Looks like the Glinet is a Cat 4 or 6 modem and the M1 is a Cat 16 modem. It is possible that it is due to the superior modem with 4x4 mimo in the M1. I'd move the modem around to try to get a better signal or get external antennas.

Changing the IMEI on the M1 is not as easy as the Glinet, but it is still doable. There is a walk through in the "files" section of the FB page. I did it and it took about an hour to get it all figured out and working. I'm sure it could be faster if things go smoothly.

tfunk02 said:

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Pman17 said:

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Yea, TTL just has to be 64. There's an IMEI checker on T-Mobile's site to check if the modem chip works with the network. I'm using a Sierra Wireless EM7455 modem chip.

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Nice to see others in here going this route and getting good results.

Normally pre/postrouting TTL should be 65 for T-Mobile, 64 for Verizon, but it can vary a bit depending on how your router handles things. Just keep checking your account to make sure there is no hotspot leakage in the first couple of weeks.

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I messed up, it's 65. Had some leakage too and resolved it TTLing ip4 and ip6.

The IPV4/IPV6 thing was one that got me initially. I didn't realize the software TTL button only did IPV4. It was easy to fix, but a pain to figure out the first time.

tfunk02 said:

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Looks like the Glinet is a Cat 4 or 6 modem and the M1 is a Cat 16 modem. It is possible that it is due to the superior modem with 4x4 mimo in the M1. I'd move the modem around to try to get a better signal or get external antennas.

Changing the IMEI on the M1 is not as easy as the Glinet, but it is still doable. There is a walk through in the "files" section of the FB page. I did it and it took about an hour to get it all figured out and working. I'm sure it could be faster if things go smoothly.

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I've been working on it for two days. I can't even get my AT&T M1 to allow telnet access. puTTY doesn't really give any feedback when the terminal opens and upon issueing the command, I get an error. Not even sure how to get past this and I don't want to buy another modem. I know I can buy an openwrt router but I have two of these M1 sitting on my desk and I hate to waste them.

Pman17 said:

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tfunk02 said:

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The best bang for the the buck for AT&T and no external antenna is probably using at M1100 (M1) Nighthawk. It has 4x4 mimo internal antennas and is a CAT 16 modem. I'm not a fan of their software but it's not crazy. If you use external antennas it knocks it down to 2x2 mimo unless you break it open and do some DIY upgrades.

I am more of a fan of the open sourced hardware/software. I'd go with something like this over the M1: https://www.ebay.com/itm/133741001854?hash=item1f2395bc7e:g:j2QAAOSwm9Bg9JPD


I have a high end modem. It's a Quectel RM502Q-AE inside of a ZBT WG1608 router.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/133746951162?hash=item1f23f083fa:g:qiQAAOSw9ftgXUMn
It is a CAT22 modem that does low and mid band 5G. I will most likely never get mmWave where I am so I didn't bother even looking into that (finding mmWave antennas are an issue). On eBay they are about $750. I was able to get mine for about $600 by going off of eBay (fees) and buying more than one. Cheapest way to get it is through Alibaba but that can take a long time to get here and then you have to build it out. Mine runs GoldenOrb which is OpenWRT based https://ofmodemsandmen.com/.

Changing the IMEI is just copy pasting some code to the router software, and changing TTL for Verizon and TMobile (AT&T doesn't need it) is as easy as clicking a few buttons or copy pasting some code to the firewall.
Here's a video on how to change the IMEI. This is a different branded software, but it's the same method.


I'm betting that being 5 miles from Kyle Field as the crow flies, I should end up with speeds as fast and latency faster than StarLink once the cell companies fill out their mid-band 5G. I am already getting low band 5G on the N5 band. It is not making speeds any better though.

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For anyone interested, I've built one of these $350 routers for $100. All parts from China. I can share all of my stuff on how to build one.

Had a sprint unlimited sim and it's now being phased out. Just bought a T-Mobile Magenta Max plan and put it in the router. T-Mobile doesn't check IMEI numbers.

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Any chance all of these parts area available on ebay? I don't see anything and I don't quite understand all of the branding information.

OK, I got my M1 IMEI 'repaired'. Is there ANY advantage to band unlocking it if I am on AT&T?

Some are on eBay but not all. The best deal is from Aliexpress. Cost's around $90 if you were to DIY (have to load custom firmware and adjust to right settings), but there's pre-built ones on eBay for around $150, if you don't want to wait for China post and go through less headache.

This one looks pretty good. Has the same type of modem mine has. I searched for WE826.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/124997164877?hash=item1d1a695f4d:g:zxwAAOSw8NxhjBbp

Jason_InfinityRoofer said:

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OK, I got my M1 IMEI 'repaired'. Is there ANY advantage to band unlocking it if I am on AT&T?

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That's one of those things where you will just have to try it out. I don't need it, but some people have issues with the modem trying to pick a slower band. Since it is a 4x4 mimo router it could grab up to 4 bands so you may not want to limit it unless your speeds start to go down. The fastest band on my tower is Band 2 which I believe is the main band AT&T uses.

PMan17's seller is a good one. I just got a ZBT WE826-Q Router with Quectel EM12-G CAT 12 Modem from them for $199. I am helping a neighbor with their vacation house now that they love their setup in their home. I have not fired it up yet, but it came very quickly and was packed safely with instructions.

Thank you both for the assistance!

The modem in the ebay listing is a CAT 6, so help me understand something...will that modem not be 'slower' than the M1? Or Does it not matter since I'm not going to touch the speeds that either modem are capable of?

It depends on your tower and your signal.

You don't need to be hitting the peak numbers to see a benefit to a higher CAT modem. One could do 6Mbps on the Cat 6 and 15 on the Cat 16 modem due to a tower having enough bands to get to 4 connections that are not super fast.

You might also see no benefit to a higher cat modem if there is only 1 band on your tower or you are running it through a cell phone booster (they don't allow mimo or carrier aggregation).

I would stay with the M1 until you have decided it cannot work for you. If you need external antennas, I'd recommend doing the DIY addition to make the M1 4 antennas. If you just use the external ports provided, it drops it from 4x4 to 2x2 mimo.

Looks like I might try the AT&T Unlimited Elite plan with my M1 Nighthawk along with an old phone of mine's IMEI. I've been reading over the past pages and just wanted to confirm something. Will I need to change the TTL after "repairing" the IMEI for service with AT&T's Unlimited Elite? I saw in previous posts that on Verizon and T-Mobile changing the TTL is needed but also saw it mentioned that you don't need to change the TTL if it's on the $20 AT&T Tablet Plan. I know those are different styles of plans but I was checking to see if it was something with AT&T's network that doesn't require the change.. But I guess I could see where changing the IMEI and TTL is needed so that the device doesn't show up as hotspot data.
The reason I ask was I'm thinking about being lazy and just using DC-Unlocker to do the repair. If changing the TTL is still needed, I'll try the manual route. Just don't know if my Windows PC can run the commands. Thanks!

JHejl10 said:

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Looks like I might try the AT&T Unlimited Elite plan with my M1 Nighthawk along with an old phone of mine's IMEI. I've been reading over the past pages and just wanted to confirm something. Will I need to change the TTL after "repairing" the IMEI for service with AT&T's Unlimited Elite? I saw in previous posts that on Verizon and T-Mobile changing the TTL is needed but also saw it mentioned that you don't need to change the TTL if it's on the $20 AT&T Tablet Plan. I know those are different styles of plans but I was checking to see if it was something with AT&T's network that doesn't require the change.. But I guess I could see where changing the IMEI and TTL is needed so that the device doesn't show up as hotspot data.
The reason I ask was I'm thinking about being lazy and just using DC-Unlocker to do the repair. If changing the TTL is still needed, I'll try the manual route. Just don't know if my Windows PC can run the commands. Thanks!

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I've been using an unlimited elite sim for a few months with no need to change TTL. My modem has had an IMEI change though.

Look at getting the plan from CircledIn. I only pay $25/mo for it

Thanks for the info. The CircledIn option looks like a great route since I would have only 1 line through AT&T.

I'm not sure how you get it unlimited elite for $25/month though lol. Looks like it'd be $45/month + $5/month subscription + tax + 1 time activation fee. I'm OK with that price as it'd be cheaper than any other route.

As txyaloo said, AT&T only looks at the IMEI so no TTL change is necessary.

Changing the IMEI my first time on an M1 took less than 25 minutes. I am not sure paying to have it done would make it any easier.

Are there any "third party" lte routers comparable to the MR1100 that handle 5G or at least are as fast? is the cat22 referenced above faster? I may kill my dish service and go all streaming but I'd like something better than the mr100 for that. I want FAST. i get about 30 down now.



I cancelled BIX but it looks like the nighthawk they sold me is blacklisted now even though the TOS says I can keep the device. I'm pretty pissed about that. AT&T says it stopped working because it's listed as "lost or stolen". They were able to turn my sim back on and it works but they said it will stop working again and that they don't have the option to unblock list it.

You can change the IMEI to a phone's IMEI and it will not be lost/stolen and it will work with a phone plan.

https://github.com/sodium-mob/m1restore

A lot of people are moving to the T-Mobile business tablet plan for $10/month.

As far as 5G modems, I am not up to date on the latest. I run a custom router with a Quectel 502 that is 5G (not mmWave). It is Cat 20 on the LTE side. I think you can get the modem for around $450 now, but you will still need a router. I paid $700 total for mine as a complete kit about a year ago.

Going up in tech does not necessarily mean you will get faster speeds. It will depend on the tech at the tower being capable of using your modem.

tfunk02 said:

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You can change the IMEI to a phone's IMEI and it will not be lost/stolen and it will work with a phone plan.

https://github.com/sodium-mob/m1restore

A lot of people are moving to the T-Mobile business tablet plan for $10/month.

As far as 5G modems, I am not up to date on the latest. I run a custom router with a Quectel 502 that is 5G (not mmWave). It is Cat 20 on the LTE side. I think you can get the modem for around $450 now, but you will still need a router. I paid $700 total for mine as a complete kit about a year ago.

Going up in tech does not necessarily mean you will get faster speeds. It will depend on the tech at the tower being capable of using your modem.

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Yeah, I worked on the router this morning. The IMEI has beee. Uh….corrected.

Havnt tested it but it should be fine. Still irritating. It's a matter of principle.

I totally understand, but once things are "corrected" life is so much easier just getting a tablet or phone plan straight from AT&T/Verizon/T-Mobile. It has been great not having to deal with shady 3rd party resellers.

So I guess due to throttling my Verizon prepaid modem is almost useless now. Are there any good options other than starlink now? All we get here is Verizon and att. It's so ridiculous living 15 miles from texarkana that this is the best I can do.

tfunk02 said:

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I totally understand, but once things are "corrected" life is so much easier just getting a tablet or phone plan straight from AT&T/Verizon/T-Mobile. It has been great not having to deal with shady 3rd party resellers.

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We have actually stuck it out with OTR (i'm probably the last man standing in this thread), and i will say their customer service and service plans have gotten A LOT better. We just recently swapped all of our Nighthawks for their "Titan" hotpot plan. Don't have to deal with physical SIMs anymore, and the hotspot will automatically choose which network is strongest in your area; ATT, Verizon, or T-Mobile. We have 8 devices and they've been working great for us for about a month now. And by talking to a rep via chat when i upgraded our devices, they kept us on the 300gb plans for $90/mo.

polksalet12345 said:

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So I guess due to throttling my Verizon prepaid modem is almost useless now. Are there any good options other than starlink now? All we get here is Verizon and att. It's so ridiculous living 15 miles from texarkana that this is the best I can do.

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ATT Unlimited Elite isn't throttled. I usually use 800+gb monthly. Get a cheap plan from CircledIn, a good router/modem combo and change the IMEI, and see how it works.

I have an AT&T Unlimited Elite plan with CircledIn. My IMEI is changed, and I'm using a MR1100 and a Google Mesh Router. Speeds are usually good for my area at over 40 Mbps. However, I'm having to restart my modem and router often as it seems to slow down over time being on despite what speed tests show. StreamSaver has been turned off for over a month with no help. The only other thing worth noting is the true IMEI of the MR1100 may have been blacklisted due to some bs from the former 3rd party reseller I used was using FirstNet. I know that shouldn't matter since I changed the IMEI but I have no other ideas what it could be. Any ideas or suggestions?

Two things that may help...

1) I moved away from the MR1100 due to overheating issues. Make sure the battery is not in the hotspot and has good ventilation.

2) Stream saver sometimes randomly comes back on for me (even with it off in my account). You need to test on fast.com vs. speettest.net. Fast.com is a video based speed test, so if that is down around 3.5 Mbps, you are getting stream saved. I have had to go through the process of turning it on, waiting, resetting the modem, and then going through the process to turn it back off again. I have had to do that 2x in the last year. I am not sure if it's AT&T being shady, but I suspect it is.

Finally, if that doesn't help, you can get a smart plug that reboots the modem once or twice a day. I have my modem set (through software) to reboot at 3am every night.

JHejl10 said:

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I have an AT&T Unlimited Elite plan with CircledIn. My IMEI is changed, and I'm using a MR1100 and a Google Mesh Router. Speeds are usually good for my area at over 40 Mbps. However, I'm having to restart my modem and router often as it seems to slow down over time being on despite what speed tests show. StreamSaver has been turned off for over a month with no help. The only other thing worth noting is the true IMEI of the MR1100 may have been blacklisted due to some bs from the former 3rd party reseller I used was using FirstNet. I know that shouldn't matter since I changed the IMEI but I have no other ideas what it could be. Any ideas or suggestions?

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That's pretty normal IME. These plans are designed for static installs so the tower cuts off carrier aggregation randomly. When that happens you lose the speed from those aggregated bands. When it happens, I'll just disconnect/reconnect in the router and it's usually good for a while.

On my mobile nighthawk, my speed test tests out at 30mbps, sometimes faster. However streaming anything HD (not 4k) to my tv results int grainy choppy video. Is there a fix for this or ami just hosed?

BrazosDog02 said:

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On my mobile nighthawk, my speed test tests out at 30mbps, sometimes faster. However streaming anything HD (not 4k) to my tv results int grainy choppy video. Is there a fix for this or ami just hosed?

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ATT service? Do you have stream saver disabled? It'll limit you to 720p otherwise.

You should be able to disable it on your account. I still have issues streaming on ATT with it off. I use a VPN that stops any traffic shaping related to streaming media.

Do you have a router plan on the sim in your nighthawk? If you're using a phone plan, you may want to look into "Magic" so you can change the router's SIM to a phone SIM. ATT has been pretty aggressive about kicking people off who are using phone sims in routers

Found one issue is that my VPN was not connected. It's on my router and it expired. I've solved that. After did that fast.com wouldn't return a result at all. It did on my oc though which is still behind the vpn so whatever. fast.com is how I caught it. 38mbps from speed test and 1.7 from fast. It's better now so I'll try again. I did run the magic on the router and it's been that way for a while. I've heard about stream saver, but I can't find the dang setting on my att account. I'll look on my workstation and see if I can find it.

I ended up finding the setting. It's not really found through the main page as far as I can see. I had to find an art support forum that someone had a direct link.

BrazosDog02 said:

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I ended up finding the setting. It's not really found through the main page as far as I can see. I had to find an art support forum that someone had a direct link.

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I still question whether mine is turned off. I use circledin so don't have access to the account management.

With stream saver off, you shouldn't need to use the VPN

txyaloo said:

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BrazosDog02 said:

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I ended up finding the setting. It's not really found through the main page as far as I can see. I had to find an art support forum that someone had a direct link.

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I still question whether mine is turned off. I use circledin so don't have access to the account management.

With stream saver off, you shouldn't need to use the VPN

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I checked again and I am usually hesitant to do these kinds of things because I don't want to get my systems killed by the att gestapo. I'll test it out. Honestly didn't even know there was an option. Still using VPN because…well… I paid for it.