct 31, 2015
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Location
central Illinois
One the greatest areas of complaints with RV'ers is the problem with connecting for reliable internet.  Last fall I did an initial evaluation of Netbuddy at home and all my testing showed it could be a viable solution.  The cost is $60/month (to netbuddy) and its true unlimited with no throttling on the ATT network.

So 2 weeks into our 2019 Spring trip and stay in Florida.  I have used 400gb of data so far, and my average download speed has been 8mbs.  Even with marginal ATT cell reception, the lowest download speed I have recorded has been 3mbs and the highest has been 15mbs. We video stream our TV with Netflix, Prime and Hulu thru a firestick.  Last year at this time, following the same route, the same stays at RV parks on the travel and the same final destination and stay here in Florida, internet was iffy to non-existent.  I juggled with taking our Att cell plan to unlimited, with little improvement and huge cost increase, tried purchasing local ISP service which was not much better. I will provide updates every few weeks.
 
decaturbob said:
One the greatest areas of complaints with RV'ers is the problem with connecting for reliable internet.  Last fall I did an initial evaluation of Netbuddy at home and all my testing showed it could be a viable solution.  The cost is $60/month (to netbuddy) and its true unlimited with no throttling on the ATT network.

So 2 weeks into our 2019 Spring trip and stay in Florida.  I have used 400gb of data so far, and my average download speed has been 8mbs.  Even with marginal ATT cell reception, the lowest download speed I have recorded has been 3mbs and the highest has been 15mbs. We video stream our TV with Netflix, Prime and Hulu thru a firestick.  Last year at this time, following the same route, the same stays at RV parks on the travel and the same final destination and stay here in Florida, internet was iffy to non-existent.  I juggled with taking our Att cell plan to unlimited, with little improvement and huge cost increase, tried purchasing local ISP service which was not much better. I will provide updates every few weeks.

I doubt you will have any issues at all.
my own experience and that of friends with at&t reseller accounts is exceptional.
I use approx 250 GB a month from my service and I know people who have used more than 2 TB .. yes, that
much ! and have zero issues.

the biggest issue I found when travelling is to locate a suitable cell tower.
I suggest you try https://www.cellmapper.net there is very good information on all carriers and towers
I usually do a search and note the locations before I travel.

 
All I know is last year reliable internet was impossible where we stay in Florida and this year, staying at the same place, we kick ass with it. Made wife very happy...

As long as we have ATT service we will be good to go as I have a cell booster system by Maximum Signal that makes the weak signals more effective.
 
Did you know the $20/mo AT&T unlimited LTE Connected Car Plan for the Mobley is again available for a limited time? You do have to jump through a few hoops to get it, but it's well worth it. We've had our Connected Car Plan since it was first offered in 2017, and have used the Mobley's SIM in Netgear Unite series hotspots for about a year now. 100+ GB a month is pretty normal for us. We also have a Verizon hotspot on their $65/mo unlimited LTE prepaid plan, and where we are near Palatka, FL the Verizon hotspot is getting 1-3 Mbps down, while the AT&T hotspot is getting 15-20 Mbps down. You know which one we're using for streaming... ;)
 
We are 2 months further in with using Netbuddy. In  past 2 months zero issues with connections, buffering and download speed. I will suspend the service at the end of the month on our return to Illinois. The cost savings from all I tried last year is huge as not the RV park's wifi service was adequate, or ATT "unlimited" cell plan on download and cost.

 
Out of the blue Netbuddy cancelled my monthly subscription, zero reasons and zero responses.  I am assuming Netbuddy is going out of business due to ATT clamp down on 3rd party sellers of unlimited data plans. So I had 2 good years of pretty much unlimited data, no throttling. Will have look for an another way for internet access now.  Luckily I have a nearby xfinitywifi I can tap into for next 2 months before leaving Florida
 
Those grey market deals are always iffy, but our $20/mo AT&T unlimited data Connected Car Plan (grandfathered) has worked well for going on 3 years using a Netgear Unite hotspot. Our relatively new (~6 months) $25/mo Visible/Verizon unlimited data plan is also working well for us USB tethered to a Pepwave Surf Mini OTG repeater/router...
 
NY_Dutch said:
Those grey market deals are always iffy, but our $20/mo AT&T unlimited data Connected Car Plan (grandfathered) has worked well for going on 3 years using a Netgear Unite hotspot. Our relatively new (~6 months) $25/mo Visible/Verizon unlimited data plan is also working well for us USB tethered to a Pepwave Surf Mini OTG repeater/router...
When I went to ATT to inquire about the Mobly, they said that you have to have a celluar account with ATT to get the Mobly.
 
LarsMac said:
When I went to ATT to inquire about the Mobly, they said that you have to have a celluar account with ATT to get the Mobly.

My Mobley Connected Car Plan is the only account I have with AT&T and have ever had with them.
 
NY_Dutch said:
My Mobley Connected Car Plan is the only account I have with AT&T and have ever had with them.

is it even offered any more? My "aircard" for netbuddy sim is a netgear unite unit.  I would have little issue as my wife's Equinox has the wifi option but she wouldn't allow me to tow it. Wives.....leave it at that
 
decaturbob said:
is it even offered any more? My "aircard" for netbuddy sim is a netgear unite unit.  I would have little issue as my wife's Equinox has the wifi option but she wouldn't allow me to tow it. Wives.....leave it at that

There's a similar plan currently, but it requires a different OBDII unit that's more directly tied to the vehicle and can only be used while it's running. As I noted, my Connected Car Plan is grandfathered. My point was that it's still working fine with the SIM in a Netgear Unite Explore 815s hotspot going on 3 years while the grey market plans continually come and go as the carriers catch on to them. I prefer the reliability of dealing directly with the carriers. The low cost is just a bonus. For a currently offered low cost unlimited plan, take a look at Visible by Verizon. Unlimited talk, text, and data, including tethering, for as low as $25/mo. Works for me...
 
When I went to ATT to inquire about the Mobly, they said that you have to have a celluar account with ATT to get the Mobly.
Not sure just what you inquired about, but Mobley IS an AT&T mobile account (see NY Dutch reply). It's not just a hardware gadget you can connect up to any cell or landline service - it is an AT&T network gadget that includes a AT&T cell phone number (SIM) and connection.
 
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