Rural Internet - TMobile 5G to the rescue

alaskanassasin

My signal is better but you have 5G. Thanks man

Ozzie_Isaac

This list will make you think (Avg. internet speed by country).

https://www.speedtest.net/global-index#mobile

billt01

Ozzie_Isaac said:

So far, service has been rock steady.

the UP is more impressive to me than the down..

very clean install as well.

That was a world I lived in for quite sometime and can appreciate the clean install.

Ozzie_Isaac

Did some final adjustments and tweaking.  Think I am going to stop messing with it now, and just enjoy it.

alaskanassasin

Overall I am happy, it still lags during peak hours but it is way better that my previous providers so far. Canceling att today.

Ozzie_Isaac

alaskanassasin said:

Overall I am happy, it still lags during peak hours but it is way better that my previous providers so far. Canceling att today.

80Mbps would still make me extremely happy, especially compared to phone hotspots and the 16Mbps I was averaging.  80 is plenty to run everything I need.  It is now just a game to see how fast I can get.  My son is the one who benefits from the insane down speeds.  He used to take is game systems over to friends house so he could download the online games.  At our house it would 18-20hrs for some of his games.  Now it is 10s of minutes.

alaskanassasin

 This is my att which is not hateful but during high demand times it will drop below 4mbps.  I am lucky to have options though, we are close enough to a interstate to ping off of towers I am pretty sure are there for people passing on through.

alaskanassasin

My buddy around the corner has spectrum and no idea that the struggle is real! My road has 4 houses and is probably 4 miles long so no chance.

nolaegghead

My speed it way under what it used to be.  I’m told I need a new router.

Ozzie_Isaac

alaskanassasin said:

My buddy around the corner has spectrum and no idea that the struggle is real! My road has 4 houses and is probably 4 miles long so no chance.

Sounds like my situation.  Private road with a few houses.  We are now surrounded by master planned communities, but no dice for us on the telecom front.

Based on my T-Mobile experience so far, I wouldn't get any hardwired service even if they offered ot to me now.

Ozzie_Isaac

The internet gods saw my post.  TMobile went wonky last night for the entire region.  Only got 9Mbps for about 6 hours.  Seems fixed this morning.  I hope my little experiment didn't bring their network down.

alaskanassasin

Phone call with att went rough…

Ozzie_Isaac

alaskanassasin said:

Phone call with att went rough…

I bet!  Cancelling DirectTV (owned by AT&T) was no simple matter.  Did they finally let you leave?

alaskanassasin

She tried to sell me direct tv, and cell service, she offered to escalate to tier 2 tech support, offered $10 off per year.. Then she literally told me if I cancel the service they can’t promise that I’ll be able to sign back up later. I was doing major paperwork so enjoyed the distraction and messing with her.

alaskanassasin

She said if I just sign up for DIRECTV then I wouldn’t have to stream during high demand.

Ozzie_Isaac

alaskanassasin said:

She said if I just sign up for DIRECTV then I wouldn’t have to stream during high demand.

Glad to know they haven't changed.  We won't fix your main problem, we will just sell you more of our mediocre products.  Did she offer 12 months of NFL Sunday Ticket w/Red Zone?

alaskanassasin

Didn’t get that far. I said “we cut the cable, where have you been?” She said “well your still hooked to a cable.” Good stuff I finally had enough and told her t-mobile is kicking the pants out of your service and at a lower price point, please just cancel my service.

alaskanassasin

Unbelievable. Tmobile just called me out of the blue to ask about our service. I told her it is great except at high demand times it drops to about 4-5 mbps, on the cusp of or slightly buffering the tv.

  She looked up our tower confirmed I knew where it was, she said quiet a few people were on it.  I told her I haven't said a word to anyone about it because I don't want it over loaded.  She said based on this phone call they will not allow anymore customers to subscribe to the service in our area. Consequently it will not get any worse, and in the next couple months they will upgrade a few towers in our area to allow for more customers.

    Whether its true or not, I received more information on that phone call than I did in 2 years of ATT domestic, international phone calls, and physical service technician visits.

Ozzie_Isaac

alaskanassasin said:

Unbelievable. Tmobile just called me out of the blue to ask about our service. I told her it is great except at high demand times it drops to about 4-5 mbps, on the cusp of or slightly buffering the tv.

  She looked up our tower confirmed I knew where it was, she said quiet a few people were on it.  I told her I haven't said a word to anyone about it because I don't want it over loaded.  She said based on this phone call they will not allow anymore customers to subscribe to the service in our area. Consequently it will not get any worse, and in the next couple months they will upgrade a few towers in our area to allow for more customers.

    Whether its true or not, I received more information on that phone call than I did in 2 years of ATT domestic, international phone calls, and physical service technician visits.

TMobile does limit subscribers in areas to maintain the service.  That wasn't marketing.  That is why it is good to get it when it's available, because it does not mean it will always be available if you wait.

alaskanassasin

Ozzie_Isaac said:

alaskanassasin said:

Unbelievable. Tmobile just called me out of the blue to ask about our service. I told her it is great except at high demand times it drops to about 4-5 mbps, on the cusp of or slightly buffering the tv.

  She looked up our tower confirmed I knew where it was, she said quiet a few people were on it.  I told her I haven't said a word to anyone about it because I don't want it over loaded.  She said based on this phone call they will not allow anymore customers to subscribe to the service in our area. Consequently it will not get any worse, and in the next couple months they will upgrade a few towers in our area to allow for more customers.

    Whether its true or not, I received more information on that phone call than I did in 2 years of ATT domestic, international phone calls, and physical service technician visits.

TMobile does limit subscribers in areas to maintain the service.  That wasn't marketing.  That is why it is good to get it when it's available, because it does not mean it will always be available if you wait.

 I could tell she was the real deal, she reassured me no new subscribers. the time line on upgrading the tower though, like everything else is probably more in flux

nolaegghead

If you get a cable service person on the phone and they are trying to upsell you rather than cancel your service, tell them you are recording the call for quality purposes.

Ozzie_Isaac

I have been having a lot of 5G dropouts.  Speeds dropping to around 15Mbps.  Talked to TMobile a few times, they were very nice and said they were upgrading towers, but shouldn't be having the problems I have been having.  Decided to re-aim the antenna and another cluster of towers.  These towers are around 4 miles away.  It instantly reconnected to 5G and speeds went way up.  Upload speed is much higher than on the other towers I was aiming at.  If you have remote antennas, don't be afraid to occasionally re-aim.  They are updating networks very quickly.

Botch

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Decided to re-aim the antenna and another cluster of towers.  These towers are around 4 miles away.  It instantly reconnected to 5G and speeds went way up.  

You probably crashed an airliner.  

alaskanassasin

Our T-mobile home internet has gone to crap the last week so I called them, amazing customer service, they are going to send me a new modem, their latest version with updated software.   They want the old one back....  will the new one be compatible with the antenna?   Most likely I will have to buy a different pig tail.

  Most of my calls have been to overseas call centers, but their customer service has mostly been outstanding, a hour after getting off the phone someone called to ask about the interaction and was I happy with everything and the results.

 At one point they asked for my ssn to look up my account and since I gave them a bogus one that was a dead end, however I found my account number in a email so no sweat.

jdMyers

alaskanassasin give me a call when you have free time.  Ref your internet.

9376050681. Jd.  

Ybabpmuts

JD I'm going to call you too. I'm not looking for love or anything, just simple companionship is fine to start. If it evolves to something bigger though, we shouldn't fight it. Life is too short and if I'm a magnet and you're like the side of my fridge, I'm gonna use my body to keep lottery tickets stuck to your side, that's all. If you can keep a gallon of milk cold while I'm doing it, all the better.

Ybabpmuts 

Ozzie_Isaac

alaskanassasin said:

Our T-mobile home internet has gone to crap the last week so I called them, amazing customer service, they are going to send me a new modem, their latest version with updated software.   They want the old one back....  will the new one be compatible with the antenna?   Most likely I will have to buy a different pig tail.

  Most of my calls have been to overseas call centers, but their customer service has mostly been outstanding, a hour after getting off the phone someone called to ask about the interaction and was I happy with everything and the results.

 At one point they asked for my ssn to look up my account and since I gave them a bogus one that was a dead end, however I found my account number in a email so no sweat.

My understanding is the new modem will still work with the antenna.  If you call Waveform (they actually answer the phone) you can tell them what you have and they can email you the correct instructions for the new modem.  They are very helpful.

Ozzie_Isaac

Follow-up:

T-Mobile has been working pretty well, much better than every other option.  Only thing, everyday around noon ot stops for a few minutes then starts again...also around 10pm it slows way down for about 20min.  Still works, but TV drops in resolution.  Overall, still very happy.

ksmyrl

@Ozzie_Isaac do you mind me asking where you are located. Here in rural east GA T Mobile sucks something terrible. I haven't called but after reading this thread maybe I will. I've read other blogs and forums that have said it's just terrible everywhere. We have zero options out here except t mobile. It works reasonably well maybe 40% of the time. I restart the modem 8 or 10 times a day...no exaggeration. Thanks for any advice.

Ozzie_Isaac

ksmyrl said:

@Ozzie_Isaac do you mind me asking where you are located. Here in rural east GA T Mobile sucks something terrible. I haven't called but after reading this thread maybe I will. I've read other blogs and forums that have said it's just terrible everywhere. We have zero options out here except t mobile. It works reasonably well maybe 40% of the time. I restart the modem 8 or 10 times a day...no exaggeration. Thanks for any advice.

I am in Southern AZ.  My other options were Centurylink 6 Mpbs @ $50/month or an over the air (think high powered wifi) which got us 12 mbps @ $119/month.

I took a flyer on T-Mobile.  It was not great with the built in antennas.  Location and even the orientation of the unit made a huge difference.  I could set it in one location in my house and just by rotating it a few degrees at a time it would go from 5Mbps to 12Mbps.  I installed the external antennas and carefully oriented them.  Turns out my strongest signal was not the closest tower.  I now get between 100 - 400 Mbps.  It was rock solid for months, but recently I have had to reset it every few days.  I haven't bothered to troubleshoot it yet.  It takes 3 minutes and can do it from my phone.