Rural Internet Source?

[Zeez]

I have recently moved to a rural area, where the nearest hardwire Internet source is three miles away. I invested in a 3G mifi, hoping that this would work. It did not, the signal was too weak, I bought a Wilson Sleek in hopes that this would improve the signal strength, the signal is still very weak. This mifi is running off of Boost/Sprint's network.
Since this solution did not work, I decided to go and buy a satellite internet service, I have a 10GB plan with Dish and have already ran out the allowance for this month. I am an avid gamer, and I use the Internet for work and school, but this satellite will not work for me. 800ms of ping is not usable for games, the throttled speeds of my Internet will not allow me to view videos for my school, I do not really know what to do.
I would post a speedtest but it will not load.

With all of this, I came up with an idea, I have a single bar of 4G available on my ATT phone, I did a speedtest on it, and the results were actually something that I could use. The download was 1.2MB/s, upload was .25MB/s, and the ping was 84ms. I could definitely use this, but the problem is that my phone's data plan caps at 2GB, otherwise I could set my phone into it's hotspot mode and use it's 4G as a source of Internet, correct?

Is there any way at all, to convert a 4G signal, from ATT preferrably, into a wifi signal that can be used without any drops in signal etc.? It also needs to be unlimited, I cannot stand having a limited source of data.
Also, I have been searching around for the past hour and have come up with no solutions, I may just be terrible at using Google, but I thought that coming here might be a bit beneficial.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[I.M.O.G.]

There is no such thing as unlimited 4G data... It all throttles, and usually at much less than 10GB as far as I am aware.

You could do a hotspot on att's network, but you will encounter caps worse than what you have on dish.

You are pretty limited I think. Your best chance may be if there are any small ISPs in your area with long range wireless solutions. Maybe start making calls to anyone you can find, and if they can't help you see if they can refer you to anyone else.

I'm interested in seeing what you end up doing. What is your zip code?

 

[NeonCancerCandy]

everything you mentioned is all your options. with the exception of dial up or moving again.

pretty much end of story.

 

[Zeez]

I guess this matter is pretty much wrapped up now. :s
Thanks for the responses guys, very much appreciated!

 

[I.M.O.G.]

what's your zip?

 

[Zeez]

what's your zip?

71964.

 

[I.M.O.G.]

You can get 20-40GB of download here, with reasonable up/down... Not sure of ping: http://www.dellgines.com/mobile/

They have coverage in your zip. Little pricey for what you get, but options like these are probably your best bet. They may have some competitors you can check out in the area too.

 

[Zeez]

You can get 20-40GB of download here, with reasonable up/down... Not sure of ping: http://www.dellgines.com/mobile/

They have coverage in your zip. Little pricey for what you get, but options like these are probably your best bet. They may have some competitors you can check out in the area too.

Thanks the the help. It's satellite so the ping will still be 800-ish, I'm just going to go to the conclusion that there really is nothing to do, other than to move house. Again, thanks.

 

[NeonCancerCandy]

dish network satellite is hughes net satellite with different plans (speed and download allowance).

i have hughes net and my ping is 900 on average.

 

[Zeez]

dish network satellite is hughes net satellite with different plans (speed and download allowance).

i have hughes net and my ping is 900 on average.

It's boring having a beast of a PC but no games to play on it, right? :s
That's pretty much where I am at.

 

[sobe]

Do you have Verizon 4G LTE in your area? Or Sprint Wimax/4G?

If so you can look at Millenicom, they offered me over 30Mbit down and 10Mbit up with a ping of 30 - 90 to majority of places using Verizon's 4G LTE network and their Mifi device for 20GB of monthly bandwidth. If you have Sprint 4G/Wimax in your area they offer an "unlimited" plan that is near 50GB monthly bandwidth.

From someone who has used Hughes Net, Wild Blue, and a couple of other competitors, Millenicom was my best option for where I was. Wild Blue was of course the better option over Hughes Net though, with a monthly data cap instead of daily/hourly like on Hughes.

 

[Zeez]

Do you have Verizon 4G LTE in your area? Or Sprint Wimax/4G?

If so you can look at Millenicom, they offered me over 30Mbit down and 10Mbit up with a ping of 30 - 90 to majority of places using Verizon's 4G LTE network and their Mifi device for 20GB of monthly bandwidth. If you have Sprint 4G/Wimax in your area they offer an "unlimited" plan that is near 50GB monthly bandwidth.

From someone who has used Hughes Net, Wild Blue, and a couple of other competitors, Millenicom was my best option for where I was. Wild Blue was of course the better option over Hughes Net though, with a monthly data cap instead of daily/hourly like on Hughes.

This looks very interesting!
I looked up my address and this was my result:

Though I have no idea what it means, I imagine it isn't too bad. How does this work, exactly? They send you a USB stick and you stick it into your machine and you're good to go? It seems a little too good to be true, though it just might work, even if it is a bit on the expensive side. Further info from you would be awesome!

 

[sobe]

I personally used the hotspot plan, which uses Verizon 4G LTE. Now, I would find out from a friend with Verizon or a Verizon rep, that 4G LTE is in your area, because of it is, you could certainly see vast improvement over anything satellite has to offer.

Your area could see different speeds, on some days I saw these speeds:


on some days:



and on other days I saw up and over 50Mbit down 15 - 20Mbit up. I had a great experience with Millenicom personally, YMMV

 

[Zeez]

I personally used the hotspot plan, which uses Verizon 4G LTE. Now, I would find out from a friend with Verizon or a Verizon rep, that 4G LTE is in your area, because of it is, you could certainly see vast improvement over anything satellite has to offer.

Your area could see different speeds, on some days I saw these speeds:


on some days:



and on other days I saw up and over 50Mbit down 15 - 20Mbit up. I had a great experience with Millenicom personally, YMMV

Wow, this looks great, though I do highly doubt that there will be 4G LTE in my area, it will still be many times better than satellite, thank you, very much.

 

[sobe]

Wow, this looks great, though I do highly doubt that there will be 4G LTE in my area, it will still be many times better than satellite, thank you, very much.

Their test thingy said you had LTE, so I would check to VERIFY that Verizon LTE is in your area. If it IS, then enjoy the closest thing to cable net available to those of us who have been stuck in an area for periods of time with no other net option except satellite.

 

[Zeez]

Their test thingy said you had LTE, so I would check to VERIFY that Verizon LTE is in your area. If it IS, then enjoy the closest thing to cable net available to those of us who have been stuck in an area for periods of time with no other net option except satellite.

It showed to me as just a regular connection, not enhanced, I'm not sure if regular = LTE or not, but I will make sure to call them tomorrow.
Again thanks, let's just hope that the ping is good, I'll leave feedback on this thread if I decide to get this service.
Edit: My internet is now un-throttled or whatever you wish to call it for the nighttime hours, this is the usual speeds when it isn't throttled:

When the internet is throttled, I get about the speed of dial-up and the same ping. So this will definitely be an upgrade.

 

[sobe]

It showed to me as just a regular connection, not enhanced, I'm not sure if regular = LTE or not, but I will make sure to call them tomorrow.
Again thanks, let's just hope that the ping is good, I'll leave feedback on this thread if I decide to get this service.
Edit: My internet is now un-throttled or whatever you wish to call it for the nighttime hours, this is the usual speeds when it isn't throttled:

When the internet is throttled, I get about the speed of dial-up and the same ping. So this will definitely be an upgrade.

Don't worry, I was stuck on WildBlue and HughesNet previously, LTE is a big upgrade IMO, allowing you to do so much more.

I don't know what you mean by regular connection, as you posted this:

That shows that Verizon 4G LTE is available in your area (Hotspot plan = Verizon, Unlimited plan = Sprint). Those are the 2 services Millenicom resell through, with the Hotspot plan being Verizon. Since it says you have LTE in the area, verify it through a Verizon rep or something. It would suck to be told you get it, then when you get your mifi device you are only getting 3G. (Ping for me under Verizon 3G was 90 - 130).

Each area will be different obviously, but for the area I used it in (Huntingdon, TN) I got great speeds without any nasty slowdowns at any time of the day. I had an issue once that lasted about a day, but that was due to Verizon techs fixing something on the tower, which cannot be helped.

 

[Zeez]

Don't worry, I was stuck on WildBlue and HughesNet previously, LTE is a big upgrade IMO, allowing you to do so much more.

I don't know what you mean by regular connection, as you posted this:

That shows that Verizon 4G LTE is available in your area (Hotspot plan = Verizon, Unlimited plan = Sprint). Those are the 2 services Millenicom resell through, with the Hotspot plan being Verizon. Since it says you have LTE in the area, verify it through a Verizon rep or something. It would suck to be told you get it, then when you get your mifi device you are only getting 3G. (Ping for me under Verizon 3G was 90 - 130).

Each area will be different obviously, but for the area I used it in (Huntingdon, TN) I got great speeds without any nasty slowdowns at any time of the day. I had an issue once that lasted about a day, but that was due to Verizon techs fixing something on the tower, which cannot be helped.

My big worry is the cap, that's why I was looking at the 'unlimited' plan, what happens when you go over the 20GB cap on the hotspot plan? Does your Internet get terribly throttled down to dial-up speeds? Or is it still bearable?
Because I end up using around 0.75GB-1GB a day, whether I like it or not, so the 50GB cap seems like a realistic number for me to use, rather than the 20GB cap.

 

[sobe]

The unl. plan with the 50GB cap, I cannot comment on it. But there is a good chance your speeds will be between 0.50Mbit down to 1.60Mbit down on the Sprint 3G. (Sprint's network tends to be slower than the competition)

I went over the 20GB cap 3 times, 1st time before I went over I got an email from them stating I was about to go over (within the next 2GB or something) then within the last day I went over I got an email stating I went over by such and such amount and to watch my useage, etc. etc. But the next day was my reset day anyway.

2nd time I went over I went to 52GB in 20 days, I could only get on the net @ 2g speeds about 2 days after I got the email saying I went over, until the reset day came of course.

The 3rd time I went over it was on the last day before reset, so same story.



If you are 100% worried you cannot manage the bandwidth, may want to stick with satellite if you are able to get 40GB caps, etc. Unless of course you don't mind the 1Mbit speeds offered on the Sprint plan (assuming you even get 1Mbit, I'm going to assume 200Kb/s - 500Kb/s upload).


I can just tell you this, watching bandwidth, that Verizon 4G LTE Millenicom plan was an absolute life saver for someone wanting to play games online (I played BF3, LoL, CS GO, etc. with no issues). The only issue can come in the form of needing to download games or large updates, which is where it can suck.

 

[Zeez]

The unl. plan with the 50GB cap, I cannot comment on it. But there is a good chance your speeds will be between 0.50Mbit down to 1.60Mbit down on the Sprint 3G. (Sprint's network tends to be slower than the competition)

I went over the 20GB cap 3 times, 1st time before I went over I got an email from them stating I was about to go over (within the next 2GB or something) then within the last day I went over I got an email stating I went over by such and such amount and to watch my useage, etc. etc. But the next day was my reset day anyway.

2nd time I went over I went to 52GB in 20 days, I could only get on the net @ 2g speeds about 2 days after I got the email saying I went over, until the reset day came of course.

The 3rd time I went over it was on the last day before reset, so same story.



If you are 100% worried you cannot manage the bandwidth, may want to stick with satellite if you are able to get 40GB caps, etc. Unless of course you don't mind the 1Mbit speeds offered on the Sprint plan (assuming you even get 1Mbit, I'm going to assume 200Kb/s - 500Kb/s upload).


I can just tell you this, watching bandwidth, that Verizon 4G LTE Millenicom plan was an absolute life saver for someone wanting to play games online (I played BF3, LoL, CS GO, etc. with no issues). The only issue can come in the form of needing to download games or large updates, which is where it can suck.

Okay then, I'll more than likely get the hotspot, I've said thanks more than ten times now. So. You get the point. xD