Someone reached out to me yesterday knowing I've been helping my friends and neighbors and others here in the Villages wire RJ45 Jacks and put connectors on unterminated ethernet cables, etc.., asking if I could run New ethernet wiring to rooms that don't have existing wiring.

As I mentioned, speaking to several new homeowners in the newer areas in the South, the Villages is Not installing ethernet connections in all the rooms unless you request it or pay for their "Smart Home" package like they used to. I'm not sure if this is a cost cutting measure or that most people feel they don't need the jacks given all these new homes have Wifi from Centric Fiber installed at build time.

In homes built circa 2012 and newer north of Rt 44 and in Fenney and DeSoto and other nearby areas, RJ45 jacks using Cat5 wiring were installed in most rooms for telephones. Fortunately, this existing wiring can be used for ethernet wiring when the jacks are re-wired.

So when you need to add new ethernet wiring, you can do it yourself or call an electrician to do the work. If you have a "stick built" home this is probably very easy to do. If you have the new tilt wall construction, I'm not sure how they add this wiring. Either way, you are probably best to forget about the ethernet wiring and focus on good wifi coverage.

For those who are experts and want a hard wired connection to their computor or streamer in their home theather, you can get systems like the Orbi 770 or 970 which have their own wireless backhaul system giving you near wire speed wirelessly at ethernet port switch at the satellite units where you can hardwire your device to it. I have such a system and can get 5Gbs max, which is crazy fast, over this wireless backhaul given the distance between the main and satellite units. You can also approximate this with other less expensive wifi mesh systems.

We talk about "consumer" wifi solutions provided by homeowners or internet providers but has anyone installed a Ubiquiti network solution in your home here in the Villages? And if so, what drove you in this direction vs a less sophisticated network solution?

I know of one such installation at a friends home in Middleton.

Spectrum
 

And right now new Spectrum customers can get 500Mbps for $30 for 2 years. Call their local sales rep, Lysander Jimenez. 352-239-3538. My neighbor here in Bradford just signed up.

It's $30 for 2 years as long as you use your own modem. $40 if they supply it.

Believe it or not, I got a call from Spectrum with the same offer yesterday but the local door-to-door person can provide you an in person experience which may work for you.

These offers are good but they are for 1 or 2 years then it goes up. As an example, my neighbor who only wants very basic internet, the slower and cheaper the better got a deal from Spectrum for $19.99 plus tax for 2 years. Two years later that deal is no $30 before tax and $35 with tax which I believe is the offer right now. The point is, these deals are pretty good but as we can see, even with barganing at the end of the term, the price keeps going up so relatively speaking, the prices from all providers are converging. Meaning, not much difference between them anymore.

But while we are on the topic, whatever deal you go with, always ask about data caps expecially when moving your cell phones. You may not think you use a lot of data but for a few extra dollars/month you can get an unlimited data plan from most discount cell providers.

Has anyone signed-up with StarLink? I met a Villager who went to Best Buy and bought the equipment and service only to find out there is no more capacity in our area. I believe the service is $110/month for unlimited data which is actually pretty good but I read that come April, they will be charging $1/GB of data which I feel is pretty expensive. This Villager then was able to get Quantum Fiber since they are living in Bonita where they recently ran new fiber. The only option used to be Xfinity where they were gouging these people since they had no other choice except dish.

Has anyone got StarLink? If so, can you share your experience. From the YouTube videos, it appears to work really well.

Anyone having coverage issues in their home should just get a Mesh Router and it will solve all your problems. Peak internet usage is in the evening hours so if you are not paying for 400+ mbs you might get buffering. The all in one modem/router’s do not give good coverage.

I read all this and realized I needed to copy/paste it into Google Translate. The translation came back in English and said, "Hire someone competent to do this."

Good advice, think I'll follow it.

Sorry this topic can get technical but is you have any specific questions, please feel free to PM me.

Verizon Home Internet
 

For the past month I have been using Verizon 5G Home Internet .No buffering, no down time , always around 100 mbps and $35 a month for 5 years with equipment. Adding home internet to my Verizon account earned me a $10 a month discount . So net cost is $25 a month . I live in Lynnhaven .

Thanks for that feedback!

If you live close enough to a cell tower with 5G capability, Verizon and T-Mobile have a really good product that works for many people. Especially now where you have people who live in Villages where there is no option except cable and sometimes only one cable company, fixed wireless internet is an option to get you out of paying full price because you have no other providers.

Lysander just set me up for this deal. He drove right over and set up same day installation...no charge. Thanks for posting the info!

That price is as long as you proivide your own modem and that doesn't include taxes. It's $40/month if you use their modem. And you are getting 500Mbs download and only 20Mbs Upload and you share the system with the rest of your neighbors which incourages buffering at peak times.

For $50/month, slightly more money, no contract, no taxes, no fees, and no limit on the pricing you can get Quantum fiber 500/500 mbs, with the latest Wi-Fi 7 equipment included.

Lysander is a nice knowledeable guy but if you can get Quantum Fiber and you need internet, it's the best service.

So for only $350+ he can get the same service he has now but with fancy equipment and additional upload bandwidth he will never use.

I had cable internet for 20+ years and never noticed a slowdown due to capacity issues. YMMV but it isn’t worth $350+ to me to solve a problem I’ve never had.

On thing to look out for if you are upgrading your Router. You may have items running on the 2.5gh and will not run on 5gh. Some routers no longer on the lower bandwidth.

Actually, it's the older 2.4 Ghz devices that are having trouble connecting to the newer Wi-Fi systems. Most of the newer Wi-Fi systems have the 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz and 6Ghz radios. There are none that remove the older 2.4Ghz band because it's stil used. The problem is some older printers and other older wifi devices get confused and won't connect with the newer Wi-Fi bands present since they will only connect with the 2.4Ghz band. I haven't seen too many devices recently that won't work with the new Quantum Wi-Fi system but if you have a problem like that, Quantum will provide you free of charge a device that will connect up to these older 2.4 Ghz devices.