Rural High Speed internet options

Who has recent experience with something other than Comcast/TWC high speed internet that can help provide some insight? TWC does not run down my road, they have no plans to run down my road, DSL through Frontier isn’t an option (per their technical support), so I’m left with a Verizon/AT&T hot spot with capped data and borderline 3G/4G service (kept switching between the two when I had it 3 years ago), or satellite internet through Exede or HughesNet. Any other options? Anybody with legitimate experience?

http://www.nyspeed.com/showthread.php?282471-hotspots-wireless-internet&highlight=unlimited+data+hotspot Check out this thread. @BOBBYGRV knows his stuff.

Hmm…my wife still has unlimited data on her phone through Verizon. Maybe we’ll swap the sim card into the old hot spot and see if it still works. I’ll have to figure out how to get another phone for her, but I guess we could just add a new account/line to not lose the unlimited we currently have.

AT&T and VZW are starting to crack down on my methods. They will not allow you to add one of these to an unlimited data line, which is why you need to add an Android Phone and then switch the sim card. VZW is not allowing the transfer of unlimited data lines to anyone not family and the lines last checked, are up to around $800 on Ebay.

I still say that a VZW hotspot on 4G is the best, especially if you have unlimited data.

      • Updated - - -

She will have to give up her number to get that line switched, that would be the only problem I would see.

I’m not sure how much she’ll care knowing we’ll keep unlimited data, she’s been the reason I haven’t just tried rolling the dice and going to something else. This we could always un-do if it didn’t work out for us.

Just don’t tell anyone @ VZW you are going to switch that card into the hotspot. If you have any issues, feel free to pm me or call/txt 716-604-5862. Between myself and my brother we can get you squared away without getting VZW involved. You will just need them to add a new line.

No, I won’t go to VZW for support. I’ll just casually add a new account in the next couple of days if this works out. Thanks, I’ll PM you if I run into any issues.

Just avoid Hughesnet like the plague. I had them a few years ago when I lived in the sticks. Slow, unreliable, expensive, and if you go over the data cap, it slows you down to speeds that make dial-up seem fast in comparison. I’d exceed it by watching too many Youtube videos and other stupid things. I even had a higher-tier plan. Basic TW internet was a luxury after that experience. Websites actually loaded properly. Plus I didn’t have to climb onto my roof to brush off a dish every time it snowed. Fucking miserable.

Dish Internet is so old school, especially when you can get a hotspot in probably 90% of locations now. I believe VZW uses everyone’s towers, which is why they are so pricey, but at least you get more coverage options.

Most Satellite providers impose Data Caps too, if DSL and Cable are not available, a LTE Hotspot is your best option really.

Buying a SIM card adapter (nano to mini) to try out the hotspot with our unlimited data. Fingers crossed…

Sat internet is a great option for those with no other option . Excede (wild blue) like all sat internet providers has data caps but the caps are a lot higher than anything you will see on any cell phone carrier unless you have unlimited. Excede does also have certain times of the day where you get unlimited data. I think from midnight to 5am or something. It is a pretty good service and depending on which beam you will be on based on your location it can be a lot faster than 4G. If it is slow you have a dish alignment problem or cabling problem. It is just that simple. I would compare pricing between that and using a hot spot and see how it compares.

Unfortunately, you basically have these two equivalent options.
http://www.quickmeme.com/img/92/925277e6b151350f3612cae9c182b8434c6d66e4ae3f611ada6002dab87c9fa9.jpg

he could choose to pay for time warner to run a line down the street as a 3rd option but it will be at huge cost.

This was my dad’s situation for a while, but they recently started using sub’s to come out and quote these jobs and they are now oking a lot more to be done. They came out and did his free of charge after numerous years of trying to get him to pay $800 to have a pole dropped in.

it might be worth looking into for the OP

A neighbor got a quote for having TWC come out and run lines, $23,000. He lives 1/4 mile closer to the nearest junction than I do. My only option along those lines would be to see if the neighbors were all willing to pitch in, the last time someone tried that it didn’t pan out. Too many older people that don’t seem to care about fast porn.

SIM card adapter showed up last night, cost me $2. Wi-Fi hotspot fired up and ran just like it was supposed to. Swapped the card back into my wife’s phone and everything still cool there. Looks like it will work just fine for me, need to open up a new line and make this move permanent I guess.

Glad to hear it’s working for you! :tup:

Thanks for the advice! Might actually have a reasonable solution.