Novatel / Verizon 4G LTE Broadband Router with Voice T1114

For the sake of full disclosure, I know next to nothing about SIM or cellular technology. My family recently migrated to the new Verizon Unlimited Plan, and we are exploring options for unplugging from our current ISP (Charter Spectrum, I hate you). I figured I would give this a shot. In lieu of calling Verizon and activating the micro SIM that came pre-installed with the router, I opted to take a nano SIM out of an iPad (also on the unlimited Verizon account), and utilizing a nano to micro SIM adapter, followed others directions on using the T-6 micro driver to remove the screws holding the innards to the case, and voila, it worked perfect on startup. We instantly got 25 mbps (from 4 bars of 4g LTE) broadcast as conventional wifi throughout my home. I have a 1850 sq ft, two story home, and I was able to receive at least 3 bars in every room throughout the house using my wifes iPhone 5 as a wifi receiver..I also was able to connect my Brother all-in-one printer and Vizio smart TV to the wifi network that I had now created.We're not heavy internet users (no gaming, no substantial media downloads, mostly just email and netflix), but it seemed to handle all the usual video/movie apps on the TV at least as well as the basic internet that we were trying to replace, except for one. While Amazon Video, Netflix, Vudu, and Youtube all streamed like they did before using the Charter cable internet, for some reason, the TV's built-in Hulu app was struggling when using the 4g LTE internet source. Using a Hulu app on an iPad or directly on a laptop worked great. No idea why the TV app struggled.As far as hardware and useability go, this thing is awesome. There is just one major downside for verizon customers trying to tap into their unlimited plans...the 10 GB hotspot cap for 4G LTE. Like I said, I know nothing about SIM or cell tech. I had hoped that using the sim out of another device and not calling verizon to facilitate the activation would act as a workaround. Low and behold, it doesn't work that way. After 10 GB of useage, as indicated by the verizon website, it slowed to 3G speeds. Interestingly, my verizon account's webpage, and my verizon iPad app don't indicate that I have been using any hotspot data with this device...in fact, it specifically says I still have 10 GB of hotspot data available. Otherwise, it just shows my total data useage during this billing period, as per norm. However, I know from a friend with a verizon jetpack that you start getting alerts via text and on the webpage when you near the 10 GB hotspot cap with a device that was activated through verizon. In my case, I didn't get anything. I bet it probably has to do with how I sourced the SIM, but nonetheless, my practical application demonstrated that regardless of how you get the SIM or activate the router, Verizon will still cap you to 10 GB of 4G LTE. Maybe you can get a workaround some other way, but my little experiment failed.For what it's worth, I have been picking up a steady 1.5-2 mbps on my computer with the router working in 3G mode after I hit the 10 GB cap, and that's what I am using to submit this review. I have been able to check emails, read the news, and otherwise web browse without too much inconvenience, and I can even look at videos, albeit with a pretty slow buffer rate. I would assume that after the next billing cycle starts I will be able to get the 4G speeds again, but I am not keeping the router long enough to find out.Overall, the gear works as advertised, and it exceeded my expectations. If you are a casual internet user and verizon customer who doesn't watch too many movies over the internet, I honestly think you would be hard pressed to find a better internet solution. If verizon ever lifts the 10 GB cap on hotspot, I will seriously consider using this as my sole internet connection at home. I wish they had a way to even charge me a little extra to remove the cap, because even at $40 for a line with no cap, I would be better off than what Charter is charging. I get it, though. If everybody does what I tried to do, the cellular network would slow down and everyone would suffer. But maybe it would make traditional ISPs rethink theyre price gouging ways. For old folks who don't stream movies, or want some internet in the camper, this may be your ticket.

I bought this device mid March of 2017, its currently mid November 2018, so I've owned it for 20 months now. The device is still working great and its used pretty much every day. I added this as a line on my Verizon wireless account for $20 a month which is a lot cheaper than my other options living in BFE. Wireless internet where we live is either a satellite internet or a phone company that charges $105+ for the bare minimum and the service sucks and is so slow. I didn't wanna go with either and this fixed that problem. This device uses 4G LTE so no buffering while streaming! Except when you've used 15GB of data, then Verizon reduces you to 3G speed if 4G is needed by others. Living in BFE means there's not many people around us so even after we use the 15GB of data, we still get 4G most of the time after that. Overall, all we needed was to get on WiFi to do school stuff and social media on the computer occasionally but its mainly used to run a smart TV (mostly for Netflix) and this device works perfectly for that. Its very light weight so easy to take with you when you go on vacation which is really nice. The only thing I would change is that the WiFi doesn't work if the device is not plugged into a power source. That's kind of a pain while traveling, but I just end up cutting the hot spot on on my phone for those instances since it doesn't happen often. At home, I just have it plugged in by the TV and forget about it which is really nice. Every now and then the TV will say no connection and the device has to be turned off and back on then it'll work fine. That usually only happens every other month or so, so its not frequent enough to be a huge pain. I haven't tried using it for Xbox or PlayStation games so I cant attest to how it works for those but for what we need it for, it's perfect. It did not come with a sim card but that's not a huge issue, more of an inconvenience for me since I live 35 minutes from the closest Verizon store, but you can Follow this review for how to insert the sim card. ---https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JL57PMG/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1#customerReviews

These are free from Verizon when you set service up, and it is NOT available on a prepay plan! Besides that, they are very fast and effective and what they do, just dont buy it here.

Works pretty good. I get reception at least as good as my phone gets. I have not had problems with it disconnecting. My cell phone does disconnect sometimes because we don't have the best reception out in the country where we live. Setup was more simple than I feared. I was most pleased that my cordless phone's answering machine picks up and works fine if I am not able to get to the phone. I also hooked my alarm system up to it and it worked as well, even though my alarm system was only supposed to work with a land line. That was a very pleasant surprise. I can't comment on it's longevity, since I have only had it about 2 months. I do like the option to be able to hook up an external antennae, but I have not done that yet. Those are kind of expensive, but if you required it I suppose it would be worth it. With only 1 or two bars I still get about 5 meg speed or faster most of the time. Not too bad for what I am used to. I am glad I purchased this unit. It allowed me to cancel my home phone, and save about $25.00 a month.Update: We have been noticing that there is an annoying beep like someone punching numbers on the phone. It is only heard by the person who called us. ( or the person we called as well ) You can't hear it on your home phone. Sometimes it is very frequent and sometimes it only is there once or twice in a phone call. Not quite as happy as I was when I first got it for this reason.