Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Rural Internet & TV Options for 2013

Same problem here with DSL. Since we have a land-line phone as well as cell phones, we may as well. Our DSL service is very poor, and have considered moving to a data plan on the cell service, but my GOD they are awful price-wise if you use Netflix and go over your data limit.

Catmandoo my home is in a geographical oddity for internet service. No land line or cable available without forking our some major cash. I think it was like 13K estimate in 2009 to run cable & over 3K to run a land line. Cell phones will even drop calls from time to time in my house (from the only 2 services that even work ATT & Verizon).I have used ATT and then switched to Verizon 4g hotspot which works better in my area (only get weak 3G at home). ATT was slower than the Verizon in my situation. While it works I still am not over joyed with internet at home. I have been thinking about trying the Dish Satellite internet. Good news is I only live 6 miles from a WALMART & Lowes LOL.

Yep, I heard that Satellite is not the way to go. Good topic, I have a similar situation here, poor Broadband service with slow speeds, no cable available. Years ago when I first got broadband the service seemed much better. Now, my once grandfathered unlimited service has been changed to 4 gigs by Sprint (they can do that). I too notice that when I'm getting close to my quota that my speeds are drastically reduced. I don't know how this is possible but I do experience it, coincidence?

I've complained numerous times to Sprint about dropped connections and dial up speeds that I now have with my broadband and I was told it's caused by "internet overload". If there are so many people using broadband that it degrades the service then they shouldn't be charging so much. $50/ month is too much money for dial up speeds IMO. Why does internet cost so much??? I don't understand this.

The last governor we had wanted to bring high speed internet to everyone in the state including rural residents. She believed it was vital for growth and competition but unfortunately it never happened. I'm sure she was probably right and hearing how much further Japan is than us in this regard is scary. Everyone wants affordable high speed internet service and wouldn't a plan to provide that produce jobs???

Back to the original question, I've been considering making my mobile phone into a hotspot, the monthly cost is about the same for me but I haven't taken the plunge yet. I need to check the download/upload speeds on my phone to see if there really is a significant difference, my iPhone seems much faster. I was told that constant use of your phone in this manner will wear it out much faster. Is this true? I suppose you can't use the phone while the hotspot is on, is this correct?

Loretta,

Answers to your questions

Yes they can reduce your speed once a predetermine quota has been reached. Without going into details there is equipment in the network that monitors that quotas and can reduce the speed that you receive. They charge so much because they can, but in all honesty the costs for them are fairly high. Japan has a lot more Government assistance in making this happen and doesn't really have rural areas like the us.
Turning on the mobile hotspot functionality in the phone will not shorten its life, it will run the battery out faster and shorten the battery life.

JKB,

Lasted I check you where not on LTE with AT&T in Michigan, you need to be careful because the term 4G gets overused. 4G in my mind is LTE and that was the initial industry's intent. T-Mobile and AT&T are stretching the term by claiming the upgrades to their 3G UMTS networks get them into the lower end of the speeds that LTE supports, therefore they are 4G.

JKB,

Exactly (hspda+), But LTE will do much better than that. But again signal strength, backhaul infrastructure, and policies (artificial limits on upload and download speeds) all play into what you will actually get.