Posted on 12/04/2019 12:58:13 PM PST by Huskrrrr
We are VERY rural and have to tether or hot spot our phones as a modem to get the internet. We are paying $45 a month for unlimited. It is unlimited connection but only 6 gigs of “high speed”. It works fine for us because we are not video streaming type folks. We just need the high speed to do maintenance that might require a sizable download. But even at that, on slow speed and throttled down after our high speed is done we can still view videos by allowing them to load while we get another cup of coffee and come back to it. :)
They charged me plenty, but handed me a pair of identical hotspots. I don't know what that's about. ???
Not that it matters, Verizon has been very spotty lately, and it was widely recommended as the "go-to" provider two years ago.
AT&T is now rated the best one in my location(s), so my next move is to go back to AT&T.
...shrug...
I used to have Verizon but their support was awful and switched to T-Mobile. I have a family plan and because I’m a veteran I get a 50% discount for up to 6 lines. That is unlimited minutes, unlimited txt and unlimited hotspot. The hotspot is throttled after 30 gigs but it is throttled down to whatever 3G speed is. We have a second home in SW Florida and I discontinued internet service there and just use the hotspot. We have used the hotspot for movies too, Netflix comes with the program but sometimes we were dissatisfied with the speed so I bought a cable that allows my phone to hook directly to the TV. T-Mobile recommended I do that, there is no limit on high speed for that and the quality is most excellent. They also give us a $5 discount if we use auto pay so that we end up paying about $15 a line for the first 6 lines. We have never had a reception problem. We do all our surfing and you tubing on our computers and tablets with the hotspot and watch movies on the TV through the phone. I highly recommend it.
ping
I’m in the same area and unless you are at a higher elevation, you are out of luck for ota signals.
Some part time residents bring a sattelite dish & receiver from home for longer stays.
I think choice of carrier all depends on where you are. We have tried them all here and for us At&T works the best for data. And I hate them because of stuff they pulled on us in the past, but we had too bite the bullet or get nothing. But we just bought their “AT&T prepay” Pay as you go phones and they have several plans. The $55 a month plan is all unlimited even high speed data.
If you have good data plan and can hotspot I would get a Roku. They work pretty well for what you guys need. They have several free TV streaming services included and you can add others like Netflix or Amazon prime if you like. We have one and it works well through our phone for our rural situation. They sell them at Walmart and Target. But rather than eat up our limited data with the Roku we set up an old school C Band satellite big dish and get about 25 free channels off it.
But we just bought their “AT&T prepay” Pay as you go phones and they have several plans. The $55 a month plan is all unlimited even high speed data.
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We have high speed plus unlimited everything including hotspot, $15 per line for up to 6 lines. The hotspot is throttled after 30 gigs however, that isn’t a problem we run a laptop and desktop from the hotspot and never have a problem. When we want a Hidef movie we do hook up directly to the phone where there is no limit on high speed.
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