Rural high speed internet options

[Paul De]

I have come to appreciate the members that come to BMWST for the diversity of knowledge and input that is useful on all things motorcycling, but thought I'd try you folks out on a burning question I have that has nothing to do with the motorcycle world.

 

We have a place in Northern Wisconsin that my wife and I will turn into home base in the next few years.  One of the issues we face is that we are on the edge of a national forest and while that has many awesome benefits, in terms of high speed internet connectivity it is not.  I can get DSL from the local phone company, but in terms of streaming music and HD video it would not be an option.  We have been looking at Hughesnet or Viasat which seem like options although these services are pricey.

 

Satellite seemed like the only option, but recently I changed my cell phone plan which now allows me to set my mobile phone as a WiFi hot spot.  If I put this phone on a particular window sill I get 2 bars of 4G LTE.  During our last visit with the phone in the special spot I was able to stream HD Video  to my Notebook connected to my HD television.  After a little of buffering lags in the first minute the rest of the hour long show came in as good as the dish service we have.  I think if I purchased cell phone signal booster I should be able to add a bar or two to my mobile signal which would improve consistency, but even then I don't think there is enough bandwidth to have more that one activity going on at a time.

 

Now for the question

With 4G LTE working for a single activity now and 5G soon to roll out could using the cell phone signal be a viable alternative to Satilite Interent?  It would consolidate mobile phone and household internet to a single expense so I could justify a top tier plan.

 

Inquiring minds want to know.

[LittleBriar]

I would say it's certainly an option. I would understand the data usage limits on your plan though. If you watch a lot of streaming media, you can use lots of data. For instance, a full length Netflix movie can be 2Gb. Many of the providers sell little boxes that set up the wifi network without needing a phone. Check out Verizon's MiFi. You can also get antennas that will amplify your signal throughout the house.

I had HughesNet a while ago and was constantly bumping into my data limit. They would then drop me down to super slow speed. I believe they are more liberal with their data limits now. So, one of the most important things is to estimate you monthly data usage and go from there.

[John in VA]

As an alternative to typical cellphone hotspot service, you might search for an independent cell data provider (non-Sprint/TM/VZ/ATT) in your area that offers residential fixed-location LTE cell service from their specific nearby tower. This kind of fixed-location data service is easier/cheaper for the provider compared to tracking wandering mobile cell phones. For this service they come to your house to install a small roof antenna aimed directly at their tower. The antenna is then wired to an LTE modem/router (available from many manufacturers like Netgear) from which you'd base your house network/wifi. They typically offer unlimited LTE data with pricing based on the speed you prefer. It's worth checking out.

[Bob Palin]

Almost all the cell phone plans have limited amounts of high speed data, even the so called unlimited ones are reduced in speed over a certain amount per month that you will surely use if you stream TV. Verizon has a prepaid unlimited monthly  plan right now fro $65/mo that has no limit on high speed data but it's not phone service, you have one of their Jetpack router units and it broadcasts to your devices. Whether this will work for you depends on how busy your tower is, this plan is subject to data management at all times which means you are a lower priority than other high speed data. I don't have this plan because I can't get Verizon at my house unfortunately, I have a monthly prepaid Verizon plan with a phone and 14GB of data that is not managed, it works great when I'm traveling.

If you are on Facebook there is an excellent RV Internet group that might be helpful to you https://www.facebook.com/groups/rvinternet/

they also have a related page that may be easier reading for specific information https://www.facebook.com/mobileinternetinfo/

 

Here's a link to a web page about this specific plan https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/verizon-overhauls-prepaid-introducing-unlimited-data-plans-for-jetpacks/

 

You may find that your local Verizon store doesn't know about this plan and will tell you it doesn't exist, but it does, $65 with autopay discount, prepaid monthly.

 

[chrisolson]

3 hours ago, Paul De said:

With 4G LTE working for a single activity now and 5G soon to roll out could using the cell phone signal be a viable alternative to Satilite Interent? 

 

Your location may not see 5G for quite a while as the range is shorter meaning that the cell company has to provide additional towers.  But a good, solid 4G signal is totally fine for all internet activity (except maybe high res action on line games) .  And even when streaming, just email or browsing (maybe this forum )  may be possible on an additional device ... 

 

I don't know the cost of Hughes but if you can achieve the same cost / data allowance ratio with cell service there is no technical reason to have both.  In fact during heavy storms cell service might be more stable.

[Mike]

We've been down this road, in rural SW Wisconsin. Our connection "needs" are perhaps a bit different, and I've done a bit of experimenting. I'll note that I first started down this road six years ago, when we built our cabin. The first attempt was to use a Verizon MiFi hotspot. It turned out to be a half-assed solution that didn't meet our particular needs at that time. There was no effective way to connect to our TV and the WiFi connection was pretty limited.
 

A couple of years into this, we set up a full office for my wife, so she could VPN into her office in the Chicago area. Additionally, she has a VOIP phone for business use, all pretty seamless once it's connected.

 

Over the years, I've tried a number of approaches, but have ended up going with a somewhat pricey Viasat option. Download speeds are crazy fast (by my standards), 60-80 Mbps, and uploads are acceptable, around 5-7 Mbps. This allows us to have very workable download speeds for streaming video, music, and for the office connection. One thing I will note, particularly with respect to the latter, is that the latency inherent in communicating via a satellite that's orbiting at around 20,000 miles above the Earth is a factor when you're typing or entering data in a VPN environment. And, sometimes the lag makes using the VOIP phone a pain in the neck, in which case she just forwards call directly to her Verizon phone.

To make things even more expensive--cost is no object, right?--we have DirecTV up there, too.

My advice would be this: try using a cellular hotspot (like the MiFi), stretching it to its limits within the first 30 days, when you can normally return it and deactivate without penalties. It just might work for you. But, if you find, as we did, that it just doesn't work for what you need, go with the highest service level available for your location with Viasat. As I noted, it's what we ultimately had to do, but it is much more expensive.

[Twisties]

Surprised the DSL is not your best option.  We can get 12 mbps here, which I believe should support HD video and at least one other less intensive activity simultaneously.  We are fortunate to have cable service available, so I haven't used DSL in years, but I think it works, no?  We were the last house on our line with cable.  The neighbors wanted it.  It was a fight, but they were eventually able to pay Charter/Spectrum to run line to their house.  Just a thought.

[Bob Palin]

DSL here is still under 3mbps and was horribly unreliable when I had it. There is fibre in the area but not available to me yet.

[Mike]

1 hour ago, Twisties said:

Surprised the DSL is not your best option.  We can get 12 mbps here, which I believe should support HD video and at least one other less intensive activity simultaneously.  We are fortunate to have cable service available, so I haven't used DSL in years, but I think it works, no?  We were the last house on our line with cable.  The neighbors wanted it.  It was a fight, but they were eventually able to pay Charter/Spectrum to run line to their house.  Just a thought.

Not an option where we are, only dial-up.  Fiber is a few miles away, but I'm guessing they're in no hurry to get it up to us. There are around a half dozen homes on our road, and the terrain is somewhat challenging. Satellite actually works well 99% of the time, but when really bad weather moves in, it's back to the olden days, like Blu-Ray disks. 

[Twisties]

I was referring to the OP, who said DSL is available but inadequate.

[poodad]

Just as a point of reference, I have 3Mb DSL and can watch Netflix in 720.

[Paul De]

Great input and insights. 

 

I will want to stream in 1080 and there could be times where it might be 2x1080.   I will check again but a year or two ago I think the fastest copper wire DSL was 8Mbps  and was close enough to satellite pricing to make it not attractive.

 

I think I will try more experimentation with the 4G LTE cellular approach, at least as a bridge to a permanent solution which I will not need for another year or so.  I can get a signal booster for around $125 and if it is a bust for streaming it still will help with mobile phone connectivity without having to keep the phone in the special location.

Edited March 12, 2019 by Paul De
Clarified second sentence