Home hot spot ?

[hempomatic]

I have very good 4G LTE service in my home, and cable TV and internet is getting more expensive. My phone service has the option for unlimited data. Is there a home hot-spot/router that would work for internet and streaming 1080p ? The ones I've found are portable battery powered units and I'd prefer something a bit more home related.

I know I can use my phone as a hot spot, but streaming to two TVs at opposite ends of the house is erratic and there is buffering and the resolution drops way down.

 

[ferrarr]

You should start with your provider, they usually knows what works best with their service.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

You don't say what cellular provider you have, but you can search for devices like this Netgear Broadband Router and connect it to a regular WiFi router to share the connection across all your devices. While this device is meant as a backup, it can be used as a primary device in your case.

 

[hempomatic]

My mobile provider is Metro PCS which is T-Mobile. They only offer (as far as I can find) portable battery powered units. The Netgear unit looks ideal, but apparently T-Mobile caps data at 22 gig. It appears that my definition of unlimited data and there definition are not the same. That's a problem. I wish I was able to track my actual monthly data use from my internet provider. I have no idea how much data I actually use. Hmmmmmmm.

 

[ferrarr]

Video, and Live TV will use more data, I assume? I am also assuming you want to replace your home internet/tv provider?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

T-Mobile provides "Unlimited" data, but it is essentially high-speed up to a limit and then you are throttled until the next month. I will say that cellular connection should NOT be your primary Internet connection, if you wish to save money, you can try to cut out the TV portion from your plan and drop your Internet to the lowest tier to save money.

 

[hempomatic]

T-Mobile provides "Unlimited" data, but it is essentially high-speed up to a limit and then you are throttled until the next month. I will say that cellular connection should NOT be your primary Internet connection, if you wish to save money, you can try to cut out the TV portion from your plan and drop your Internet to the lowest tier to save money.

I haven't watched any network television for years other than local news and football. Sometimes I can't believe I'm paying $70 a month for that. My phone is also more reliable than my internet/TV provider, and has better data throughput. As far as the lowest tier, I don't think it goes any lower than 5 meg. When I do a speed test, it rarely gets much over 3, sometimes 4 meg, marginally faster than DSL. The downside of living in paradise I suppose. They've been talking about bringing high speed internet to the mountains here, we'll see what happens.