We live in rural Tyler area. Optimum is at road 500 ft away and want 8k "buildout" to connect us. Starlink says they will be here in late 23. I have had Hughescnet and it is terrible. T mobile doesn't cover us. Viasat will come, but I know little about them. My wife does an hour half zoom meeting once a week, their spokesperson says no problem- but been down that road. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with them.
We both have unlimited AT&T and Verizon plans and get internet on phones- but with one bar. We tried booster which got us to three bars, but couldn't pull the zoom meeting, plus the booster, with cords made a mess in new house.
Thanks for info!!

I've used Viasat in hotels on Navy bases. It sucks on that scale.

I'm using Starlink Marine on Texas A&M's ship. Holy *****

Wait for Starlink.

Can you see any radio towers from your roof? If so, you may be able to get a fixed wireless company. I used Rise in College Station and liked them. I don't know if they cover Tyler.

Here's a list of some that may provide in your area. https://bestneighborhood.org/fixed-wireless-internet-tyler-tx/

T-Mobile might say that they don't cover you, but you can normally go into the store and get them to give you one for a trial.

I have also used hotspots hacked to look like an old cell phone I had (IMEI change) to get an unlimited hotspot on a cell plan. Had it on the roof with 4 big antennas. It worked well for years. This is the best resource I had, but it has been years since I've needed it. https://www.facebook.com/groups/imeimagic

ViaSat uses a satellite in geosynchronous orbit 22,236 miles away, so it is not good for low latency internet needs (phone, zoom meetings, gaming, etc.). It will not work well for your wife.

Thank you very much!! I won't become a dissatisfied viasat customer!

Do you know the people 500 ft away where the cable ends?
If so, you might be able to pay their cable bill or split it for a few months and add a WiFi antennas at their house and your house and transmit the signal to you.

Need clear line of site and a willing neighbor obviously.

aggiez03 said:

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Do you know the people 500 ft away where the cable ends?
If so, you might be able to pay their cable bill or split it for a few months and add a WiFi antennas at their house and your house and transmit the signal to you.



Need clear line of site and a willing neighbor obviously.

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Hmm .,Don't think so. Neighbor had it, and took it out years ago. The cable is on my fence.

Verizon has a 5G home internet. Might check them but based on the one bar comment, doesn't sound very promising.

Not necessarily. I had one to no bars in the house, but with directional antennas, I was able to get a booster to full bars, and a hotspot to 90+Mbps. It does take some know how and some trial an error. A lot of people throw out an omnidirectional antenna or don't correctly point a directional one when they put in a booster.

This site isn't 100% accurate, but it is a good start to finding and keying in where your best signal will come from.
https://www.cellmapper.net/map

Get a Starlink Roam plan

Owlagdad said:

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We live in rural Tyler area. Optimum is at road 500 ft away and want 8k "buildout" to connect us. Starlink says they will be here in late 23. I have had Hughescnet and it is terrible. T mobile doesn't cover us. Viasat will come, but I know little about them. My wife does an hour half zoom meeting once a week, their spokesperson says no problem- but been down that road. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with them.
We both have unlimited AT&T and Verizon plans and get internet on phones- but with one bar. We tried booster which got us to three bars, but couldn't pull the zoom meeting, plus the booster, with cords made a mess in new house.
Thanks for info!!

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I'd personally pay the $8k depending on the speeds they're willing to offer. I think your resale value will benefit from that.

As mentioned, you can get SL Roam today, but Elon seems to be changing the plans monthly. If you require internet for work, I'd suggest getting a backup cell modem for SL. If your only bandwidth needs are a 30 minute zoom call once a week, SL will be fine

Owlagdad said:

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Hmm .,Don't think so. Neighbor had it, and took it out years ago. The cable is on my fence.

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So how much to have it put in a "utility shed" you drop by the fence?

I'm guessing if it has cable, it has power.

Then a fiber optic run to your house/WiFi bridge?

I wonder if a small solar system might be easier - don't think a router draws that much power, if it's not running WiFi.

StarLink is the way to go. You won't regret it. Zoom calls in one room while someone else is streaming in another and someone else is playing high end games, all at the same time, no hiccups.

Bradley.Kohr.II said:

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Owlagdad said:

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Hmm .,Don't think so. Neighbor had it, and took it out years ago. The cable is on my fence.

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So how much to have it put in a "utility shed" you drop by the fence?

I'm guessing if it has cable, it has power.

Then a fiber optic run to your house/WiFi bridge?

I wonder if a small solar system might be easier - don't think a router draws that much power, if it's not running WiFi.

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I was thinking a small shed as well. I just don't know if a cable company would hook up to something other than a house or business.

Solar panel with battery, inverter, 300 Watt UPS, with point to point CPE at each end to make wireless bridge and you are up and running in a day or two. If he has 120 vac at the fence, even easier.

Fiber would be way expensive and much more work than wireless bridge..