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-   The Villages, Florida, General Discussion (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/)
-   -   Alternative OTA Internet plans for homeowners (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/alternative-ota-internet-plans-homeowners-349571/)

biker1 04-26-2024 08:13 AM

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.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Snakster66 (Post 2325473)
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.


RRGuyNJ 04-26-2024 08:37 AM

RV Office
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by biker1 (Post 2325195)
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.

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.

biker1 04-26-2024 08:49 AM

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RRGuyNJ (Post 2325494)
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.


RoadToad 04-26-2024 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy (Post 2325168)
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

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

JGibson 04-26-2024 10:07 AM

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

M2inOR 04-27-2024 07:09 AM

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>

Ageller 04-27-2024 07:48 AM

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.

Altavia 04-27-2024 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ageller (Post 2325728)
I

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?

Bill14564 04-27-2024 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ageller (Post 2325728)
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.

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.

Bealman 04-27-2024 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy (Post 2325168)
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

Camperreport.com

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

Byte1 04-27-2024 10:49 AM

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.

Carlsondm 04-27-2024 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snakster66 (Post 2325473)
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.

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.


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