LTE Modem and Router for remote locations

Hey guys. I need to buy an LTE Modem and Router to install at our cabin.

I'd like to buy a modem that runs on Verizon network and use it to turn lights, home automation, water supply, etc. on and off remotely. I plan to run a computer there and use this network connection to log into the computer remotely with Teamviewer for a few things. But for the most part the data consumption will be under 1gb a month. I can get Verizon prepaid plan for $17.50 a month for 1gb. I want an unlocked device and no month to month plan. Just prepaid.

I already brought a Verizon mifi jetpack hotspot device and the cell reception was very good. The connection was pretty fast. But the jetpack device uses wifi and the device has terrible wifi range I dont want the complexity of wifi. I want at least 1 ethernet connection for critical items.

So what do you recommend that a person like me can figure out?

1. This is expensive but looks like the real deal an comes with good external antennas. Would this work? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M7RG1VN/ref=asc_df_B01M7RG1VN5376209?tag=cnet-pc-20&smid=A1L4LS2KNDBWYV&linkCode=df0&creative=395105&creativeASIN=B01M7RG1VN&ascsubtag=e802ab60-15f5-11e8-867a-475a92fa835f

2. Cheaper route but not so good reviews, need to get external antenna for it: https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-LB2120-100NAS-Modem-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B01MQRHQYT/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1519101891&sr=8-3&keywords=lte+modem

3. This one? https://www.amazon.com/Huawei-B310-518-Unlocked-Mobile-Caribbean/dp/B076BXKFT2/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1519101891&sr=8-5&keywords=lte+modem&dpID=31R0yOm2C9L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

4. Very little info on this one: https://www.amazon.com/KuWFi-Wireless-External-Extender-4pcs5dbi/dp/B01FVJIWCW/ref=pd_sbs_107_20?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01FVJIWCW&pd_rd_r=AHJ0XQZVQZVCEMM303QA&pd_rd_w=mlSYY&pd_rd_wg=iS84V&psc=1&refRID=AHJ0XQZVQZVCEMM303QA

5. $634 yikes https://www.amazon.com/CradlePoint-COR-IBR600LE-VZ-Router-Verizon/dp/B00BCLCSJW

6. Cheapest solution, travel router with USB port to plug in a Verizon USB LTe dongle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00634PLTW/ref=psdc_300189_t1_B01FV7ZUCO

7. This looks promising but not sure it wroks for USA market according to reviews: https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-WLAN-750mb-MR200-ARCHER/dp/B014VB4N4M/ref=pd_sbs_107_15?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B014VB4N4M&pd_rd_r=AHJ0XQZVQZVCEMM303QA&pd_rd_w=mlSYY&pd_rd_wg=iS84V&psc=1&refRID=AHJ0XQZVQZVCEMM303QA



Any others I should be looking into it that work with Verizon? Which one of these do you suggest?

Thank you !!!

A lot of those won't work on verizon. Verizon operates a whitelist of devices they allow on their network.

You can get a cradlepoint cheaper on ebay. The options involving USB dongles or express cards will work too.

Thank You for the reply tangent. I will go back and edit out the items that are not white listed for Verizon.

My concern with the usb dongle is that I can’t add an external cellular antenna if I want to. I know a diversity antenna would be much better then one internal usb dongle antenna.

CaliGirl said:

Thank You for the reply tangent. I will go back and edit out the items that are not white listed for Verizon.

My concern with the usb dongle is that I can’t add an external cellular antenna if I want to. I know a diversity antenna would be much better then one internal usb dongle antenna.

Click to expand...

Don't bother editing you post. The part of the problem is the specs you might find listed on amazon for some device may claim it works on verizon but it doesn't actually. It's hard to get a list of what works, but once you have the device's unique IMEI you can check if it will work on verizon.

The most reliable would be get a glinet router and install rooter on it or even leave the default firmware on it.

Get a verizon hotspot or use a mc7455 modem with dual antennas if its remote.
Ull need a usb adapter for the modem as well.
If you want u can pm me


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Pm'ing you

You're probably keeping your cable internet I assume and just want this for failover right?

If your Asus router has a USB port then chances are it will work with a 3G/4G USB dongle already. A firmware upgrade may be required.

Networks 3G4G Support

I don't know how easily you will find one these days but some USB dongles in the past have had connectors for custom antennas.

Mostly all of those are junk sadly. You'll want to stay away from anything that says it's USB based (those stupid dongles) and you'll also want to stay away from anything that has a battery in it (they expand and explode over time being fed power 24/7) The first one you linked is actually one of the best routes. It's a company called Digi International -- The specific product you're looking at there is the WR11-L800-DE1-XU model which doesn't necessarily boast the best throughput (20-30Mb), but does exactly what it needs to do. It's a hardened device and almost every bit of it is made of industrial metal and can handle a lot of harsh environments. I'm running a handful of them and currently they are sitting in -23F temps without skipping a beat. They have an external monitoring service which is pretty cool, but unnecessary. If you weren't a fan of the cradlepoint pricing (I think cradlepoint is absolute junk anyways but that's my personal take after years of working with them) you probably won't like the $500 price tag of the Digi LR54, but that one is absolutely a slam dunk, as it replaces your firewall and does load balancing and failover etc. Sort of an all-in-one with that. I've been doing 3G/4G IP Cam installations for like 4 years now and have spent probably $7,000+ from 2011-2017 on just testing literally everything that is out there to determine if it will work well, and it's crazy how much of it is just junk, so it's nice when ya find gear that simply works

Thanks guys. Very helpful. I hadn’t thought of the usb dongle to usb option. That would have been the cheapest.


I’m afraid of the usb dongles bc they seem to small and lack a real antenna. Especially since this is inside a metal roof wharehouse with lots of possible anntenuation. I wanted something with a diversity antenna if I could get it.


@brad2388 taught me how to build my own modem with a modem card and I will likely do that this summer for one location. But for this one I decided to buy several and test at home before I deploy. I was not able to find anyone that had tried several options like @gmaster1 reports. They each have their pluses and minuses and some expensive cost. I just can’t have it going in and out and having to head out there to reset like my ip camera setup this last year.


Verizon jet pack with WiFi. Great cell connection, absolutely terrible WiFi that drops. Also, after a power outage it will not turn its self back on. You must be present to press on. So worthless for me.


Netgear modem has been working rock solid for 24hrs, it’s hardwired Ethernet which I really wanted. Less links in the chain to break. It accepted the Verizon prepaid card from jet pack instantly. Others reported it was hard to get a card from Verizon. Hopefully they don’t recognize it’s in a different device and shut it off? Can it will that happen? Should I update them as to where the card is installed in a new device? Netgear modem tied to Netgear WiFi router to operate a WiFi switch for the computer to power cycle it when needed. But nertgesr modem and router will stay upstream of the WiFi switch at all times. Netgear modem turns back on after a power outage on its own. Will keep testing this week.


I ordered the WR11 modem from digi. It’s $270 so very expensive to me and needs a WiFi router attached as well. But like gmaster said it’s a true enterprise device made for reliability. I got the cheaper plastic model I think with less environmental protection. This will Be indoors and not cold. I don’t get this until next week to test it. I don’t need a speed device, just reliable data and uptime. It also takes two SIM cards so I could have Verizon and att and if one goes down I think the other provider takes over (I hope). And it powers its self back on after a power outage (I hope). It has big diversity antennas.


So many reports of cradlepoint failing and bad customer service. At that price point that is not acceptable. Digi has a 5 year warranty on their device.


Hope I am not missing anything obvious.

I too rely on LTE (4g) for my summerhouse setup and hasn´t had any problems with it in almost a year. I got the Huawei B593 router/modem (about $150) which so far has been working fine for me

I baught few months ago Geneko GWR402HSW-s 3G/4G router GWR402HSW High Speed Cellular Router :: Geneko
but unfortunately not tested yet.

Thanks guys. I got the Digi WR11 today to test. Much better reception than the Verizon Jetpack and Netgear devices with the included antennas.

Took almost an hour at Verizon to convince them to sell me a prepaid data sim card. They are not used to that. I got 1gb for $20 to test.

1. What data plans are you guys using? How much per month and for what amount of data? How much do you end up using and for what typical task?

2. What are my plan options? Hard to navigate the process. I've been going to best buy to look at their prepaid sim card boxes bc you can't find those prices online easily.

3. I'm running the tasks I need and measuring the data usage I predict I will need before I deploy it remotely.

I was thinking 2GB of Verizon would be good for 60 days but today it ran through 300mb somehow and was not using teamviewer or websites or updates. I have all windows updates off. I went through all of windows 10 and turned off anything that uses data that I don't need. And turned on the metered connection.
Cell modem> Netgear wifi router> windows 10 computer (wifi switches to power cycle computer off need be, power on set in the bios).

I'm sure this isn't exactly what you're looking for but here is usage data from a Peplink router my dad has been running at one of his remote sites for several years. It is running an old AT&T unlimited 3G plan and doing motion detection on 3 cameras, sending snapshots out via email. Many emails per day.




The hardware is a Peplink Balance 20 with some old Sierra Wireless USB modem and external antenna (it was a decent choice at the time, though nowadays there are more compact and rugged tools for the job). It has been surprisingly robust considering it is all installed in a building that gets extremely hot during the summer, and the dust coating everything is thick and nasty. Although there have been occasional outages lasting several weeks, we blame those on AT&T. The hardware still works like the day it was new. Including a 2nd generation i5 PC, and I shudder to think about what the inside of that thing must look like now.

Until I install my new Dahua kit in about two months, I’m running the cheap AliExpress junk kit i got about a year ago. I get a A LOT of false positives and therefore a lot of snapshots are emailed.
Over the last year it’s been consuming about 2-3 gigs/month.
Hopefully less when the new stuff is in place



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So this is where things get really tricky and it's not that I'm assuming anything, but if you haven't spent a lot of time dealing with advanced networking concepts you may find yourself at a loss with 1GB/mo and especially with a Win10 installation. In fact most network engineers I work with have a very difficult time understanding how to pull remote 1080p view/access off successfully inside 1GB. The good news is you're planning on using this connection strictly as a fail-over, right? If that's the case, it makes your task easier and way more manageable assuming the firewall you're balancing these connections on has a way to to do active/passive modes.

Speaking to just a single cellular line, 300MB/mo will inevitably be budged to your keep-alives on the various programs you're using (i.e. teamviewer). Teamviewer is actually way chattier than this and may squeeze more per month which is why I tend to stay away from it. For years I've been able to do live viewing and remote off-site video clip send inside of 1GB/mo, but it involved counting every byte, not kilobyte. I also have to strip away every service that may automatically run on Windows, limit the amount of handshakes it has with services like time sync, network sharing, etc. The VPN/RAS will be your largest byte hog, so it's best to allocate as much as you can for that. Even devices like smart switches, thermostats, etc consume up to a GB per month. In these types of setups I have to obsessively test everything that comes into a network and have seen some crazy things. Like a thermostat consuming 2GB/mo -- that's a lot of keepalive data.

The point is, if you find your setup requires the cell modem to pass data through it and after stripping things away you still find yourself hovering at 700MB usage, you may just want to spring for an extra gig per month. If the intention is to off-site photos and videos on motion, usually there's more to the conversation as far as fine tuning this further.

I'm not on here much, but if I remember right, you were the one with a lake side property overlooking communities across the water. If it were me, I'd explore knocking on a few doors over there and spend $97 on a pair of Ubiquiti dishes and split a 12 pack with the neighbor for allowing a little hook-up to their services as a good backup system ;-)

Just an FYI for others looking at something like this, I've used a MOFI router with AT&T for over 18 months now at a remote/off-grid location with great performance & up time. It's supposed to work with Verizon but I've never tried one of their SIM's in it.

MOFI4500-4GXeLTE-SIM4 [MOFI4500-4GXeLTE-SIM4] - $299.99

Just another option.

I've used Digi units at few locations for work where they replaced older CDMA Sierra Raven-X modems and have had a few fail but these are in really bad environmental conditions so it's hard to be too critical (high humidity and extreme cold)