Recently I have noticed that some telcos despite selling quota based plans such as Maxis Hotlink Unlimited Plan with Unlimited Hotspot (50GB FUP) and Yes 4G all have started restricting their subscribers from using their SIMs in modems.

Why is that permitted when we're already paying for each GB utilization?

What difference does it makes if I consume the same amount of GB in my phone or through my wireless modem when I'm restricted with the same amount of data I bought?
You mean 100GB if I download on my phone is different from downloading it on my PC using a wireless modem?

There are a few sly reasons why those telcos are implementing unfair practices like this:

1) They want to force you to only use their own supplied 4G modems with their overpriced wireless broadband plans which costs no less than RM120/month. Example: Yes Wireless Fibre RM148/mth or Maxis Home 4G WiFi RM138/mth

2) They only want you to buy their 5G phones of limited models supported by them so that you sign up with their dreadful 2/3 years contracts which gets you tied down with exorbitant fees.

I'm starting to think that this 5G model is a dirty tactic to force consumers to pay even more for increased ARPU.

Just use a rooted android or modified modem or injector to bypass the restriction.

No more and more modified modems are now starting to get blacklisted by our local telcos. Once you put your SIM into the modem you can't even connect to their network. Your modem will just show " No connection".
Modifying IMEI won't even work.

Always remember:

#5G_is_fake

Celcom, redONE, XOX, TuneTalk, Digi still works fine.

YES is the strictest among all, next U Mobile

The telcos especially both YES and Maxis in particular are secretly favoring their own devices and promoted phones.

Either your device will totally cannot connect to their network giving "No connection" or you can still connect but your lesser known device "buy your own BYO device" will be severely throttled when you surf the net. When you contact them all they'll give you an answer is your device is not in our supported list of phones. Sorry for that you no happy go port out to other companies.

Very dirty trick.It's not even an unlimited plan. It's a quota based one.

It's really silly why they insist on subscribers using the SIM only in supported phones.

I buy a quota based plan like 100GB a month why do you care if I use it in my phone or modem? If unlimited plan fair enough as FUP in place but a quota based one? I put in a modem I utilize the quota quicker and so I'll buy more quota top up after and you'll earn more money.

Why do you want to insist I place it ONLY in my phone???

I bet MCMC won't do much about this.

ikr... telco with so called xxGB quotas, then limit users cannot hotspot... must buy hotspot pass that only gives you few GB.

Seems like microtransactions sana sini already... who introduced those stupid passes trend in the first place?

I got a very bad feeling in future 5G will limit and micro manage all our devices discrepantly.

We'll all be forced to buy only the supplied telco range of limited phones which they endorse to be in the "compatibility" list.
If you buy your own device (BYO) outside their compatibility list, your speed and usage will be severely throttled.

Ever since my area got upgraded to the new 5G base station or e-Nodes, the YES 4G as Up Postpaid plan placed in my modem only gets throttled to 1Mbps. At the same spot and place I swapped it into their own branded phone my speed increased over 10X to somewhere near 20Mbps.

Is our telco industry planning this evil thing?

Wish I can buy my own 5G router under RM800 now and insert the Yes Unlimited Prepaid plan into it as my home internet hotspot.

You claim unlimited mah why I cannot use it the way it was supposed to be?

What's the use I can only use in the SIM my 5G phone which needs to be in your limited "compatibility list". Only to show off my speed test results?

Yes uses different spectrum hence the "compatible list"

What spectrum so special? This modem supports many 5G bands including n28.

Can I put a Yes Unlimited 5G Prepaid SIM inside this and use as internet hotspot? Can get full speed like in a "supported phone" or only get 1Mbps even if full bar or can't connect at all?

I'm subscribed to hotlink RM35 unlimited 3mbps + RM5 hotspot in my tplink modem. The internet speed was terrible, only few hundred kbps. I was made to understand by the customer care that their simcard is meant for use in a phone & not a modem. So long as it worked in a phone, it is deemed there's no issue with the internet speed. I resulted to a partial refund after a long chat with them. To me, it kinda defeat the purpose of offering unlimited data with such restrictions.

Same for me I subscribed the RM50 Unlimited 6Mbps with unlimited hotspot feature as well. Put into a modem the connection acts weird speed like not moving, always packet dropping and you'll noticed ports are locked up cannot upload on certain apps such as Whatsapp when using the modem as hotspot.

Then i place the SIM into a Samsung 4G phone, turn on hotpot and try. All problems gone.

Why they bother whether its in a modem or phone since you already has a FUP of 50GB a month?

I found Celcom mix & match RM35 - 30gb high speed internet which seem to be a good deal. Unfortunately, I was made known it couldn't be used in a modem for hotspot purpose, so it's not just those "unlimited plan" that has restriction in hotspot ... Now I am confused how to get a suitable simcard for 4g router for hotspot purpose ..

the only proper sim can used on modem afaik is maxis one? havent tried, quota afaik is 300GB

Just use TuneTalk RM35:35GB, no restriction in hotspot.

Let me know if you are interested, I can deliver the sim card to you for free including shipping fee. You just need to pay RM35 for the plan.

Lately they became more and more tricky, including misleading users with so call "Unlimited" terms.

For me as a dealer, I have to go through every hidden terms and conditions, too troublesome.

Im still using Yes 100GB with modem without problem. Top speed around 50Mbps. I don't know why you cant.

Telling Maxis that you are using it on a modem is akin like - "Hey I stole your wallet, now I'm using your money " .
Using mod modems is already underground business. Like Astro and Android Box are enemies of the state.
thats why Customer care tells you sim card is for phone only , even with legit hotspot. Cant blame them either. They are told by their 'bosses' not to encourage customers to use it on Modems.

FYI I have experimented before Hotlink Unlimited on my modded modem W/O Hotspot option (Will decline to say what model is it, just in case Maxis is spying) , yes it worked, able to hit 3Mbps sometimes , not KBps, but due to constant shitty coverage and slowness in my area, I took it out .

Best way? Throw away that SIM card, and get other telcos apart from Maxis.

Until now Celcom and its MVNOs including Unifi Mobile Bebas Prepaid remains unaffected by this implementation of new 5G restrictions yet. But *touchwood it's a matter of time they'll since telcos in Malaysia are notoriously sly and nasty. You see recently how many news some of their top management involved in scandals as such and you see the very same faces hopping around from one company to another.

All the higher tiered wireless 4G plans which costs more than monthly fibre plans (RM89) above range is still unaffected.

For those who are subscribing to Maxis 4G Home WiFi or their Maxis One Plan with Fibre Plan attached you're already paying more than RM150 per month. That is why they're not disturbing these high value customers.

Celcom and all its MVNOs remain unaffected till now but don't be too confident just yet they might soon join the bad side if the public still remain unaware of the dirty new tactic they started pulling.

The latest Hotlink plan says Unlimited Hotspot including Data and Calls.

If I place the SIM in the phone and turn on hotspot sharing or place it in a dedicated modem what difference does it makes? Aren't we all already subjected to a 50GB FUP? Not enough?

It's misleading and very dishonest to their customers.

Dare telling us which modem you're using? It won't be long once they finds out your modem IMEI and MAC ID will be put on blacklist and deprioritized by YES. Later don't cry ya and go complainning to YES. They'll just give you standard script reply saying your device is "NOT" in their supported device list. Thanks to 5G new network features.

What's wrong with using a modded modem when you're paying for a quota based plan? That's not stealing I pay for each and every GB of data. Also aren't we all subjected to their hidden 50GB FUP which throttles us down to unbearable speeds?

For your case your slowness and unstable connection may be due to their network deprioritizing your device because it's not in their supported list of device. Do not underestimate the new security features of the 5G network. You might be completely blocked or you may still connect but you'll noticed that your BYO device doesn't work as it should despite good signal reception full bars or such but still getting very slow speeds like 1Mbps. then when you switch over to a supported phone suddenly the speed rises more than 10 folds. You'll know something is not right after that.

phone and broadband plan different

I tell you why ler. It's the ARPU secret that makes the difference.

Maxis does not restrict its Maxis ONE unlimited SIMs and its 4G Home WiFi from being placed into dedicated modems. Their Maxis ONE plan costs no less than (RM89+RM99) hile 4G Home WiFi costs RM138 minus SST.
YES Wireless Fibre plan costs RM148 minus SST. These are all what they regard as HIGH value plans which translates to big revenues for them.

You think they'll allow cheap sub RM50 unlimited prepaid plans to achieve the same purpose? Then no one will subscribe to their expensive unrestricted wireless broadband plans after this or sign long term contracts will do.

It's about protecting their ARPU.

of course. business out to make money, not charity.

Im using Huawei mod modem. They're already find out since they block my unlimited data plan but not 100GB data plan.

It could be, since the existence of DNB has put them into a situation like MVNO. DNB's RAO is something that all the 4 major telcos opposed, but they have been force to accept the deal in order to provide 5G in Malaysia. As of now there is no info on the latest access pricing. But if it is still on the high side, plus the ever increasing amount of data usage means telco will constantly find ways to squeeze more revenue from subscribers.

This post has been edited by YoungMan: Nov 7 2022, 10:41 AM

Did u use this modem? And change the imei?

... Math.
Math. is all Math.



Maxis celcom digi running for decades. they already have VERY PRECISE user "usage" pattern statistic.

i pretty sure they know, Example

all Postpaid user with Data = average monthly consume 10~15gb? ( AVerage )
So if they offer data pack with 50gb, they still use 15gb average.

the Average is going lower if Prohit user to hotspot it.




so, 50GB monthly is just a number.
at the most, per user only consume 10~15GB

If they dont set Hotspot limit, chances are.. avererage per user might shoot up to 30GB or even max.

Sp basically they try to hide the fact that their rusty infrastructure cannot handle the traffic ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ If everyone able to zoomzoom on PC their tower will literally hang.

I think 50GB is Quota you paid for Mobile + Hotspot, used the extra beyond 50GB is FREE for mobile only which to them consider extra benefits to their customers. If you understand this way you will feel better, they just market it the other way around to make it sounds more valuable.

depend of telco
umobile unlimited + RM5 unlimited hotspot = 100gb