ZTE Mobley AT&T car connect

[ogaddcb]

The  ZTE Mobley AT&T car connect has been the primary  internet access tool for years now. I have the SIM card installed in the original ZTE box device. In the last few months, I have noticed a degradation of service  in that when I first fire up the device, I get the normal 10up/ 15-20 down.  After about 2 -3 hours of constant on but no activity on my parts the upload speeds stay the same around 10 but the downloads degrade to less than 2 mmps.  Connectivity is not lost but performance down load sufffers.  I can unplug the ZTE and plug it back in and the performance recovers. The ZTE is the original SIM card. Our home 20 is in Angelina County so I don’t think it is a traffic problem. Has anybody else noticed this situation.  

Edited October 26, 2022 by ogaddcb

[durangodon]

9 minutes ago, ogaddcb said:

The  ZTE Mobley AT&T car connect has been the primary  internet access tool for years now. I have the SIM card installed in the original ZTE box device. In the last few months, I have noticed a degradation of service  in that when I first fire up the device, I get the normal 10up/ 15-20 down.  After about 2 -3 hours of constant on but no activity on my parts the upload speeds stay the same around 10 but the downloads degrade to less than 2 mmps.  Connectivity is not lost but performance down load sufffers.  I can unplug the ZTE and plug it back in and the performance recovers. The ZTE is the original SIM card. Our home 20 is in Angelina County so I don’t think it is a traffic problem. Has anybody else noticed this situation.  

Yes, it's a quite common thing to see on howardforums.  I have to reset mine about every 3 or 4 hours.  Some people have speculated that if you are driving around (like it was intended to be used) and hitting different towers it doesn't do it.

[Will B.]

I don't know about this particular device, but I have found that, with my Pepwave Max Transit Duo, and really it's the services, I think, that a daily reset of the connections has been a big help.

I figured out how to create a shell script that logs into the device (as long as my laptop is running, 99% of the time it is) and reset the AT&T and Verizon connections.  And by connections, I mean the "modem" inside that does the connection, as well as getting a new acquisition on the towers. 

So, every morning at 7am (which is before I get out of bed), my computer tells the Pepwave to reset those connections.  I could likely just as easy trigger a reboot, which would do both, but would also take down the local network, so I didn't set it up that way.

It might be possible for you to accomplish something similar.  Would take some technical knowhow, as well as ensuring the device can support shell scripts or other similar behavior.  It could likely even be done daily with a physical hardware timer power reset.  Something like this, maybe: https://smile.amazon.com/Techbee-Countdown-Programmalbe-Electrical-Appliances/dp/B086DN9QT3/  This obviously for AC power, unsure of the device you have, if DC, I'm sure there's some equivalent device somewhere.

Our Pepwave is wired to 12v DC so I never, ever, disconnect it.  (We are fulltime, with solar, usually on shore power, too.)  I can reboot through the admin web UI or I could go hit my kill switch (battery disconnect switch, specifically for my electronics cabinet), or I could script it.   Interesting, writing this made me want to check my uptime:  75 days 17 hours 32 minutes.  Sweet.  (I had to disconnect power a while back for something.)

Hope this gives you some ideas on how you can get that reboot to happen without your manual intervention!

[ogaddcb]

Ok, I just don’t understand why it just started recently.  For almost 10 years the Mobley has been functioning without flaw and just a few months ago this started. WillB, I can reboot my PEPWAVE Surf Solo II remotely but then it just goes back and picks up the degraded performance of the Mobley. I guess I’ll change my router priority to be the Visible phone first then the Mobley. Thanks,

Edited October 26, 2022 by ogaddcb

[Chad Heiser]

I have one Mobley sim in a desktop LTE WiFi router at home and another one in an Insty connect WiFi router in my RV.  Both routers are on 24/7.  I have not noticed and speed issues with either of them and they are my only source of internet in either location.

[Dutch_12078]

Like Chad, I haven't noticed any problems with my Mobley service with the SIM installed in an AT&T hotspot. I've been using it that way for about 3 years now with almost non-stop service.

[durangodon]

57 minutes ago, Chad Heiser said:

I have one Mobley sim in a desktop LTE WiFi router at home and another one in an Insty connect WiFi router in my RV.  Both routers are on 24/7.  I have not noticed and speed issues with either of them and they are my only source of internet in either location.

I've had the Mobley account ever since they were first offered.  I never noticed any problems with it, stayed up and running continuously for days, weeks, months.  I never did any streaming.  When I would run a speed test, it was always around 10-15 Mbps and good enough for browsing.

About a year ago I tried streaming a movie and it kept buffering.  Speed test showed about 12 Mbps.  I rebooted the Nighthawk MR1100 that my Mobley sim is in.  Speeds went to 70 Mbps.  Went back to streaming, no problem.  I went to HoFo and read about people having to reset their modem in order to maintain usable speeds. https://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1894167-Stand-alone-AT-amp-T-Unlimited-ZTE-Mobley-Hotspot-now-only-20!!!!!

I started running periodic speed tests.  Sure enough, when I would reboot the modem, my speeds would triple or better and stay that way for a few hours before eventually slowing to 10 Mbps or below.  If I wasn't streaming occasionally, I may not even notice. 

I don't know if this is an intentional throttling, deprioritization or what.  Don't know why some people experience it, and others do not.  However, it is a common complaint.  Some people have dropped their Mobley service because of it.  It's not so bad that I can't live with it.  It takes about a minute to reboot.

[Chad Heiser]

We stream regularly with both of the Mobley sims. I do get some buffering on occasion, but it is usually app/provider specific.  Some streaming services are much better at compensating for different or varying bandwidths than others.  On occasion I will reset the modem when I am experiencing issues, but that is rare.  Maybe once a month or so.