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Leaving my original reply below for reference, but I think you're best served by CircuitSwitched's reply. I didn't realize just how bad your DSL setup was. There's also some further conversation that might be of interest here.

ORIGINAL REPLY:

As mentioned by another, port to Google Voice. But instead of using the web interface they suggested, get an Obihai 200 - you connect it to your internet router and to your house's landline phone jack & all the phones on the landline become VoIP using GV. Service will be free and you can treat the phone just like you always did, dialing numbers directly.

EDIT: I should mention that this assumes you've dropped landline service. You should test the setup by plugging a phone directly into the Obihai before you drop landline service itself. You can port the landline number after you've verified it's working (just let Google assign a random number to the account for testing - you can port after the fact). In fact don't drop the landline directly - porting the number out should automatically end landline service, and you don't want to drop service until the port is done.

You also needn't worry about the bandwidth - I've successfully made GV calls even when throttled to 64Kbps on Sprint, so 0.5Mbps is plenty. The time it might be an issue is if you've got some other internet activity sucking up bandwidth (streaming video, etc), but your router may have options to prioritize certain traffic if that's a concern.

Best deal is here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E45043A/

Highly rated phone, bought several for family members and they have been happy with it. Plus at that price, it is great. Just buy it, and pop in your Sim Card and you're good to go. If you want an upgrade to that phone, then I'd suggest:

http://www.amazon.com/AT-Nokia-Lumia-635-Contract/dp/B00LBFFSNM/

That adds a quad core processor, a larger screen, and a few other things.

For best performance from an external antenna on the Nighthawk you are going to need two antennas at a 90 degree offset to each other. You can't split one antenna. Something to do with MIMO not working if you only connect to one antenna port and some other stuff. check out LTE hacks on FB and you can find some pretty good info on antenna and hotspot use.

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Or you can do something like this. It has 2 antenna built into it.

https://www.amazon.com/Proxicast-Cross-Polarized-High-Gain-Fixed-Mount-Antenna/dp/B01NBSLNJ6/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=techtoo+4g+antenna&qid=1565200161&s=wireless&sr=1-7-catcorr

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or this one, I personally have his one connected to my MOFI and have been pleased with it. Unfortunately i is not available at the present time.

https://www.amazon.com/TECHTOO-Directional-698-2690MHz-Cellphone-Amplifier/dp/B0130QUUUU

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there are also other options to go with depending on your needs.

you definitely want the nighthawk. the lb1120 is missing a lot of bands. even if the site near you isnt broadcasting the full suite of bands yet, it will eventually and youll want to be able to take advantage of it.

edit:

just to expand so it doesnt sound like im not explaining why:

lb1120: LTE Category 4 (up to 150 Mbps): B2, 4, 5, 12

mr1100: LTE CAT 16, 4-band CA and 4x4 MIMO
LTE/4G Bands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 14, 29, 30, 66

having b14 and b30 will be very helpful as theyre deployed a lot in suburban/rural areas and b66 will be helpful too if att deploys it in your area.

definitely worth it to be futureproof.

you can grab an unlocked/unbranded one on amazon warehouse for $245, just damaged box, im actually getting one myself today.

NETGEAR Nighthawk M1 Mobile Hotspot 4G LTE Router MR1100 - Up to 1Gbps Download Speed | WiFi Connect up to 20 Devices | Create a WLAN Anywhere | Unlocked to Use Any SIM Card https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G5KWZ3H/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_YYLHDbMKZRFWG

I've had a few friends put in a TP-Link Archer AC1200 Smart WiFi Router – Dual-band Gigabit (C1200) and they seem to run great. $58 right now (paid $70 when I got it for mom's house).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IUDUJE0/

A friend has it in the corner of their 2,200 sq. ft. place and it covers the whole place.

I tried to do this very same thing. There are 2 possible solutions.

1: Buy a little device that will take the wifi signal and put it back out over Ethernet. I used this one and it was great.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015CYDVG8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_49ogzb58N17XB

Ultimately i wanted a all wired solution to the router so I ended up purchasing a zte home base device. Model z700a. I found it for $29.99 on eBay but they seem to be going for $49 now. It's a hotspot made for home use with an Ethernet jack built in.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/162504931800

Hope this helps.

First, go to Antenna Search and locate the tower you want to pull from. Then find the contact person for that tower by clicking on it. Email that person explaining your problem, and then you'll have a local expert helping you out.

When I ran in to this issue I got 2 yagi antenna, the proper low loss cabling, the adapters to connect to the antenna and to my hotspot, a mounting pole, and put them at a 45 degree angle pointed right at my tower. Then I set the band priority on the hotspot based on what the tower tech told me was the optimal band coming from that tower.

When you get in to the world trying to optimize your LTE connection, you will probably want to join up with the LTE Hacks group on facebook.

so I use this router:
https://www.amazon.com/GL-AR150-Openwrt-pre-installed-Repeater-Tethering/dp/B015CYDVG8/ref=pd_sim_147_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B015CYDVG8&pd_rd_r=NVV3P2R3A7K44PJV1P35&pd_rd_w=bYb4R&pd_rd_wg=9z0nU&psc=1&refRID=NVV3P2R3A7K44PJV1P35

for usb tether to the hotspot and turn off wireless on both the hotspot and this device and connect the lan out from the travel router to a full fledged ac router that i had and use that for dhcp and wifi. It works perfectly for me.

I know I have an extra router in there but the reasoning was the ac router I have is a great one with long range, but no usb input and i didnt want to spend $100s on a new router and the travel router has about the same range as the hotspot so anything on the other side of my house has no connection. This solution worked for me as I only had to sped 26 bucks for the travel router and thats it.

Sorry for the slow update I was out out town. Anyways I purchased this antenna on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DN3J03O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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And now for some reason it's doing the Carrier Aggregation with the two bands I have setup in Putty. I thought this was very strange if I remove this antenna I loose the CA. My RSRP went from -105 to around -100 and my Quality from around 40 to around 45-50dbm. See the picture above to see the CA between bands B12 and B2. if you guys have any questions on commands and how to set it up please let me know or post here I'm getting more familiar with it the time I've used it. If someone can explain why it's CA now with the new antenna and not the internal that would be awesome!

I've been having the exact same experience with my Nighthawk M1. Was seeing 40-60Mbps, now I'm seeing about 4-6Mbps. It's been falling for the last 3-5 weeks maybe. I'll look into my signal stats this evening, but it's very interesting to hear someone else with the Nighthawk M1 is having a similar experience. I'll also try pulling my antenna to go from strong 2x2 MIMO to a weaker 4x4 MIMO.

I'm using a Netgear Aircard antenna and a UniFi gateway/switch/access point. Adding the access point roughly doubled my speeds (30-40 up from 15-20) and the antenna gave another 50% for the 40-60Mbps speeds. The gateway and switch have no impact on speed, they just allowing me to connect a Hue hub, put my Roku on a wire, add a PiHole for whole network ad blocking, that kind of thing. The PiHole is a nice speed boost on LTE internet btw.

I don't have much experience with the external antennas as I don't need them. However, my kid who lives in mountainous California says this antenna helped him. Just use the signal strength meter on the Nighthawk's diagnostic page to find the best placement.

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Also remember that LTE shows as a lower signal than we are use to, so 2 bars would be at least 3 bars for 3g/4g.

My wifi sucks from my AT&T modem as well. I went with installing two of these access points in my house: https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-EAP225-V3-Wireless-Supports/dp/B0781YXFBT TP-Link EAP-225, they are connected to the modems ethernet switch ports. I have two installed, one on each floor. I then turned off the modems wifi. My wifi has been great since and they have been trouble free, house is around 4000sqft.

Netgear DC112A-100NAS AirCard 4G LTE Signal Boosting Smart Cradle Router https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06X3QV7LX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_4AMXAbYVHES6R

Maybe I shouldve said had a dock...

If you are under 2300 sq feet this should work just fine:

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Dual-Band-AiMesh-Router-AC1900/dp/B00FB45SI4

Make sure you turn off the wifi on the pace 5268ac and put it in bridge mode.

Also make sure your problem is with the Wifi not the internet connection by connecting your computer to the ethernet port on your pace 5268ac and testing (make sure you turn of the wifi on the computer when you do this).

> I went with installing two of these in my house: https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-EAP225-V3-Wireless-Supports/dp/B0781YXFBT TP-Link EAP-225, they are connected to the modems ethernet switch ports.

This is the one recommended by small net builder dot com, and gets very good reviews.

Netgear Dc112a smart cradle router.

Netgear DC112A-100NAS AirCard 4G LTE Signal Boosting Smart Cradle Router https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06X3QV7LX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_2tcmzbT450E3B

Backordered on Amazon but AT&T also sells it

While I haven't used it myself, Netgear does offer their own antenna that I've heard good things about. It's for sale on Amazon and isn't too pricy:

https://www.amazon.com/Netgear-6000450-MIMO-Antenna-Connectors/dp/B00DN3J03O/ref=sr_1_1?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1486605194&sr=1-1&keywords=netgear+4g+antenna

OK. Will do.

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-LTE-Modem-Broadband-Connection/dp/B01N5ASNTE

any suggestions or thoughts on this?

If your phone is unlocked, consider buying this sim card from amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/PrePaid-destinations-including-European-countries/dp/B01FI1JW72/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=uk+three+sim+card&qid=1562541404&s=gateway&sr=8-3

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We bought it and activated in 3 day before leaving for Italy and it worked flawlessly all over Italy. Yes, it wasn't 4G, mostly 3G and sometimes 2G, but we were able to use WhatsApp to talk and text back to the U.S.

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If you do not feel comfortable with that option, you can also get the TIM (a wireless carrier in Italy) Tourist Sim card for 20 euros that comes with 15GB of data. You will need to fill out the form first and then when you arrive, go to the nearest TIM store to get your sim card:

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https://www.tim.it/tim-tourist-en

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REMEMBER! Your phone MUST MUST MUST be unlocked. If it's not unlocked, none of the options will work!

Rice is a poor way of getting moisture out of a phone. Silica gel is much better:

http://www.gazelle.com/thehorn/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Water-Damage-Prevention-and-Recovery.pdf

You can buy it at Walmart, crafts store like Michaels, or Amazon, sometimes sold as flower-drying crystals or dessicant.

I did this for a family member of mine who lives in rural Colorado.

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Got the hotspot plan, then popped the SIM into a Netgear Unite Explore.

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Then, purchased the Netgear Router attachment from Amazon to make it a full-fledged WiFi Router. Has been up for about 8 months now with no problems. Streams Netflix on smart TVs and everything. Would probably be a little laggy due to 4G ping for a game console.

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Here is the router accessory https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06X3QV7LX/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

To unlock your iPhone go to this link UNLOCK As long as you own the phone outright ATT will unlock it for you within 5 hours. Vodafone ES is very affordable. I was able to get a 7gb sim for €15 with talk and text.
My other travel hack is to buy British SIM cards when visiting the EU off of Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FI1JW72
ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_CD76BbEKZ3JES) that are meant for tourists because you can refill them easily because the website is in English and use them in the EU (yes, Spain counts) for no extra cost with EU regulation.

Perhaps this will take care of your problem?

These have been recommended to me. I have not tried them yet.

Wilson Electronics Wideband Directional Antenna 700-2700 MHz, 50 Ohm (314411) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J14YEHQ/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_6PQQCbGMC2RMT

1 of Netgear 6000450 MIMO Antenna with 2 TS-9 Connectors

Also have 2 directional antenna setups using dual Wilson Electronics Wideband Directional Antenna 700-2700 MHz, 50 Ohm (314411)

I only got the netgear from amazon; but those should still be the same models.

I ordered this. Like I said, mixed reviews, but all the antennas had that. I think sometimes it just won't change your signal. If your signal is too weak it won't help, but also if you already have a good signal, it obviously isn't going to make it much better...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00DN3J03O/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1518830861&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=netgear+mimo+antenna&dpPl=1&dpID=418JWOpGRBL&ref=plSrch

Netgear MIMO antenna

so this is the type of cable you have right?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H9II93Q/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2KWLT0Z61PMSN&psc=1

Here are some router options:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01IUDUJE0/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1501034015&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=routers&dpPl=1&dpID=41zgzzt6DML&ref=plSrch


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0168G0KZY/ref=mp_s_a_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1501034104&sr=8-9&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=routers&dpPl=1&dpID=41hCKE-ZROL&ref=plSrch

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01LXL1AR8/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1501034167&sr=8-11&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=routers

NETGEAR 4G LTE Modem – Instant Broadband Connection | Works with AT&T and Alternate Carriers (LB1120) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5ASNTE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_jw1BCbEE6EXRM

This should work and you can also plug it into your existing wifi router in order to amplify the signal.

it's a NOKIA 301.2.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DRQ9500/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

this one?

https://www.amazon.com/Netgear-6000450-MIMO-Antenna-Connectors/dp/B00DN3J03O

Actually, there's going to be a problem with this. The iPhone 6s uses a Nano SIM while the Note 4 uses a Micro SIM. So you can't just take the card out of one and put it in the other, because it'll be a different size. However, you can get an adaptor (something like this). Once they setup the iPhone with the nano sim, you can put that sim in the adaptor and put that into the note 4.

This is why I'm afraid to try it. I could cancel my Comcast home Internet and save $30/month using the SIM in a home cellular modem like this one, but I don't really think AT&T will allow this to continue forever.

My coworker has been doing it for about 2 months without issue, but the question is if it is enough of an problem for AT&T to do anything about.

The built-in wireless capabilities are decent on the Uverse Gateway, but keep in mind placement and location within your home affect Wi-Fi signal and performance. Optimally, you want a centrally located position and as high as possible (because the higher it is, the less stuff that can potentially get in the way of the signal)

I'll use my parents home as an example. They're in a 3000 sqft single story home, so it's pretty spread out. Also, all the telephone outlets for Uverse are located around the periphery of the home. What we ended up doing is setting up the RG in the home office near one end of the home and used a Powerline Ethernet adapter to set up an Asus N66U wireless router, mounted high in the most central room in the house (which happens to be a bedroom, so on top of a bookshelf) and the entire home is well covered with Wi-Fi. The disadvantages to this is Powerline Ethernet can be finicky if you get too far from the modem/RG and, because you can't use them with surge protectors, there's always the risk that they'll be damaged if your home's electrical wiring gets hit with a power spike or surge.

I have used this:
https://www.amazon.com/Netgear-6000450-MIMO-Antenna-Connectors/dp/B00DN3J03O/ref=pd_bxgy_img_3/145-5035802-2440838

I found it to make almost no difference in RSSI (and speed, as one would expect given that fact). Someone else can comment, but I think you may lose 4x CA when you use an external antenna, as it disables the internal antennae when connected.

This was in a remote location with HSPA+ on Band 2.

(On a related note, if anyone with any power/knowledge happens to read this, can you please tell the folks at Northeast Wireless to chug a fatty. And maybe drop a quick explanation here of why they exist at all? AT&T just forgot to buy spectrum in northern new england and they're holding you hostage, or, wtf... Since it's not really AT&T does that mean no FirstNet?)

I have one proxicast yagi antenna and 25 foot lmr400 cables and I can not find a signal above -114 RSRP and -19 RSRQ. I tried aiming it where the tower is and tried microcorrecting for atleast a good 6+ hours and I have not found a single spot where it would get any better. I tried mounting the antenna to a 16 foot pole and moved it around various locations and had it hooked to the Nighthawk and that didn't help either. Using my Netgear Aircard mimo works better mounted to a window with aluminum foil which doesn't make sense. I can get -108 RSRP and -14 RSRQ - It's rare to see that but it can. Usually I get -113 RSRP and -17 RSRQ as of late. I see average speeds of 3mbps Down and 0.03mbps Up with the Netgear Aircard and with the Proxicast I get 2mbps Down and the Upload usually won't even finish in speed tests. 2 Times however using the Proxicast I seen 10mbps down and 50 Up which never happened again - I wish I could see this happen again - I left it exactly the same and no results after waiting for hours and resetting and calling At&t and unplugging it and moving the antenna again and rechecking the cables and factory resetting. I'm probably just going to send the stuff back It's so frustrating spending hours upon hours and not seeing any real results. PS. I live in a very poor signal area and seeing 2 bars is really rare in the window - throughout the house and even outside I can't seem to find a signal. I have turned off stream saver. Antenna
Adapter
Cables
A big problem I have is the latency is so bad when it hops to a lower RSRP and RSRQ - which it will go from -110 to -116 pretty commonly so 60ms turns into 700ms or even higher : (