Railfan Technology > Wifi Internet?

I dumped my very expensive landline and internet for an android phone. I am really happy with the phone: phone surfing, mobile communications, texting and the many apps available.

I knew that I could use my Hotspot for my PC, but what I assumed reared up its ugly head: I can get on the NET with the PC and the hotspot, but it's slow. But T- Mobile has me on a waiting list for WiFi Internet.

It's too early to switch. Do I have any viable options? Can I get wifi internet seperately from another provider?

Victor Baird

Posted from Android



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/23 13:38 by wabash2800.

The answer is yes, but the bigger question is at what cost? It all depends upon where you are and how easy is access to other providers, such as cable or fiber service. At the very least there is satellite service, but again at what cost.

Use speedtest.net to on your phone to find the actual speed of the internet connection via your cell phone.  Then do the same on your PC, using the phone hotspot.  If the phone itself is noticeably faster than the hotspot to the PC, the issue is the hotspot connection.  Consider using USB instead of WiFi to connect the PC to the phone/hotspot.

Some carriers throttle speed to hotspot.  My Verizon unlimited data plan does not seem to.

One day I woke up early, and just for the heck of it, ran speedtest.net on my Android/Verizon phone.  105 Mbps!

Bob: they checked in my area zip code and don't have anything right now--thus the waiting list and no estimate as to when. I live in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with a metro population of about 300,000.

Victor Baird

Posted from Android

Sf1010, I will do what you suggested.

Victor Baird

Posted from Android

Speedtest says about 205 mps for the phone and .58 mbps (yes point 58) for the hotspot connection with the computer. I suppose I will find me a usb to C cable. According to Speednet,  the nearest transmitter is Indianapolis, Indiana which is about 100 miles as the crow flies. I have to wonder if T-Mobile is throttling it down, since I have unlimited use.


Victor Baird



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/23 15:21 by wabash2800.

wabash2800 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Speedtest says about 205 mps for the phone and .58
> mbps (yes point 58) for the hotspot connection
> with the computer. I suppose I will find me a usb
> to C cable. According to Speednet,  the nearest
> transmitter is Indianapolis, Indiana which is
> about 100 miles as the crow flies. I have to
> wonder if T-Mobile is throttling it down, since I
> have unlimited use.
>
>
> Victor Baird

205! Impressive!

The locations speedtest.net reports are not terribly useful.  Typically they are where the "ISP" (your cell carrier, in this case) hits the fiber backbone.  

I tried it with the usb tethering and it was about the same--no improvement. I suspect T-Mobile has throttled it because I have an unlimited data plan.

Victor Baird

wabash2800 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I tried it with the usb tethering and it was about
> the same--no improvement. I suspect T-Mobile has
> throttled it because I have an unlimited data
> plan.
>
> Victor Baird

That's the catch with unlimited data plan and why I like to avoid them.  When you have a data cap, they'll give you all the speed you want.

Thanks all for your input.  It was what I suspected all along:


Unlimited isn't really unlimited. I received this message from T-Mobile Today. See photo.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/23 10:18 by wabash2800.

---

Does not explain dial-up like performance for a hot spot.  That is still a mystery.

There's always Starlink!

You might wish to consider downloading and running the free software SG TCP Optimizer -- available at https://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php -- on your Windows PC to see if some of the TCP/IP parameters on your PC are substantially out of the appropriate range for your broadband connection to your Internet Service Provider.

I have used this software to test/adjust all of my computers when I have moved to another ISP.

Hakk

I know I am a bit late to the party here but I thought I would chime in anyway. I suspect this forum has more than a few members that would benefit from internet in out of the way places…

You might want to give the hotspots and service “Calyx Institute” a try.

I originally tried using one at a rural location in central Virginia. The hotspot frequently dropped the connection and was sluggish when working correctly.

After I had pretty much given up on them another family member got one of their hotspots and used it in northern Michigan. The hotspot there worked great!

After those experiences (for obvious reasons) I suggest getting the $150 quarterly plan and switching to the $400 annual one if it works as expected for you.

In the Michigan location I used it for my work which requires moving a lot of big (500 mbyte to 3 gbyte) files around and as far as I can tell the service seems to be truly unlimited. The 4g dedicated hotspot typically had faster connections than my 5g phone acting as a hotspot.

-Andrew L.

Posted from iPhone

A dedicated hotspot device has a WAY better antenna than a phone and will often perform much better than a phone hotspot use...though they are not usually unlimited but you can pick from various data packages. That said, my T-Mobile hotspot service works well.....on my phone and my device that I have but lately find redundant. 

engineerinvirginia Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A dedicated hotspot device has a WAY better
> antenna than a phone and will often perform much
> better than a phone hotspot

I have a Netgear hotspot for rural AT&T broadband service at my "get away" house. It has two external antenna ports, which I have connected to a LTE-specific, non-directional antenna on the roof of the house. While the hotspot will connect with just the built-in antenna, the LTE connection is much stronger and more relaible with the external antenna in play. I highly recommend an external antenna if you are in a spotty service area.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/23 04:39 by trainjunkie.