Simple Cheap Internet Solution

[beachtomountains]

I've been using Verizon's home internet (4G or 5G depending on location) and it has been doing great. Very simple, just a small white cube that plugs in, searches for a signal, and bam we've got wifi. It's not the same LTE as their cell service and they don't currently have a map showing it's service areas, but you can call them and ask. We've been able to stream movies on 2 devices at once while my child was also gaming with no issues. I chose Verizon because they do have the largest coverage area in terms of their cell service and so far I've always had a good signal. T-mobile has a very similar setup but I have their cell service (through Google Fi) and it's pretty spotty so I'm assuming their internet is probably on par, but its probably a good second choice. The Verizon internet is $50/mo with autopay. If you have Verizon cell service you can get an even better deal. Personally I find Starlink too expensive, too cumbersome, finicky, takes up too much space, and its hardware is ugly to boot. The most difficult part of Verizon home internet is having a address in its service area to get it shipped. Like Starlink, there could be an easy way around that. Hope this info helps someone, I was on the search for quite awhile and I'm really happy with my decision.

[cadillackid]

my verizon 5G has been dissapointing on my phone and hotspot.. tmobile is definitely spotty.. I did put a verizon SIM in my CAT-12 Mikrotik router and have had much better luck since it has an external higher gain antenna and more bands.. I think thiose Home cubes use all of the CAT-12 Bands which would give you excellent coverage across many towers...



mamny of the Phones and hotspot devices which are more than a couple years old dont support all of the LTE bands..

[beachtomountains]

Yeah I felt it was important to note the home service uses a different network than the cell service and they don't offer a lot of information online about it either. But you can call and ask them about service in a particular area before you travel there. Hopefully they will add a map in the future. But for $50 or less a month its a really great deal!

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by beachtomountains

Yeah I felt it was important to note the home service uses a different network than the cell service and they don't offer a lot of information online about it either. But you can call and ask them about service in a particular area before you travel there. Hopefully they will add a map in the future. But for $50 or less a month its a really great deal!

it still bounces the same towers and from what ive read about it uses the newest bands.. for the price you are right it cant be beat!.

[fo4imtippin]

I just signed up for T-Mobile home internet for $25 per month as a backup WAN. Comcast has been so crappy lately. I was going to do starlink as backup and actually got my named pulled out of the hat for it, but my bus is a year out from taking it anywhere and i have trouble spending money on the dish plus $100 per month. They were also going through all the changes for RV's at the time to, so i no longer had a waitlist for the RV service, keep service active, etc. By the time i need it, they may have a few more options. Right now i like the in motion dish, but hoping the price drops a bit on the hardware (doubtful).


Anyway, $25 for backup WAN with unlimited data. I dont even care if the speed is slow, i can just leave it running in my bus for wyze cameras and IOT devices to phone back to me when away from my house.


I was really excited ubiquiti just put out a mobile router that could fit in my single Pane Ubiquiti setup, but its carrier locked to AT&T 4G and costs are $15/GB of data.


My wife goes "So were going to end up with like 5 internet services?" I said "Yep, kind of like the number of shampoos in the shows". Says she understands now.

[beachtomountains]

Originally Posted by fo4imtippin

I just signed up for T-Mobile home internet for $25 per month as a backup WAN. Comcast has been so crappy lately. I was going to do starlink as backup and actually got my named pulled out of the hat for it, but my bus is a year out from taking it anywhere and i have trouble spending money on the dish plus $100 per month. They were also going through all the changes for RV's at the time to, so i no longer had a waitlist for the RV service, keep service active, etc. By the time i need it, they may have a few more options. Right now i like the in motion dish, but hoping the price drops a bit on the hardware (doubtful).


Anyway, $25 for backup WAN with unlimited data. I dont even care if the speed is slow, i can just leave it running in my bus for wyze cameras and IOT devices to phone back to me when away from my house.


I was really excited ubiquiti just put out a mobile router that could fit in my single Pane Ubiquiti setup, but its carrier locked to AT&T 4G and costs are $15/GB of data.


My wife goes "So were going to end up with like 5 internet services?" I said "Yep, kind of like the number of shampoos in the shows". Says she understands now.

That's a running theme for my build- 5 backup options for everything. You should see my coffee making abilities, haha! I could live without internet though, my kids are addicted and I probably am too, so we could use some dead spots in our travels! The T-mobile service was my second choice. And the RV Starlink is like $150 or $160?! AT&T has the worst coverage I know of. So that was a bullet dodged. I'm pretty happy with all the choices we have now, when I first started my search a few years ago there no easy cheap options. I feel spoiled now! Good luck with your build & connectivity!

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by beachtomountains

That's a running theme for my build- 5 backup options for everything. You should see my coffee making abilities, haha! I could live without internet though, my kids are addicted and I probably am too, so we could use some dead spots in our travels! The T-mobile service was my second choice. And the RV Starlink is like $150 or $160?! AT&T has the worst coverage I know of. So that was a bullet dodged. I'm pretty happy with all the choices we have now, when I first started my search a few years ago there no easy cheap options. I feel spoiled now! Good luck with your build & connectivity!

..AT*T.. im in a coffee shop in a little town in indiana.. they have good wi-fi which is awesome... however.. in the bus.. Verizon has 1 bar and nearly worthless data.. but my AT&T is screamin fast with 4 sometimes 5 bars...

[rossvtaylor]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

..AT*T.. im in a coffee shop in a little town in indiana.. they have good wi-fi which is awesome... however.. in the bus.. Verizon has 1 bar and nearly worthless data.. but my AT&T is screamin fast with 4 sometimes 5 bars...

I've also got AT&T...not by original choice, but because my provider switched their carrier to AT&T over a year ago. I'd previously been with Verizon and I was worried about the switch, knowing little about AT&T. But as I've used AT&T here (we're a bit remote) and driving around the country, I've been really impressed.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by rossvtaylor

I've also got AT&T...not by original choice, but because my provider switched their carrier to AT&T over a year ago. I'd previously been with Verizon and I was worried about the switch, knowing little about AT&T. But as I've used AT&T here (we're a bit remote) and driving around the country, I've been really impressed.

each service has their areas that work good and each one has crappy areas..


I have Spectrum (Verizon towers mainly but augments with femtocell in areas where they serve wired connections)...


AT&T
Tmobile
Verizon


I really was goign t ogo for starlink.. however the advantage of multiple Cell carriers is portability.. if I happen to be out of wifi range for the bus and place im working has crappy wifi then id be screwed with starlink. a portable Mikrotik dual SIM router isnt much bigger than a hotspot and I can choose the 2 which I like best.. I have a couple of those MT devices .. so I can drop whichever one in my backpack and go..


the advantage of the Mikrotik devices is that I can chgange / upgrade the modem card as i wish.. as new bands come available, manufacturers release new modem cards.. I can simply plug a different one in , maybe change the antennas and go..



if I were boondocking away from cities.. ie way up in the moiuntains id be on starlink for sure.. but honestly im a City-Hiker. I find myself going INTO cities and not away so having multiple Cell carriers works the best for now..

[HamSkoolie]

We're using build time to experiment with our 5th wheel before deciding on Cell and wireless Internet equipment and carriers. We are currently using:


(ME) an Iphone with "Visible" service. It's a pay as you go Verizon subsidiary. $40/mo unlimited talk/text/data/hotspot. The hotspot is not lightening fast but seems to be enough for the average user. If you're not uploading and downloading large files (such as youtube videos) it should work.


(HER) Android with AT&T "FirstNet" service...again unlimited but the hotspot is faster than the Visible plan I use.


We prefer to keep two providers for cell service for redundancy in coverage.


Starlink is looking pretty good for the final product though.

[GreyBird]

If you buy a GLiNet 4g wireless hotspot. Then take the sim out of a Metro PCS or T-Mobile phone, pop it in, program IMEI from activated phone into the GLiNet router (google search) and set the TTL to 65 (i think, google) and make the new settings persistent after reboot (google). You will have an unlimited MiFi hotspot, for potentially as cheap as $25/mo depending on the plan you have.

It really isnt that hard, takes about an hour to setup or less. Kinda hard to beat, dont think it would work with Visible due to the bands, but GLiNet does make a MiFi unit with a card slot for a Verizon capable card 4g modem ($400 extra for card) that would probably work. So far metro has been fine, looking to go starlink mobile long term personally.

With this setup you can connect up to 20 devices at a time and the carrier limits are the same as your phone plan, as the carrier thinks the device is your cell phone.....

[Dbacks2k4]

This is what I did. Not simple by any means but I do enterprise networking for a living. Fairly cheap, minus starlink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUdPE7pMq5o