Check out the D-Link G530: amzn.to/3AvlPmk You can also save 10% off of any product on their site by using the code "COZYLIVING10": shop.us.dlink.com/discount/COZYLIVING10
Great info! As someone who has been playing with cell phones and data plans for 25 years, I wonder how long you’ll be able to do this. It used to be that if the IMEI changed to an unknown device, the provider would shut down that connection. It seems like they found a way around that issue. But even if that happens someday, you’ll have saved money until then.
Agreed! I know my Spitz X3000 has a custom IMEI that I've set and appeared to be an iPhone 5S prior to that. 😂 D-Link states that they're approved by AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, so I have to wonder!
I went to The t mobile store to add a line, they asked what phone, i just said a spare phone i have at home and i just need a sim card, they asked me to bring it in, i said no its ok I'll do it at home, then they said i couldn't add a line with my current plan and were trying to get to to upgrade plans and were trying to process it without my ok, i said no thanks and walked out, i called customer service and they said i was eligible to add a max of 18!! Lines on my plan with no upgrade needed, they ordered it for me, free express shipping, set up my router and been running for a little over a year for only 30$ a month which im happy with
Does the D-link use your phone data, or the hotspot data? Will the carrier think your Sim card is in a phone? I canceled my hotspot device plan because the device died. It was on a T-mobile 100gb plan for $50 a month. If I could just add a phone line with unlimited data, that would be much better.
It does use the phone data, and I know for T-Mobile, they know that the device isn't a phone, but they didn't appear to know exactly what it is. With my usual router, I've modified the IMEI to make sure they thought it was a phone, but this one worked just as well without that. It's definitely cheaper to simply add a line and enjoy that unlimited data.
@@RamblinRoadies I was also thinking that without altering ttl settings hotspot data was being used. How much data has op used? Positive it’s not hotspot data?
Over the three days of testing prior to the video, T-Mobile's billing page reported ~32.5GB of data used, mostly streaming and uploading videos. However, it's 100% not hotspot data being that we don't have hotspot on our older plan! We never used it and they used to have that available to folks. I think today it's 5GB minimum hotspot allowance.
@@CozyLivingMachinethanks Joel. I've been waiting for your response, but it didn't show up on my notifications for some reason. This looks like a great option. My hotspot with T-mobile was 100 GB per month. I would burn through that in 10 days.
Thanks for posting this video. Truth be told, considering everything this thing can do, the price isn't bad. It's actually cheaper than I thought it would be.
It seems that this should be cheaper. Where some carriers don't have unlimited hotspot data, this uses a regular phone plan so it doesn't have limits, and therefore is much cheaper for the data. You can take this and use it like a regular home wi-fi router, no limits and more capability than a little hotspot device, and where some or all "5G home internet" devices won't allow it to work outside of your existing cell tower location, such as for traveling, this works like any other cell phone!
: ) WOW! THANKS MUCH for sharing and YES it seems like a great Device and way to have Internet. Good timing as out home internet just puked on us yesterday, and now down to 90 mbps :( May have to look at getting one of these. ALL the BEST and Cheers ! ! !
That's a great question. We've recently switched carriers with 6 brand new phones as part of a great trade in deal. The only phones that forced eSIM were the iPhones. In contrast, all of the other phones had both capabilities. I'm very much NOT a fan of eSIM whatsoever, it doesn't solve a single problem for folks. And interestingly even the iPhone from any other country appears to have a different SKU where they still have physical SIM card trays, even in Canada. So I hope the tide turns a little on this being that eSIM tech is redundant, cumbersome and unnecessary, or at least there should always be the option!
@ do you have to put it in a phone first before the router? T- mobile is asking for ….”Enter device IMEI number Enter your device's IMEI number to check compatibility with our network”
I can confirm that cricket wireless will shut down your line if it detects that you're using their SIM cards on a 4g/5g router, it happened to us lol. Although it likely happened because my brother played PlayStation on it all the time.
Yeah, it all depends on your account, of course! My plan has 50GB before it "deprioritizes" our traffic, but we have never found that it affects our experience. We typically use more than 300GB/mo. and never had any issues, so it may be worth changing plans or carriers as necessary.
Our StarLink in Canada is Canadian $156.00 a month. Kind of pricey but works great, no issues. Plus I like all the downlinks are in the USA and not communist Canada lol.
Definitely pricey, but it will work ANYWHERE (in theory) lol too rich for my blood, but I even use a VPN in USA. We're not exempt from nosey people and bad actors here either!
Check out the D-Link G530: amzn.to/3AvlPmk
You can also save 10% off of any product on their site by using the code "COZYLIVING10": shop.us.dlink.com/discount/COZYLIVING10
I put it on my Amazon wishlist while I research it. Thanks. Very timely information for me since my hotspot device just died.
Just for reference, Ping on my Google Fiber is 2 ms with up and download speeds in the high 900s. I realize you don't have a fiber option in an RV.
I just had to cancel Starlink, 250$ a month!! We recently got fiber gigabit for only 60 bucks!! No brainer
Sheesh. I was thinking it was like $150/mo for unlimited satellite, that's NUTS at $250!!
@ I’m even on the standard household plan. No kind of priority. Absolutely ridiculous
Great info! As someone who has been playing with cell phones and data plans for 25 years, I wonder how long you’ll be able to do this. It used to be that if the IMEI changed to an unknown device, the provider would shut down that connection. It seems like they found a way around that issue. But even if that happens someday, you’ll have saved money until then.
Agreed! I know my Spitz X3000 has a custom IMEI that I've set and appeared to be an iPhone 5S prior to that. 😂 D-Link states that they're approved by AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, so I have to wonder!
I went to The t mobile store to add a line, they asked what phone, i just said a spare phone i have at home and i just need a sim card, they asked me to bring it in, i said no its ok I'll do it at home, then they said i couldn't add a line with my current plan and were trying to get to to upgrade plans and were trying to process it without my ok, i said no thanks and walked out, i called customer service and they said i was eligible to add a max of 18!! Lines on my plan with no upgrade needed, they ordered it for me, free express shipping, set up my router and been running for a little over a year for only 30$ a month which im happy with
Does the D-link use your phone data, or the hotspot data? Will the carrier think your Sim card is in a phone?
I canceled my hotspot device plan because the device died. It was on a T-mobile 100gb plan for $50 a month. If I could just add a phone line with unlimited data, that would be much better.
It does use the phone data, and I know for T-Mobile, they know that the device isn't a phone, but they didn't appear to know exactly what it is. With my usual router, I've modified the IMEI to make sure they thought it was a phone, but this one worked just as well without that. It's definitely cheaper to simply add a line and enjoy that unlimited data.
@@RamblinRoadies I was also thinking that without altering ttl settings hotspot data was being used. How much data has op used? Positive it’s not hotspot data?
Over the three days of testing prior to the video, T-Mobile's billing page reported ~32.5GB of data used, mostly streaming and uploading videos. However, it's 100% not hotspot data being that we don't have hotspot on our older plan! We never used it and they used to have that available to folks. I think today it's 5GB minimum hotspot allowance.
@ Awesome. Thanks for the updated info!! 👍🏻
@@CozyLivingMachinethanks Joel. I've been waiting for your response, but it didn't show up on my notifications for some reason. This looks like a great option. My hotspot with T-mobile was 100 GB per month. I would burn through that in 10 days.
Thanks for posting this video. Truth be told, considering everything this thing can do, the price isn't bad. It's actually cheaper than I thought it would be.
Agreed!
What's the advantage of buying this versus a sub $100 5G hotspot from the cell provider you get your SIM card from ?
It seems that this should be cheaper. Where some carriers don't have unlimited hotspot data, this uses a regular phone plan so it doesn't have limits, and therefore is much cheaper for the data. You can take this and use it like a regular home wi-fi router, no limits and more capability than a little hotspot device, and where some or all "5G home internet" devices won't allow it to work outside of your existing cell tower location, such as for traveling, this works like any other cell phone!
: ) WOW! THANKS MUCH for sharing and YES it seems like a great Device and way to have Internet. Good timing as out home internet just puked on us yesterday, and now down to 90 mbps :( May have to look at getting one of these. ALL the BEST and Cheers ! ! !
I wonder how long is this going to be relevant since most phones are now going to eSIM
That's a great question. We've recently switched carriers with 6 brand new phones as part of a great trade in deal. The only phones that forced eSIM were the iPhones. In contrast, all of the other phones had both capabilities. I'm very much NOT a fan of eSIM whatsoever, it doesn't solve a single problem for folks. And interestingly even the iPhone from any other country appears to have a different SKU where they still have physical SIM card trays, even in Canada. So I hope the tide turns a little on this being that eSIM tech is redundant, cumbersome and unnecessary, or at least there should always be the option!
Do you simply put a SIM card from a cell-phone plan in it and it works? Or do you need a special data card? Help!
That's correct, it will take a regular phone plan, you can take the SIM card from your phone and put it right in and off you go!
@ do you have to put it in a phone first before the router? T- mobile is asking for ….”Enter device IMEI number Enter your device's IMEI number to check compatibility with our network”
That looks and sounds like a really nice unit.
I'm very impressed!
I can confirm that cricket wireless will shut down your line if it detects that you're using their SIM cards on a 4g/5g router, it happened to us lol. Although it likely happened because my brother played PlayStation on it all the time.
Set up that VPN on the router in the future for sure. We've been set up for 4+ years now, though no PS usage 😂
My provider slows the speed after 40GB downloaded, so wouldn't you quickly run out of data for normal desktop/laptop use?
Yeah, it all depends on your account, of course! My plan has 50GB before it "deprioritizes" our traffic, but we have never found that it affects our experience. We typically use more than 300GB/mo. and never had any issues, so it may be worth changing plans or carriers as necessary.
Our StarLink in Canada is Canadian $156.00 a month. Kind of pricey but works great, no issues. Plus I like all the downlinks are in the USA and not communist Canada lol.
Definitely pricey, but it will work ANYWHERE (in theory) lol too rich for my blood, but I even use a VPN in USA. We're not exempt from nosey people and bad actors here either!
So I don't need a 5g wingard for mew 2025 Coachman pursuit 27xps if I do what your doing??
@@dougneuman7343 the Winegard products suck, this is much better for sure! It's also not attached to your roof permanently and can be moved as needed!