Off grid internet

[Browneye]

And it works good?

I’m typically 1 or 2 bars at home. Sorta works if it thinks 4G but as soon as it decides LTE is possible it looks like it’s downloading but nothing I mean nothing happens 97.5% of the time.

Can you drop a link to the one you found works?

This is what we've found with cellular data when traveling. IF you can get a signal you MIGHT get a call out, and the phone MIGHT say LTE - but you can't get any data down.

Verizon has a 'old folks' plan with free unlimited data. We've been with them for over twenty years and pay $150/mo for three devices with unlimited data.

Our next house after retiring - build or buy - would preferably be away from metropolis, intentionally. VERY interested in off-grid internet. Starlink sounds really promising - I just found out about it from a young stud recently, he's got an off-grid place in South Carolina and mentioned it.

 

[HARG Hunter]

Another option may be to use your cell phone. Check your plan and see what it allows in the way of hotspot data. Basically your laptop connects to your phone through either built-in WiFi or Bluetooth. Possibly upgrading your cell phone plan with sufficient hotspot use could be the simplest and cheapest option.

This is what I do at my off grid cabin. No chance to get internet there.
I use my phone as a hotspot and it works great.

 

[RobertGreen]

FWIW, I've used several options, but for the last few years I've been using the AT&T "secret" unlimited data plan for 20$ a month, and it's been pretty great. Using hundreds of GB a month, I've never noticed any slowdown or caps. It seems to only work with certain hotspot devices, though.

 

[A.Justice]

FWIW, I've used several options, but for the last few years I've been using the AT&T "secret" unlimited data plan for 20$ a month, and it's been pretty great. Using hundreds of GB a month, I've never noticed any slowdown or caps. It seems to only work with certain hotspot devices, though.

Yeah, you can't just drop that tidbit of information then roll out. ? Definitely need more info on the "secret" plan!

 

[RobertGreen]

Yeah, you can't just drop that tidbit of information then roll out. ? Definitely need more info on the "secret" plan!

Well, as I was suggesting-- it's not really a secret, I can't remember if it's already posted in this thread. But basically, it's an unlisted/unadvertised "Tablet" or IPad plan from AT&T. You can get it by calling them or by going to the AT&T store, but you have to specifically ask for the unlimited data Ipad plan. There's a couple more wrinkles too-- you have to provide them with an IMEI from an IPad in order to enable the service. I don't have an IPad, so I just used an IMEI generator site online to get one of these numbers.
They provide you a sim card which works for 4g/3g data, but you can plug it into any hotspot/modem device which is compatible with the ATT data bands.

Works great. Here's a snap of my recent bill with my info marked out. You can see how they price it and also that I'm using 320+GB of data that month lol.
If you're really interested, the best way to get it figured out is to buy one of the 10$ ebay "How To" guides. That's what I did. Something like https://www.ebay.com/itm/154404569863

 

[A.Justice]

Well, as I was suggesting-- it's not really a secret, I can't remember if it's already posted in this thread. But basically, it's an unlisted/unadvertised "Tablet" or IPad plan from AT&T. You can get it by calling them or by going to the AT&T store, but you have to specifically ask for the unlimited data Ipad plan. There's a couple more wrinkles too-- you have to provide them with an IMEI from an IPad in order to enable the service. I don't have an IPad, so I just used an IMEI generator site online to get one of these numbers.
They provide you a sim card which works for 4g/3g data, but you can plug it into any hotspot/modem device which is compatible with the ATT data bands.

Works great. Here's a snap of my recent bill with my info marked out. You can see how they price it and also that I'm using 320+GB of data that month lol.
If you're really interested, the best way to get it figured out is to buy one of the 10$ ebay "How To" guides. That's what I did. Something like https://www.ebay.com/itm/154404569863

If you posted that earlier I must have missed it. I'll have to check that out when my contract is up, much appreciated friend!

 

[Checkthisout]

Deleted

 

[Checkthisout]

Verizon was tight. I went to T-mobile and just got a prepaid Sim card and popped it into a netgear modem.

This is at my cabin about 180 miles away. I run a netgear modem, Asus router (in ap mode), small computer for remote desktop and a poe switch for the cameras and generator control.

I'm dumbfounded at how stable cellular internet is. Sorry about the spaghetti. Cord management is still a mysterious art to me.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

went to T-mobile and just got a prepaid Sim card and popped it into a netgear modem.

Cost? Please.

 

[Checkthisout]

Cost? Please.

Not cheap. $30.00 for 10 gigs. I upgraded to $50.00 for 50 gigs.

I'm going to look into changing the account to a monthly or biting the bullet and getting something like a jetpack and adding it to the misses Verizon account.

Well see. My main concern at the time was getting something working so I could test stuff and T-mobile prepaid made it easy. They just sell you a Sim and data and you can put it in whatever you want.

 

[BarrieM]

Crikey, you guys are getting shafted for data in the US. I run a 4g internet supply business here in rural France installing Huawei routers and high gain antennas pulling around 75mbps download speeds. We can buy 300gb of data per month for 15 Euros ??

 

[A.Justice]

Crikey, you guys are getting shafted for data in the US. I run a 4g internet supply business here in rural France installing Huawei routers and high gain antennas pulling around 75mbps download speeds. We can buy 300gb of data per month for 15 Euros ??

I pay $50 USD a month for a 600mbs wired cable connection. I get 2tb a month, and it's $10 for every 100 gigs over that. I've never gone over, our max usage was like 1.5tb a month, and that includes six HD security camera feeds.

IIRC, my mobile phone plan is like $75 a month for 500gb, with rollover (we're grandfathered into an old plan). In Northern VA, I could get over 900mbs from cellular, depending on where I was, and the time of day. My phone would outperform our wired FiOS connection on a lot of days.

 

[Checkthisout]

Crikey, you guys are getting shafted for data in the US. I run a 4g internet supply business here in rural France installing Huawei routers and high gain antennas pulling around 75mbps download speeds. We can buy 300gb of data per month for 15 Euros ??

It's basically to stop cellular carriers from competing with landline carriers.

Cellular basically killed landline phones. The same will happen if cellular is allowed to provide "home internet" on an unrestricted basis. Fiber landlines would basically be relegated to commercial use.

 

[BarrieM]

I am talking mobile data here Guys, not cable or fibre. We use 4g enabled sim cards in our routers and the routers can also make regular telephone calls with the "calling" side of the sim card. We can get unlimited data for 50 Euros.

 

[Checkthisout]

I am talking mobile data here Guys, not cable or fibre. We use 4g enabled sim cards in our routers and the routers can also make regular telephone calls with the "calling" side of the sim card. We can get unlimited data for 50 Euros.

We know.

We are saying the reason for that here in the United States is to keep cellular carriers from competing with landline carriers. In other words they aren't allow to offer "home internet" via cellular except in limited areas.

In regards to pricing, we can get "mobile data" devices like the Jetpack and whatever else added to our unlimited data cell phone plans for a $20.00 surcharge which would be more in line with what you're paying.

 

[BarrieM]

Strange the difference in strategies between the US and here. The 4 main carriers here in France offer landline AND mobile solutions and they control the whole of the market. Legislation ensures that if you buy a "mobile" plan you can use the card in a 4g router for "home" internet which is how and why we have a business ! So we get great data plans for internet and unlimited calling plans with the same sim card in a fixed 4g router.

 

[Checkthisout]

Strange the difference in strategies between the US and here. The 4 main carriers here in France offer landline AND mobile solutions and they control the whole of the market. Legislation ensures that if you buy a "mobile" plan you can use the card in a 4g router for "home" internet which is how and why we have a business ! So we get great data plans for internet and unlimited calling plans with the same sim card in a fixed 4g router.

Hopefully we get something like that eventually. I think our anti-monopoly laws prevent single companies from dominating both aspects (land and cellular) as well as the business aspects of protecting bond holders and all that.

Lucky for me my cellular is just to monitor the cabin when I am not there and is my internet when I am there but I don't use much. For others that rely on cell as their primary connection they have to be careful about what they use $$$$$$.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

think our anti-monopoly laws

I think more they’re happy to have you pay and doubledip on the wired/fiber profits.


I’m not anti capitalism at all. That’s not the point. I think it’s partly political and mostly that the consumer base here in the good ol’ USA is gullible.

 

[Checkthisout]

I think more they’re happy to have you pay and doubledip on the wired/fiber profits.


I’m not anti capitalism at all. That’s not the point. I think it’s partly political and mostly that the consumer base here in the good ol’ USA is gullible.

France is smaller than Texas with a population of 68million. Density per tower would be much higher than here in the United States where a rural tower might be lucky to serve 20 homes.

Economies of scale play a role.

 

[CamoGreg]

For a year or two, I used AT&T 4g from my truck. It was $20/mo unlimited data.
Since it was with the 5th wheel, there was plenty of range when parked close by. Up to 8 devices could use the onboard wifi.

I installed a marine charger under the hood with a 120V marine plug to keep the truck battery up since the key had to be on for the vehicle computers to run. Lights switched off and locked the doors with the fob.

It worked well for traveling and even for a time stationary. The downside was when the wife took some online classes....When I was gone with the truck, so was the internet.

Deposit has been in on Starlink for 6 months. I'm told to expect early - mid 2022. Until then, unlimited phone plans used as hot spots works well enough.