Wireless internet providers?

[rmroberts]

I need help finding an internet provider! I live out in the country where we have very few internet options. And I am having a very hard time finding something that fits our needs and budget. I need something high-speed (so sick of dial-up!) that can be used on multiple computers at the same time and watch videos on. We used the sprint mii-fi for a little while, but if you watch videos you just blow through your usage and run up a high bill. I am currently using hughes net, and have pretty much the same problem. After watching a video it gets super slow. Even slower than dial up. And its pretty expensive too. So something unlimited would be ideal. Any sugestions please?

[nj593]

I had a similar problem to the area in which I just moved. My solution so i dont give into the high prices that these people charge for Internet I bought a dongle for my laptop $4.95 freeshipping on ebay. It connects directly to my cellphone's internet via bluetooth and bingo I have internet. While it is not dsl it is fast enough. Only thing is you must keep your cell plugged into the outlet because it uses your battery quick. Second thing is to make sure you have unlimited wireless on your cell phone or you will be paying out the butt.
Hughes is a ripoff if you cant do the dongle option then try using unlimited broadband cards. I think Virgin mobile had that for a while. If not I know some of the cell carriers have it the prepaids that is because the other companies are a ripoff. Good luck

I need help finding an internet provider! I live out in the country where we have very few internet options. And I am having a very hard time finding something that fits our needs and budget. I need something high-speed (so sick of dial-up!) that can be used on multiple computers at the same time and watch videos on. We used the sprint mii-fi for a little while, but if you watch videos you just blow through your usage and run up a high bill. I am currently using hughes net, and have pretty much the same problem. After watching a video it gets super slow. Even slower than dial up. And its pretty expensive too. So something unlimited would be ideal. Any sugestions please?

[rmroberts]

I had a similar problem to the area in which I just moved. My solution so i dont give into the high prices that these people charge for Internet I bought a dongle for my laptop $4.95 freeshipping on ebay. It connects directly to my cellphone's internet via bluetooth and bingo I have internet. While it is not dsl it is fast enough. Only thing is you must keep your cell plugged into the outlet because it uses your battery quick. Second thing is to make sure you have unlimited wireless on your cell phone or you will be paying out the butt.
Hughes is a ripoff if you cant do the dongle option then try using unlimited broadband cards. I think Virgin mobile had that for a while. If not I know some of the cell carriers have it the prepaids that is because the other companies are a ripoff. Good luck

Thanks for the suggestions, but I don't have internet on my cell phone either, so dongle wouldn't work. The cards are an option, it would be nice to have something everybody can use at the sime time though.

[rickyjo]

Depending on your service provider adding internet to your cell phone should not cost nearly as much as getting seperate service for your computer.

If you are in the middle of nowhere I wonder if phone-network based cards will get you very solid performance as they struggle even in the cities. People tend to be very unhappy with them in my experience.

Have you considered satellite internet? I suspect your speeds will be better, but I honestly am uncertain what those speeds are these days. You generally want over 1mbit/sec. If they say it is 100mbit/sec or some other huge number (and I suspect it will be) it is likely shared and that significantly complicates the calculation.

Best idea, talk you to your neighbors and ask them what they do and maybe take a test run on their service. Remember to factor in the performance of the computer when considering if connection speeds are fast or slow.

[Chebasaz]

Rickyjo's got the right idea. Take a look at HughesNet and other similar services. They will guarantee the up/down speeds. They're not cheap, but not too expensive either. The biggest con to satellite is the up-front investment you make with the equipment. Most companies have a rental plan to offset some of that cost.

One thing you will need to be made aware of. Every satellite provider I've ever used has some form of FUP, or Fair Use Policy. This basically states that you have a set amount of bandwidth every day, and once you use that limit your speeds drop drastically. Think of it as a cup of water. If you don't drink it all, it won't matter. If you do, it takes drops your speed until it fills itself right back up again over the next 24 hours.

This will only affect you if you're downloading large amounts of data or streaming movies and such. Still, it's something you need to keep an eye out for.

[rmroberts]

Rickyjo's got the right idea. Take a look at HughesNet and other similar services. They will guarantee the up/down speeds. They're not cheap, but not too expensive either. The biggest con to satellite is the up-front investment you make with the equipment. Most companies have a rental plan to offset some of that cost.

One thing you will need to be made aware of. Every satellite provider I've ever used has some form of FUP, or Fair Use Policy. This basically states that you have a set amount of bandwidth every day, and once you use that limit your speeds drop drastically. Think of it as a cup of water. If you don't drink it all, it won't matter. If you do, it takes drops your speed until it fills itself right back up again over the next 24 hours.

This will only affect you if you're downloading large amounts of data or streaming movies and such. Still, it's something you need to keep an eye out for.

I'm using hughesnet now and it's okay. But somehow we go over the limit alot. There are four people in my house, two of which use the internet daily. We do not watch any videos, listen to music, etc., but we still manage to go over the limit somehow and we have no idea how. It will show low usage and then a huge amount, while we are doing the same thing. We already upgraded once. Okay I'm done venting.:p

[rickyjo]

I cannot imagine having bandwidth limits. I would literally go mad in a rural context without proper internet. Mad I tell you, screaming mad. :willynilly: