The internet boonies

[seez52]

2 hours ago, Oh Shoot said:

I don't understand the diff between the 4 plans. They all say  "No Contract/No Credit Check Hotspot with HIGH SPEED 4G LTE UNLIMITED DATA & No Throttling", yet they go from 100-250 clams, only diff seems to be the hardware device?

- OS

It's actually the provider. If you click on the order button it then shows who the carrier is. Apparently they can't disclose the carrier until the order is placed in the shopping cart. Yellow is Sprint, pink Tmobile, there is also ATT and verizon but I can't remember which colors those are. The Verizon is the most expensive.

[Oh Shoot]

1 minute ago, seez52 said:

It's actually the provider. If you click on the order button it then shows who the carrier is. Apparently they can't disclose the carrier until the order is placed in the shopping cart. Yellow is Sprint, pink Tmobile, there is also ATT and verizon but I can't remember which colors those are. The Verizon is the most expensive.

Ah, thanks. Wasn't in the FAQ so had no clue.

- OS

[NextExit]

On 12/14/2016 at 11:17 AM, seez52 said:

yep, I don't care a thing in the world about having access to cable TV. But if someone would require it in order to get real broadband internet I'd buy it! I'm paying $100 a month for my 3Mbt and a land line. You'd think for a 100/month I could find something.

I was in the same boat with AT&T's crappy 6mb DSL (actually was never better than 4mb) so when Comcast came along and said I could get basic cable and 50mbps for about the same price, I said sign me up. 

Dang cell phone bill is $250 a month. If you'd told me 15 years ago I'd be paying $350 a month for phone service I would have laughed and said never.

And remember when people were complaining about Bell?  

 

[tacops]

And to think I opened this thread thinking it had something to do with buying hats on the internet 

[seez52]

My router arrived! Not super enthused about it, but not completely disappointed. Received it in 7 days of ordering from 4gcommunity.org, it was shipped from Pennsylvania. So far everything is as advertised. It's a legit program due in part to a court settlement regarding a company that Sprint bought out then shut down.

The only disappointing part is I'm not getting the speed I had hoped. Sprint just does not have particularly good service in my location. The router is supplied by Sprint and you basically plug it in and it works. Seems to be a nice unit with two antenna. It's a Netgear 6100D. It has 4 ethernet ports and has a wireless connection at 2.4 and 5ghz. Initially I just used the wireless part but have now connected it to my wired network and it works as you would expect. I have moved it to a couple of places around the house and get anywhere from one to three bars of reception. Seems like the download speeds are not all that dependent on the reception strength.

I had hoped to get 10 Megabits of download speed but it seems I'm usually around 5-6 instead. Oddly my upload is usually around 7-8mbps. It has dropped from time to time to less than one on download, but haven't had it long enough to determine if that's going to be an ongoing issue. I've got 14 days to return it so I'm going to stick it out for now and see how it works out. If it's fairly stable I'll probably keep it as with my wired att dsl I usually get less than 3mgbs. At less than $25/month it's a pretty good deal particularly if you're limited on options as I am. 

 My cell phones are on Verizon and I occasionally set them up as a hotspot and I can usually get 25mbps download speed when I do. There is a huge cell tower less than a mile away and I'm guessing it's got verizon on it, but not Sprint unfortunately. Next week I'm going to take the router to my offfice in town and see if there is better reception and if the download speed is any better. 

 

[ReeferMac]

Thanks for following up. Curious how this pan's out (as I may be in the market soon).

 

- K

[seez52]

Just posting an update for those that may be in a similar situation. I have become more satisfied with this setup. I had to return my original router to 4Gcommunnity. It worked just so-so and over a few days it finally got to where it was changing IP numbers about every 20 seconds or so, pretty much making it unusable. 4GCommunity was exceptional to work with. I called tech service and they were backed up so I left my number. It took them a while to call  back but they were very helpful. Apparently the 6100D is about 3 year old technology and Sprint has made upgrades that this particular router can't handle and there is no update. It's apparently a geographic issue and sometimes they work sometimes not depending on where you are. They agreed to take it back without issue. Just had to pay shipping, basically both ways. I noticed they no longer offer the 6100D on their website.

He did recommend the premium package with the ZTE hotspot. It's the newest technology they offer and said it actually picks up better than the one I had with external antennas. So I ordered it and am really pleased. i get at least as good a reception as the other one and the best part is I'm getting an average of 7Mgb download and often it will run 12-16Mgps. Can't really complain about that for less than $25/mo and not data caps. Being a wireless setup, the speed will vary and sometimes down to 2mb or less. But it usually is slow for only a short time.

I'm getting ready to give ATT the boot and their lousy 3mb service that never goes that fast.

Edited January 24, 2017 by seez52

[seez52]

Just an update on this if anyone is still following. It's been a good ride but seems like the party is over. Received an email this AM. 

 

 

Dear 4GCommunity.org Members,

 

We are saddened to inform you that due to circumstances beyond the organization’s control the Internet connectivity benefit of membership will be ceasing no later than November 30, 2017.  It may be sooner, so please begin looking for other Internet connectivity options right away.

 

The member online support center will remain a resource through this time next year. Member and support team volunteers will be providing their general assistance through the online support center to assist with questions about basic home computing, networking, and related technologies. It can be accessed through the Support Center page of the website, or directly at: https://4gcommunityorg.happyfox.com/

 

Respectfully yours,

 

Support Team

 

I went into it expecting this at some point to go away. I was paying on their quarterly plan so as not to get too burned. Biggest issue now is what to do. I don't think much has changed since I signed up with other providers being available. I am now on the verizon unlimited plan for my phone, but they limit hotspots to 15GB, and also limit phones as hotspots at 22GB. So that's not probably going to work for a home situation and streaming.

[ReeferMac]

Curious how you do, keep us updated.