Forum Discussion
There's a reason why it's called HOME Internet
As I write this I'm sitting in a local library with a download speed of 8 Mbps, no doubt the backend carrier is CenturyLink. This is the second day that I haven't been able to work from home now, because T-Mobile thinks it's ok to upgrade the tower in the middle of the work week. I called tech support, and it's pretty clear they give absolutely 0f about business users, because when I explained to them that my job and my partner's job are dependent on having business critical reliability for Internet service, the best they could do is say "We promise not to do this again. I guarantee that it won't happen again. Oh, and we would like to credit your account $10." Well, $10 didn't even buy two coffees at the local coffee house, along with their crappy WiFi. I'm sure T-Mobile's rationale is the country bumpkins don't need Internet because they don't read anyway. But I can assure you that having moved from the big city, and we're both in the fintech industry, that any loss of connectivity comes at a major cost. T-Mobile wouldn't dare doing planned tower maintenance in the middle of a Manhattan work day. Or would they…?
I can relate to living in a rural area and dealing with only one "best" option with DSL. I paid for two bonded DSL lines to get more bandwidth but it only helped some. The router the vendor provided and the switching equipment they used were clearly not the greatest. When we moved, again we moved into a rural area. I would not readily give up my mountain views. Yes, only a couple of options which were over priced and provided poor service. I found out about the T-Mobile BETA program and jumped onboard. No contract, fees, and no data cap for $50/month. I had nothing to lose. After all said and done we receive over 10X the bandwidth we had with the prior ISP for $30 less per month and NO contract. The cellular solution has been unstable a couple of times when the tower was being worked on. Yes, it was frustrating but after the T-Mobile tower monkeys were done service improved and became stable. Cellular home internet is NOT for everyone. It is a bit more demanding to get setup and optimized than a simple cable connection. A neighbor down the road wanted to have a hard line due to his funcionar so he invested heavy with a local ISP to get them to extend the cable up the road to his home. I don't know how expensive it was but it was important to him for his empresas so he did what he felt was necessary.
BTY, Century Link, and Hughes Net or possibly Star Link were the ONLY options other than T-Mobile here in this area. I picked the clear winner.
Because assumed "wise" people who would ask such a question would know there are no usable options for rural broadband Internet, like a 10Mb DSL connection from CenturyLink. Satellite is just as unreliable or worse,, including Starlink.
Sorrento wrote:
I'm sure T-Mobile's rationale is the country bumpkins don't need Internet because they don't read anyway. But I can assure you that having moved from the big city, and we're both in the fintech industry, that any loss of connectivity comes at a major cost.
Really puzzled as to why assumed “smart” people that need stable internet for business purposes, would choose a home internet ISP based on unproven newer technology (cell) over an established proven technology (cable).
Cost should not be a factor, when your livelihood depends on it.
