Satellite versus Wireless Broadband Internet

[Bob E.]

I currently have WildBlue satellite internet through DishNetwork.  It has been ok and even more reliable than I was told it would be when I was asking around before I got it.  It isn't extremely fast, but way better than the dial-up I had before.

I've been thinking about switching to wireless broadband through AT&T.  I would get one of their "hotspot" devices that would be 4G capable, but only 3G is currently available at my house.  The plans are about the same cost, though I would get less data on the AT&T.  However, after monitoring my data useage on the satellite plan for the past 6 months, I don't think that will be a problem.  One of the best things about the wireless hotspot is the portability.  We could take it when we travel and go camping, etc.

My biggest concern is about speed.  I certainly don't want to downgrade as satellite is just barely acceptable.  Does anyone here have any experience with these things?  I couldn't find any download/upload speeds for the 3G or 4G.  They just say they are fast.  Does anyone know how they would compare to satellite?

[Squealy]

I have an AT&T hotspot (through my iPhone) as my internet access.  I was debating on switching to satellite internet access for home, but in my research I'm finding out that the 3G connection I currently get is comparable to the Satellite I could get.  So I've decided not to switch.

[Bob E.]

I have an AT&T hotspot (through my iPhone) as my internet access.  I was debating on switching to satellite internet access for home, but in my research I'm finding out that the 3G connection I currently get is comparable to the Satellite I could get.  So I've decided not to switch.

Do you happen to know the download/upload speeds for 3G/4G?  Also, why were you considering switching?  Speed?

[LandElephant]

I have both AT&T 4G hotspot and Verizon 3G hotspot to conduct business.  Clearly the 4G is faster and has been very dependable.  Considering the cost the Verison is cheaper but if you don't get that service then...  I pay $50 for 5 Gig with Verizon (3G) and $70 for 5 Gig with At&T (4G).

My AT &T 4G is much more dependable than the hotspot connection in my phone.  The portability is outstanding.  I use it when traveling all over the country.  As far as what the speed is can't really tell you but faster than a land line.

If you're going to buy the hotspot get the 4G or 4GLTE.  It will receive the 3G signal.  The other positive to the hotspot is that you can link 5 users at the same time which has been handy for me doing business and webenairs.

Also now that some places are starting to charge to WI-FI it has that benefit.

Charlie Morse
Land Elephant

[RainMaker]

I had Wildblue before and if it was cloudy near me or cloudy at their satellite farm, I didn't get service or it was slower than dialup.  4G has to be better than that.

[LadyDraco]

We have the Verizon MIFI .....
And let me tell you it is VERY hard to stay under the 5 gig for $50...
It costs $10 for each gig over... We have gone as high as 7 gigs for $70...
ANd that was only 7.001  
Their site to watch your usage .. Is very slow.. When you check your usage..
It can be off by .5 gig....

It gets very costly..
We like the speed but I do miss the $12.95 for dial-up....

[Bob E.]

We have the Verizon MIFI .....
And let me tell you it is VERY hard to stay under the 5 gig for $50...
It costs $10 for each gig over... We have gone as high as 7 gigs for $70...
ANd that was only 7.001  
Their site to watch your usage .. Is very slow.. When you check your usage..
It can be off by .5 gig....

It gets very costly..
We like the speed but I do miss the $12.95 for dial-up....

In the 6 months I've been watching our useage, we've not gone over 5 gig which is why I don't expect it to be a problem.  We have gone over that before...apparently as high as 8 gigs because we got throttled back last year for a month which sucked!  Actually, that's what started this whole idea.  Also, the unit I saw in a BestBuy ad supposedly had a useage meter directly on it.  Hopefully, that is true.

[Bob E.]

I have both AT&T 4G hotspot and Verizon 3G hotspot to conduct business.  Clearly the 4G is faster and has been very dependable.  Considering the cost the Verison is cheaper but if you don't get that service then...  I pay $50 for 5 Gig with Verizon (3G) and $70 for 5 Gig with At&T (4G).

My AT &T 4G is much more dependable than the hotspot connection in my phone.  The portability is outstanding.  I use it when traveling all over the country.  As far as what the speed is can't really tell you but faster than a land line.

If you're going to buy the hotspot get the 4G or 4GLTE.  It will receive the 3G signal.  The other positive to the hotspot is that you can link 5 users at the same time which has been handy for me doing business and webenairs.

Also now that some places are starting to charge to WI-FI it has that benefit.

Charlie Morse
Land Elephant

AT&T has a 4G plan with 5 gigs of useage for $49.99 per month and $10 per gig over that.  Plus I get a 23% discount (I think) through my job, so it would  be less.  I already have my phones thru them.  I would definitely have to get the unit that gets 3G because like I stated above, 4G isn't yet available at my house.  Thanks for the info.

By the way, do you know if I would be able to hook up a desktop PC to it?  We have 2 laptops and a desktop at home that we would be using. I already have a wireless router for the satellite internet.  Would I still need that?

[Warlock]

I currently have WildBlue satellite internet through DishNetwork.  It has been ok and even more reliable than I was told it would be when I was asking around before I got it.  It isn't extremely fast, but way better than the dial-up I had before.

I've been thinking about switching to wireless broadband through AT&T.  I would get one of their "hotspot" devices that would be 4G capable, but only 3G is currently available at my house.  The plans are about the same cost, though I would get less data on the AT&T.  However, after monitoring my data useage on the satellite plan for the past 6 months, I don't think that will be a problem.  One of the best things about the wireless hotspot is the portability.  We could take it when we travel and go camping, etc.

My biggest concern is about speed.  I certainly don't want to downgrade as satellite is just barely acceptable.  Does anyone here have any experience with these things?  I couldn't find any download/upload speeds for the 3G or 4G.  They just say they are fast.  Does anyone know how they would compare to satellite?

I've had both. I use to have wildblue and shut them down and now using the MiFi which I guess is like the Hotspot. I like it being I can carry it with me. Then only thing I hated about Wild Blue is it didn't take much for me to lose signal. With the MiFI I haven't lost signal. As far as speed it's about the same as the Wild Blue. It also has times when it's faster and times its slower. I'm hoping one day to have DSL here at the house. Both has ups and down with their service. I tend to like the MiFi better.JMA
David

[LandElephant]

You can use it with a PC only if it has a WI-FI connection.  I struggled for a number of months trying to get a PC hooked up to an Aircard.

You could ask if the PC can use the hotspot through the USB connector but, then it limits the device the one hooked up to the USB.

I'm not sure if you get a router where your Hotspot connects through the router and then you hard wire the PC's.

The magical hook-up is having the WI-FI capability.

Charlie Morse
Land Elephant

[Warlock]

You can use it with a PC only if it has a WI-FI connection.  I struggled for a number of months trying to get a PC hooked up to an Aircard.

You could ask if the PC can use the hotspot through the USB connector but, then it limits the device the one hooked up to the USB.

I'm not sure if you get a router where your Hotspot connects through the router and then you hard wire the PC's.

The magical hook-up is having the WI-FI capability.

Charlie Morse
Land Elephant

The MiFi can be hooked up thru the usb port if you don't have WI FI on your computer. The MiFi can support up to 5 wireless units. But if up hook up usb port the wireless feature is disabled.
David

[3fan4life]

I have the Verizion MiFi, I chose it over AT&T because Veriaion's coverage area  is better. My .plan is 3gb for $35 per month (not currently offered) even with the 3gb limit I rarely go over. I do need to limit watching Youtube.  Facebook wil also put you way over your limit very quickly (OK with me because I don't facebook).

It will work tethered to your computer via a USB port but it cannot be tethered and work as a wireless router.

As a router it will carry up to 5 devices, this allows the wife and me to both be online and I use it as the router for my wireless printer as well. 

I bought a netbook to use with the MiFi when I travel and this has worked out very well.

Overall I like the wireless and Verizion has been OK to deal with. I have AT&T for my cell service and the difference in customer service isn't much. Both of them have lots of room for improvement. Although I recently dealt with N Telos for a friend and after that experience I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole.

 

[Valkahuna]

I've never had Satellite service for Internet access, so I can't testify to that. I do have a Verizon MiFi that I use when I travel and it has bailed me out several times. Often even if the hotel advertises free WiFi, I find that I'm too far away, or their service is restrictive to what I can do. In those cases I use the MiFi through Verizon with good results. Even if cell service is not the greatest I still have relatively fast access to the internet. I would say that the speed is faster than DSL which I have used many times at relatives homes.

Since I use it sparingly, I can't draw comparisons to if I run over the allowed limit, but I can say that even on extended Vacation or business trips, I have not gone over the limit. I know, having it for business as a necessary cost of doing business, and having the business pay for it is different from what you are asking, but I find the MiFI Hot Spot works fine. I also can grant access to 5 people at the same time, and that has proven very helpful, like Land Elephant said, and it does not seem to slow things down.

Hey, works for me, but YRMV.

[Jeff K]

We dumped Wild blue because they refused to fix our service until I payed for a service call. When I called to drop them they were all about fixing it for free. 
We are rural, there are few options
We went with ATT
The five gig is a joke. It was impossible to stay in the 5 gigs and we NEVER streamed video or DLed ANYTHING. I don't know how they count usage but it isn't very accurate.

We switched to the $59 20 gig 3 G plan with Millenicom
http://www.millenicom.com/page/coverage
No contract

we can stream video and Skype but just barley.
None of the advice here is worth a crap if you can't get a decent signal with a carrier.
I put up an external antenna and hooked it to my modem on a wireless switch. it works well.
Now we stream, and DL files, update software, Skype and NEVER come close to our 20gig limit.
But we don't DL movies.

And oddly enough though we couldn't do anything with the 5 gig ATT gave us, we only use about 7 gigs now! And I have streamed entire football games and debates.
ATT LIES!

[LadyDraco]

Funny we have just 2 PC's on the MiFi... We don't watch videos...
Or Movies... And we can't keep it under 5 gigs...
We shut the thing down and unplug it at night...
In the 8 months we stayed  at 5 gigs 2 times 

Heck we don't even own a cell phone...
 

[Red Diamond]

I've been with verizon for a while now, using the $50.00 monthly 5 connection hotspot. Always good connections and no trouble staying below 5g's usage. The signon screen tells you how much you have used on each sign-in. I use the PC a lot and now have a BlackBerry Playbook, all works well.

[Lyn-Del]

I've got both WildBlue and Verizon .... the first difference is in how they bill -- Satellite is calculated based on the previous 30 days, wireless on a monthly basis. 

I have 5 gig available on each, giving me 10 gig.  My Verizon bills from the 10th to the 9th, so on the 8th I start downloading stuff I've bought, audio books, etc.  I know how much I have and how long I have to use it.  And if I should go over the limit, they bill me for it.

On WildBlue, I went over the first month (downloading books), and was shut down to extremely limited access until my usage reached 80% of allowable.   It took a couple of weeks, as I recall, or maybe it just seemed like forever.  There is NO option to pay extra.  Once the restriction period was over, however, I could have upgraded to the next level - faster with more bandwidth.

Surprisingly, during a major thunderstorm today, I've been onllne with the WildBlue most of the day.  Other times, no signal on a much less cloudy day.

Every few weeks, my Verizon drops the signal every five or six minutes and I have to go in and completely reactivate the system. 

I have the WildBlue because the Verizon can't reach the part of the house where my main computer is.  It does have no problem reaching the bedroom where my NetBook is.  And I carry the NetBook when I travel.

I've been talking to Verizon about their new system, which sounds like it should give me the best features of both. 

But I really do regret not being able to watch YouTube, etc.  Wild Blue told me flat out that the system is not intended for watching videos, downloading materials or playing games. 

[Jess Tolbirt]

reading the comments about wild blue i am surprised they havent upgraded you guys to the new wild blue,, they claim faster than cable at like 20/mbps down load and 25 gigs a month allotment,,

i am closing on my house monday, and will have to go wild blue or Hughes net,,havent decided yet..

[Lyn-Del]

And a lot more expensive, I'm sure.

[sheets]

Had been on dial-up for 15 years. Just got wired for satellite internet a few months ago through DISH. $55 per month for 10 gb per month.  Speed @ 12mbs  down -- 3 mbs up.  Took a while to finally see the usage meter. Only using about 2 gb per month. No movies, youtube or facebook -- just web surfing/shopping and email. Connectivity and downloading -- there is NO comparison to the old dial-up days. Yrmv,   

[Bob E.]

I picked up the AT&T wireless broadband unit last night.  I have 30 days to try it out before the contract is committed.  So we'll see how the useage and speed works out before I cancel the satellite.  If not, I can return it with a restocking fee and just pay for the data I used.

[Bob E.]

Well, this was a failed experiment.  It turns out that the AT&T Elevate 4GLTE isn't compatible with Windows Vista, which is what is on my wife's laptop.  My laptop with Windows 7 worked great.  I even got a good 4G signal and it was much faster than the satellite.  But my goal was to replace the satellite and use this wifi for the whole house.  And unless I upgrade my wife's laptop...and perhaps the older desktop that the kids use...this little unit just won't work. So back to the store it goes.  The good news is that they agreed to not charge me the $35 restocking fee since their salesman never indicated that there was a problem with Vista.

[Jess Tolbirt]

vista is not a problem, simply upgrade to XP

[LadyDraco]

I have posted this up once before..

Check your speed

This is why I'm not so Impressed with MiFi...
OK it is faster then Dial-up..But a F- ...




PS... HB has Vista ..I have XP ...

[3fan4life]

The Verizon MiFi is compatible with Windows Vista.

I don't know about their 4g devices.

Of course now you "know" to ask.