Off The Grid Rural Internet with the InvisaGig 5G Cellular Modem (Part 1 of 6): Finding the Best Wireless Internet Solution for Rural Living

Finding the Best Wireless Internet Solution for Rural Living

Off The Grid Rural Internet with a 5G Cellular Modem

Table Of Contents:

One Family’s Homesteading Journey to Achieve Reliable 5G Internet For a Reasonable Cost

One Family's Homesteading Journey to Achieve Reliable 5G Internet For a Reasonable Cost

Living in rural western North Carolina has its perks—stunning mountain views, peaceful surroundings, and a slower pace of life. These are the main reasons we moved here from Upstate New York.

But one of the biggest challenges for this and thousands of other rural areas in the USA and beyond? As the title of this blog series suggests, it’s getting reliable internet. Whether robust internet is needed for remote work, entertainment / streaming, gaming, or keeping a smart home connected, finding a solid internet solution in an off-grid homestead or just a generally rural area can be difficult and/or pricy.

When we first started looking into our options, I explored everything—satellite providers like Starlink (and regrettably Viasat), traditional DSL, fixed wireless, and cellular-based solutions. My goal wasn’t just to find the best option for my home, but also to discover a setup that could keep me connected while traveling. We frequently take multi-day trips; sometimes it’s just me traveling for work, and sometimes it’s the whole family on a vacation, and with my remote work role as a web designer and SEO consultant, I need to be accessible if one of our clients has an issue that needs quick resolution. While having the internet on the road was not as important to me as having it fully figured out at home, it was a valid side quest that I wanted to at least address in my research and decision making.

As a side note, AT&T and I assume others were willing to service basic landline internet to my home with advertised download speeds of 2Mbps. From memory it cost in the area of $25/month. I assume this is using existing / legacy wireline infrastructure. These speeds are comically too slow for any sort of real-world internet needs, so I’m not including it in this article. Nonetheless, it did exist, and may exist as an option for your use case if all you need to do is send and receive emails and maybe some very light internet browsing with no video streaming.

If you’re living in a rural area or traveling in an RV or van and struggling with limited internet options (or too many confusing ones), I hope my research and experience helps you find a setup that works for you. Let’s dive in!

Full Disclosure

Transparency Disclosure: Through this exhaustive journey of wireless internet options research, product and provider cost comparisons and coverage maps, cell tower identification and location discovery, cellular band accessibility, and a never-ending list of other considerations, I came across InvisaGig, a company focused on high-performance wireless cellular internet solutions. I’ll be upfront—I now work with InvisaGig doing the exact same web design and SEO I mentioned above. But my research into cellular internet started long before I ever reached out to InvisaGig. This article is a documentation of that original exploration before I found InvisaGig, my thought process about the best internet options at that time and presently, and how I arrived at the decision that cellular was the way to go. I’ll also share my first-time experience setting up the InvisaGig unit—something I have never used before prior to starting this series of articles going through the process that I’ll document below and beyond.

Overview of Available Wireless Internet Solutions

When it comes to getting internet in a rural area, wired options like fiber or cable often aren’t available, leaving wireless solutions as the best bet. The main wireless internet technologies include cellular (4G LTE/5G home internet and mobile hotspots using data plans for the device and/or a SIM card from a tablet or mobile plan), satellite internet (Starlink, HughesNet, Viasat, and someday Project Kuiper), and fixed wireless (WISPs or local providers using point-to-point antennas). Each has strengths and weaknesses depending on location, usage, and budget. For a more granular view of each, here are the finer points:

Cellular (4G LTE & 5G Home Internet)

Cellular-based internet uses mobile network towers to deliver broadband speeds to home routers or mobile hotspots. Providers like T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T offer dedicated home internet services using their 4G and 5G networks, and there are also third-party providers that offer data plans tailored for mobile routers.

Pros:
✔️ Fast Speeds (Especially with 5G): Can reach over 100Mbps in strong coverage areas. In other areas, 10+Mbps on 4G LTE is common, which is usually good enough for streaming, videoconferencing, and gaming.
✔️ Lower Latency: Much better for gaming and video calls than satellite.
✔️ Portable Options: Can be used both at home and on the road with mobile hotspots and portable modems (for RV use and such).
✔️ Affordable Plans: Home internet plans are typically much cheaper than satellite.

Cons:
❌ Coverage Variability: Performance depends on distance and line-of-sight from towers and network congestion. Modem placement is also a consideration in signal strength.
❌ Data Caps & Throttling: Some plans have usage limits or slow speeds after hitting a threshold.

Satellite Internet (Starlink, HughesNet, Viasat)

Satellite internet beams data from space to a dish at your home, making it a great choice (and pretty much the only choice) for areas with no cellular or wired options. Starlink, Viasat, and HughesNet are the main providers. Starlink is the fastest and most advanced due to its use of numerous Low Earth Orbit satellites, while HughesNet and Viasat use older geostationary satellites.

Pros:
✔️ Works Almost Anywhere: Ideal for remote locations with no other options.
✔️ Starlink Offers Good Speeds: 50-250Mbps is possible with Starlink.

Cons:
❌ High Latency / Ping (Except Starlink): Traditional satellite services have 500+ ms of lag, making gaming (especially first person shooters) and video calls difficult.
❌ Expensive Equipment & Plans: Starlink requires a $599+ dish, plus $120+/month service.
❌ Weather Sensitivity & Downtime: Performance can drop in heavy rain or snow. Users often report service interruptions even in optimal weather conditions, as well.

Fixed Wireless Internet (WISPs & Local Providers)

Fixed wireless internet (WISP) providers use antennas to beam a signal to a home receiver. It’s commonly found in rural areas where fiber or cable isn’t an option.

Pros:
✔️ Decent Speeds: Advertised as 25-100Mbps; the reality is sometimes less.
✔️ Lower Latency Than Satellite: Typically under 50ms.

Cons:
❌ Limited Availability: Not all rural areas have WISP providers.
❌ Line of Sight Needed: Trees, hills, or buildings can interfere with the signal.
❌ Weather Sensitivity: Heavy rain or storms can impact reliability.

As one can see, there are many considerations to take into account when evaluating the best solution for any individual use case, property, structure, or geographic location. Since this article is limited in scope to my own homesteading journey, after this initial discovery comparison I found in my original research, I can only speak to what I went with and how the results served my home and family.

Granular View of Wireless Internet Providers and Pricing

Since every rural location has different service availability, I looked into all the internet options in my area in western North Carolina to compare speeds, pricing, and data limits. Here’s what I found:

Cellular Home Internet Plans & Pricing

Provider	Price	Speeds (Up to)	Data Caps	Notes
T-Mobile Home Internet	$50-$70/mo	72-245 Mbps	No hard cap, deprioritization after heavy usage	Requires strong T-Mobile 5G coverage
Verizon 5G Home Internet	$50-$70/mo	85-300 Mbps	No hard cap, possible slowdowns	Best in urban/suburban areas
AT&T 5G Home Internet	$55/mo	75-200 Mbps	No hard cap, but network management applies	Limited availability
Mobile Hotspots (Various Providers)	Varies	25-150 Mbps	Data limits apply	Can be used at home and on the road

These options look great, right? Even if I was only able to connect to the 4G LTE bands (and not achieve the 5G speeds of the service), that would be sufficient for our family’s needs. However, upon reaching out to all 3 of the major telecoms, even though I’m in a coverage area for their cellular services, and even though I can get great reception from all 3 providers on our cell phones and those of guests that come to the house, none of them offer the official “Home Internet” services to our home.

This seemed to be a common theme when I would browse various message boards and subreddits. “Home Internet” services from the big 3 are still only available in limited areas. One can only guess it has to do with network capacity limitations. If they were to offer this new service to a wide area for the first time, the infrastructure would need to be in place to handle that influx of network congestion. It seems to be rolling out nationwide, but it’s anyone’s guess when it will reach my area, your area, etc. And so in my first wave of initial research about 2 years ago (when we arrived in North Carolina), I had ruled out cellular internet as an option.

I would jump on my mobile hotspot (I got 40GB or so on my mobile plan) with my AT&T phone from time to time when I needed to quickly upload a file or something, but I basically ruled out cellular internet at that time. It was a horrible decision in retrospect and I wish I had done more research. I’ll get to this fateful decision later in the article.

Satellite Internet Plans & Pricing (Starlink, HughesNet, Viasat)

Provider	Price	Speeds	Latency	Data Limits	Equipment Cost
Starlink (Standard)	$120/mo	50-250 Mbps	25-50 ms	Soft cap, deprioritization	$599 dish
Starlink (Roaming – RV Plan)	$150/mo	50-250 Mbps	25-50 ms	Soft cap, deprioritization	$599 dish
HughesNet	$65+/mo	25 Mbps	500+ ms	15-100 GB	$449+ equipment lease
Viasat	$99+/mo + lease fees	30-100 Mbps	500+ ms	40-150 GB	$299+ setup equipment

While Starlink provides the best performance for satellite, its high upfront cost and monthly fee make it difficult for many families. Starlink has recently deployed a “Residential Lite” plan for $80/month with deprioritized data (it is what it sounds like), but it is only available in about 14 states as of early 2025.

As a second Starlink footnote, they now offer “Starlink Roam”, which is a portable version of service that is aimed at travelers such as RV owners and the van life crowd. It’s available in $50 (50GB) and Unlimited ($165) service tiers.

HughesNet and Viasat have strict data limits and high latency, making them a last-resort option.

Up until recently, Starlink wasn’t 100% available in the United States. When we arrived in North Carolina 2 years ago, it was not available to us, so my original internet choice did not include this as an option.

It should also be noted that the bandwidth speeds listed in the comparison table are all advertised rates and theoretical maximums. The reality of these speeds can be considerably lower for customers, as I will chronicle later in the article.

Fixed Wireless Internet Plans & Pricing

Pricing for WISP providers varies widely by location, but typically ranges from $50 to $100 per month for speeds between 25 and 100Mbps. The providers are usually regional companies with no national branding. Unfortunately, in my area, and similar to Home Internet cellular options, no fixed wireless providers were willing to provide service to my home—otherwise, it could have been a competitive option. As an example, Vyve Broadband services our zip code, just not my house for whatever reason.

Our Original Choice for Wireless Internet 2 Years Ago

As the distinct benefits of cellular Internet connectivity become apparent, the next step will be to assess hardware that supports this solution. Our analysis will focus on the offerings with prevailing market dominance and how well they align with needs of both customers and the MSPs that support them.

Double-Check Coverage Before You Move

As you can see from my original failed attempts to get cellular Home Internet and Fixed Wireless internet service, if you are moving to a new area and you see that your new home is in a “coverage area,” it would serve you well to contact the providers directly. Double confirm that they will actually provide service to your specific home when you get there. Don’t rely on general service area maps, only to find out that you’re not one of the chosen ones when it comes time to get online.

The Search for Internet in 2023

After comparing all the options back in 2023, since we couldn’t get service from any of the Home Internet cellular providers, and no Fixed Wireless options were available, and Starlink wasn’t yet a thing in Western NC, we ended up being forced to go with Viasat satellite.

We naively trusted their advertised data speeds and thought—with managed use, such as limiting streaming and avoiding internet use during videoconferences—it could work for us. Alas, it did not.

The Viasat Setup Experience

We bit the bullet on the $299+ setup costs to buy the dish and have it installed, plus around $69.99 per month at the time, hoping to get anywhere near the 20Mbps download speeds advertised for our plan.

The technician came out, drilled the dish into the roof, and we were up and running. With no obstructions to the sky and a clear day, I was optimistic after months of relying on my cell phone hotspot.

Reality Hits: Poor Speeds and High Latency

Didn’t work out. On day one, our download speeds (according to Speedtest by Ookla) topped out at 2.8Mbps; upload speeds hovered at around 1Mbps. It was comically bad on a Zoom call I tried that day. Even cutting off my video feed didn’t help.

Ping was extremely high, though at least Viasat had been upfront that online gaming wouldn’t work. We just wanted Zoom calls, single streaming, and smart home devices—nothing demanding. But even that was too much.

Cancelling Viasat: A Frustrating Process

After trying it for a few weeks (with no improvement), I called Viasat and cancelled, hoping for a refund. They wouldn’t provide one. Even with speed tests proving we never broke 3Mbps, they weren’t interested.

I know 20Mbps is a theoretical maximum, and fine print covers them, but delivering less than 15% of advertised speeds felt underhanded. Even half of the promised speeds would have worked for us. Instead, I had to disassemble and return some components under threat of hefty penalties, while the dish itself still sits on my roof—a reminder to never take half measures with internet service.

A New Perspective: Cellular Internet

However, during that failed Zoom call—when I switched back to my cell phone hotspot and everything instantly worked—it got me thinking more seriously about cellular internet.

Originally I had dismissed it due to data caps and high modem costs. But after spending $400+ on a few weeks of unusable Viasat service, cellular started to look far more appealing…

Evaluating Cellular Internet For Our Home and Property

We are located in a rural, woodsy, and mountainous area near Asheville, North Carolina (but not close enough to get their wonderful internet options). While our home internet options were limited, we were fortunate to live on a state route with access to amenities like Walmart, Lowe’s, and Bojangles within 14 minutes. Even though traditional “home internet” providers couldn’t service our house, we were still within close proximity to cellular towers. In 2022, before Starlink reached our area, cellular internet appeared to be the most viable option for our needs.

Researching Internet Options

I began researching cellular modems and service plans for our family of six. Most traditional “hotspot” plans came with restrictive data caps, but we thought careful rationing might make it work.

Initial Speed Testing

Climbing onto the roof, I tested AT&T’s network using Speedtest by Ookla. To my surprise, I measured download speeds up to 65 Mbps and upload speeds around 25 Mbps. This was far better than the 10 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up I expected from rural internet, and it completely changed my outlook. I realized we didn’t need to settle for satellite internet like Viasat after all.

Testing Cellular Carriers

Many carriers now offer free trials using eSIM, which lets you test their networks without committing. While I could have tested Verizon and T-Mobile, the strong AT&T speeds made further testing unnecessary. For anyone considering cellular internet, I highly recommend field-testing networks before choosing a carrier.

Using CellMapper for Better Insights

Coverage maps from carriers provide only a broad picture. Tools like CellMapper go further, showing the exact locations of towers, which carriers service them, and which cellular bands they broadcast. This information is critical when deciding on the best hardware for your home or business setup.

Choosing the Hardware

In mid-2022, 5G modems were expensive and AT&T’s 5G coverage wasn’t reliable in our area. Since our 4G LTE speeds were strong, we chose the Netgear Nighthawk MR1100 hotspot router. It supported the right bands for our area, was officially compatible with AT&T, and delivered the best performance. While it had Wi-Fi built-in, we disabled it and used the Ethernet port to connect to our existing mesh network for better coverage.

Plan and Setup

We selected AT&T’s 50GB prepaid plan for $55/month. After inserting the SIM card into the Nighthawk, we tested various placements around the house. Performance indoors was disappointing compared to rooftop results, so we mounted the hotspot in a generic $30 outdoor modem enclosure with PC fans for cooling. This gave us the most reliable connection.

Managing Data Usage

Although our plan included 50GB, we regularly consumed 80–100GB per month. This increased our costs to around $80–100 monthly for a household of four adults and two kids working remotely, streaming music, and watching TV shows. To stay under control, we rationed our usage and avoided installing smart home devices.

Performance and Limitations

While far superior to Viasat and adequate for work, our setup still wasn’t perfect. We experienced occasional streaming interruptions and slow webpage loads. The cost was high, and the capped usage forced us to restrict how freely we used the internet.

Revisiting the Solution

After about a year of “pretty good” internet, I found myself wondering if there was still a way to improve. Despite the progress we made with cellular internet, I felt compelled to search again for a better solution for our family’s needs.

The Arrival of 5G and "Unlimited Data"

Fast forward to mid-2023. 5G is becoming more of a thing in rural America and we’re seeing the icon appear on our AT&T phones more often when we’re out and about. Sure enough, I can now identify a tower on CellMapper that is supplying 5G to the edges of our service area. Netgear has also released an updated Nighthawk modem that has better everything: antennas, chipsets, and 5G capability: the Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro. It also came down a bit in price, which made it an option for us.

Starlink has also arrived, but the $600 upfront cost and $120 monthly pricing was a bit spicy for us. We were already averaging $90 or so, but we really wanted to avoid the cost of the dish more than anything else. Although with us still not being 100% happy with our cellular situation, it seemed like we were moving closer to Starlink.

But at this time, I also started to hear of neighbors in our area that simply added another mobile line to their family plans, took the SIM card from that plan, and threw it into a cellular modem. I was confused at first; I thought they were just doing that with a mobile hotspot, like we were, but they told me, “No, get a normal mobile number, ask them to issue a physical SIM, and then put it in a hotspot. It just works.” When I asked what network they were doing it on, sure enough, it was the very same AT&T I was using for prepaid mobile hotspot with data caps.

This was big if true. We already had a family plan with AT&T, so another line (with the ever-important unlimited data) for that existing plan would only be about $30 after AT&T Autopay discounts and AT&T Signature discounts. I had to try it out to see if it worked.

I was told you could also do a “tablet” plan for a few bucks less, but it was unclear at the time if there were data caps or throttling associated with it – so I went with the straight up “new line” route to get the SIM card. But you’ll definitely want to investigate the unlimited data tablet plans to see if this will work, as I believe it’s a bit cheaper per month.

I went to an authorized AT&T store (not a corporate owned store) and they were very familiar with this setup, since many people in our area had resorted to doing it due to the lack of internet options. They got me a new line and physical SIM, and then I put it in my Nighthawk to test it out right there in the store. It worked and we now had an unlimited data SIM in our mobile hotspot. This was a pretty big game changer for us. I had full bars of reception, but I didn’t notice at the time it was on 4G LTE and not 5G. More on this later.

I specified above that it was not a corporate AT&T store because I’m not sure if all locations will assist with doing this. Using a SIM card in a device that is not intended device for the plan purchased, is against the Terms of Service. I simply refrained from mentioning this use case to my store reps. To use 5G bands on AT&T you will need to ensure the device registered to the plan is a 5G capable device.

So after testing it out at home for awhile, things have been working out great. We were getting unlimited data and the cellular line was only about $30/month. We’ve since upgraded to the “non-throttled” plan for $5 more and things are good.

Before I continue with the article, I should state that this was my own personal journey, and this part of it was done using my own trial and error before even learning about the InvisaGig. And furthermore, the InvisaGig company does not recommend using a cellular carriers plans outside the Terms that they have set for their plans.

This brings us to early 2025…

Difficulty Connecting to 5G Internet and Lack of Control Over Cellular Bands & Towers

As I previously mentioned, we are on the periphery of the 5G coverage map. Our phones get it most of the time, but regrettably my hopes of getting our new Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro to connect to 5G didn’t pan out. Whereas my iPhone 14 Pro Max and my wife’s iPhone 15 Pro can get a bar or two of 5G and sometimes 5G+, the M6 Pro simply couldn’t connect to a 5G signal at our location. It does good on 4G LTE, but it’s still not spectacular. We sometimes dip down to 20Mbps down and as low as 3Mbps up. This is pretty slow when we are trying to upload large files to the cloud, and sometimes heavy lifting web pages take up to 20-40 seconds to load if I’m designing a WordPress website, for example.

I originally had thought that a purpose-built device such as a high-end mobile hotspot would have the best chance at connecting to all bands in the area, but after doing some research, it doesn’t seem to be the case; quite the opposite, actually. Mobile phones, with their more diverse array of antennas and other tech designed to maximize reception and speeds, are actually better suited to connect and harness cellular bands than almost all mobile hotspots on the market.

In terms of testing on my rooftop, it was difficult. With the limited monitoring capabilities of the Nighthawk M6 Pro, combined with Field Test Mode on my iPhone to glean a bit more information about my connection status, I’m able to see which bands it connects to while I’m out on my roof doing reception and speed testing.

But at the end of the day, it’s all just monitoring of that status. I can’t “lock on” to any specific tower or a desired cellular band. Being on the periphery of the coverage area, it seems to be hopping from band to band and even tower to tower. While this happens for a litany of reasons beyond our control, such as network capacity, signal strength variance due to moving around with the device, etc… I was left asking myself if there was a way to get more control over our situation.

So in summary, while my iPhone captures the power of 5G on our property, our cellular modem is not able to do so. And this brings us to the crossroads of today…

Can We Connect to 5G With a Cellular Modem?

It remains to be seen if we can connect to 5G cellular internet. But if we can’t connect to 5G, can we at least improve our 4G LTE reception with better modem hardware? Or will we finally cave and go with Starlink or Project Kuiper when that comes out?

Being on the periphery of the 5G coverage map, our phones get it intermittently, but regrettably our high end 5G capable cellular modem (the Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro) didn’t connect over 5G when I tried doing so in 2023 and up until early 2025.

Now in present day 2025, our life situation has changed since our journey began in 2022. I’m doing so much more remote work from home, and also doing vlogging, which results in large video files being uploaded to the cloud quite often. Any file over 8GB refuses to upload to Google Drive, and I’m forced to upload them all when I’m on the road traveling for business. The kids are also 3 years older and more internet dependent. Our typical “25 down / 10 up” cellular speeds are not really able to keep up with our situation. Also these speeds have proven inconsistent. As an example, here’s a glimpse of our month-to-month swings:

All of those speed tests were done mid-day on weekdays with nobody home and clear weather conditions. This is kind of typical; one day we’ll be doing great with speeds at or above 30 down, another day we’ll be struggling to escape single digits.

Upload seems to have its own issues, as well, as reflected in the image. And as a web designer and vlogger, upload is oftentimes more important to me than download speed.

While I would really, REALLY like to keep our current $35/month unlimited data internet solution in place, I’m on the verge of just having to upgrade to Starlink for better speeds (albeit with seemingly less reliability), or await the arrival of Amazon’s competing Project Kuiper and the hopefully more palatable cost of whatever that service ends up being (possibly with a discount for Prime members, which I am?).

And so I’ve circled back to the beginning again and I’m giving it one final go with cellular internet. Can we find a cellular modem that can connect to 5G, give us the capability to control what bands and towers we connect to, and give us enough bandwidth to handle our increased internet demands? Or are we destined to get Starlink like most of our neighbors have done? Let’s get back out on the roof and find out…

Property Evaluation and Field Testing For Cellular Internet Begins

While I had done limited field testing previously with a cell phone to simply prove proof-of-concept that we got strong enough cellular reception on AT&T so that we could move forward with a cellular modem for our internet solution, I hadn’t really done a lot of digging into the minutiae of cellular internet connectivity and all the factors that go into optimizing it.

Here are all the factors you should consider when setting up a cellular internet connection for your rural home or business:

Coverage and Signal Strength: You need to first assess the availability of cellular networks in your area and their signal strength. You will want to go deep here in terms of identifying cellular towers and available cellular bands at your location. We’ll explore this later on in the article, but for starters, you’ll want to at least confirm which providers offer the best general connectivity for your location with a bit of field testing to narrow down your options. Most of the major cellular telecoms that control almost all of the cell towers in operation offer a free trial on their network with an eSIM that you can activate on your phone for testing purposes. You could also buy a low-cost prepaid plan with a physical SIM (or eSIM) for a single month or a small data bucket for testing purposes. This will allow you to field test different networks on your existing phone to at least verify that you get any viable signal. Most carriers also publish coverage maps, but these are much less accurate than real-world field testing.
Bandwidth and Data Speeds: Before making any decisions, you’ll need to determine the speed (and possibly ping) requirements for your intended usage, such as streaming, gaming, or handling large file uploads. Video streaming is an absolute killer for your overall household usage, so this will probably be priority number 1 for you if this will be happening routinely. High ping is troublesome for gaming, as another example. So while one carrier may have great reception, if the speeds aren’t there for your specific use case, you may want to go with a network with less signal strength but higher speeds. On the other hand, if reliability is more important, such as for business / enterprise purposes, raw speed may take a back seat to signal strength.
Data Plan and Usage Limits: Once you’ve narrowed your provider options, you’ll want to review cellular data plans with each to understand costs and data caps. Evaluate how much data your household or business will consume monthly. Look into provider discounts and fees associated with your service contract and billing so you know the final costs of whatever provider you’re considering going with. For example, AT&T offers Signature discounts, AARP discounts, and AutoPay discounts that can dramatically decrease the cost of the overall bill and it makes the face value of the monthly service fee more feasible in comparison to other plans.
Type of Cellular Router/Modem: After you’ve done some work to identify cell towers and available cellular bands that you can connect to, you’ll want to select hardware that best harnesses the connectivity potential you have at your location. As an example, our first modem was a Netgear Nighthawk M1 MR1100. I didn’t know it at the time, but there are a few different production variants of this. Different models supported different cellular bands. If I didn’t research this beforehand, I could have been stuck with a model that unknowingly didn’t support all of the most important cellular bands that covered my location. So you really need to scrutinize the tech you purchase against the connectivity situation of your location. If you can connect to 5G, then by all means you should be looking for a 5G modem, and it should be one that supports the cellular bands you have available. If you are nowhere near a 5G network, you could possibly cut costs here by purchasing a 4G LTE cellular modem (but beware you won’t be futureproofed if your provider does expand 5G in your area). Before purchasing anything, you’ll want to verify its compatibility with your cellular provider. You may have to call or chat with customer support directly to confirm this information.
Modem Antenna Capability: You will want to acquire a device that can be augmented with external antennas, if it turns out that it lacks strength to reach the cellular towers and data bands in your area. These will usually be TS9 ports, but it’s important to take note if it has 2 or 4 ports on the device. Many antennas on the market can leverage the use of 4 ports for increased signal strength harnessing, but not all modems have 4 ports. Some modems even have a 4×4 MIMO internal antenna configuration, but if you try to add an external antenna to the device, there are only 2 ports and you downgrade in this way. I found this out with the Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro.
User Interface Options and/or Limitations: With most cellular modems out there, they come with maybe software (usually accessible through a web browser on the network) or at least an on-board user interface. One thing that started to appear to be a differentiator to me when I was in the buying phase, between high- and low-end cellular modems, was the capability to control the device hardware at a high level. On low-end modems, it was pretty much just plug and play. You stuck your SIM card in there, set a password, and while you may have LAN settings and the ability to control normal networking parameters such as DNS and port forwarding, when it came to the cellular data connection itself, you basically “get what you get”; meaning, the modem accepted whatever cellular band your provider felt was best, you usually couldn’t easily tell what band it was, what tower you wer being connected to, and other factors that you were not given easy visibility to, much less any sort of direct control of. Conversely, in higher-end modems, it seemed like you could go deeper, and turn on/off certain cellular bands, you could lock to a specific band, or a specific tower, and you could see real-time incoming data on signal strength (more than just bars), tower ID numbers, primary and aggregate bands, and so much more. This is what originally put the InvisaGig on my radar.
Cost and Budgeting: Consider upfront costs for hardware, monthly service fees, and potential overages or add-ons. Compare pricing among providers. Some modems and cellular data solutions are a one-and-done cost, while others lock you into a subscription model, or otherwise paywall some of the advanced user features you may need.
Reliability and Backup Solutions: Evaluate the reliability of the cellular connection. Explore backup options (like satellite or wired connections) for critical operations.
Network Security: Confirm the router/modem supports security features like encryption, firewalls, and VPN compatibility if these are important to you.
Scalability: If planning for a business, ensure the solution can scale to accommodate growth in data demand or users.
Installation and Maintenance: Decide whether you need professional installation or a DIY setup. Factor in ease of maintenance and technical support availability.
Carrier and Compatibility: Investigate which carriers work with your chosen equipment and whether switching carriers would be easy in case of service issues.
Quality of Service (QoS) Features: Look for QoS options to prioritize critical tasks like video calls or online meetings over less intensive applications.
Portability: For businesses or residents that might move locations, ensure the setup is portable and adaptable.
Environmental Factors: Consider weather conditions or physical obstructions that may impact cellular signal strength and plan accordingly (e.g., external antennas).
Support for Multiple Devices: Check if the cellular solution can handle simultaneous connections for all your devices.
Integration with Existing Systems: For businesses, verify compatibility with your current network infrastructure or software.
Contract Terms and Flexibility: Examine contract commitments, early termination fees, and options for upgrading or downgrading plans.
Usage Monitoring Tools: Look for solutions with tools to track data usage, prevent overages, and optimize performance.

Key Considerations for Rural Cellular Internet

As you can see, there are a lot of considerations when diving into cellular internet solutions for a rural location (or any location). Focus on the priorities for your situation—costs, speeds, and providers—to narrow down your options quickly.

For our work-from-home family of four, we were flexible enough to explore different directions depending on availability and budget.

Restarting Field Testing in 2025

At this point, I was ready to get back on the roof (fun!) and begin a new round of field testing from scratch to see what had changed since 2022.

I started with simple tests using my cell phone on a clear day. Thankfully, my low-pitch roof is easy to walk on, but if you’re doing your own testing, take every precaution to avoid falls.

First Round: Cell Phone Testing

Using my iPhone 14 Pro Max (and replicated on my wife’s iPhone 15 Pro), I saw:

Full bars of 4G LTE on AT&T
1–3 bars of 5G and 5G+
Spotty 5G performance indoors, but stronger 5G coverage on the roof

With Speedtest by Ookla and Cloudflare Speed Test, I saw:

5G+: Up to 120Mbps download, but only 1–2Mbps upload
LTE: Up to 60Mbps download, with a more balanced 30Mbps upload

This confirmed I was within a 5G coverage area, at least outdoors. I also saw a bit better performance when I removed the cases from the phones.

Modem Testing: Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro

Next, I tested with my Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro modem on the roof. Results:

Unable to connect to 5G
4G LTE worked well, though about 20% slower than the iPhones
Performance was consistent, but not as strong as the phones

These results got me thinking about gear upgrades: possibly mounting the modem outside in an enclosure and adding an antenna to boost reception.

Understanding 5G vs LTE Coverage

Since I could connect to 5G with my phones but not with the Nighthawk, I used CellMapper.net to check AT&T towers nearby.

4G LTE towers were common in my area.
5G coverage was sparse.

Research revealed that AT&T’s definition of 5G differs from other carriers, so make sure you understand that you won’t always get primary 5G bands even if you are in a 5G coverage area.

Choosing Between LTE and 5G

As a web designer, upload speed is critical for pushing images, video, and website changes to live servers. That made LTE the more practical choice for everyday work for me, since it had the best upload speeds and stability in my area. Your mileage may vary greatly if you are in a better coverage area with more robust 5G upload.

Long story short, while people like to wow themselves with high download speeds, make sure you understand the importance of upload if you do any work or activities that require you to submit data TO the internet, and not simply receive it FROM the internet.

If I have 100 down and 2 up on 5G, I will choose 15 down / 10 up over LTE all day since it is m0re balanced and upload matters for me.

But since our home use case wasn’t 100% focused on my web design work, and we still wanted to have fast download speeds for normal family internet uses (i.e. MarioKart 8 on Nintendo Switch), my goal became clear: find a modem that supported both LTE and 5G, ensuring flexibility now and futureproofing for expanded rollout.

Considering Alternatives: Starlink

I briefly considered Starlink. We have an unobstructed view of the sky, but after comparing costs and performance:

Cellular internet: Unlimited data at acceptable speeds for ~$35/month (plus modem)
Starlink: $120/month + $349 dish + installation costs

Starlink also offers a cheaper “Residential Lite” option with deprioritized data, but it’s unavailable in my area—and didn’t sound reliable for work needs.

Cellular won out.

Equipment Needs for the Future

For the modem setup, I wanted:

Outdoor enclosure for better reception
Antenna ports for optional directional or omni antennas
Compatibility with all major carriers (future flexibility)

Testing Other Carriers

Even though AT&T looked to give us strong enough reception and acceptable / good cellular data speeds, I tested Verizon out of curiosity (on my iPhone 14 Pro Max), and was glad to see that I was able to connect to very fast (100+ down) speeds if I ever needed to revisit getting a possible hotspot plan.

Many carriers offer free eSIM trials, which make it easy to test reception before committing to contracts, which should be useful if you want to dip your toes in with different networks. Keep in mind that an eSIM test on a phone may differ from the reality of a cellular modem with different antenna configuration.

Wrapping Up Field Testing

With my testing complete, I had the data I needed to compare actual cellular internet options for our rural location.

Next step: checking available plans and providers — which I’ll cover in Part 2 of our rural internet odyssey.