Anyone Use Broadband 3G/4G for Home Internet Connection?

coalnewbie · Post by **coalnewbie** » Sun. Dec. 26, 2010 7:12 pm

You would be surprised where relay towers are hidden:

Try your new zip with

http://www.tvfool.com/

Then go to Heartland America (yep they are still in business) and look at their HDTV ariel deal.

Well ...........

009to090 · Post by **009to090** » Sun. Dec. 26, 2010 7:58 pm

Yanche wrote:You need to find out what cellar companies have coverage for your new property. Ask locally of the cell phone providers. Get their coverage maps. Then borrow a high end cell phone for those carriers and use the phone as an instrument to measure the signal strength. My cell carrier is Verizon and on my cell phone is two sets of signal strength bars. 1X and 3G. 3G is the data network. Other carrier companies will have similar names and their high end phones will also have signal strength indicators.
. American Tower is the largest. They have a cell tower locator:

http://www.americantower.com/sitelocator/default.aspx

Good website. Theres one tower about 20 miles from the property, and a new tower going up about 10 miles from the house. Not sure of the range of 3G/4G xmiters, but thats gotta be near their limit. I may new an optional antenna on the roof.

009to090 · Post by **009to090** » Sun. Dec. 26, 2010 8:00 pm

coalnewbie wrote:You would be surprised where relay towers are hidden:
Try your new zip with
http://www.tvfool.com/
Then go to Heartland America (yep they are still in business) and look at their HDTV ariel deal.

Good info, theres 3 or 4 strong digital TV channels, and another 10 weaker channels that I can get with a roof-mounted antenna.
Thanks!

titleist1 · Post by **titleist1** » Sun. Dec. 26, 2010 9:21 pm

With 22 acres, you should see if any companies would be interested in putting up a tower on your property. You get the signal you need and also the monthly rent!

009to090 · Post by **009to090** » Sun. Dec. 26, 2010 9:29 pm

titleist1 wrote:With 22 acres, you should see if any companies would be interested in putting up a tower on your property. You get the signal you need and also the monthly rent!

Yeah, already thought of that

The problem is the number of percieved or actual customers within range of the new tower site. Low population in the area, and they may not want a new tower there. I'll Definitely ask, though.

titleist1 · Post by **titleist1** » Sun. Dec. 26, 2010 9:35 pm

We live in a rural area, very low population, and within the last two months a local farmer had a verizon tower on his property come on line. We can now use our cell phones at home dependably for the first time!!!! I would estimate there are less than 750 people within two miles of his farm. Its mostly state forest out here so the local cell phone usage can't be paying for it. They may have some other stuff on there that is paying the rent, I haven't been up the dirt road where it is located to take a look at it yet.

Yanche · Post by **Yanche** » Sun. Dec. 26, 2010 9:44 pm

titleist1 wrote:We live in a rural area, very low population, and within the last two months a local farmer had a verizon tower on his property come on line. We can now use our cell phones at home dependably for the first time!!!! I would estimate there are less than 750 people within two miles of his farm. Its mostly state forest out here so the local cell phone usage can't be paying for it. They may have some other stuff on there that is paying the rent, I haven't been up the dirt road where it is located to take a look at it yet.

Unlikely it's a Verizon owned tower. Most towers in MD, especially those in rural areas, are owned by American Tower. Check and see if it's American Tower's database using the link I posted above.

009to090 · Post by **009to090** » Sun. Dec. 26, 2010 9:45 pm

titleist1 wrote:We live in a rural area, very low population, and within the last two months a local farmer had a verizon tower on his property come on line. We can now use our cell phones at home dependably for the first time!!!! I would estimate there are less than 750 people within two miles of his farm. Its mostly state forest out here so the local cell phone usage can't be paying for it. They may have some other stuff on there that is paying the rent, I haven't been up the dirt road where it is located to take a look at it yet.

Ahhh, good news! Did they install the tower that tries to look like a big pine tree? They are gettin better at camouflaging them.

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Sun. Dec. 26, 2010 9:50 pm

Except in MA -- they tried ... but a "tree" that's 100 feet taller than the surrounding forests, with "fake-Christmastree-like" appendages hanging out, sticks out like a sore thumb. I'll have to grab a pic the next time I'm out that way (which isn't very often). It's the funniest thing I have ever seen!! I expect nothing less than a half-assed job in this state ...

titleist1 · Post by **titleist1** » Sun. Dec. 26, 2010 11:09 pm

Yanche wrote:
titleist1 wrote:We live in a rural area, very low population, and within the last two months a local farmer had a verizon tower on his property come on line. We can now use our cell phones at home dependably for the first time!!!! I would estimate there are less than 750 people within two miles of his farm. Its mostly state forest out here so the local cell phone usage can't be paying for it. They may have some other stuff on there that is paying the rent, I haven't been up the dirt road where it is located to take a look at it yet.
Unlikely it's a Verizon owned tower. Most towers in MD, especially those in rural areas, are owned by American Tower. Check and see if it's American Tower's database using the link I posted above.

It didn't show up on their website. Maybe because its so new it hasn't made it on there yet.

coalnewbie · Post by **coalnewbie** » Mon. Dec. 27, 2010 3:37 am

So 14 channels with a $40 ariel for free is not a bad deal is it? I have hundreds of channels with nothing to watch and you will have only 14 - we are about equal. Now spend the extra cash on Netflix if you wish to get fancy or spend the time talking to the wife - nah, not one of my better ideas.

009to090 · Post by **009to090** » Mon. Dec. 27, 2010 7:54 am

coalnewbie wrote:So 14 channels with a $40 ariel for free is not a bad deal is it? I have hundreds of channels with nothing to watch and you will have only 14 - we are about equal. Now spend the extra cash on Netflix if you wish to get fancy or spend the time talking to the wife - nah, not one of my better ideas.

Its not TV we are concerned with. Its internet connection. We can do without TV. We have no interest in Netflix.

coalnewbie · Post by **coalnewbie** » Mon. Dec. 27, 2010 12:33 pm

I am staying in N Florida for a while in a remote location and have signed up for MIFI 2200 from Virgin. Internet speed is decent and you can connect 5 devices at once. Again check the Virgin site for your location (it is really Sprint) as this makes a big difference to connection speed - it will work well for me but there are plenty of holes in the coverage. The unlimited package is $60 a month with no contract but there are cheaper options. LOL.

009to090 · Post by **009to090** » Wed. May. 11, 2011 3:25 pm

We just purchased a Verizon MiFi 4G-LTE. Tiny ittle thing, but it connects us to the internet thru cellular connection. Completely wireless, it can get internet connections for up to 5 PC's at once. About the size of a cell phone, but no DialPad or Keyboard. Just turn it on, your pc finds it as a router, then your connected.
If we take it in the car, my wife uses it to email on her PC as I am driving down the road.
Amazing technology....