4G – Graves On SOHO Technology

New Gear: Ubiquiti Unifi 5G Backup

Apologies for the lengthy preamble. Back in 2001 when we moved into this house we started with Comcast cable modem internet access that delivered 5/1 mbps. We were committed to Comcast for cable TV since we were a Tivo household. Tivo DVRs leveraged cable and the Cable Card decryption scheme.

It also happens that Comcast’s internet access was not very reliable. That caused me to get a DSL service installed as a backup. The DSL service provided by Sprint was modest. We are some 11,400 feet from the nearest central office, which meant that 1.5 Mbps / 768 kbps was the best we could achieve.

Over a number of years, Comcast’s cable modem service got both faster and (somewhat) more reliable. Still, I retained the relatively pokey DSL service as a backup. After Hurricane Ike in 2008 I felt vindicated in that choice. Throughout and after that terrible storm we had sustained phone and internet access via that DSL service. In contrast, Comcast was out for a month.

There came a time when I realized that I had not used the DSL in over a year. And 4G wireless broadband had become available, so I could tether to a phone in a pinch. That combination supported ending the DSL service, which suffered declining cost/performance.

All that is back-story. In all that time, we never had a “dual-WAN” arrangement. Failover between the ISPs was manual. Typically, repatch the WAN port of the router to the desired modem, then load a different WAN configuration. Not difficult. But manual.

Well, no longer! Last week I took delivery of the new Ubiquiti Unifi 5G Backup device. Newly introduced for just $99 this wee magic wand promises an affordable, automatic backup to a 5G wireless service. It’s not locked to any carrier. At the outset it works with AT&T, T-Mobile, and presumably their MVNOs.

Mint Mobile: 4G vs 5G UC

This is a follow-up on an earlier post which was an observation of a change in the mobile data service I was seeing from Mint Mobile here in Houston. I had another occasion to be off-site today, although much closer…

Lenovo X1 Carbon Gen 7: Upgrading WWAN from 4G LTE to 5G

My laptop, a 2019 Lenovo X1 Carbon, was ordered with the optional WWAN interface. At the time, the state-of-the-art was a 4G radio which I added to our Mint Mobile account. I only need to use mobile data occasionally, but it has proven very handy.

Several months ago I noted that it suffered very poor performance at a meeting off-site. This even as my mobile phone was working much better.

Earlier this week, while I was taking Stella to an appointment in another part of the city, the laptop reported being completely offline. It was wholly unable to connect via 4G. I looked at my mobile phone, which reported connected via “5G UC.”

Mobile Data Access: 4G vs 5G

August 28, 2025
Michael Graves
Broadband

I don’t get out much these days. At least not compared to years ago, when I was almost constantly travelling to and from various broadcast facilities. Nonetheless, based upon that past experience, in 2019 when I last ordered a laptop, I opted to get the 4G LTE wireless radio built in. It’s effectively the third person on our Mint Mobile family plan.

Truth is, I don’t use the service very much. But the carrying cost on Mint Mobile is so low that I keep it active. There have been times when we had internet or power outages lasting a few hours. In those cases, 4G embedded in the laptop has been genuinely handy.

Over the past year, I’ve also used it when going to offsite meetings related to my involvement with our local civic association. Such was the case last week. I was attending a meeting of Super Neighborhood 15 at the Historic Fire House on 12th Street. They might have Wi-Fi there. I don’t know. It has never even occurred to me to ask. As is my habit, I just power up and turn on the 4G.

Making Use of Wideband Voice Right Now!: Vonage Mobile

VonageMobileDevices Some time ago I was a Vonage customer. We had a Vonage line for my home office to compliment the POTS line that service the house. Our only internet access was via DSL over that POTS line.

We haven’t had a POTS line here since 2004.

While Vonage was a pioneer in what we now call-over-the-top internet telephony, for most of its existence the companies primary means of delivering service was by way of an “analog telephony adapter” or ATA. An ATA provides the RJ-11 connection required to connect to a traditional telephone.

Service providers using ATAs are essentially emulating the PSTN. It makes perfect sense since they want to offer an easy, drop-in replacement for traditional phone service. The advantage that they sell is simply that they’re cheaper. Most care little for esoterica like HDVoice.

It’s Time For Wireless Carriers to Get Real Or Get Lost

September 23, 2011
Michael Graves
mobile

Mobile-company-logos This past week I spent a few days in Milwaukee WI. If Boston is Bean-town then Milwaukee is quite likely Beer-town. I actually drove past the Pabst Brewery. I didn’t know that they still made Pabst, or that anyone would actually drink the stuff. I took it to be like Lone Star in Texas, just something to offer the tourists.

Initial impression of the suds aside, I saw something in Milwaukee that gave me pause. I saw the signs, and they were worrying.

To be more specific I saw a few of the newer T-Mobile billboards. I still mostly like T-Mobile. And heck, Carly-of-the-patterned-magenta-dresses is certainly easy on the eyes, so billboards should be a good thing…but these were cause for concern.