Alternative OTA Internet plans for homeowners
 

T-Mobile uses the Verizon cell network I believe, not absolutely 100% certain, and the move from wired internet to OTA internet connectivity is starting to heat up with competitive products and service offerings. Have been researching for working on the road in an RV.

T-Mobile Rolls Out Two New Internet Plans to Give Customers Enhanced Options for Home and On the Go - T-Mobile Newsroom

If you have max bars cell reception, this might be a good option. If you have minimal bars, then a cell booster with antenna might be another great alternative to wired internet cost. . .

YMMV

former IT tech guy

T-Mobile and Verizon have their own cellular networks, as does AT&T. There are several MVNOs that use these three networks. For home internet, if you have access to a reliable and inexpensive fiber or cable vendor, I'm not sure why you would go that route. For example, my fiber optic service is $30 per month.

My cell phone uses the Verizon network, and I get good phone cellular reception in my house. But, I have found that, when I try to send a photo attachment using texting, the attachment will sometimes be too large to send. But, if I switch to "wifi calling", the photo attachment transmits easily. So, apparently, the wired internet service provides a better signal than the cellular service. I have the Xfinity Mobile internet and cell service.

wireless internet has several different channels and speeds within the channels. . the best wireless internet channels are not the ones accessed by your cell phone. Wireless internet and cellular phone service has different bands by service company.

AFAIK, 5G internet and 5G cell service use the same frequencies and same towers. Essentially, my TMobile 5G internet box is a large hotspot. I get similar download speeds over 5G and WiFi when in my house.


Xfinity cell and WiFi calling would be different. Cell service would need to hit a tower. Wi-Fi calling would go to the Xfinity router in the home and then over cable to the internet. In this case, with a high speed cable connection to the internet, WiFi downloads and uploads could be much faster than cellular.

When I tried TMobile Internet when it first came out, it connected to a tower on the Turnpike. Only worked in the one spot where we had line of sight to the tower.

The data rate would would drop dramatically during heavy traffic on the Turnpike.

They've added a lot of capacity to that tower since, may be worth trying again.

Does the Tmobile box have an input for an antenna?

According to T-Mobile support, cell data is prioritized over 5G internet data

yes, but not 4G, as there are specific bands for 4g rural internet cell service. There are cellular routers which can be specifically locked on certain bands where there is low usage, to avoid congestion rate reductions.

Here is a web page which explains all the different bands available to each cellular service provider.
A Guide to Cellular Frequency Bands Used by US Carriers

This offering is for people who don't want to be tethered to a land line, and who don't want the particular offerings of the tethered types. Also types who want to have a single internet account which travels with them to wherever they are located: here, iceandsnow land, etc. .

I was listening to one technology interview where they want to eliminate wires to the house, the last 100 feet, and just use a wide area wifi transmitter on the phone pole. The house then puts a receiver at the window with line of site (best) to the transmitter on the pole, and off and running.

Of course, there are introductory rates, as well as first mover advantages, but eventually all will converge into very similar prices depending upon the services purchased.

YMMV

The 5G technology is very particular about placement in the home if you do not have great cell coverage. There are two places in my father's home where it works. It is a little more flexible in my home here but still a bit particular. I can certainly imagine areas of the Villages where it would not work at all.

The maximum download rate varies throughout the day. I haven't noticed any weather fade but there is a lot of variation as the network gets busy. Still, I have never had a problem streaming 4K while also watching YouTubes or Tik-Toks. Users needing higher bandwidths might find TMobile 5G speeds unacceptable.

I do not see any input for an antenna.

Verizon cellular uses primarily CDMA technology while T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint use GSM. Not interchangeable. Reliable service while traveling is going to be a crapshoot because none of them provides service everywhere, especially if you are camping in mountainous areas. Check the coverage maps for the areas you primarily will be staying. Just be prepared for outages.

OTA internet
 

I have tried OTA 3x in three different houses with t-mobile. It was terrible at best no matter how many bars I saw. Wired is the only way to go

I agree. We have TMobile internet here in Amelia. We originally got it in Indiana, so we just bring it with us when we come here for the winter. Works well in both places.

As you said, placement is key. You have to move it around to different windows to get the best signal.

I believe that T-Mobile uses Verizon cell towers and not their "network". And the cell towers they use vary periodically depending on Verizon's cell traffic. A Verizon cell tower that T-Mobile uses this month may not be available for their use next month and they will change towers. What I don't know is if T-Mobile has their own towers also.

No. T-Mobile has their own network, as does Verizon and AT&T. I believe many of the towers are actually owned by 3rd parties and the cell companies rent space for their transmitters.

There are many areas in TV where people only have one option (xfinity). When they jack up prices for existing customers, those customers are trapped. So they may very well try OTA solution to see if it works for them at a more reasonable price. Count yourself among the lucky who has access to fiber.

Yes, and that is why I wrote:

if you have access to a reliable and inexpensive fiber or cable vendor, I'm not sure why you would go that route.

RV Office
 

Original poster said "Have been researching for working on the road in an RV."
They would need a long extension cord using fiber optic service.

Go back and reread the entire original post. The OP made reference to cellular based internet access as an option for home use. In my post, I specifically referenced home use.

Tried it, Horrible bandwidth issues. All too often data rate was too slow to stream anything. FING analyzer showed rate to be less than 1 Meg. Tried it here in Villages and in Colo Spgs, Co...
Same results. Returned it. Hated to loose the $25 @ mo for life Introductory offer. ugh

With the tremendous amount of growth around TV the cell towers are going to get so overloaded.

As mentioned, it all depends where you are.

Location, location, location.

Yes, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile each have their own cells. They may al share the same towers, but they each have their own set of antennas and equipment on those towers.

In my Marsh Bend neighborhood near Lowlands Executive golf course and Edna's, AT&T seems to be the best signal. I checked internet performance for each of them when I had access to all 3 services at the same location. Back then AT&T was fastest, followed by Verizon, then T-Mobile. I was helping a friend who was considering a change to grab a promotional price.

I've got great service now. When we bought back in 2019, all 3 were pretty bad in the house.

The only way to know for sure at your location is to try all 3. Check with your neighbors.

And remember, it's still about your location.

Almost all phones have hotspot capability, so when you get with your friends, you can have them turn on their hotspot, turn off WiFi calling, and then test after you connect to their hotspot using speedtest.com website to determine the internet speed.

I'm sure if you offered some scotch, bourbon, or wine, that they'd be happy to come over to your home to help out with the testing. <smile>

My experience with T Mobile 5G
 

I currently have expensive cable internet and wanted to save a few bucks a month. I signed up for the T Mobile 14 day trial of 5G internet. Looking for the best place to put the receiver I moved it around the house and finally found a spot with a good signal. It was high up on a cabinet in the kitchen. I measured the download speed several times a day and found it varied quite a lot, from just over 2 Mbs to over 200 Mbs. Realizing I would have to transfer a dozen wifi connections to switch to T Mobile, I decided to stick with wired internet and returned the receiver.

FYI - I think that if you change the name an password on the new router to match the old, most everything shoild work as before?

You wouldn't necessarily have to transfer wifi connections to TMobile. Just set the TMobile wifi name (network name, SSID) and password to what you are currently using and all the devices should happily connect.

On the other hand, I had used a character in my SSID that TMobile did not support so I did have to change that in all my devices. A bit of work but good practice to find all the devices and to remember how to configure them.

Camperreport.com

They have articles for WIFI while RVing, as well as, many issues related to RVing. Give it a look see.

Personally, I can't even get 5G in my home, even though I am paying for the service to my phone. It works in other places in the Villages, just not in my home. I get 4G in my home, but my phone uses wifi calling in my home, so it doesn't matter. That said, a friend in Mallory had his (and her) internet go down. Since they use streaming for TV, that meant no entertainment. He has a strong 5G connection to his phone so I set up his Iphone as an internet hotspot and streamed TWO(2) TVs flawlessly via 5G. He reported that he had zero glitches while his internet was down for a couple of days (weekend, I think). If you get 5G, it's great. The only time I have connected with 5G at home was in the garage, of all places. As a matter of fact, my phone has a tendency to disconnect during a call, but I believe it may be a glitch when the phone switches between wifi calling and cell service calling.

We thought that too. Xfinity was outrageous and climbing. Then we called Verizon to ask about the 5G internet plan. Fortunately a spot had opened up and as current customers, we got it at $55 a month for the next 3 years. They provide the equipment. Good by Xfinity.

Verizon has been great except for a little buffering on YouTube tv. Great service. We just had an tv antenna installed and plan to reduce streaming or at least use pause more.

Xfinity was weird when we closed the account and returned equipment. We got a “sorry to see you leave” letter from Xfinity and a refund, then a texting and email bot started contacting us to return the equipment (that had already been returned). It doesn’t understand the word “ receipt” or that equipment has been returned. The latest notes say we will be charged for some equipment, but there is no equipment list. Xfinity used to be a reliable but expensive service to us. The harassing Xfinity bots that we can’t resolve anything with add a new dimension to the business. Make sure you save receipts from Xfinity for any transactions. You may need them.