The Ultimate series had a few releases but all were hardwire locked to the Telstra network. No amount of love nor money will unlock them. I owned one of the first and it used any Telco sim piggy-backed to the Telstra network. Like oldbloke's it refused to power up. That was possibly my fault because connected to USB 24/7. Some models in the later LTE wifi modems can be unlocked for use on other networks but may not use the bands your chosen non Telstra Telco uses. I haven't tested mine with other Telco because I only have Telstra sims. Whether a modem works better than a phone hotspot depends on your phone and whether you use the phone at the same time.
dabbler said
05:36 PM Feb 18, 2020
Mike, if you download video from steaming services for later viewing, speed is everything.
oldbloke said
06:01 PM Feb 18, 2020
Sooo, did a few speed tests. 1.5 km down the road, abt 500 mtrs from the local tower. Down load speed over 155 Mbps.
300 yards down the road down load speed over 60 Mbps.
Front or back yard 6Mbps.
I called boost as suggested and they did a reset. Still about same, 2.5mbps in house. Sheesh
Whenarewethere said
09:33 PM Feb 18, 2020
Looks like you have solved the problem, just have to move closer!
oldbloke said
02:08 PM Feb 19, 2020
Put wifes sim card (aldi) in my ph and got about 10 download in house. Put mine back, about 8mbps download. Aha fixed. Weeeelll no, an hour later back to about 2mbps. Work that out. Now 2 hours later removed and replaced my sim back to about 6mbps? Fairly usable on laptop. Its a puzzle alright.
-- Edited by oldbloke on Wednesday 19th of February 2020 02:09:30 PM
PeterX said
09:35 PM Feb 21, 2020
Mike Harding wrote:
Whenarewethere wrote:
2 years ago in the region of Shark Bay WA, I was trying to get a signal standing on tables etc. I'm using Boost.
A person came up to me an asked who I was with, he was with Telstra & had a perfect signal.
Our conclusion was that Telstra reduces the signal if you are not actually using a Telstra sim card.
Or it could be that his phone was able to receive a band your phone was not.
You ALSO need to check the BANDS that Boost is able to Use ( as in allowed to use by Telstra ) when you roam to Telstra Network
It would not surprise me if Telstra kept the best ban(s) for their own customer only.
A lot of people do not understand the situation about bands.
oldbloke said
09:45 PM Feb 21, 2020
I might be dreaming but since the ph call to boost/telstra and the sim swapping it does seem have improved. Just checked and 7mbps download. Yes there is no doubt that telstra customers get a faster/better service. I wouldnt be surprised if they can even adjust individual mobile speed if they want. e.g. neil had complaind so up my speed 25%.
I don't need 87Mbps download, it's just what is available if one is lucky or 119Mbps at better time of day!
It would be better if all the 3G areas were upgraded to 4G before we get ahead of ourselves with 5G.
300 yards down the road down load speed over 60 Mbps.
Front or back yard 6Mbps.
I called boost as suggested and they did a reset. Still about same, 2.5mbps in house. Sheesh
Looks like you have solved the problem, just have to move closer!
Put wifes sim card (aldi) in my ph and got about 10 download in house. Put mine back, about 8mbps download. Aha fixed. Weeeelll no, an hour later back to about 2mbps. Work that out. Now 2 hours later removed and replaced my sim back to about 6mbps? Fairly usable on laptop.
Its a puzzle alright.
-- Edited by oldbloke on Wednesday 19th of February 2020 02:09:30 PM
You ALSO need to check the BANDS that Boost is able to Use ( as in allowed to use by Telstra ) when you roam to Telstra Network
It would not surprise me if Telstra kept the best ban(s) for their own customer only.
A lot of people do not understand the situation about bands.