internet situation

[John From Detroit]

I tried the T-Mobile solution, but was just out of range of their antenna. I could pick up the signal, barely. The connection dropped a lot, and was super slow in the evening when a lot of people were using it. We had that same issue a few years ago when we tried their cell service for phones. Lots of dropped calls and broken connections. So this solution really depends on how close you are to a tower that supports T-Mobile. Otherwise I would use it in a heartbeat.

There are three major Cell providers. Verizon. T-Mobile and AT&T.. MOST of the other companies buy from them and resell, due to fact they guarantee a large block they can discount.
There are other companies but those are the big 3.. Sadly no single company provides 100% cell coverage Hughes and Star Link are expensive. but.. They are as close as you get to 100% coverage.

 

[LarsMac]

Well, yes, Starlink is a bit expensive. But, I have not yet been unable to get a connection, and both of us can get whatever we want to do online, including both of us watching movies or playing online games at the same time.
'nuff said.

 

[Merlin TC]

This was our first one. It lasted almost 2 years and then simply stopped working. I think we paid something like, $19 for it.

https://imgur.com/mx9EkfG

We replaced it with this one.

https://imgur.com/nGVFCyQ

Here's a link to the one we are using: Click here.

But, any of these would work equally as well: Click here.

so this just connects to the phone? is it hard to set up?

 

[Tulecreeper]

The OP hasn't been back since Oct 20.

 

[LarsMac]

The OP hasn't been back since Oct 20.

Yeah, it's a good thing that other people often come along who may find such discussions useful, or we'd be wasting our time commenting on threads started by transients.

 

[LarsMac]

Another note. Google Fi is a phone/internet service that is fairly ubiquitous, as well.
We have used its hotspot when we didn't bring the RV and Starlink on a quick road trip. It can be a victim of cell phone dead spots, as well, but it is less costly than the big three Cell services.

 

[jymbee]

Well, yes, Starlink is a bit expensive. But, I have not yet been unable to get a connection,

Potential connection issues is the main factor dissuading me from trying Starlink as a number of the parks we stay at have pretty significant tree canopy coverage. Can be a bit of a challenge to position our portable Dish receiver to hit on or the arcs even.

From everything I read in order for Starlink to be useful one needs a pretty clear view of the sky. Perhaps you do a lot of camping in the desert??

But seriously... have you been able to use the system at any sites with a limited view of the sats?

 

[LarsMac]

Potential connection issues is the main factor dissuading me from trying Starlink as a number of the parks we stay at have pretty significant tree canopy coverage. Can be a bit of a challenge to position our portable Dish receiver to hit on or the arcs even.

From everything I read in order for Starlink to be useful one needs a pretty clear view of the sky. Perhaps you do a lot of camping in the desert??

But seriously... have you been able to use the system at any sites with a limited view of the sats?

Yes, we do require that extra bit of planning to find more clear sky view, and there are times when we experience a momentary interrupt as the system drops one and hunts for another satellite to synch with. most of the time, there is enough buffering for that to not be noticeable.
Most of our meanderings have been in the west, where tree cover is only a sporadic and minor annoyance.
Having one of these extension poles helps to get the dish up high enough to reduce interference from trees and such. (no, we've never run it up to its maximum reach.)

 

[jymbee]

Yes, we do require that extra bit of planning to find more clear sky view, and there are times when we experience a momentary interrupt as the system drops one and hunts for another satellite to synch with. most of the time, there is enough buffering for that to not be noticeable.
Most of our meanderings have been in the west, where tree cover is only a sporadic and minor annoyance.
Having one of these extension poles helps to get the dish up high enough to reduce interference from trees and such. (no, we've never run it up to its maximum reach.)

Thanks for the input!

 

[Meandering McCoys]

Just purchased the T_Mobile 5G home internet two days ago. I have been unable to get on though. Tower boots up but wants a internet key to bring the internet in. Stayed on the phone for an hour with customer service trying to get it to work. Put in the wifi password and it would not connect. I am headed back to the T-Mobile store today for a replacement unit, I hope !!!

 

[Lou Schneider]

Just purchased the T_Mobile 5G home internet two days ago. I have been unable to get on though. Tower boots up but wants a internet key to bring the internet in. Stayed on the phone for an hour with customer service trying to get it to work. Put in the wifi password and it would not connect. I am headed back to the T-Mobile store today for a replacement unit, I hope !!!

I had a similar experience when I tried to activate TMHI at my sister's house a couple of months ago. The first tower arrived with a rattling part inside. Called T-Mobile and the rep said go ahead and see if it works. It refused to let me connect to it so after repeated tries with the rep on the phone I sent it back and got another unit. The second one had a jammed cover over the SIM slot so I couldn't put the SIM card into it. Another long conversation with T-Mobile and I wound up returning it and cancelling the installation.

 

[John From Detroit]

II do not recall needing a "KEY" though I did need two passwords both of which were on the label.
one was the Wi-Fi PSK and the other was the admin password to log in.

Once connected there were a host of issues and n-1 are now dealth with and I know how to do the one reaming but it's a 1 on the 10 scale (not that bad)
1: Google asks me to click a captcha box claims abusive behaviour from this network (They can re-set my device to a different WAN (Wide area Net or Internet) IP But as I said. minor.
2: Could not reach my local senior center
3: My Allstar node refused to connect to selected others
4: IAXrpt likewise refused to connect to selected servers.. NOTE IAXrpt addresses by IP4ort not via DNS. The reset also fixed that. I think

This morning I got an idea. Allstar DOES connect via DNS. I switched to TP-Link dynamic DNS service and after several false starts and a couple resets of this )(WQ#&%R$ Computer.. everytrhing save the google check box working.

Just so you know

My system.. Several devices including multiple raspberry Pi's two windows a few tablets and a chromebook or two hooked to the TP-link it's plugged into the T-mobile box.

40/month v/s 99/month.. Clearly worth the hassle.

Slowest speed test I've seen is 95 Mbps (just now) Weekdays I hit 200 down 20/up
I do mostly text. I don't need 200 Mbps.