Rural Internet - TMobile 5G to the rescue

Photo Egg

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.

We have T Mobile cellular service and it’s terrible while we are at home. Works ok in some parts of our city but really sucks in tourist season or when we have special events in town. It’s bad enough that I have never considered using T Mobile for my primary internet. I would love to dump Xfinity but like many others, our internet choices are terrible.

Ozzie_Isaac

Photo Egg said:

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.

We have T Mobile cellular service and it’s terrible while we are at home. Works ok in some parts of our city but really sucks in tourist season or when we have special events in town. It’s bad enough that I have never considered using T Mobile for my primary internet. I would love to dump Xfinity but like many others, our internet choices are terrible.

No contract, and only $50/month. When I signed up, you could cancel within a certain period of time and get refunded.  Might be worth a call.  They just ship it direct to you.  Modem is free.

ksmyrl

When it works it's good. Sometimes 150 or so down. But it's never reliable. I've left the house many times when working from home and either drove to the office or the local Starbucks. Our county has been earmarked for some of the covid money that will provide rural internet high speed service but we've yet to see it. 

On the hopeful positive side ATT is installing fiber to the business directly across the street from us. We've talked to the techs several times. The biz paid to pull the fiber down the road but it being "commercial fiber" and on the other side of the road we are told we can't benefit from it. I even went and talked to the manager of the mill across the street. He said he would do something if he could...but it was "corporate" making the decisions. 

Just yesterday one of the techs drove up our driveway and told us they were installing a residential box down the street. Said maybe 3 months before fiber is available. Fingers crossed. We are one of 5 houses on a several mile long road so there was no incentive for them until the business paid to get it close. 

Photo Egg

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Photo Egg said:

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.

We have T Mobile cellular service and it’s terrible while we are at home. Works ok in some parts of our city but really sucks in tourist season or when we have special events in town. It’s bad enough that I have never considered using T Mobile for my primary internet. I would love to dump Xfinity but like many others, our internet choices are terrible.

No contract, and only $50/month. When I signed up, you could cancel within a certain period of time and get refunded.  Might be worth a call.  They just ship it direct to you.  Modem is free.

I just haven’t seen anything positive about the TMobile system on any of our local neighborhood forums.  I hope you continue to get usable service.
I can say that my cell service is a little better at home with iPhone compared to wife’s Samsung Galaxy phone.
Cell service is kinda like real estate sales…location…location…location

Photo Egg

ksmyrl said:

When it works it's good. Sometimes 150 or so down. But it's never reliable. I've left the house many times when working from home and either drove to the office or the local Starbucks. Our county has been earmarked for some of the covid money that will provide rural internet high speed service but we've yet to see it. 

On the hopeful positive side ATT is installing fiber to the business directly across the street from us. We've talked to the techs several times. The biz paid to pull the fiber down the road but it being "commercial fiber" and on the other side of the road we are told we can't benefit from it. I even went and talked to the manager of the mill across the street. He said he would do something if he could...but it was "corporate" making the decisions. 

Just yesterday one of the techs drove up our driveway and told us they were installing a residential box down the street. Said maybe 3 months before fiber is available. Fingers crossed. We are one of 5 houses on a several mile long road so there was no incentive for them until the business paid to get it close. 

If 150 Mbps is considered fast/acceptable by T Mobile I would never switch to them.

Ozzie_Isaac

Photo Egg said:

ksmyrl said:

When it works it's good. Sometimes 150 or so down. But it's never reliable. I've left the house many times when working from home and either drove to the office or the local Starbucks. Our county has been earmarked for some of the covid money that will provide rural internet high speed service but we've yet to see it. 

On the hopeful positive side ATT is installing fiber to the business directly across the street from us. We've talked to the techs several times. The biz paid to pull the fiber down the road but it being "commercial fiber" and on the other side of the road we are told we can't benefit from it. I even went and talked to the manager of the mill across the street. He said he would do something if he could...but it was "corporate" making the decisions. 

Just yesterday one of the techs drove up our driveway and told us they were installing a residential box down the street. Said maybe 3 months before fiber is available. Fingers crossed. We are one of 5 houses on a several mile long road so there was no incentive for them until the business paid to get it close. 

If 150 Mbps is considered fast/acceptable by T Mobile I would never switch to them.

When your options max at 12mbps no matter how much you pay, 150 feels like a brave new world and one I was very excited to be a part of.

Photo Egg

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Photo Egg said:

ksmyrl said:

When it works it's good. Sometimes 150 or so down. But it's never reliable. I've left the house many times when working from home and either drove to the office or the local Starbucks. Our county has been earmarked for some of the covid money that will provide rural internet high speed service but we've yet to see it. 

On the hopeful positive side ATT is installing fiber to the business directly across the street from us. We've talked to the techs several times. The biz paid to pull the fiber down the road but it being "commercial fiber" and on the other side of the road we are told we can't benefit from it. I even went and talked to the manager of the mill across the street. He said he would do something if he could...but it was "corporate" making the decisions. 

Just yesterday one of the techs drove up our driveway and told us they were installing a residential box down the street. Said maybe 3 months before fiber is available. Fingers crossed. We are one of 5 houses on a several mile long road so there was no incentive for them until the business paid to get it close. 

If 150 Mbps is considered fast/acceptable by T Mobile I would never switch to them.

When your options max at 12mbps no matter how much you pay, 150 feels like a brave new world and one I was very excited to be a part of.

If I were in your shoes I would feel the same way.

ksmyrl

Yeah, only other choice here is satellite. They say UP TO 25 but a neighbor has that and he says he can't check email most of the time. I love rural living. But internet service is one of the few, but major drawbacks. 

alaskanassasin

We have had good luck with Tmobile internet. swmbo works from home and switches between Tmobile and using her Verizon phone as a hotspot.  So for uploading I don't think it is that great. Basically its the best internet we have ever had out here in the cornfields but still not great.  I gave Elon a hundo so hopefully we will have another option if starlink ever makes it here. We had ATT fixed home internet and that sucked and ATT sucks, and the techs that come out to your house suck, completely useless, and their customer service sucks.     As far as the government stepping in and providing funds for rural internet, it seems like that will get you the absolute worst internet so a company can cash a check. 

alaskanassasin

@Ozzie_Isaac I may have mentioned this before but I called Tmobile and told them the internet was lagging in the evenings.  She said it is because too many people were using the tower at the same time so she will not allow anyone else to use their service until it is upgraded.  That was like a year ago and still holds true, my neighbors can't sign up for the service.  

Ozzie_Isaac

alaskanassasin said:

@Ozzie_Isaac I may have mentioned this before but I called Tmobile and told them the internet was lagging in the evenings.  She said it is because too many people were using the tower at the same time so she will not allow anyone else to use their service until it is upgraded.  That was like a year ago and still holds true, my neighbors can't sign up for the service.  

I might try reaching out to TMobile, before it gets to bad.

bobroo

Why on earth don’t all ya’ alls have Starlink???

Ozzie_Isaac

bobroo said:

Why on earth don’t all ya’ alls have Starlink???

Elon doesn't service my area.  Was on a wait list for a year, prices went up, and service was delayed.  TMobile was a stop gap, that for me has worked well enough I am not interested in Starlink anymore.

SonVolt

Yeah, baby!

Elijah

https://broadbandmap.fcc.gov/home tells you the homes that the companies tell the fcc they cover. It also lets you dispute what is on the map if it's incorrect. Around me, it's incorrect. 

dbCooper

The T-Mobile "Unlimited" offering is not available in my neighborhood yet.  We gave the "Lite" plan a trial run, it has throttling once you exceed a monthly data cap.  Given we stream for TV viewing it was not viable.

Dependent upon your individual situation, it may be best to verify you will truly have unlimited data before you purchase a plan.

edit to include t-mobile url: https://www.t-mobile.com/support/home-internet/t-mobile-home-internet-lite.html

Bellavista52

Another T-Mobil 5G supporter.  We had DSL lite from phone company with 6MG download and 750K upload and now have 100MG download and 50MG upload so we're ecstatic about the improvement and we only get two bars on T-Mobile, but it's great!

ksmyrl

bobroo said:

Why on earth don’t all ya’ alls have Starlink???

Lol...I see what you did there. Earth. Starlink.

No other options for us

SonVolt

Starlink has been transformative for us. God bless Elon. 

alaskanassasin

SonVolt said:

Starlink has been transformative for us. God bless Elon. 

Starlink arrived. I have not installed it yet, not excited about mounting it on the roof but it looks like that is the best bet for signal.

GlennM

I have had Starlink for a year now - rock solid. It’s pricey but we had xplornet before and the service was horrible. Outages, reseting the modem, weather issues, shut down for upgrades, speed all over the map but mostly poor, etc. Those days are gone for me😀

ksmyrl

I know yall don't want to hear this but we struggled with T Mobile for nearly 2 years. It was the worst for us in rural east GA but the only choice. Speeds averaged 4 to 6 MBPS down. 

Then, thanks to our governor, state legislature, and some federal covid funds (I'm thanking both sides of the isle here) the rural internet initiative saved us. For about 3 months now we've been flying the internets at an average of 400 to 600 MBPS down and 80+ up...thanks to brand new fiber internet. 

Apologies for bragging, carry on.

rekameohs

ksmyrl said:

I know yall don't want to hear this but we struggled with T Mobile for nearly 2 years. It was the worst for us in rural east GA but the only choice. Speeds averaged 4 to 6 MBPS down. 

About a month ago, I switched from 25Meg AT&T DSL to T-Mobile (who I also have for mobile).  Most times it is very good - 100-200 Meg.  Other times, not so good - even less than the 25 Meg I was getting from AT&T.  I will try it for another month or so.

Ozzie_Isaac

ksmyrl said:

I know yall don't want to hear this but we struggled with T Mobile for nearly 2 years. It was the worst for us in rural east GA but the only choice. Speeds averaged 4 to 6 MBPS down. 

Then, thanks to our governor, state legislature, and some federal covid funds (I'm thanking both sides of the isle here) the rural internet initiative saved us. For about 3 months now we've been flying the internets at an average of 400 to 600 MBPS down and 80+ up...thanks to brand new fiber internet. 

Apologies for bragging, carry on.

If I could get fiber, I would drop TMobile in a heartbeat.

Overall, my service is stil very fast, and inexpensive.  Main issue is in ping time.  My son games and TMobile is no good for gaming.  He explained multiple reasons, ping, lag, and random DNS.  I am just repeating.what I think he told me though.

alaskanassasin

T mobile has been great for my use but swmbo works from home and there is too much swing in the performance. She gets booted from meetings although it seems to be working lately. Figures.   I just ran a test 128mbs.

 

 I decided to drive a post rather than put the satellite on my roof, Ill update when its up and running.

caliking

alaskanassasin said:

T mobile has been great for my use but swmbo works from home and there is too much swing in the performance. She gets booted from meetings although it seems to be working lately. Figures.   I just ran a test 128mbs.

 

 I decided to drive a post rather than put the satellite on my roof, Ill update when its up and running.

I was just about to suggest mounting it on a post. Back in the day, folks living in apartments would mount satellite dishes for TV/cable on posts or some kind of fabbed stand set up in the balcony. 

it hurts me when I have to drill holes in my house. 

HeavyG

caliking said:

alaskanassasin said:

T mobile has been great for my use but swmbo works from home and there is too much swing in the performance. She gets booted from meetings although it seems to be working lately. Figures.   I just ran a test 128mbs.

 

 I decided to drive a post rather than put the satellite on my roof, Ill update when its up and running.

I was just about to suggest mounting it on a post. Back in the day, folks living in apartments would mount satellite dishes for TV/cable on posts or some kind of fabbed stand set up in the balcony. 

it hurts me when I have to drill holes in my house. 

The main advantage of roof mounting is that you have the ability to point to the sky in all directions. Starlink is not like a fixed dish like with satellite tv service which points to a geostationary satellite. The Starlink antenna will steer itself to find signals. 
I'm assuming Starlink gives some guidance on what parts of the sky it needs to see and post mounting is likely not a problem (some people use these placed right on the ground) as long as you generally have a clear view towards the south or wherever they suggest.
I'm with you tho - I'd not mount one on my roof. If I had to place one up high I'd get an antenna mount that attaches to the side of the building.

alaskanassasin

HeavyG said:

caliking said:

alaskanassasin said:

T mobile has been great for my use but swmbo works from home and there is too much swing in the performance. She gets booted from meetings although it seems to be working lately. Figures.   I just ran a test 128mbs.

 

 I decided to drive a post rather than put the satellite on my roof, Ill update when its up and running.

I was just about to suggest mounting it on a post. Back in the day, folks living in apartments would mount satellite dishes for TV/cable on posts or some kind of fabbed stand set up in the balcony. 

it hurts me when I have to drill holes in my house. 

The main advantage of roof mounting is that you have the ability to point to the sky in all directions. Starlink is not like a fixed dish like with satellite tv service which points to a geostationary satellite. The Starlink antenna will steer itself to find signals. 
I'm assuming Starlink gives some guidance on what parts of the sky it needs to see and post mounting is likely not a problem (some people use these placed right on the ground) as long as you generally have a clear view towards the south or wherever they suggest.
I'm with you tho - I'd not mount one on my roof. If I had to place one up high I'd get an antenna mount that attaches to the side of the building.

There is an app, you point your phone at the sky and move it in all directions then it tells you whether you have a clear view.
 I went with the post, I had to make one basically because of his proprietary mounting system. I was going to mount it to the gable end right above the peak but I think the ground mount is better because…. This is a mechanical device and if it fails in the winter due to cold weather or winds etc. I want to be able to get it. Second this thing is portable so I’m not sure I need to move it but if we want we can pop it off the pole and take it with us for extended camping or something like that.

alaskanassasin

1/4” bolt heads fit perfectly in the slot on the antenna and I notched the back of the post for the lock. I drilled the bottom of the pipe and ran a 6 piece of steel horizontally so it wouldn’t spin and pushed it into the ground with my tractor. 

Ozzie_Isaac

alaskanassasin said:

1/4” bolt heads fit perfectly in the slot on the antenna and I notched the back of the post for the lock. I drilled the bottom of the pipe and ran a 6 piece of steel horizontally so it wouldn’t spin and pushed it into the ground with my tractor. 

Is the cable in the dish replaceable, or is it hard wired in?