Sierra Wireless 313U (USBConnect Momentum) for AT&T - Refurbished, Like New

This is now a fairly old piece of equipment, but it works fairly well. With my AT&T Unite Pro (Netgear 781S) attached directly via USB, I can get up to 75Mbps down. But with this 313U, I top out around 35Mbps because it lacks some of the newer features bonding additional channels to increase throughput. That said, it's very straightforward and easy to use and much more widely compatible with various 4G routers than the newer 781S. Plus, this is just a modem, compared to hotspots like the 781S that are their own integrated router/firewall, and you have no way of truly disabling or bypassing it.

The AT&T communication management software for Windows that it forces you to use is probably fine for your average user. But for power users who don't want or need its features and restrictions, just want it to work directly, I recommend upgrading to the AT&T Global firmware 3.05.10.02. It's available at http://mofinetwork.com/firmware/stick_updates/313u_ATT_Global_Firmware_03.05.10.02.zip

My only real criticism of this modem is that it is NOT platform-independent or plug-and-play. On an individual computer, it only works under Windows, with its self-installing "Connection Manager" software. With a router, it requires a special router that knows how to pretend it's running the same. Even routers which claim to support failover to 3G broadband (Asus) won't work.

That said, it's great once you get it working. AT

Works as promised. Love having the ability to connect an external antenna.

Every great once in a while you run across a vendor who puts customer service above sales AND has people answering the phone who actually know what they are talking about. I had a Cradlepoint MBR95 router with an AT&T beam modem connected for use at a remote area vacation home. All worked well for a month until one day I used the Beam on a laptop down the street. I noticed I was being offered a firmware update and made the upgrade. When I returned the Beam to the router they would no longer connect - automatically or manually. After some time on the phone with an AT&T tech he admitted to being stumped. A call to Cradlepoint found that I would have to pay for technical service. After a number of hours searching the net I found someone who had written an article stating that once the firmware was updated on the Beam it was no longer compatible with the Cradlepoint MBR95 and that there was no way to revert the Beam to the previous version of the firmware. That link lead me to the 3G Store where a call to Kevin advised me that he was well aware of the problem which he then proceeded to explain to me in language that I could easily understand. Thinking I would need to buy a new and expensive router as I had 23 months left on the Beam contract Kevin instead suggested my getting this older-model refurbished device and just swapping out my sim card. He assured me that it would resolve my problems. Upon receiving the modem I swapped the sim card and the 'new-old' modem synced right up with the router automatically. An added bonus is that over the past month my remote site connection has been far more stable than it had previously been with the Beam modem. I have now purchased several more items from the 3G Store instead of a vendor I had previously dealt with simply because of their great customer service combined with their excellent and friendly technical service.

Paired this up with a Pepwave SOHO in an RV. It is working well including under 4GLTE. Have Pepwave setup to use Wifi first, the fall back to this USB cell device when no Wifi is available.