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christym
join:2014-05-20
United State

christym

Member

Replacing Hotspot? Only can buy from Millenicom?

After months and months of complaining to Millenicom about my dropped connections and slow speeds, Millenicom is just now telling me I need a new wifi hotspot that I can ONLY buy through them. My device is about a year and a half old. It's a Novatel Jetpack EE15.

My hotspot goes dormant or disconnects, and my speeds are 1x or 3g usually, not the 4g. I can stay online for only moments sometimes then I lose my connection. They told me when I inquired my area has an excellent signal for 4g. A triangle keeps showing up on the screen that says I'm roaming. When I use this device, I am at home and I shouldn't be roaming.

How can I tell if I really do need this or not? They didn't guarantee me if I buy this, my problem will be solved.

Also, I only use this service for e-mail and web surfing. They told me last month I was nearly at my limit before it was the end of the month. When I told them I only use it for e-mail, they said maybe my computer has a virus and it's being used for a zombie.
David_K
join:2014-05-02

David_K

Member

You could install the free tool NetWorx and monitor your own usage if it's PC based. My Pantech mifi that I bought about 2 months ago now was very reliable until about a week ago, now it's dropping 4G on a daily basis with me getting kicked down to 3G or even 1x.
christym
join:2014-05-20
United State

christym

Member

Thanks. I did install something someone mentioned called "Bandwidth Monitor" but it doesn't seem to be working.
Jim_in_VA (banned)
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA

Jim_in_VA (banned) to christym

Member

to christym
Jetpack EE15? Never heard of it. Does it have a SIM?
christym
join:2014-05-20
United State

christym

Member

Yes, it has a red and white small sim about the size of a thumb nail. I was going by the numbers inside the battery case when I take off the cover.
Jim_in_VA (banned)
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA

Jim_in_VA (banned)

Member

well then, you can buy just about any device you want that is compatible with Verizon and just swap your sim into it. Pantech, Novatel ...not a problem
christym
join:2014-05-20
United State

christym

Member

I wonder why tech support told me I had to go through Millenicom then? Thanks. Ideas where to buy one at a reasonable cost? I think my computer still might have a virus as there's no way I could have used 20 GB of data. I only send e-mail and surf the web.
David_K
join:2014-05-02

David_K

Member

ebay is a good place to start, if only to get a general idea of what to expect to pay.

Try Amazon as well.
christym
join:2014-05-20
United State

christym

Member

I am finding quite a few used ones on Craigslist too. Ebay seems like there's quite a bit of competition. Thanks for all the tips.
Bosgarage57
join:2010-09-02
Sevierville, TN

Bosgarage57

Member

Christym, just make sure they take the same size SIM card.

Does anyone know if buying a newer device will help with reception? I have a Wilson sleek cradle and my 4g has been dropping down to 1x a lot recently.
MOFIMAN
join:2010-02-11
Concord, ON

MOFIMAN to christym

Member

to christym
Hope the mods do not remove this post as this would surely solve your issues.

1) you can buy a MOFI router + Pantech 295 combo for $149.99 on Amazon and if you have prime, get free 2 days shipping.
»www.amazon.com/Verizon-W ··· e+router

2) with this set up, when you get this, put your sim in stick and then in the router and it will go online and after that is done, do a remote update which is located in basic mode then system then remote update to get to the latest version

3) after that is done, log into router and set the Pantech 295 to LTE only mode. You will see a gui for the Pantech 295 as it will auto detect that stick and provide the option to set to LTE only.
With this mode, it would never drop to 3G and since your signal is good, there is no reason to do it as it will never go away
Note that with the stick alone, the option to set to LTE only is not available so this features is right now exclusive only to the MOFI router.

4) log into router and active the bandwidth monitoring.
This is located in parental control then bandwidth monitoring.
Check to active and set a reset date were your billing date reset so you can monitor exactly all your usage.
With this bandwidth monitoring, it will track and show the usage of all pc, tablets, phones or anything connect to the router so you will see exactly where the data is going to.
If you see a pc using up too much data, then you probably should check it for spyware or virus.

With this set up, first, you will not drop to 3G anymore.
second, you will be able to see all usage as this features is really nice for anyone who is worried about spyware.
I got on a few months ago and was able to find out that one of my kids Android was using over 20GB a day so we clean it and solved the issue.
Without this features, it is very hard to track where the data is coming from.

Since this is from Amazon, if you do not like it, you can return it very easy.

The Pantech 295 uses a micro sim.

If for some reason you have a regular sim, it is very easy to cut it to make it a micro to fit.

Let us know how this goes.