Have Verizon Pantech 4G LTE USB Modem

[RV_]

Wednesday we find out if my Cable internet provider will leave our cable removed from the house looped on the workshop to connect to the 5th wheel in our yard we will be living in for about six weeks while our new house goes in. I was in Goodwill and saw a very nice condition Verizon 4G LTE USB modem marked $6.99. I figured it was worth trying and I brought it down to the Verizon company store where they said it worked fine and put in a new Sim card. I found I could get 10 GB a month for $80 plus 15 dollars per handset. No contract if I bring my own equipment. I am already paying 45 bucks a month for 2GB and unlimited LD/talk/texting. I can add the phone to this one and save 30 bucks a month and get five times the data. Only drawback is I have to pay a $40.00 set up fee. I can buy their Jetpack wireless wifi router modem in one and they waive the set up fee and it's pay as you go.

 

Now, if the cable company will hook me up, my fiver has the Park Cable connector already installed, so I will not activate the Pantech I have with the two antenna ports under covers on the front.

 

Anyone have experience with the Pantech? Here is a pic:

 

 

 

Is this a good unit? What antennas are the small connectors under the little flip up covers made for?

 

Thanks.

[RV_]

No one?

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

I use a Pantech for Verizon. I have it in a Wilson Sleek cradle hooked to a trucker antenna.

 

 

If you have cable to the workshop, why not use that? Stick a wireless router on it.

[RV_]

Nope no cable to the workshop. We'll see Wed.

[RV_]

Do you have a phone in the middle? Is your Pantech the USB direct connect I pictured above? Mine plugs into a computer, not a phone. It has two flip up tiny antenna ports on the front.

 

Sorry, I came off the road in 2003 before smartphones and Cellular modems. I am trying for a last minute plan B if the cable company won't allow me to use the cable temporarily loose until the new house is ready to move in and connect. I don't mind buying a fifty buck Verizon puck modem/router. I think that is the jetpack. Just trying to see what the USB one on a laptop provided for connectivity, what software is needed, and what speeds folks are getting. I four bars here on Verizon.

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

I plug my Pantech into a Surf SOHO wireless router. The Pantech connects to Verizon. The SOHO connects to the PC.

 

You can plug it into a PC USB port. The drivers and software is in the USB drive inside the Pantech.

 

The question on the cable was in the area of anyway of putting a router where the cable ends under a weatherproof cover?

[Technomadia]

That looks to be the Pantech UML295 - which supports XLTE bands on Verizon (the most current and fastest bands). The reviews on this model were mixed as far as reliability.

 

You should be able to find antenna adaptors to fit it if needed, but if you're getting 4-bars, you're already good.

[RV_]

If you envision your keyboard as my current trailer 80 feet wide, the power and cable cables currently come in left end. In the middle 70 feet behind the keyboard is the small finished steel building tied into that box. The new double wide will be 2/3rds as long, and power will come from the right edge of your keyboard. To the right is my 24X30' workshop. It is on a slab and has its own meter. I ran a water line in there but the steel insulated wall are a great farraday box. no signals come in but phone, and that chopped down to 1 bar. they will need to redo the cable drop when the house is done from the same pole feeding my shop. Much shorter run and my rig is next to it. I'm hoping he just coils it up and leave it turned on. I'll do the rest and bring it in the trailer. The router overheats without an additional small fan behind it powered by its USB port. I doubt it would survive the 100-103° temps we are having now, and could likely exceed the 110° record temps of three years ago. So outside is out.

Thanks anyway Mark.

 

Techno,

I looked everywhere for a model number but only a serial number on it. We can do fine with just one laptop connected but were hoping it would work plugged directly into our home Linksys E3000 router or my as yet unboxed or tested EA6500 Linksys Ac 1700.

Thanks for the ID. As I said, with 300GB limit, and now 50mbps cable speed here, I'd prefer it to 10GB at slower speeds. What kind of speeds do these LTE devices get? Speeds for average to strong signals say.

 

Thanks guys!

[RV_]

Mark is this your recommend to hook it up? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007BD6GDE/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687682&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00ENUY568&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1246KNP90KAT3BECS5P7

 

I am unclear. Does this modem connect just the laptop it is plugged into? Or does my Pantech also broadcast WiFi. Just to be clear, I believe you guys are saying it does not broadcast a WiFi signal, it just supports the laptop it is plugged into. But buying the router above I can plug the Pantech into the Peplink and it will do my router duties?

 

Wouldn't it be a better deal to buy the fifty buck jetpack that does both? I only have $6.99 invested in the Pantech, as I got it used but like new.

 

An extra hundred s not the issue, as whatever will be useful to activate later on the road trips we will take for short part time RVing. It killed two birds with one stone. Temporary housing on my property for security until we move our stuff from one to the other, and to get back into RVing.

 

Thanks for the instant expertise on one area I'm not experienced with from RVing fulltime before smartphones.

[Technomadia]

XLTE can clock download speeds up to 70-80 Mbps. More typical is about 20-25 however, in our experience. Upload can be in the 2-6 Mbps.

 

For using it in a router, you'd need a mobile enabled router than can accept a USB cellular input - like a WiFiRanger Go2 or Mini, Cradlepoint, MoFi or Pepwave.

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

The Pantech modem communicates with Verizon. Through the USB, the Pantech communicates with a PC or, with a air-card router, like the Surf. With the air-card router, the router communicates wirelessly, or via CAT-5 cable, to PCs.

 

If you only have one PC, stick the Pantech into the PC. Since you have several devices, use an air-card router.

 

The issues I have with Jetpacks is that some have problems being on power all the time. My Pantech MiFi cooked the battery. Most Jetpacks can support up to 10 wireless devices but no cabled devices.

 

An air-card router have cable connectivity and support more than 10 wireless devices.

 

The Surf SOHO air-card router can do Wi-Fi as WAN which means it can wirelessly connect to the Jetpack MIFI and turn around and connect to PCs. Funny, the Jetpack MiFi can also dongle connect to the air-card router, just like the Pantech modem. But I found the speed over the USB cable was significantly slower than the WiFi as WAN.

 

I was troubleshooting that issue with Pantech when the battery cooked itself and I was told I should run the MiFi on nattery. Since my electronic are in a closet-like environment, not an acceptable solution. The Pantech modem works fine.

 

I used the Wilson Sleek amplifier with both the MiFi and the modem. The SOHO can have add-on antennas that really boosts its range.

[RV_]

OK guys I gotcha. I was pretty sure this one worked as you iterated Mark.

 

Techno ( is it Cherie or Chris there typing these?) That was great info. Dang I had no idea that cellular was getting that fast! I may have no connection but it in two days or be able to hook up. The local cable company left that to the discretion of the local technicians and they left it to the tech. So I needed backup plan. While I would prefer to connect with my just increased to 50 mbps cable at no charge today, it appears that, speed-wise, there is no real loss going cellular other than money. I doubt many would even perceive the difference between 25 and 50 mbps modem speeds as the websites are the time lag anymore.

 

So for the best bang for the buck if I go Pantech and router which router will give me the best bang for the buck as a part time camper canceling and activating after the first month?

 

I am likely confused as buddy of mine has the jetpack as his only connection and it is a square puck sized device that connects to power by wire only but has a battery as well. His connects to Verizon and acts as a wireless router. Are you saying that the little square jetpack only connects to one device at a time like Bluetooth devices normally do? I assumed his connected to any device that saw it but never asked or tried it. He has this:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/verizon-ellipsis-jetpack-4g-lte-no-contract-mobile-hotspot-black/5140012.p?id=1219646576412&skuId=5140012&cmp=RMX&srccode=cii_328768002&cpncode=37-67945975-2&ref=25&loc=BNG

 

Let's remember I will be in good connection areas all the time. And both our phones are Verizon as well. So I don't need connectivity across the country. Just in around the major highways and cities of Louisiana and then over to Florida in Boca Raton and Tampa visiting our remaining aunt there, and a one time ten day visit to the Laser Spinal institute.

[Technomadia]

Our article on Jetpacks, USB modems and tethering off of smartphones might help you understand the differences:

 

MiFi/Jetpack, USB Modem or Smartphone Hotspotting?

 

- Cherie

[RV_]

Good article Cherie,

Thanks. I ended up getting temporary cable to my RV as they will have to come in from this side when the new house is ready. I'm on 50 mbps cable and TV again. I am glad to understand what the options are with cellular based Internet. I'd never needed to learn that to the application level of learning just the familiar level. Good stuff to know.

Thanks again.