G+_William Burlingame Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 My wife and I may be visiting for about a week where the home has no internet service and only OTA TV. What might be a reasonable way to get broadband internet service for the week that I'll be there. The home is in Sun City, AZ. My cell phone service is Project Fi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Dominick Valentic Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Depending what you're using the Internet for (or how much you want to spend on data), you could just do tethering with your phone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_William Burlingame Posted January 22, 2016 Author Share Posted January 22, 2016 If I tethered and watched movies on Netflix, it would be very expensive at $10/GB. My normal usage at home is less that .2 GB/Mo. That's why Project Fi was so inviting for my normal use, but now I need something at a reasonable price for only a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Taylor Graham Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Having comcast or something come in for a week would be a huge hassle though. You'd definitely have to pay for the entire month, do all of the setup, etc. Plus if the place already has cable service, and its not in your name, its probably going to be difficult to set up internet there. Might be easier just to pay the $100 phone bill or whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Marsh Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Surely a neighbor would be willing to let you use their guestnet. Otherwise, get a cheap prepaid phone, buy 1 month of unlimited, and wifi tether to that. Just make sure the phone and the service allow hotspot/tethering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_John B Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6182204?hl=en Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Dominick Valentic Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Could do a little experiment and try streaming something through your cell connection and see how much data it uses up, do some quick math and see how much you're likely to use and then have to pay for... Might just be simpler and more cost effective than anything else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Do any of the carriers have a plan to let you try a phone for a week? I thought T-mobile did a while back trying to get people to switch... Could be an option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Steve Martin Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 You are right, Fi would get very expensive if you are talking about Netflix movies. A typical hidef movie would be on the order of 4-8GB. $80 to watch a single movie on Netflix would be a bad idea. How about downloading some movies to a laptop before you leave? Or take along some of those DVD's gathering dust :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_William Burlingame Posted January 23, 2016 Author Share Posted January 23, 2016 I am a Comcast customer and my visit will be in an area serviced by Cox. I did notice on the Comcast map that there is a WiFi hotspot about 500 feet from the house where I'll be visiting. Since Comcast doesn't sell cable service there, that would exclude the hotspot being provided by a residence. I've been trying to find out about the range of those hotspots. No luck yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Steve Martin Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Standard WiFi range is 105 feet. Even if they boost it you probably wouldn't see it at 500 feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Yeah, 500 ft WiFi without a directional antenna is pretty near impossible. You MIGHT be able to use a directional antenna at the residence and get service, but probably not worth the effort. Downloading movies, Red Box, or asking the friendly neighbors will probably be your best bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Marsh Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Wayne Hobbins says "I got 99 problems, but some bits ain't 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Lmgtfy ? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Problems Was way over my head, but I like Jason's version better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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