Rural Internet

[tractorshopper]

Very interesting indeed. I might have to try this if you don't get throttled at all. I'm in the same situation as you. I get good speed with the AT&T, but not what I could get with the Verizon for the same reasons as you. My signal with AT&T is usually just 2 bars on the Mofi with occasional 3, but more often than 3 is just 1. I ran speed tests on my previous Verizon without the antenna set up and could get in the 30's routinely, but only for 2 days or less each month before the shared family phones and home internet burned the monthly data, then would drop to 1 down from then to the rest of the month.

 

[ning]

We've used 70GB since I switched to Verizon so I believe this really is UNLIMITED unlimited. I have noticed that carrier aggregation never gets assigned with Verizon but, I'm still running at 23Mbps or higher whenever I run a speed test so I don't really need it, it's faster without it than AT&T was with it.

I have an "unlimited" plan for our phones; my understanding is that a line won't be throttled at all till it uses 22GB, and then it will only be throttled if the cell it's on gets congested.

 

[STx]

The 22GB limit is usually AT&T and they're a lot more lenient about prioritizing you when you go over than Verizon is. On our Verizon phone plan, we have unlimited data for the phones, never gets prioritized but, if we use the phone as a hotspot, it gets prioritized when you go over 15GB of hotspot data and they are very consistent about implementing it there. The plan I'm using in the Mofi is a prepaid data only plan with no language I could find about prioritization and, so far, we haven't seen any.

 

[ning]

The 22GB limit is usually AT&T and they're a lot more lenient about prioritizing you when you go over than Verizon is. On our Verizon phone plan, we have unlimited data for the phones, never gets prioritized but, if we use the phone as a hotspot, it gets prioritized when you go over 15GB of hotspot data and they are very consistent about implementing it there. The plan I'm using in the Mofi is a prepaid data only plan with no language I could find about prioritization and, so far, we haven't seen any.

I looked into depth into the Verizon "unlimited" plan before I switched from our previous plan.

Yes, it's unlimited, beyond 22GB.
However, it may get throttled after 22GB. You'll still have "free" data (you don't get charged beyond 22GB - yes that's unlimited) but it may not be at the speed you expect.

For me, it's the only choice; AT&T et al are 2G/3G at my house, and VZW is a steady 4G 2-3 bars. Beggars can't be choosers...

 

[STx]

We're at 265GB so far this month, still haven't been throttled. I think I'm going to stick with the Verizon plan.

 

[DKCDKC]

After reading this thread I tried Verizon Unlimited with a Mofi router and get super speeds... 10 to 30 times my old DSL. At 40 g and no throttling. I'm dropping the DSL. I'm a mile from the highway and it required routine visits from Verizon maintenance on the various grounds, etc. on just my underground cable in... Not counting the half mile from the end of my drive to a DSL distribution terminus. They may up the rates when they see a lot of folks like me using their unlimited plan - but it's great for now. And at less cost than DSL plus the required ground line phone. Thanks for those who posted a lot of this information.

 

[shooterdon]

I have 1 bar of signal. I just added a KKBSTR booster and get 2-3 bars. Verizon service.

To get Netflix I assume I need a buy a Mofi. Install a SIM card for Version. Is that correct?

 

[DKCDKC]

That's what I did. Just went to the local Verizon wireless store, waited in line, asked for the prepaid unlimited plan. Told them I had a Mofi router and brought it in so they could copy the number off of it. They programmed a sim card and gave it to me with the $70 monthly prepay fee. I went home, set it up in a few minutes and found super speed - much more than the limited bars I usually got on the cell phone. When I switched the prepaid to autopay it dropped to $65. When I added some existing cellphones to the prepaid plan, it dropped to $60 - well under the $74 a month I had to pay for the DSL and a useless landline. BTW, the Mofi router is easy to use and offers a lot of help with setup. You can really vary speeds by how you orient the modem, and you can set up all kinds of features internally to get a stronger signal. Mine is set now to tap whichever of the two local Verizon towers gives the best signal, but you can use trial and error to test specific towers and assign it to just one for stability I guess if you wish. I might mess with that more in years to come - but right now I'm enjoying having 30 to 50 Mbs speeds after the 1.0 with the DSL. I do notice that at peak times - evening, for example - the speed drops to 20 to 30 at times. But it is still fast enough for most things - like streaming and Netflix.