Starlink

[Cougsfan]

Follow up on trying to get internet. As I mentioned I have a communication tower with both T-Mobile and Verizon communication on my property but presently get slow internet through a local microwave system. Too slow for streaming. Following the advice from you all I went to the T-Mobile and Verizon stores to ask about getting internet through that tower. Both went to the same websites that I can go to on my own which says it isn't available. That was the total extent of their effort.

Verizon offered a hot spot for streaming, with various cost options. The only one that makes financial sense is the $50/month option which gives around 50mbps, which is plenty fast. It is only good for 50 gigs a month and slows down to near dial up speed after that. We have a Verizon family plan where my wife myself and my two grown daughters share a plan. We currently use 25 gigs a month by just using our phones. (probably my daughters use 90% of that) I am not sure another 25 gigs a month will be enough and I don't want to take a chance on slowing us all down to nothing, or living with the constant fear of that happening.

Starlink says it is not available in my area. However I know a computer geek that lives a few miles up the road who has Starlink and he says if you know the right people you can get it. I am not excited about StarLink anyways (I got this thing against billionaires, just my own little prejudice), and to know they will do business this way turns me off on them even more.

So I am stuck with Dish networks ever shrinking coverage of the things I watch while their price along with my snail speed internet remains outlandish.

 

[Fixastuff]

However I know a computer geek that lives a few miles up the road who has Starlink and he says if you know the right people you can get it.

Must be true then! Did you ask him to introduce you to the right people? Lol. I've used dialup, Blue something or other, Hughes net and phone hotspots and starlink blows them out if the water! If you don't get it because of Elon you're missing out.

 

[Cougsfan]

Did you ask him to introduce you to the right people?

I must be old fashion. I don't particularly want to be given special treatment because of who I know. Makes me feel like a person I wouldn't like.

 

[Fixastuff]

I must be old fashion. I don't particularly want to be given special treatment because of who I know. Makes me feel like a person I wouldn't like.

I agree with ya there! I think that guys statement is BS though that what the lol was for. If you're old fashioned you should be happy with no internet

 

[IXLR8]

Verizon offered a hot spot for streaming, with various cost options. The only one that makes financial sense is the $50/month option which gives around 50mbps, which is plenty fast. It is only good for 50 gigs a month and slows down to near dial up speed after that. We have a Verizon family plan where my wife myself and my two grown daughters share a plan. We currently use 25 gigs a month by just using our phones. (probably my daughters use 90% of that) I am not sure another 25 gigs a month will be enough and I don't want to take a chance on slowing us all down to nothing, or living with the constant fear of that happening.

I think you will find the 50 Gigs/month on the hotspot is separate from the 25 Gigs on your phone. Just don't give your daughters access to the hotspot and keep the 50Gig to yourself.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Follow up on trying to get internet. As I mentioned I have a communication tower with both T-Mobile and Verizon communication on my property but presently get slow internet through a local microwave system. Too slow for streaming. Following the advice from you all I went to the T-Mobile and Verizon stores to ask about getting internet through that tower. Both went to the same websites that I can go to on my own which says it isn't available. That was the total extent of their effort.

Verizon offered a hot spot for streaming, with various cost options. The only one that makes financial sense is the $50/month option which gives around 50mbps, which is plenty fast. It is only good for 50 gigs a month and slows down to near dial up speed after that. We have a Verizon family plan where my wife myself and my two grown daughters share a plan. We currently use 25 gigs a month by just using our phones. (probably my daughters use 90% of that) I am not sure another 25 gigs a month will be enough and I don't want to take a chance on slowing us all down to nothing, or living with the constant fear of that happening.

Starlink says it is not available in my area. However I know a computer geek that lives a few miles up the road who has Starlink and he says if you know the right people you can get it. I am not excited about StarLink anyways (I got this thing against billionaires, just my own little prejudice), and to know they will do business this way turns me off on them even more.

So I am stuck with Dish networks ever shrinking coverage of the things I watch while their price along with my snail speed internet remains outlandish.

After I installed Verizon's 4G LTE wireless internet, my neighbor decided to dump his DSL and order it as well. He was told it wasn't available even though he lives next door. The tech told him they have to regulate the number of customers in a given area to keep from overloading a particular cell.

As a Verizon engineer who designed and oversaw the construction on many of these towers, I know this to be true. Just because a cellular carrier offers cell phone service from a given tower doesn't mean they offer high speed internet service. This is due to bandwidth constriction. They can't supply enough to handle the added load.

Too many customers sharing the limited bandwidth allocated to a particular tower or cell, will simply slow down the internet speeds to the point where it defeats the purpose of the service. Those with Starlink, and other wireless services can see this variation in speed. It is almost always slower during peak times. To put it simply, the more that use it, the slower it gets.

The problem is in the network, not the tower. As usual, it's all about the $$. It is far more expensive to upgrade a network that it is to install tower equipment. As is the case with most businesses, the money is spent where it will get the most return on investment. Unfortunately, that leaves out many of us rural folk.

I suspect, but can't verify, the same scenario exists with Starlink. They may be able to provide service in a particular area but not to everyone who wants it. Hopefully, this will improve as more satellites are put in orbit and the available bandwidth increases.

That guy who knows a guy is likely in a position to bend the rules a bit.

 

[JethroB]

I think you will find the 50 Gigs/month on the hotspot is separate from the 25 Gigs on your phone. Just don't give your daughters access to the hotspot and keep the 50Gig to yourself.

TV streaming I can use 50 GB pretty quick. When I have to use my Verizon iPhone as a hotspot I turn the Netflix quality down to save data. From Netflix:

Netflix offers 4 data usage settings.

Data used per hour, per device:

1. Low: Basic video quality, up to 0.3 GB
2. Medium: Standard video quality, up to 0.7 GB
3. High: Best video quality:
   • Standard definition: up to1 GB
   • High definition: up to 3 GB
   • Ultra high definition (4K): up to 7 GB
4. Auto: Adjusts automatically to deliver the highest possible quality, based on your current internet connection speed.

 

[Fixastuff]

I suspect, but can't verify, the same scenario exists with Starlink. They may be able to provide service in a particular area but not to everyone who wants it. Hopefully, this will improve as more satellites are put in orbit and the available bandwidth increases.

That guy who knows a guy is likely in a position to bend the rules a bit.

As of right now my Starlink connection is just as fast at 7pm as it is at 5am. They say they are limiting the customer per "cell" so that speeds wont diminish, we will see on the long run but it seems to be true right now. My previous connection, Verizon 4g hot spot was good in the morning but between 4pm to 11pm slowed down to 0.4mbs!

 

[Cougsfan]

Another thing that worried me is that when I bought a firestick and hooked up my TV to the slow internet we have and tried the free trial from Fubotv, it slowed our internet so far down that you couldn't use the internet while the TV was on. What was worse, if you shut the tv off, it still slowed the internet down to nothing unless you unplugged the firestick. That told me it keeps streaming even though you aren't watching, which would use up the gigs in no time. Plugging and unplugging the firestick every time you use the TV would be a hassle.

 

[Cougsfan]

TV streaming I can use 50 GB pretty quick. When I have to use my Verizon iPhone as a hotspot I turn the Netflix quality down to save data. From Netflix:

Netflix offers 4 data usage settings.

Data used per hour, per device:

1. Low: Basic video quality, up to 0.3 GB
2. Medium: Standard video quality, up to 0.7 GB
3. High: Best video quality:
   • Standard definition: up to1 GB
   • High definition: up to 3 GB
   • Ultra high definition (4K): up to 7 GB
4. Auto: Adjusts automatically to deliver the highest possible quality, based on your current internet connection speed.

Thanks, That is information I need but no one seemed to be able to tell me.