Author: phort6n2

Our house is on the edge of town and a little rural, I suppose. Getting fast, reliable internet was a huge challenge until I discovered that I could get unlimited 4G rural internet by using data from a cell phone provider. 

If you’re like me you might find that using 4G LTE a data is the only way to get Internet at your rural home.

The Problem With Rural Internet

The problem I had is that I tried to get cable DSL and satellite but none of them had enough speed or data for my family to use. The local cable company doesn’t even service my house. We are too far from town for that. 

I knew that I had a pretty strong cellular signal at my house for our cell phones, and I tried to figure out a way to use that signal to power our home Internet. I was successful, and in this post I will lay out exactly what I did use 4G LTE data for a home Internet and hopefully you can have the same success as I have had.

The Solution: Unlimited 4G Rural Internet

The first thing I did was to figure out which cellular carrier had the best signal at my house. Our family uses Verizon as a carrier for our cell phones so I knew that Verizon had a pretty good Signal at our house I also knew that there are ways to boost the signal if you had one but first I need to make sure that I could actually get a second second signal.

I first checked the website of each of the carriers I checked Verizon AT&T Sprint and T-Mobile all of the carriers showed that I had some level of service at my house, Some better than others I didn’t just rely on what the website told me though I actually asked a few of my coworkers what cell phone data provided they used if they could drop by and check their phone signal when they were at my house that was the best way that I found to figure out if I had service from each data provider at my house.

I ended up figuring out that ultimately Verizon did have the best signal at my house. And interestingly just from using my cell phone in different rooms in the house I do that rooms on the lower level of the house had a slower speed for data transfer the rooms in the higher area of the house so I actually figured out how to use my cell phone to figure out the signal strength of the LTE signal at my house. Parentheses insert a link on how to use your cell phone to check the signal.

So now I set out to figure How to use 4G LTE data to power my home Internet.

The Necessary Equipment For Unlimited 4G Rural Internet

I actually ordered a new line from Verizon just for my home Internet to start. They actually used to offer a device that was called Verizon Home Phone and Internet that would act as a router to provide wireless Internet throughout your house. I quickly learned that Verizon was throttling my data at 15 GB and then turning it into really really slow Internet, like 3G speed. That what not going to work for a family of four with two kids who love to watch Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+.

So I set out to do some research and I figured out that I could go on eBay and relatively easily find a grandfathered Verizon unlimited 4G LTE data plan to rent or buy. I found a seller who was selling a Verizon unlimited 4G LTE line with a SIM card. He also threw in a modem/router too. Once it arrived I was pretty easily up and running with decent Internet at my house.

Find An Unlimited 4G Rural Internet Plan On eBay

I’ve added links to help you search for the proper Unlimited 4G Rural Internet plan on eBay. Just click the link associated with the provider that provides the best cell signal at your house:

Verizon Unlimited 4G Rural Internet Plans

AT&T Unlimited 4G Rural Internet Plans

T-Mobile Unlimited 4G Rural Internet Plans

Sprint Unlimited 4G Rural Internet Plans

Here’s a few tips on what to look for in a plan that will work for you:

• The provider has the best signal at your house (either Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, or T-Mobile
• The plan has Unlimited data usage (no data caps)
• The plan has No data throttling (throttling means that the data will slow down after you use a certain amount of data)
• Also, look for language in the description that indicated that the SIM card will work with a MOFI modem/router, or email the seller to ask that question before you order

Making My Unlimited 4G Rural Internet Even Better

So now I had 4G LTE unlimited rural Internet at my house using Verizon‘s data network and it was going really really well I didn’t have hardly any issues with connectivity there were very very few outages but I noticed that my download speed wasn’t exactly where I thought it should be. I was using the SpeedSmart app on my phone and seeing download speeds of about 6 mbps when connected to the modem, but when I turned off wifi on my phone (and connected only to the LTE network with my phone) I was getting 50+ mbps download!

I noticed that sometimes Netflix would buffer, and I’m sure it had to do wit the fact that the whole home was being provided with only 6 mbps download speeds. 

I set out to figure out how to get the fastest 4G LTE speed for my home internet. The modem/router that the eBay seller sent me was working, but since my phone was getting much faster download speeds than the modem/router (even when I put them side by side), I figured that the modem/router was probably where the slowdown was happening.

MOFI4500-4GXELTE-SIM7 Combo

I found the MOFI4500-4GXELTE-SIM7 Combo on Amazon and ordered it up. Amazon has a really good return policy, so I knew that I could return it if I didn’t see the results I wanted, or if it didn’t work at all. It was worth a shot.

I was also a little nervous that switching out the modem would somehow get my rented Verizon 4G LTE unlimited line throttled, capped, or worse, turned off. I emailed the guy I’m renting the line from and he thought it would be OK. 

The MOFI4500-4GXELTE-SIM7 Combo arrived and I couldn’t wait to set it up. By the way, if you search for the MOFI4500-4GXELTE-SIM7 Combo you might find it without the “Combo.” when you get the “Combo,” MOFI throws in their higher quality antennas which are supposed to help you get a better signal and therefore faster download speed. I obviously opted for the “Combo” when I ordered the MOFI4500-4GXELTE-SIM7 Combo.

I unboxed the MOFI4500-4GXELTE-SIM7 Combo and set it up in the upstairs bathroom on the wall. For some reason I always had the best download speeds in the upstairs bathroom. I’m sure that it was the clearest, most direct line-of-sight to the Verizon cell tower.

I took the SIM card out of the old modem/router and put it in the MOFI4500-4GXELTE-SIM7 Combo. Luckily it took the same size SIM card as my old modem/router so it was just plug and play, but the MOFI4500-4GXELTE-SIM7 Combo did come with a SIM adapter should you already have a SIM card that may be smaller than what it takes.

The MOFI4500-4GXELTE-SIM7 Combo takes a Standard Size SIM card, or you may see it as described 2FF or a mini SIM (not to be confused with micro SIM…that is 3FF).

There was very little setup, and the instructions included with the MOFI4500-4GXELTE-SIM7 Combo were clear and complete. It took about one minute to boot up, and then BAM! I was connected to the Verizon Network using unlimited 4G rural internet.

Now the fun part…I checked my download speed on my cellphone once I was connected to my new wireless network.

Download Speed: 51.15 Mbps!! 

Upload Speed: 7.19 Mbps!!

There would be no more buffering of Netflix in my household. In fact, I could easily run a 4K television now for the kids!

Since then I’ve improved my home internet experience by adding a wifi mesh system, but it’s definitely not necessary if you’re just getting started with unlimited 4G rural internet. I’ll save the details on that system for a future post.

Conclusion

Here’s a rundown of what I did use unlimited 4G rural internet to power my home internet:

Step 1

Here’s a screenshot of the signal strength that I’m currently getting. You can see that it’s “Fair.” The signal strength shows -97 dBm.

I’m actively working on ways to get a better signal strength. I’ve almost got it, and when I do, I’ll make a post outlining how I did it. For now, I’m still getting awesome download speeds and it’s really not necessary to improve the signal strength. But, I’m having fun with it and I’ll probably work on it.

I hope that this guide will help you solve your rural internet problems. Please leave a comment or question below. I’d love to hear from you!