Since Optimum began its “upgrade” project, Risa’s internet was spotty. While moored during the boating season(s), connecting to the Club’s wireless generally worked, however there was no longer any connection from my winter storage locations in Huntington (where there had been an Optimum hotspot). A tethered cell phone that provided the link, generally ran out of fast data by the end of the month, especially if I was onboard frequently. A cellular hotspot solved that issue at a slight increase in cost. Then along came T-Mobile cellular internet. As I use T-Mobile for our cell phone plan, this ran only $30 per month for unlimited 5G data. Unfortunately it does not fall back to 4G if we roam from a 5G coverage area. This hasn’t been a problem, so far.

Rather than purchasing a rather expensive 5G cellular router, I opted to use the T-Mobile provided KVD21 gateway (below left) to provide service to the WAN port of my on-board router. There would be no reconfiguring of on-board devices using this method, but I did have to power the gateway, through its USB-C connector. I could not simply plug it in to my DC power station, I needed a device that answer the USC-C request for 20V from the gateway from my battery system. A device make by Chargeit! model #CM-CC1M3A fit the bill (below right).

This has been a home run, so far. It is both faster and cheaper than the hotspot.