Wireless home internet

[SeaDawg]

We've been watching the wireless home internet for some time.

In December, one of the biggest,  Ver****n offered $25 a month, plus taxes, for ten years, and showed service in our area, with a 14 day free "look."

We bit.

So far, so good. Upload and download have been as good or better than our previous wired connection,  and may prove to be more reliable in storms. We'll see.

Good enough that I canceled the much more expensive wired connection, and ordered one for our daughter and my sister.  

We did re- install a repeater in the garage for all the devices down there (phyn plumbing alert, garage door wifi control, house battery, etc.) Good news, only one repeater needed now, when we had several in the house before.

We run everything off the device that I call the cube, including TV streaming,  and all the computers and devices.

Bonus of 5g, when I have a phone that can use it .

We'll see how it works in the long run. We have no tv cable connection anymore. Local channels on antenna, everything else is streamed. (Cut that cord several years ago.)

[Steve Morris]

I keep checking, but neither AT&T nor Verizon are available here west of Cleveland, Ohio. We have Spectrum for our cable/internet/phone subscription, and at $185/month, we're not getting our money's worth. Removing the phone only takes $15 off, so we use for non-essential calls.  If I take off cable and phone, then the internet portion goes up. And with streaming services constantly increasing cost, it is probably a wash to just cut the cord. 🤷‍♂️

[SeaDawg]

14 minutes ago, Steve and Deb said:

If I take off cable and phone, then the internet portion goes up. And with streaming services constantly increasing cost, it is probably a wash to just cut the cord. 🤷‍♂️

That can be a very real issue in areas with only one cable/internet provider.

I hope that the new entries into the market (like wifi internet and starlink) provide enough competition to drive down some of that cost.

When my mom still lived in a small town in Missouri,  her cost for just basic cable and one extra channel (so she could watch her PBS shows) was ridiculous, but her old rooftop antenna was damaged.  I tried 7 different indoor/outdoor antennae before I found one that gave her all the channels she wanted. The successful antenna was about the price of one month of cable. She was extremely happy to turn in the cable box. (She doesn't use the internet. )

[Steve Morris]

3 hours ago, SeaDawg said:

I hope that the new entries into the market (like wifi internet and starlink) provide enough competition to drive down some of that cost

I already have a super duper cellular router/antenna combo to install in the trailer we don't yet have. (Mobile Must Have's Speed Demon 5G Bundle) Once we have it going, I should run an Ethernet cable into my home's mesh network and see how it works. The downside is that I have several applications running on my home computer that must to be on 24/7, so I couldn't use this solution while we're travelling.

My other option is 20 MB/sec DSL. Been there; never going back! How in the world did I ever get by using 300 baud (.29 kb/sec) dialup back in 1982 on Compuserve!

[Zodd]

I switched to T-mobile a few months back as I was getting frustrated with spectrum reliability. It worked well for the first few months but the last month has been a lot of bad video call experiences saying internet is unstable. Luckily I only paused my service from spectrum. So turned that back on and going to shut down T-mobile. Spectrum is only running me $80 a month versus T-mobile’s $50 so not a big difference. Both give me about the same up with spectrum a bit better. Down spectrum is way better at 300 mbps down versus T-mobile 60 mbpds.

[Ollie-Haus]

3 hours ago, Steve and Deb said:

I already have a super duper cellular router/antenna combo to install in the trailer we don't yet have. (Mobile Must Have's Speed Demon 5G Bundle) Once we have it going, I should run an Ethernet cable into my home's mesh network and see how it works. The downside is that I have several applications running on my home computer that must to be on 24/7, so I couldn't use this solution while we're travelling.

My other option is 20 MB/sec DSL. Been there; never going back! How in the world did I ever get by using 300 baud (.29 kb/sec) dialup back in 1982 on Compuserve!

I know this doesn't solve your internet needs, but we've been using and aerial for television at home for over 10 years. At our new place we are about 35 miles east of Indianapolis and are able to get around 40 stations. Many of those are high def, but of course any older programming is in lower def. regardless. Programs like NFL, Nascar, PGA, local and national news come in with spectacular clarity. 

The Menards in Avon, OH has the antenna we use in stock if you are ever interested in making the jump. 

 

https://www.menards.com/main/electrical/electronics/antennas/televes-dat-boss-attic-outdoor-tv-antenna/149884/p-1642874256695741-c-1454940301502.htm?tid=5189128745463378719&ipos=18