I asked an AI about broadband alternatives in my area, this is what it said:

Broadband alternatives without fiber installed in the ground include fixed wireless internet (Verizon, T-Mobile), satellite internet (Starlink, Viasat, HughesNet), cable internet (Spectrum, Xtream by Mediacom), DSL options, and possibly mobile 5G home internet plans from Verizon or T-Mobile.

My neighborhood doesn't have any fiber, and only one cable company that sucks.

Can you guys recommend any one of the above possible alternatives that you've had good luck with ? Or bad that I should possibly avoid ?

My needs are modest, just streaming various providers, logging into work over a vpn, email, etc. No gaming or anything interactive where a normal amount of latency might otherwise be an issue.

Yup. 100% sold on T-mobile Home Internet 5g. Average speed on over 500Mbps, been as high as 700+. NOsecurity. INEXPENSIVE!

Wifi in the house, 3 televisions, 2 tablets, cameras, home secutity.

I got by on DSL for years, including streaming Netflix and Amazon Prime. Primarily because at the time, I was the only one in the house using the connection.

Now that SWMBO is streaming DirecTV, that wouldn't fly, but we didn't even try that until we got fiber.

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
Yup. 100% sold on T-mobile Home Internet 5g. Average speed on over 500Mbps, been as high as 700+. NO OUTAGES.

Wifi in the house, 3 televisions, 2 tablets, cameras, home secutity.

Is that completely wireless from source to home ? And what type of tranceiver equipment is used, and is it integrated with a wireless router or does your router plug into it?

I went with the Verizon fixed home internet as soon as it was available in my area. Small box in the house that provides 35-90 mb, all wireless. Ran for 2 years now without any problems. It has needed a reboot a few times that only takes a few minutes.
I think T-Mobil runs on the same towers as Verizon. Either should be great.
The single box works as a router I think. It does have an ethernet connection on the back, not sure what that is for. Have about 7or8 devices running, none have been slowed by bandwidth ( or whatever that is called ).

I just switched to Starlink and like the response time <40ms 300Mbps down, 50Mbps up. Easy setup and cheaper than the Spectrum that I had.

I had wireless internet (via cell tower), powered by Verizon, in the hangar office. $45 / month.

I currently have the same type technology at home, via T-Mobile. $35 / month.

Both of these were way more reliable than DSL or cable internet. The only service interruptions with either of them were due to power outages (Duke Energy). Zero service interruptions due to the internet provider.

quote:

Originally posted by D_Steve:

I think T-Mobil runs on the same towers as Verizon.

The single box works as a router I think. It does have an ethernet connection on the back, not sure what that is for.

T-Mobile and Verizon are separate companies. Competitors. They do not share facilities.

The Home Internet box can act as a router / wifi, or you can plug your own router into the ethernet port.

quote:

Originally posted by wrightd:

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
Yup. 100% sold on T-mobile Home Internet 5g. Average speed on over 500Mbps, been as high as 700+. NO OUTAGES.

Wifi in the house, 3 televisions, 2 tablets, cameras, home secutity.

Is that completely wireless from source to home ? And what type of tranceiver equipment is used, and is it integrated with a wireless router or does your router plug into it?

The device from T-Mobile is square 8x8 about 1.5 inches thick. It is a 5G device, only needs a 120v outlet for power. It connects to a T-Mobile tower by 5g. It is a 5g modem. But wait, there's more: It is also a Wifi 6 router. I do have it connected by usbC cable to my home mesh wifi, but never used any more. The T-Mobile modem/router covers our house and 1 acre.

J3E, how much is that per month?

You've got to check with T-Mobile to see if their Home Internet package is available in your area. They have $50, $60 and $70 plans available. The $35 price mentioned above is if you are already a T-Mobile customer with a postpaid voice line.

I used t-mobile home internet for 5 years from when it was 4G only to the 5g it is now. Was perfectly happy with it until everyone else started using it in my area too. Then it kept getting slower and slower and less reliable and there's only one tower available for everyone to connect to near me. I can't complain too much because T-mobile provided good cheap service for several years that never went up in price, but it did eventually run into over-capacity issues in my area. Plus my household members went up by 3 young PC game players who also demand that Youtube be open and playing constantly, so available bandwidth was struggling! I even had a high-dollar exterior-mounted large 4x4 MIMO antennae wired into the Nokia modem, and although it helped greatly with signal strength and integrity, peak usage hours slowdowns kept happening.

Am now using Sparklight, formerly Cable One cable internet (and I swore over a decade ago that cable companies could eat a dick!), but I have had surprisingly good service without any pricing games since I switched to 650MB/s service from them about 6 months ago. Have had no capacity-related slowdowns, speed is great. Ping rates great, and up time reliability is good. Of course it costs a bit more than T-mobile 5G internet, but I don't have to watch my download speeds drop from 400MB/s to 100MB/s during busy times like T-mobile was doing lately in my area. The cable internet stays a constant 650MB/s but I do pay $25/month more for the service ($55 for cable internet vs $30 for the T-mobile). I know cable Internet used to also have slowdown issues during peak hours in the past, but it seems that at least with Sparklight, the switching technology has gotten better on the backend and I have had no discernible slowdowns at any peak usage times.

quote:

Originally posted by mkueffer:
I just switched to Starlink and like the response time <40ms 300Mbps down, 50Mbps up. Easy setup and cheaper than the Spectrum that I had.

My sister went to Starlink about 8 months ago and really likes it. I’m going to look into it IF it will work where I am due to all the trees around me.

I pay $60 because I wanted the higher tier package for absolutely no good reason. Fiber here is higher price for lower speed. We have two Fiber companies but the competition didn't generate lower prices.

Verizon and T-Mobile may share towers but not networks.

They can both rent tower or facility space from the same people, but their equipment will connect you to their individual networks.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:

quote:

Originally posted by mkueffer:
I just switched to Starlink and like the response time <40ms 300Mbps down, 50Mbps up. Easy setup and cheaper than the Spectrum that I had.

My sister went to Starlink about 8 months ago and really likes it. I’m going to look into it IF it will work where I am due to all the trees around me.

I tried StarLink, but have too many trees. There is a free StarLink phone app that uses the phone's camera to do a site survey so you can check your property for a good place to install. Stupid me, I thought that I could get lucky even though the app said no. Obviously, the availability map will change as SL orbits more satellites, but if you have clear skies to your North, you should be OK now.

How to satellite broadband services run in bad weather like heavy cloud cover, thunderstomrs, snow blizzards, etc. ?

Same issue with Starlink that causes interruption on Dish/Directv.

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:

Same issue with Starlink that causes interruption on Dish/Directv.

Question for you: Is this personal experience? I ask because I am "this close" to ordering Starlink, so of course I would like to hear from anyone who has personal experience with that service.