u/coffeeandubuntu

I recently bought a GL.iNet Slate 7 and it’s been a great little travel router so far. One thing I’d really like to do is use it as a backup internet option for the house when our primary internet goes down (which has happened a few times over the last few months).

Right now, I’ve successfully tethered my iPhone to the Slate 7 via USB.

My question is: does anyone know of a good hotspot/device that is pay-as-you-go or prepaid? I’d prefer not to pay for a monthly line that mostly sits unused just for emergencies or maybe when we travel in the car. Ideally I’m looking for a device where I can:

- Buy data only when needed and use it occasionally as a home internet failover connection or when traveling
- Plug it directly into the Slate 7 (USB tethering).

Curious what others here are using for internet setups like this.

I would like to use the Ecowitt Air Quality Monitor WH46D outdoors. I know it says indoor use but the Ecowitt outdoor monitor only measures one type of particulate instead of the 4 - 5 the WH46D does. Has anyone done this? I’m wondering if a Stevenson shield would provide enough protection?

I wanted to share this in case it helps anyone else dealing with false lightning detections from the Ecowitt WH57.

I recently bought the Ecowitt WH57 lightning detector to use with my Ecowitt GW3000 gateway/base station. Unfortunately, I had a lot of issues with phantom lightning strikes. I tried several troubleshooting steps, including changing the DIP switches to the lowest gain/sensitivity setting, relocating the sensor away from the house, and even moving it 100' into the woods. Some of those changes helped a little, but I was still getting many false positives even when there was clearly no lightning nearby.

After reading that the Ambient Weather WH31L might be compatible with Ecowitt, I decided to return the WH57 and try the WH31L instead. It was more expensive, but it worked perfectly with my GW3000. The gateway detected it immediately and so far I am not getting any phantom false positive lightning strikes. It has been a much better experience than the WH57 for me.

Hopefully this helps someone else who is fighting the same issue.

TL;DR: If you are using an Ecowitt GW3000 and are having trouble with the WH57 giving false lightning strikes, the Ambient Weather WH31L may be worth trying. I can’t guarantee it will work for everyone or every Ecowitt console/gateway, but it paired immediately with my GW3000 and has been stable so far.

AT&T has been digging in our neighborhood in Westerville to install fiber. It looks like the conduit is already in, but they still need to run the actual fiber lines.

For anyone who has been through this before, about how long was it between this stage of construction and when you were actually able to order service for your address?