AT&T has changed something. Have you guys experienced issues with dropped internet? I have a bizarre instance where my hotspot router remains connected to the internet. My computer however, cannot load any websites and seems to have no internet connectivity. However, I can ping website from command prompt. Also, all connected devices to that router complain of 'no internet'. The router however says it is connected to the network. This issue cropped up on a second location and I thought it was router related, however, my first location is also doing this and they have different routers and different service providers...but all through AT&T.

It's infuriating as I need a stable connection.

Any ideas?

Read through the past few pages of this thread. More and more instances of this are popping up. Until someone with some more technical knowledge chimes in, the issue seems to be caused either by Cradlepoint devices ore AT&T.

Are both your devices Cradlepoint? or is one/both of them that's experiencing this issue a different manufacturer?

NONE of mine are cradlepoint.

One is a Nighthawk router with a grandfathered unlimited AT&T plan that has literally not even been touched for a year. One day...it just started acting up.

The other is a GL-X750 router that worked flawlessly through two service providers, which were all AT&T, and now all of a sudden not working reliably.

Basically, it's like it goes to sleep or something...but both routers, 200 miles away, different brands, same AT&T....similar problems that have started within a few weeks.

Very odd. No one seems to have any idea about the problem because everything looks in order.

Well, I guess that means that it is an AT&T issue. That also means that we are even more screwed. But at least that will slow me down blowing through the data limit.

WheelinAg

>> Man $100 a month for 400gb at Bix? Getting pretty high... I might be getting a taller tower.

A new Bix basic plan is now $85 -- but if you plan to exceed 400gb in 30 days, you need to pay the extra $100 fee or risk having AT&T cancel/block your account, at least for a billing cycle. Bix says they are charging the $100 fee that AT&T charges them for the extra bandwidth - but its your option to pay extra or not. They make their money on the basic plan markup. I have no idea whether Bix's assertions are true or not.

I get by fine with their basic plan except for the recent dropouts - but that seems to be an AT&T or tower problem.

Quote:

---

We regret to inform you that effective Sept. 14 2020. T-Mobile will be banning all Unlimited Data Accounts. We have no control over the merger changes. We will prorate refunds for days not used. Stay posted we will email other options when they become available.

---

Recieved today from my old hotspot company.

twbot said:

---

A new Bix basic plan is now $85

---

I'm not sure where you're seeing this. If I click on buy an AT&T plan it's $99.95

WheelinAg said:

---

twbot said:

---

A new Bix basic plan is now $85

---

I'm not sure where you're seeing this. If I click on buy an AT&T plan it's $99.95

---

Yikes! They raised prices for new subscribers. When I signed up a few months ago it was $85 for basic (up to 400GB) and a $100 surcharge for "Unlimited". Now I see its $100 for up to 400GB and $189 for up to 800GB.

Just got my September bill and its still 85 so I guess I'm grandfathered in for now.

It's hard to keep up with all the price/bandwidth changes these days...

I hopefully only need one more month. Brazos Valley WiFi has a new tower near us and can hopefully hit my tower without any additional height.

Not sure what's going on but we have absolutely no internet using Never Throttle. Is anyone else having issues today?

Hits keep on coming. OTR sent out an email this morning confirming that TMobile plan is going away. Also, they are changing the AT&T plan again and raising the price ($90). I think what's likely to be the worst part this time is that they are going to be restricting streaming to "DVD Quality." So it's going to become even less of a viable home internet option.

chaca5151 said:

---

Not sure what's going on but we have absolutely no internet using Never Throttle. Is anyone else having issues today?

---

That happened to my parents service a couple weeks ago, then mine a few days later. Had to get a new SIM card. Their customer service is horrendous, but I had the best luck texting the number on their support page.

Jefe07 said:

---

Hits keep on coming. OTR sent out an email this morning confirming that TMobile plan is going away. Also, they are changing the AT&T plan again and raising the price ($90). I think what's likely to be the worst part this time is that they are going to be restricting streaming to "DVD Quality." So it's going to become even less of a viable home internet option.

---

What are they going to offer as far as new plans? Nothing? Because that's what they currently have available...

Are all T Mobile plans gone, or will current plans be able stay active?

It sounds like Tmobile is pulling all 3rd party plans. I posted a link a few days ago (above) about a different carrier losing Tmobile. Hopefully it's because they are expanding their own LTE home service. It does exist, but it's very limited geographically. I'm not holding my breath there.

New AT&T plan (specifically through OTR, can't speak to other 3rd parties) is going up to $90. Take it or leave it. If you don't actively select the new plan, you will be cancelled. They are even issuing new SIMs, again. The most obvious changes that I see is that streaming will be limited to DVD quality (read: not HD). Also probably updating the terms that if now if you >400GB, you're cancelled. It's already happened to me once. Fortunately, I was reactivated after new billing cycle.

MaroonBloodedAg2010 said:

---

chaca5151 said:

---

Not sure what's going on but we have absolutely no internet using Never Throttle. Is anyone else having issues today?

---

That happened to my parents service a couple weeks ago, then mine a few days later. Had to get a new SIM card. Their customer service is horrendous, but I had the best luck texting the number on their support page.

---

So I got a new sim card on Thursday and my wife and I decided to just bite the bullet and purchase AT&T wireless internet which to be honest has been just as good as Never Throttled, obviously, the only issues are it's not unlimited which is why we want to keep NT. With wireless internet, home phone, and Direct TV we get 150gigs for cheaper then what I pay for internet and YTTV right now.

With my wife working from home, it's critical that she has reliable internet so we will just keep both just in case.

Can I ask you what's your APN set to on your device? NT has yet to get mine up and running because like you said their customer service is horrendous.

Just got the dreaded OTR email today. Raising prices and lowering streaming quality is pretty much a deal breaker for me.

What is everyone doing now? Any suggestions on a different company to go with?

A VPN will get around the streaming quality, but it's not always fun or easy to deal with. I'm still getting the random disconnects but otherwise chugging along.

chaca5151 said:

---

MaroonBloodedAg2010 said:

---

chaca5151 said:

---

Not sure what's going on but we have absolutely no internet using Never Throttle. Is anyone else having issues today?

---

That happened to my parents service a couple weeks ago, then mine a few days later. Had to get a new SIM card. Their customer service is horrendous, but I had the best luck texting the number on their support page.

---

So I got a new sim card on Thursday and my wife and I decided to just bite the bullet and purchase AT&T wireless internet which to be honest has been just as good as Never Throttled, obviously, the only issues are it's not unlimited which is why we want to keep NT. With wireless internet, home phone, and Direct TV we get 150gigs for cheaper then what I pay for internet and YTTV right now.

With my wife working from home, it's critical that she has reliable internet so we will just keep both just in case.

Can I ask you what's your APN set to on your device? NT has yet to get mine up and running because like you said their customer service is horrendous.

---

My APN is just broadband

I finally got everything working finally but it sucks so bad, my download is maybe 5 and upload is 1 mbps.

Did you have that same problem or is it back to normal?

Mine went back to normal once they finally fixed it. Other than the Cradlepoint issue of randomly not working until the modem gets restarted, it's been normal.

So I was looking back at the ATT plan I purchased last Thursday because we were having issues with Never Throttled (still do); I just bought this as a backup and really until Starlink becomes available.

When I signed up for the bundle, which included rural internet, phone, and direct tv, I was told I'd be getting 150gb a month at the time I wanted more, but this was supposed to be a backup system. This morning was the first time I started looking at the fine print.

Here is what it says the plan includes 250GB data allowance per month, ok, that's nice because the store reps were telling me it's only 150GB. I kept reading and found this *Bonus Data: New residential customers who sign up for Fixed Wireless Internet service between 7/26/20 and 11/8/20 will receive an additional 250GB internet data allowance per month. Standard overage charges will apply once all plan/bonus data is used in any given month.

Now I'm getting 500gb of internet... but then I switch back to another page and find this. AT&T is waiving all home internet data overage fees in response to the public health crisis.

I kept wondering why I was seeing unlimited under my plan when I would look it up but was told I only get 150GB.

I don't know what you guys think, but it looks to be a better option than using NT? I was paying $80 plus another $80 for YTTV, and with the bundle, through ATT, I pay $135, and it's unlimited internet.

My AT&T based service went out and a reset didn't help, and then I got this email. Ugh... Maybe I'll try what the above poster is doing, but I do north of 500GB a month. I feel Like I'll get popped pretty quickly once they decide to stop being nice.

chaca5151 said:

---

So I was looking back at the ATT plan I purchased last Thursday because we were having issues with Never Throttled (still do); I just bought this as a backup and really until Starlink becomes available.

When I signed up for the bundle, which included rural internet, phone, and direct tv, I was told I'd be getting 150gb a month at the time I wanted more, but this was supposed to be a backup system. This morning was the first time I started looking at the fine print.

Here is what it says the plan includes 250GB data allowance per month, ok, that's nice because the store reps were telling me it's only 150GB. I kept reading and found this *Bonus Data: New residential customers who sign up for Fixed Wireless Internet service between 7/26/20 and 11/8/20 will receive an additional 250GB internet data allowance per month. Standard overage charges will apply once all plan/bonus data is used in any given month.

Now I'm getting 500gb of internet... but then I switch back to another page and find this. AT&T is waiving all home internet data overage fees in response to the public health crisis.

I kept wondering why I was seeing unlimited under my plan when I would look it up but was told I only get 150GB.

I don't know what you guys think, but it looks to be a better option than using NT? I was paying $80 plus another $80 for YTTV, and with the bundle, through ATT, I pay $135, and it's unlimited internet.

---

That's a heckuva fine print, doubling the data. And the overage is actually fairly reasonable versus getting shut off completely. I had looked at this plan before, but I didn't look closely at the fine print. The unknown is how long they will allow the extra data. I'll for sure blow through the 250GB, but I can manage with 500 most of the time. Thanks for sending.

Update: This service is not available in my area. Bummer.

I'm in a rural area between Austin and San Antonio. I just did an availability check for AT&T's own wireless internet 250gb plan but its not available in my area.

https://www.att.com/shop/address/#/check-availability

@chaca5151 - can get it

@jefe07 - can't get get it

Where are you guys located?


Since I can get AT&T through OTR (had them in 2019-2020) and BIX (2020) I wonder why its wireless is "not available" through AT&T directly?

Their huge tower sits on the tallest hill about a mile away and I can see it from my house.

For about six months up to this past August AT&T worked flawlessly. Now service has been spotty in the past month or so with dropouts about once every 30 hours - have to shut off Cradlepoint for about 20 seconds before turning it back on to get it back - so maybe that's the reason AT&T isn't offering it - but I'm guessing its something else - maybe this is a new plan that will eventually be offered nationally?

twbot said:

---

I'm in a rural area between Austin and San Antonio. I just did an availability check for AT&T's own wireless internet 250gb plan but its not available in my area.

https://www.att.com/shop/address/#/check-availability

@chaca5151 - can get it

@jefe07 - can't get get it
- Southern Grimes County (South of Navasota - Whitehall) - I am 1.6 mi SE of an AT&T tower, almost LOS to the tower.

Where are you guys located?


Since I can get AT&T through OTR (had them in 2019-2020) and BIX (2020) I wonder why its wireless is "not available" through AT&T directly?

Their huge tower sits on the tallest hill about a mile away and I can see it from my house.

For about six months up to this past August AT&T worked flawlessly. Now service has been spotty in the past month or so with dropouts about once every 30 hours - have to shut off Cradlepoint for about 20 seconds before turning it back on to get it back - so maybe that's the reason AT&T isn't offering it - but I'm guessing its something else - maybe this is a new plan that will eventually be offered nationally?

---

@jefe07 - can't get get it

- Southern Grimes County (South of Navasota - Whitehall) - I am 1.6 mi SE of an AT&T tower, almost LOS to the tower.

@tfunk - how much data do you use? At $10 per 50GB, you could go over by another 50% and only take your bill to $100. While not awesome, it is reasonable-ish.

As far as availability of AT&T fixed wireless, I just got off the phone with them. Good news and bad news:

-Bad news is that it's still not available for me.
-Good news is that the phone number is actually a dedicated line (seemingly) just for this service, so you are able to talk to someone who actually knows what you are asking about. Also, they gave me an "explanation" for maybe why service be available for my address. They didn't say that it's only available in certain areas (read: T-Mobile and Verizon). He said it was tower specific. Either the tower is too congested or service is not good enough to guarantee >= 10mbps. I told him that I regularly speed test my iPhone at 20-40 mbps (but neglected to say that I speed tested my OTR this morning and got 1.5mbps). His response was that it's possibly because congestion will occasionally prevent me from getting to that minimum. Best news of the call was that they did start a ticket for me to have a technician come out and actually evaluate the service at my address. I'm sure it'll still result in a no, if they even come to my house. But at least there is a shot.

My recommendation is that you call them and ask why it's not available. Hopefully they will also offer to send out a technician and force them to tell you no in person.

Also, fine print does say that this service has to be an add on to a current TV or post paid wireless plan. Just FYI.

I live in San Marcos.. So far its been the most reliable.

1.4 TB Modem Data Usage over the last 30 days... oof. That's more than twice as much as I thought it would be. Work files take a big toll on it these days.

@chaca5151

That's crazy - they offer it in San Marcos and we're only 10-15 miles northwest of there.

Maybe its like @jefe07 says - my local tower may be too congested - which is why we get disconnected so often these days. If my wife and I didn't need the hotspot for work I would try waiting to see if the connection would come back on its own. Its the same tower they use for cell phone plans so you'd think they wouldn't want to alienate those customers...

Not sure @jefe07 what you mean when you say the fine print states it needs to be an add on to a post paid wireless plan - you mean a normal cell phone plan?

BTW, thanks everyone for all the info.

twbot said:

---

@chaca5151

That's crazy - they offer it in San Marcos and we're only 10-15 miles northwest of there.

Maybe its like @jefe07 says - my local tower may be too congested - which is why we get disconnected so often these days. If my wife and I didn't need the hotspot for work I would try waiting to see if the connection would come back on its own. Its the same tower they use for cell phone plans so you'd think they wouldn't want to alienate those customers...

Not sure @jefe07 what you mean when you say the fine print states it needs to be an add on to a post paid wireless plan - you mean a normal cell phone plan?

BTW, thanks everyone for all the info.

---

Oh dang! Yea, that is nuts.

Yea, I wasn't sure about that also @jefe07. We already have our cell phones with ATT, and all I originally wanted was just the internet. I took it as since I had a phone plan that counted towards postpaid wireless plans.

I feel a little better knowing it's unlimited for now and hoping that it stays like that for a good six months or until the end of the school year. I couldn't imagine ATT caping the data only because with kids doing online schooling five days a week, that's got to eat up a ton of data.

twbot said:

---

Not sure @jefe07 what you mean when you say the fine print states it needs to be an add on to a post paid wireless plan - you mean a normal cell phone plan?

---

Yes, that's what I meant. You have to have an existing phone plan to add this on to. I don't have an AT&T plan anymore, but I'd happily put my wife's work phone on AT&T if they'd let me sign up for their legitimate fixed wireless plan.

We continue to get AT&T disconnects at least once per day. Easily remedied by restarting our Cradlepoint hotspot, but annoying as hell.

My wife saw a reference to this article on CNN's website:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/22/uk/old-tv-breaks-broadband-village-scli-intl-gbr/index.html

Broadband was dropping out in a Welsh village for 18 months.

"Engineers had a theory that the problem could be caused by a phenomenon called single high-level impulse noise (SHINE), in which an appliance emits electrical interference that impacts broadband connectivity."

They scanned the village with a spectrum analyzer and discovered an old TV was the culprit. Whenever it was turned on, it interfered with the local tower.

I've switched over to a new service that uses AT&T and it's the same. I get disconnected but not completely since I can reboot over the cloud. An unplug and plugging back in always fixes it for hours. I've been trying to find a way to make the CradlePoint reboot itself when it happens but that doesn't look possible from what I've seen.

Reading about other people's experiences with wireless hotspots and carriers has been very helpful in keeping me sane.

I have kept an informal log of my experiences.

I started out with OTR last year with AT&T and except for a disconnect occasionally, like once every 2 or 3 weeks, it worked great. They went to T-Mobile and due to their tower location relative to my house here in Central Texas, that was a disaster - no dropouts - just really slow speeds.

Next I went with BIX's AT&T plan in May this year and through August 3, I had only three instances where the connection dropped completely, or would drop to to HSPA speeds instead of LTE.

Beginning August 3, my log shows the problem began to increase to once every two or three days, then every day and now approximately twice a day. When it first started happening I would reboot my Cradlepoint but it would always reconnect at the slower HSPA or HSPA+ speeds unless I did a full reset. I learned by the end of August how to set the Cradlepoint to always reboot to an LTE connection, and now when I simply switch the hotspot on and off, I never see HSPA speeds when it reconnects.

Thanks to all here for reports on your own experiences because I realize changing out hardware or carriers is probably not going to solve this. AT&T is currently the best option in my location for broadband and its unknown what may happen down the line - AT&T may cut off resellers, they may offer their own plan, someone else will come along with a new service, like Starlink, or things will simply remain like this for awhile.