Stumped bad!!!

[bersaguy]

Ok so I admit I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer but I am not the dullest either but I am totally stumped and looking for help. I guess by now most of ya'll know I am being evicted sometime in the near future say 3 months from now and I will be moving into a FIL house behind my SIL and daughters house. It is located in Gordonsville Tennessee. They have lived there going on 12 years and they asked me back when they bought the place to move in the back house and I pause for oh 12 years because I realy didn't want to live that far out in the Country at that time. Well now I have little choice with the price of rent being triple + in last 8 years I can live there and just pay utilities, Lights, water, TV service, my internet etc etc. Only once gliche in all of this is there is no TV service beyond an outdoor High Definition antenna for local channels and there is NO INTERNET!!!!! My SIL has been telling me for years that he does not have a satelite or cable because a cable is not offered on the road he lives on and believe it or not No where on his 12 acres of ground will a satelite dish get a signal for television. I use to pick on him for being cheap. I called him up today and apologized to him for calling him cheap. He gets cell phone service but thats all folks. Both of my cell phones work out there but there is no cable, or satelite or internet offered on his property. No one on his road gets anything beyond Cell phone service until you go 12 miles to the far end and the 1st 10 houses have Cable or Satelite service. 

I thought satelite was designed to offer service to folks that could not get cable. I had no clue that they could  put a satelite dish in a yard or on a house that could not pick up satelite transmissions. With the technology in the world today and there are people and places that are still living 50 years ago technologically. So when I move I won't have internet unless there is a miracle between now and August 30th on Grant Road in Gordonsville Tennessee. I can sit on my SIL's front porch and watch cars and trucks running both east and west on I-40 but can't get satelite internet!!!!!

[xsubsailor]

 See what some of these folks have to say.

https://www.broadbandsearch.net/service/tennessee/gordonsville

[pops572]

I feel ya. I have next to no internet options either. I use my phone for everything, which with the phone tech these days isnt bad. I do occasionally turn on my hotspot when I need to print something off the desktop. I have considered getting the dedicated hotspot Verizon offers, I am sure AT&T offers one too, but just havnt done it yet. You might check on that for internet. I Could do satellite internet, but quite honestly I do not want to pay $100+ for, from what I have gathered from people that have sat internet, very crappy service. I had a buddy that could not get a sat signal on his land due to trees, he had a guy install a tower and mount the dish on it. I think the tower was 40 or 50 feet tall. It was one of those 3 sided ladder looking towers, but if you can get one of those they should be able to get a signal. 

[Raoul]

So Charter is available according to that website.

[MacGyver]

If you can see I-40, you can probably at least get a mobile hotspot through a cellular carrier for internet.  

[TripleGGG]

Im with McGyver if you have cell service a hotspot should be available. I have Verizon and carry a Verizon Jetpack which works better than a hotspot for my applications. 

[MP5_Rizzo]

3 minutes ago, TripleGGG said:

Im with McGyver if you have cell service a hotspot should be available. I have Verizon and carry a Verizon Jetpack which works better than a hotspot for my applications. 

Another recommendation on a Verizon Jetpack. I’ve been using one for about 5 years and since unlimited data has become the norm it’s been great.

[bersaguy]

14 hours ago, Raoul said:

So Charter is available according to that website.

Yea Raoul, I saw that to so went there and typed in all the information and it comes up in big letters that Charter does have service in that area. Then I get on live chat help with one of their techs and he spends about 15 minutes trying to find the address in that zip code that they cover and finally he came back and said  Charter does not have any service in that particular location and said good by.

[Raoul]

3 minutes ago, bersaguy said:

Yea Raoul, I saw that to so went there and typed in all the information and it comes up in big letters that Charter does have service in that area. Then I get on live chat help with one of their techs and he spends about 15 minutes trying to find the address in that zip code that they cover and finally he came back and said  Charter does not have any service in that particular location and said good by.

Shame. I've had good luck with them.

[bersaguy]

12 hours ago, TripleGGG said:

Im with McGyver if you have cell service a hotspot should be available. I have Verizon and carry a Verizon Jetpack which works better than a hotspot for my applications. 

I'm not familiar with what a Hot Spot is but at present I am running my desk top internet with what AT&T calls a go phone that plugs into the computer and is like a broad band type operation and I get 5 G's for 50 bucks a month and I have not used 5 gb's since I ave had it 3 years now.

3 minutes ago, Raoul said:

Shame. I've had good luck with them.

I was hopng I had struck paydirt with them to but no luck.

[Grunt67]

13 hours ago, TripleGGG said:

Im with McGyver if you have cell service a hotspot should be available. I have Verizon and carry a Verizon Jetpack which works better than a hotspot for my applications. 

Same here, Verizon. Had it for years. Also earlier, had satellite  internet. Better than dial up, but not very fast, not much bandwidth ( Wild Blue was the name ), about the same as Hughes.

No cable where I live either. Currently, our local electric utility, Tri County Electric, is running fiber optic here in Trousdale Co.  3 different speeds available, 50/50 meg ( up & down load ), 100/100 meg, 1GB , @ $49.95, $59.95, $89.95 respectively. I signed up for the 50/50. Will be a few months before it gets to me.

Hard to believe you can't get a satellite signal there, unless you're down in a deep hollow.

If you can get Verizon cell service, you can get their internet hot spot service.

Hang in there bud........

[No_0ne]

Check this organization out: https://www.pcsforpeople.org/

High speed internet is available for about $10 per month if you qualify.  The service is provided by Sprint from their obligation to fulfill the contract originally assigned to Clear Wire ( I might have the name wrong ) after Sprint purchased that network a few years ago. They use either a Franklin 850 or the newer ZTE hotspot, and of course there needs to be Sprint cellular service in the area, you can check coverage on the Sprint website maps. The link above outlines the financial qualifications for eligibility for this program, from reviews online it seems to work well in areas with at least a decent Sprint connection.

Edited April 28, 2018 by No_0ne

[bersaguy]

1 hour ago, No_0ne said:

Check this organization out: https://www.pcsforpeople.org/

High speed internet is available for about $10 per month if you qualify.  The service is provided by Sprint from their obligation to fulfill the contract originally assigned to Clear Wire ( I might have the name wrong ) after Sprint purchased that network a few years ago. They use either a Franklin 850 or the newer ZTE hotspot, and of course there needs to be Sprint cellular service in the area, you can check coverage on the Sprint website maps. The link above outlines the financial qualifications for eligibility for this program, from reviews online it seems to work well in aareas with at least a decent Sprint connection.

Doesn't anyone use a desk top any more besides me??????????

I more than qualify if they base it on income which this is their beginning income requirement.

Persons in Family 1  
 
  Max Allowed Income  $24,280 

I hate to say it but that is $10,000.00 more than I get a year. Thing is I don't need a computer, I just need computer service and where srint ask what type of device I would be using and supplied a list I scanned the entire list and there was not 1 desk top offered but according to their map they do have 3G service on that address. 

Edited April 28, 2018 by bersaguy

[No_0ne]

14 minutes ago, bersaguy said:

Doesn't anyone use a desk top any more besides me??????????

I more than qualify if they base it on income which this is their beginning income requirement.

Persons in Family 1  
 
  Max Allowed Income  $24,280 

I hate to say it but that is $10,000.00 more than I get a year. Thing is I don't need a computer, I just need computer service and where srint ask what type of device I would be using and supplied a list I scanned the entire list and there was not 1 desk top offered but according to their map they do have 3G service on that address. 

The device list is for whatever cellular enabled "thing" you use for their service, in this case try the ZTE hotspot as that is the device that pc'sforpeople would supply.  It is basically a pocket-sized cellular receiver which will connect to the Sprint service and then broadcast a wifi  network in your home, which you can then connect your desktop to.  Don't worry if your desktop doesn't have wifi capability, you can connect the hotspot to a usb port and use it like a wired router. Also, on the Sprint coverage page, make sure that you choose the data coverage, actual phone coverage is not relevant here.  If you know somebody who uses a Sprint phone, have them try using the internet at the location you have in mind, that is more accurate than the coverage maps. 3G service is "doable" for internet, but is apt to be very slow if you are using it for streaming video and that sort of thing.  Again, your best bet is to have someone with a Sprint phone try downloading and uploading data at the home, or run a "speedtest" on thier data plan at the location.  Good luck ...

[bersaguy]

Backing up about 8 years I have been a Cricket Cell phone customer for about 21 years and about 6 to 8 years ago AT&T purchased Cricket. Prior to that my Cricket phone did not get service any where in my SIL's area. When AT&T bought Cricket I was told I needed to come in an purchase a new phone so I being a modest person picked an LG flip phone and because i had been with Cricket for so long they gave me the phone for free. Well about a month later I was visiting daughter and SIL and my phone rang and it was a friend of mine wanting to know when I would be home so he could get some baits and I told him and ended the conversation. I now had Cricket Service in my daughters living room and didn't even know it. There is only one place my phone does not work is at my sons home in Craggie Hope Tennessee. He lives in a holler down there that only gets about 2.5 hours of sunlight a day and very few phones work down there. He has Verizon and if he moves around in his house while talking to someone he will cut them off. He has to stand in certain laces in his house to get service. I am taking my Go Phone with me today to visit SIL and daughter and we are going to test it on his lap to he uses for work when he is away from the house.

[bersaguy]

7 minutes ago, No_0ne said:

The device list is for whatever cellular enabled "thing" you use for their service, in this case try the ZTE hotspot as that is the device that pc'sforpeople would supply.  It is basically a pocket-sized cellular receiver which will connect to the Sprint service and then broadcast a wifi  network in your home, which you can then connect your desktop to.  Don't worry if your desktop doesn't have wifi capability, you can connect the hotspot to a usb port and use it like a wired router. Also, on the Sprint coverage page, make sure that you choose the data coverage, actual phone coverage is not relevant here.  If you know somebody who uses a Sprint phone, have them try using the internet at the location you have in mind, that is more accurate than the coverage maps. 3G service is "doable" for internet, but is apt to be very slow if you are using it for streaming video and that sort of thing.  Again, your best bet is to have someone with a Sprint phone try downloading and uploading data at the home, or run a "speedtest" on thier data plan at the location.  Good luck ...

I have a Sprint 7 phone with internet on it that my grandson gave me two weeks ago when he upgraded to the Sprint 10 and I will have it out there with me today when I go visit them. I'm in the beginning stages of learning how to use the damn thing. It is toucherier than my last wife. Everytime I pick it up it doe something I don't want it to do. I',m almost afraid to touch the thing. I think my fingers are to big for it!!!! I don't do all that streamin and junk. I just want to be able to get emails and visit TGO and East Tennessee Fishing forums and do Google search.

[DaveTN]

Why would be need to buy a Jet Pack if he went with Verizon? I can turn my phone into a hotspot. I doubt you will find many places where Verizon can’t get a signal.

[TripleGGG]

Why would be need to buy a Jet Pack if he went with Verizon? I can turn my phone into a hotspot. I doubt you will find many places where Verizon can’t get a signal.

If your phone is Verizon then turning the phone into a hotspot should work fine for what he is using the internet for. For my situation I am on secure websites that will disconnect from the hotspot if there is any "interruptions" in signal. I learned that when my phone received email, texts, calls etc it can create a very brief "interruption" and kick me off those secure sites. 

 

 

[Grunt67]

Just an opinion, don't know for certain, but I would say good luck getting Sprint in G'ville. They & AT&T rarely show up in rural areas. They don't want to spend the money there. Been down that road with them.

[bersaguy]

3 hours ago, Grunt67 said:

Just an opinion, don't know for certain, but I would say good luck getting Sprint in G'ville. They & AT&T rarely show up in rural areas. They don't want to spend the money there. Been down that road with them.

Well, I don't know if the stars lined up of what butwent out to Gordonsville to Visit SIL and daughter and do a little testing. My Samsung 7 Sprint phone worked 100% sitting in their living room. He got his Dell Laptop out he uses for work and plugged in my AT&T Go Phone unit into the USB port, it down loaded itself like normal  did a complete down load and put up 4 bars and we did google searches and he check his work sheets and did everything including sign me into East Tennessee Fishing Forum and it was actually faster than my desk top and his Dell laptop is about 8 years old so I will be good to go with internet service with AT&T Go Phone Broad Band and he is getting ready to buy a super duper High Definition out door TV antenna like a neighbor did down the road from him and the guy gets about 40 channels a lot of the good programs that we enjoy watching on it so thats the route we are going there and no monthly bills for TV service.

He is going to begin remodeling the inside of the house next week and we looked today and there is room at the end of the kitchen sink counter for a built in dishwasher so I am buying one of them from Lowes through a Contractor friend of mine and get it at Contractor cost and my friend that installed the one I put in here is going to install it for me. Had I known what the future held for me here I would have never put one in here. So I guess the stars just lined up!

[tnguy]

The only thing with cellular is that it isn't too cheap. T-mobile was the cheapest last I checked. Tracfone can be good if you have really low usage as you can buy it when you need it.

Satellite should work but it needs a clear view of the satellite (no trees in the way). We're around 36 degrees North so you would want to be able to see sky 54 degrees above the horizon. If there's stuff in the way, you either need to get it out of the way or raise your dish.

Sounds like you have your solution anyway but I thought I'd just chime in a bit of extra information that might be useful to someone.

 

Edit: an additional option is that if you see an xfinity ssid in your wireless list anywhere, you can buy service from comcast.

Edited April 29, 2018 by tnguy

[bersaguy]

8 hours ago, tnguy said:

The only thing with cellular is that it isn't too cheap. T-mobile was the cheapest last I checked. Tracfone can be good if you have really low usage as you can buy it when you need it.

Satellite should work but it needs a clear view of the satellite (no trees in the way). We're around 36 degrees North so you would want to be able to see sky 54 degrees above the horizon. If there's stuff in the way, you either need to get it out of the way or raise your dish.

Sounds like you have your solution anyway but I thought I'd just chime in a bit of extra information that might be useful to someone.

 

Edit: an additional option is that if you see an xfinity ssid in your wireless list anywhere, you can buy service from comcast.

Well my Sprint Samsung7 phone and my AT&T phone both work out there and my Go Phone AT&T Internet works out there. As fo Xfinity/Comcast, nearest cable from them is over 12 miles away and I just cut my cable cause I was tired of paying $100.00+ a month to watch reruns of Iron Man and SuperMan of Steel 25 times a month and then next month it was Thor or Lord of the Ring 30+ times a month. Now as for Satelite, Direct TV had two installers walk 5 acres of land around my SIL's house annd finally said a Satelite will not receive any type of reception even if they put it in the middle of his roof with zero trees in the way but a High Definition antenna will receive 43 channels.  

[DaveTN]

11 hours ago, bersaguy said:

 but a High Definition antenna will receive 43 channels.  

Don’t be taken by someone telling you that you need a high definition antenna; there is no such thing, they are standard antennas.

There are plenty of web sites to give you an idea of what you need and what stations are available.

https://www.antennasdirect.com/transmitter-locator.html

https://www.channelmaster.com/Antenna-Selection-a/134.htm

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/antennas-and-digital-television

 

[tnguy]

Well, cable can be tricky. They can not have cable running down one road but your neighbor behind you might be on a road that gets service and if they had the appropriate hotspot you'd be in. If there's no one within 12 miles then obviously not (I just mentioned it as an easy check since you can just look at the wifi available from your phone).  I'll just also point out that you can get the internet without the TV (That's what I do). We were paying $50/month but just went up to the $70 plan as it allows us to use the aforementioned hotspots.

I'm very skeptical about those satellite guys. If you have clear LOS to the satellite, you're pretty much good. You'd have to be under an antenna or next to a radar installation to see problems. Assuming you're not at the base of a cliff or something. Perhaps they just didn't want to be climbing up on the roof. The Dish guy did a lot of umming-and-ahing about our roof and how it was "too old" etc (lies, I've walkied all over it fixing storm damage) and in the end I stuck it on a pole I attached to the deck and aimed it over the top of the house and aligned it myself (I wouldn't recommend that for satellite internet though but people do).

DaveTN is also correct about the antennas. Depending on where you are, you need better/bigger ones but that's about all. I'm 40 miles or so from the transmitter and still using the one that Dish gave away when they had a falling out about providing the local channels.

Edited April 30, 2018 by tnguy

[analog_kidd]

You may also need a tuner to pull in the signal from the antenna. It depends on your TV - the guts in it and how old it is. Back when they forced tv stations to convert over to digital, most TV's wouldn't get the signal. The USGov was handing out rebates if you went out and bought a special tuner. It was kinda like a cable box you hooked to your tv; it got the signal and passed it to the TV over the cable input, or an HDMI connection, or whatever. They stopped with the rebates a long time ago, but if memory serves, those boxes are about $50.

If your TV does not have a digital tuner built in, you'll need one of these boxes. You should be able to test your TV with just a set of rabbit ears. They should be strong enough to pick up at least the closest station.

If you like projects, look up DIY TV antennae's. There are bunches of them out there, and you can make them literally out of scrap you have around the garage, and a $2 connector from Home Depot. I've seen ones that use coat hangers, screws and a 1x4. And they perform as well or better than a store bought one.