Internet Service Provider

[Tigerman67]

Originally Posted by dspizzle

Has anyone had any luck with HughesNet Gen5?

- 25 mbps down
- 5mbps up
- $675 hardware
- $90/month

Pretty expensive, and I know it has got to be a PITA to set up each time. But if it is reliable anywhere and everywhere, 25 is much better than I has seen for that guarantee.


Shopping List For Your HughesNet Mobile Satellite Internet System - Mobile Internet Satellite

I knew a few people that used HughesNet for their traditional home. As I remember it, they disliked it quite a bit. I think it was mainly due to always hitting the rolling data cap they had the time (this was several years ago). So I would make sure you know what your actual data usage is to know if you are going to go over. Basically streaming TV and movies kills it on the data cap (at least at the time). I also believe it wasn't very fast, and had some serious lag.



But its all third hand knowledge. I'd probably look at cell phone hotspots first. If you are a remote IT worker or something and the internet is critical, I'd probably look at hotspots from 2 providers, like ATT and Verizon that use different technology and different towers to get some redundancy.

[Dapplecreek]

Satellite internet is rotten for latency - it will mess up your multi-player games and might make video conferencing difficult. Updates chew up a lot of your data quota, too. But if all you're doing is Netflix/Facebook/Email/Skoolie.net, you're OK.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by Dapplecreek

Satellite internet is rotten for latency - it will mess up your multi-player games and might make video conferencing difficult. Updates chew up a lot of your data quota, too. But if all you're doing is Netflix/Facebook/Email/Skoolie.net, you're OK.

I agree with one exception. Netflix and other streaming video services will have you hitting the data cap if you watch very much.

I have tinkered with Hughes Net and consider it a "last resort ".

Latency is a big deal. I have observed ping times ranging from 750-1250ms. Terrible for any kind of interactive services. Voip, video conference, gaming etc.

[firebuild]

I'm hitting the road at the end of the month, and my destination is a rural area where I already know internet service is bad. The only consistent option there is AT&T hotspot setups. My friend who already lives in that area is on a grandfathered 250G AT&T plan that's impossible to get onto now, so I really searched for something that would work for me.

I found it on eBay, where I was able to purchase a modem equipped with month-to-month unlimited, unthrottled service. I'm guessing the person who sold me this had several modems with some old grandfathered plan and just passes that on to the purchaser; I pay him the $70 a month fee via Paypal.

I decided to shut off my internet service here in suburban Los Angeles and switch over the the plan I bought on eBay, just to get a start on it and test out how it works before heading off on the road. I basically LIVE on the internet; I run an online business and all my visual and audio entertainment comes from my laptop; I don't own a TV or a stereo. I even listen to podcasts when I'm falling asleep at night, so my connection is basically running almost 24/7.

I have experienced absolutely zero difference between my previous (At&T) service and what I'm getting now. It's terrific. I just watched an episode of TV from a network's website, and simultaneously handled a chat support request from one of my customers without the slightest hesitation or issue. There are still grandfathered plans and modems for sale on eBay. I don't know how many of these plans are for sale on eBay (I hear they are on Amazon too) but they are worth checking out.

[firebuild]

Originally Posted by SilverSchooler

My house is in the boonies. I have AT&T. They have a home phone competitor that runs on their cell network. Home phone + 250G/month 4G for $60. I upgraded to 500G/month for $100. I plan to take it with me when my skoolie is done.

I tried to get this but it is discontinued. You can only have it if you're already grandfathered in.

[Sasquatters]

Get yourself a Raspberry-Pi and a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device such as a a Synology DS418 or DS718+. Add a couple hard drives, download all the media you want and boom. Pair this setup with a WiFi Ranger Sky Pro and you're all set.

We use a Synology and it is legit the best money I have ever spent. And this coming from a tech guy! The WiFi Ranger is amazing too. It can auto connect to local networks and bypass that annoying user agreement screen. If a network gets dropped it auto connects to another network without you having to do anything. It comes with a router which you can use to connect all your devices in the bus.

Here's our setup below. All offline. When we want to stream we can just pop on the Netflix app on the TV and if we are within range (roughly 2 miles) we auto connect to an open network and stream.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84e67xMxMNg&t=170s

[warewolff]

I paid $400 to one of those shady ebay sellers offering the old grandfathered and TRULY unlimited Verizon plans. He set it up for me and I regularly use 100GB a month when traveling, unlimited, no problem. I think my contract is up in July and I'll see if Verizon cancels me at that point or decides to keep me on ... but I've never, ever had a problem with coverage except in very obvious dead zones and I have a hotspot that runs wifi from the bus 24/7. It's easy peasy. After the initial $400 hit, the service is just $45 a month.

[easy rider]

If your parked and Xfinity wifi pops up in the list of available Wifi sources . If you or some one you know has Xfinity you can have up to 7 email address with xfinity ,so you call them and set up a email address . Now from what I was told , that email and the account # associated with that email will let you login into those Xfinity wifi hot spots around the country .

[Sasquatters]

Originally Posted by easy rider

If your parked and Xfinity wifi pops up in the list of available Wifi sources . If you or some one you know has Xfinity you can have up to 7 email address with xfinity ,so you call them and set up a email address . Now from what I was told , that email and the account # associated with that email will let you login into those Xfinity wifi hot spots around the country .

More detail on that would be cool. I always thought you had to have that persons login.

[salvagedstitch]

Not sure if this is helpful or not but googles new phone plan project fi has "unimited" data plan for $60 a month. its $80 really when you add the $20 base for calls/texts. I think it will work on tablets too so it may be an option. It uses all three cell networks and wifi first whenever avail. Its "unlimited" in the sense that your data bill is capped at $60 (6 gb of use) but you can continue to use up to 15gb before speeds are slowed. Its basically $10 a gb so if you wanted a higher plan you could do that too. But you of course need a phone that works with their sim cards. But with todays tech you could screen mirror from the phone to a smart tv. and it seems way easier than buying other gear or satellites and such. But not sure if you needed wifi on a laptop how it would work. For me I work solely from an ipad the last few years so I think it could work for me. It might work/might not for you but throwing it into the universe for ya!