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Rural EVDO home internet ... 4G?


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Hey guys, I'd like your input on EVDO home intenet providers since they run off of the Sprint network.

 

I'm possibly moving to a rual part of northeast North Carolina in summer 2013 (ZIP 27973; Shawboro NC), and unfortunatley cable or DSL is not offered. Coming from a 30mb cable connection, I'd prefer not to have data caps. Anyway, I know some of the 3G EVDO providers also offer unlimited 4G speeds (where available) for around $120 a month. Are these services usually up to par? Sprint 4G is scheduled to be coming on line near that area over the next few months (Norfolk VA area), and I have no problem roof mounting a yagi anteanna to increase signal strenght (it's mostly swamp or farmland in that area). Is the service up to par for streaming Netflix and offering a 24/7 uninterrupted internet service? (I stream a 16kbps audio feed 24/7 to the internet) Any other thoughts or comments?

 

 

Here are a couple of providers I was considering:

 

http://www.ruralevdo.com/

 

www.evdointernet.com/

Edited by jsncrso
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EVDO usually runs 200-300k here at its best 600-800. Despite what they are advertising you will not be able to stream netflix.

 

http://www.hughesnet.com/?page=Plans-Pricing#gen4

 

Cheaper than evdo you posted, If you go over data limits are slowed to 150k. The 4g offers are likely on clearwire network and is not and will not be coming to this area. 4G LTE when available will not be supporting home internet access, just not enough spectrum

 

another one

http://www.dish.com/entertainment/internet-phone/satellite-internet/?WT.srch=1&KBID=71568&WT.mc_id=GSGNBUNDLE_2985&gclid=CPqRgu_hlbQCFQGvnQodXi8ARQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

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4G LTE when available will not be supporting home internet access, just not enough spectrum

 

orly? but there is enough spectrum for wimax home internet? and wimax is only using a small portion of the available spectrum?

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orly? but there is enough spectrum for wimax home internet? and wimax is only using a small portion of the available spectrum?

 

WiMax was offered because it was operated by Clearwire, so it was Clear's decision what to do with it. Sprint will not be offering it's LTE as a home ISP as far as I know.

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Verizon is doing it, but it is obviously not unlimited. Sprint definitely won't be doing an unlimited version. Sprint LTE just doesn't have the capacity for data-heavy home users. Verizon doesn't either- they have already downgraded average LTE speeds to 5-12Mbps. Needless to say, you won't be getting unlimited LTE anytime soon.

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Thank you all for your replies.

 

 

I was hoping to stay away from satellite if possible but I know it may not be an option. I also know Sprint itself does not offer unlimited home internet on LTE, but the providers I listed aren't Sprint, they just use their infrastructure from what I can tell. If their 3G is as crowded as it is, and these providers still offer unlimited bandwidth (they also offer 25 gigs for $99 a month), then they may do so with LTE as well. However, if they are only averaging 300-800k down, it would be very hard to go over 25-30 gigs a month regardless of how much you are downloading (and their 4G may very well be in reference to WiMAX). I'll contact several of them and see what they say.

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Thank you all for your replies.

 

 

I was hoping to stay away from satellite if possible but I know it may not be an option. I also know Sprint itself does not offer unlimited home internet on LTE, but the providers I listed aren't Sprint, they just use their infrastructure from what I can tell. If their 3G is as crowded as it is, and these providers still offer unlimited bandwidth (they also offer 25 gigs for $99 a month), then they may do so with LTE as well. However, if they are only averaging 300-800k down, it would be very hard to go over 25-30 gigs a month regardless of how much you are downloading (and their 4G may very well be in reference to WiMAX). I'll contact several of them and see what they say.

 

I can assure you all 4G references are WiMax. Sprint isn't licensing their LTE (except for a couple MVNOs, no mobile broadband). VZW's Home Fusion Broadband might be something to look into though: http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/homefusion/hf/main.do .

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orly? but there is enough spectrum for wimax home internet? and wimax is only using a small portion of the available spectrum?

 

Clearwire has plenty of spectrum, however they are no longer building out Wimax and Clear LTE at least for the time being will be focused on Sprint's high traffic areas, I could be proven wrong but given Clearwire's financial difficulties and limitations on their spectrum propagation I would not be expecting any significant rural deployments.

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I'm in Central NC and have the same issue. I've got an old Sprint 3G data card grandfathered in on the unlimited plan so I have unlimited 3g right now. But, until NV hits, the speeds have been getting progressively worse and there is no Wi-Max here either.

 

For the time being, I've got an AT&T "4G" (not LTE, but much faster than EVDO) hotspot I use for work and the rest of the family uses the Sprint card through a wireless router. Once the enhanced 3G speeds with NV start to hit here hopefully I won't need AT&T.

 

Another option I've considered (when it becomes available) is Verizon's HomeFusion Broadband internet plan. It offers 30GB of data for $120/mo. If you can get a discount through work (like I can) then it would be somewhat cheaper. It's not unlimited but it offers much more data than any of the other data only plans. The only problem is that it is ONLY available on Verizon's 4G LTE network which is close but hasn't quite reached my house yet. The coverage maps show it about a mile away so hopefully they'll get to the closest tower to me soon.

 

Taking a quick look at Verizon's coverage maps near the 27973 zip code, you might be in luck. It looks pretty well blanketed with 4G in that area except for a couple of holes. My opinion would be, if that's available, it would be a better choice than satellite.

 

http://www.verizonwireless.com/homefusionbroadband/

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Thanks for all of your help guys. While the NV updates have rolled out to the towers near that address, it appears that the Sprint 3G option is probably going to be to slow despite what they say on the websites. Too bad they wont open up the LTE for unlimited.

 

And my girlfriend, who lives at the house I might be moving to next summer, actually does have a Verizon 4G hotspot and gets 20mbps up and down, but as I use at least 50GB a month, so as much as I love Verizon, their options won't work.

 

I think my best option at this point is to use Exede 12 satellite at this point, since they have unmetered bandwidth overnight and I can schedule my downloads then, and they don't cut you off if you go over and also allow you to purchase more data.

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