T‑Mobile 5G Hotspot by Quanta - D53 5G Broadband Hotspot - Connect to 32 Devices - Long Lasting 6460mAh Battery (Renewed)

I have a large 5G modem in my office, but I wanted a portable one to work in a library, outside, etc., without relying on my phone's hotspot.When I first opened this one, I was a bit shocked because it didn't look renewed. It was scratched and looked like it had been found in the trash (which might be true). There was no manual, no admin password to access its page in the browser for updates, and the factory reset button was broken, seemingly to prevent you from pressing it. It also takes hours to fully charge.But it works. You just insert a SIM card, use the password displayed on the screen, and you're good to go. 50% of the charge lasts up to 10 hours. The top download speed I measured was over 200 Mbps. My MacBook and phone connect without any issues—whether working, watching videos, or browsing. Everything runs smoothly.Would I buy it again for $29? Absolutely! When it eventually stops working, I'll buy a more expensive hotspot. But for now, this piece of junk works well, and I really like it. I always carry it in my backpack when I want to work outside the office.

The device does not stay on, it shuts down and display screen reads “rebooting” every 1-2 minutes or so.

This is my first time having a separate hotspot device. I got in mainly because Tmobile had some plans that had better rates than doing smartphone plans with hotspot service included that increased the the monthly price significantly.This is a fairly heavy device. It's about 2/3s the size of my Samsung S21 and about 1/3 thicker but weighs a bit more. That's just in case people are expecting a smaller device that is lightweight. The hotspot uses a USB C connector to charge and even with a quality charger it does take a while to charge so if you are a frequent user or traveler I do recommend charging it overnight if it gets below 30% of you might find yourself without data when you need it the most.It's been a solid performer so far. I am not a heavy use of it since I usually have access to the internet at most locations I go to but when I do need it, I need it bad and need it to be a solid connection.Keep in mind that just because the device is 5G capable does not mean it is going to give you a solid 5G connection everywhere. Just like your smartphone it will switch from 5G to 4G LTE or 3G depending on availability or signal strength.I have had pretty good results so far with it, with the occasional issue that when I am traveling and lose the 5G signal it sometimes takes a reboot of the hotspot to get connected again. I've gotten consistent download speeds of 100Mbps and upload speeds to 0.13Mbps. Yeah, upload speeds are quite low but honestly, most of your time you are going to be downloading data. Your speeds may vary.To get the most stable connection while traveling I do recommend going into the hotspots dashboard at http://mobile.hotspot and then going to Setup > Network Settings and change the network search mode to Manual and the Network Mode to LTE/3G. It has a idle timeout of 10 minutes which might very well be what some people have complained about frequently losing the connection. If you go to Settings : Advanced Settings > Power and Battery settings you can change the idle time up to a maximum of 30 minutes. Very rarely have I had any drops by doing it this way. Do keep in mind that increasing the idle timeout is going to increase battery usage.It only comes with the 5GHz band enabled so you will also need to activate the 2.4GHz radio if you have older WiFi devices in Settings > WiFi > Basic. Please set a WiFi password for your connections. You have no idea how often I find completely unsecured hotspots because some people think that because it is their hotspot that only they can connect to it. If you are home or traveling with your kiddos and want to prevent them from using your hotspot despite the repeated warning that it slows down your speed and eat your data you can limit the number of simultaneous connections and there is also a MAC Filtering option. Just saying :-)I know some people will just find it a PITA but if you work with this device's quirks and limitations it is a solid performer. If you want a device that "just works" then you are going to have to look into much more expensive devices or even a more expensive plan from your carrier.I have not had any issues with the hotspot getting hot even with heavy use. I understand that some of these being refurbished devices may have all been as thoroughly inspected and could be luck of the draw. I am happy with mine and think it is a great deal.

The hotspot was delivered quickly. I had to clean off an old partially torn-off label on the back with some cleaner pads used for removing sticky bandages and the like. Called T-Mobile and got it going. 300mb down speeds. I’m quite impressed. T-Mobile is sending a new sim card for it. Definitely was worth the $29. I will use it for backup wfh connectivity for when Comcast goes down. Note to all: When you receive this hotspot, save yourself some password grief and just get out a paper clip and do a reset before you do anything else. It’s a small hole inside the sim cover on the side. Hold the hidden button down for 10 sec with the paper clip until it reboots. Then when you log into it on its wifi you’ll be able to set your admin password. You’re good!

The wi-fi nor working and battery is burning all time.

Didn't work as well as an old Verizon 4G hotspot using the same T-Mobile SIM. I tried using this in several locations and never got a useable signal, while I was able to use the hotspot in my T-Mobile iPhone to actually accomplish what I needed to do. The first one of these I got was totally defective and there was no access to the configuration page, even after multiple factory resets and using the password showing on the screen. I returned this one as well and would stay away from these refurbs in the future.

I have one of these units via Calyx for my main internet. The battery had become severely bloated, though, and I was concerned that I would have to buy a new unit (which could be a couple hundred dollars if bought from Calyx directly). I took it apart and confirmed that the battery was relatively easy to remove. After a lot of deep searching, though, I could not find any replacement batteries online. I had the thought to try to find used or refurbished units like this, though, to harvest a replacement battery from. Units like this have a strong contracted bond between the IMEI and the SIM card. Trying to tamper with that is very against the rules of Calyx and T-Mobile. They don't have anything against swapping a battery as far as I can tell, though.The battery swap was successful, and I have a working unit again.

The hot spot itself seems to work fine. However, the charging cable that was in the box did not fit the port. I had to use another one that I had at home. That's not a big deal, but I wrote the seller about it (just wanted a charging cable sent to me), and they never wrote me back. Also, I had to clean the hot spot (with Lysol wipes) when I got it. It was actually dirty. I don't like to write negative reviews, but the seller could... at the very least...respond.