5G Home Internet?

[crgildart]

It's all good until the beaver takes it all down again..

 

[Wilhelmson]

I just looked up a plan on the dead network. So 100gb of full speed data, throttled thereafter, is $175/mth.

That is expensive. Like my Spectrum cable and internet in Maine which costs more than 100 mbs of Verizon Fios around Boston. There is only one hard line internet and cable provider at the Maine location. People on Cape Cod get reamed because the only option is Comcast.

 

[scott43]

And it's still out. Twelve hours later. Twenty million people and banks, businesses. Can't pay by card in many businesses, cash only. Love it. Filthy assholes..

 

[cosmoliu]

And it's still out. Twelve hours later. Twenty million people and banks, businesses. Can't pay by card in many businesses, cash only. Love it. Filthy assholes..

Interesting article that highlights just how dependent we (as a society) have become on a robust internet connection

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/09/canada-network-outage-rogers-communications-internet/

 

[crgildart]

I'm thinking that SkyLink or other satellite internet providers will be lucrative and find solid steady business from government agencies, law enforcement, etc as the bombproof back up when sh!t like this happens..

 

[cosmoliu]

A friendly salesperson at my local T-Mobile store had a "workaround" for the waiting list and got me a gizmo this afternoon. The many tests I've run have fallen between 130-180 Mb/sec. And I have to think that there's a lot of Saturday night Netflix activity going on. I'm stress testing the connection by dictating some work tonight. X-rays are BIG files and things are going along swimmingly. I'm very impressed.

 

[cosmoliu]

I guess we are just going to remain have nots. T-Mobile is not available here.

Do you not have Sprint in your market? I ask in case you didn't know they are now the same company.

 

[crgildart]

Here it doesn't matter which of my two ISPs or computers I'm using.. the internet access drops seemingly at least once an hour for 30 seconds to a couple minutes. Work VPN is always "reconnecting". I guess I'd possibly drop both and go fiber if it were available on our block.. but only after testing it for at least a month with one of the other two backing me up.

Sketchy intermittent short interruptions are manageable. Having my only internet beyond a phone hotspot out for hours is something I can't easily tolerate..

 

[cosmoliu]

Thank you, @crgildart for starting this thread. I only previously had a passing interest in cellular home internet from the ubiquitous advertising. Then I started following this thread out of a general curiosity for all things tech, which greatly increased my knowledge on the subject. And then a job opportunity came out of nowhere that looks too good to pass up. This job requires a backup internet connection, for which they will pay. I hadn't previously thought about a backup connection, though even at my current job, one makes perfect sense. So I now have two solid connections to the outside world: my go-to Spectrum service at 450+ Mb/sec and this new cellular network connection at 130+ Mb/sec. Perhaps the best thing about the T-Mobile connection is the totally pain free installation and the minimalist equipment requirement. Life is good.

 

[tball]

If you have two Internet connections, consider getting a router that can use both automatically. I have this Synology wifi router that has two uplink ports, and it works great:

RT2600ac | Synology Inc.

Blazing-fast Wi-Fi with up to 2.53Gbps combined wireless bandwidth to supercharge your Internet experience. RT2600ac is a powerful wireless router for homes and small offices seeking to understand, control, and secure their network. Now coming with mesh Wi-Fi technology, its coverage becomes...

www.synology.com

You can configure it to either 1) send traffic over one WAN port and failover if a link goes down, or 2) load balance and send traffic over both ports at all times, then failover if one goes down. Synology makes great products. It has many more setup options than a typical consumer router, but the admin interface is top-notch.

 

[cosmoliu]

If you have two Internet connections, consider getting a router that can use both automatically. I have this Synology wifi router that has two uplink ports, and it works great:

Interesting product, but overkill for us. The cable modem and 5G cube are in the same room, but separated by about 25', the 5G cube just inside the window that is essentially line of sight to the cellular tower under a mile away. The cable modem is hooked up to the Eero mesh network with two repeaters, a setup that I'm quite satisfied with. We have a long, skinny house and the speeds in the back bedroom are still at 50+ Mb/sec; more than adequate for the surfing needs back there. My work computer requires a wired connection, and that CAT5 run is much shorter with the 5G cube than to the cable modem. For that reason alone, the 5G cube might wind up being the primary work connection rather than secondary, as the download speeds seem more than adequate.

Edit: Isn't this community of like-minded individuals great?!

 

[crgildart]

If you have two Internet connections, consider getting a router that can use both automatically. I have this Synology wifi router that has two uplink ports, and it works great:

RT2600ac | Synology Inc.

Blazing-fast Wi-Fi with up to 2.53Gbps combined wireless bandwidth to supercharge your Internet experience. RT2600ac is a powerful wireless router for homes and small offices seeking to understand, control, and secure their network. Now coming with mesh Wi-Fi technology, its coverage becomes...

www.synology.com

You can configure it to either 1) send traffic over one WAN port and failover if a link goes down, or 2) load balance and send traffic over both ports at all times, then failover if one goes down. Synology makes great products. It has many more setup options than a typical consumer router, but the admin interface is top-notch.

Ya maybe but if the router fails... both are down?? It's been more than once I found myself hopping in the car to Office Depot to buy a new Wifi router in the middle of a work day.

As long as one of your ISP connection options comes with it's own wireless access point a router failure (on the other or both) isn't a showstopper.

As is with two seperate Wifi networks my machines just automatically pop over to the other one if the internet on the first goes down..

 

[cosmoliu]

That's the thing- WiFi going down for me is not a showstopper. At least not for my hard wired work computer. On the other hand, Netflix/Amazon Prime/HBO Max...

 

[tball]

As long as one of your ISP connection options comes with it's own wireless access point a router failure (on the other or both) isn't a showstopper.

As is with two seperate Wifi networks my machines just automatically pop over to the other one if the internet on the first goes down..

Doubtless, manually switching the wifi to the working network is the simplest solution if they each have wifi.

Many OSs and devices won't automatically switch wifi networks if the Internet access on the other side of the network is down. The wifi signal is still good, so it stays connected to the wifi point, but the packets aren't getting to the Internet.

If you have cable or DSL, you can test if your setup automatically switches by leaving the wifi point powered on and disconnecting the cable/DSL from the wall.

Automatically switching services is beneficial if you have numerous people and non-techy folks. Think small office or family trying to work and school from home during COVID!

 

[crgildart]

Automatically switching services is beneficial if you have numerous people and non-techy folks. Think small office or family trying to work and school from home during COVID!

Still seems like a solution looking for a problem. First round we set up everything with BOTH networks stored in the history. Whenever one drops, the device (any and all of them) just connect to the other one. Doesn't even drop my VPN or wifes going from one approved access point to the other.. Nothing manual about it..

 

[Sibhusky]

My phone and tablet seem to automatically switch everyday to the faster network. Not sure about the PC.

 

[cosmoliu]

A brief update on my first month's experience with the T-Mobile gateway. I originally got it as a backup to my Spectrum cable as a requirement for a job I'll be starting early next year. It occurred to me that in the meantime I could potentially replace a Spectrum subscription at a second site, the condo I spend my workweek at 120 miles from home. So I installed it there three weeks ago. I only really do weekday early morning and evening web surfing at this second site, so no heavy duty usage. Maybe 20 hours/week. That said, it has been 100% dependable for the task. Multiple speed tests have mostly been in the 250-350 Mb/s range at this location, with one outlier result of 85 Mb/s on the low side and one outlier result of 450 Mb/s on the high side. So I obviously am in range of a good tower. The Spectrum bill has been running about $120/month, with the internet component about $80. I haven't really watched any TV in years at this location, so I decided that the entire subscription could be terminated. I'll be returning the equipment to Spectrum tomorrow.

 

[crgildart]

The Spectrum bill has been running about $120/month, with the internet component about $80. I haven't really watched any TV in years at this location, so I decided that the entire subscription could be terminated. I'll be returning the equipment to Spectrum tomorrow.

That was also my situation and why I cancelled Spectrum initially. After week 3 and the 2nd Verizon 5G access point fail issue I logged back in to Spectrum to see that they were now offering the "new or returning customer rate" of $49/month for two years. So now I'm paying $75/month for BOTH.. for at least 2 years. FWIW, Verizon had been bombproof for over a month but had a 4 hour issue this week. .. while I was working.. So ya, still glad to have both.

 

[cosmoliu]

As implied above, a bombproof internet connection is not critical at the condo. I have my iPhone (Verizon) if the T-Mobile gateway goes down. I could even hot spot it to the iMac. But internet silence wouldn't be such a bad thing- I've been neglecting my audio system lately. I'd be thinking along different lines if I were actually wanting to do work from the condo.

 

[crgildart]

As implied above, a bombproof internet connection is not critical at the condo. I have my iPhone (Verizon) if the T-Mobile gateway goes down. I could even hot spot it to the iMac. But internet silence wouldn't be such a bad thing- I've been neglecting my audio system lately. I'd be thinking along different lines if I were actually wanting to do work from the condo.

Seems reasonable for those needs. We've got two college students and two WFH geezers here. But, I'm the only one who's full time WFH. If it were just occasional and never required for more than an hour here and there a hotspot as a back up would be totally fine..