Alternate Forms of Wi-Fi

Image by Tejas Porecha from Pixabay

I’ve written about this before, but it has come up again recently, so here goes.

I’m not a fan of Windstream. I’m not a fan of Elon Musk either, however, I probably wouldn’t care for a great many CEO’s of the companies I buy from. So I am a big fan of Starlink, and Amazon, for that matter. Starlink is relatively expensive. While it has been completely trouble free for the last year and a half, price matters, so it’s not for everyone.

I’ve written about hotspots before. I know some folks out by the lake that use ATT hotspots. And a person just down the road from me recently got a T-Mobile hotspot she is VERY happy with. The one I didn’t have any real knowledge of someone using was the Verizon hotspot, and now, I know someone on Hwy 84 that got one for their rental casita.

Generally, the speed you can get from a hotspot is very good. I’ve heard ranges from 40mbs to 200mbs. Streaming is certainly able to be done using them, and even multiple devices streaming, so the bandwidth is there. I was told that T-Mobile went through a bad period for quite a while earlier this year, while they were working on the tower over by the rural events buildings. That seems over with, it's back up and faster than before.

The only issue that you might have is data caps. Like some services, you buy your hotspot with a data limit. After you reach that limit, the service is throttled down so speeds decline. You will then have the option to buy some more data or wait out the period until your next billing cycle.
As a bit of background, these cell service Wi-Fi hotspots work by using the cell towers in our area. The cell tower is the communications hub for the Wi-Fi hotspot device. The hotspot device then broadcasts a Wi-Fi signal that your device (phone, tablet, computer, etc.) can use. Your Wi-Fi device talks with the hotspot, which translates the data to a cell signal the tower uses, and the tower routes that data to wherever it needs to go.

It’s similar to the DSL coming from Windstream into your house via the phone lines, or the Cox signal, over the coax line, or the satellite signal from Starlink. They're just different delivery systems of the same data, eventually being changed into something your device can talk with.
Ultimately, the available signal at your house can determine the brand of hotspot. I have a verizon phone, but not a Verizon signal at my house, so I use Wi-Fi calling at home. Since the building of the T-Mobile tower though, I have line of sight to that so I could get a T-Mobile hotspot and dump Starlink. It would probably be a money saver, but like I said, I’ve had zero issues with Starlink.

If you are not happy with Windstream, then you might check out a hotspot from one of the Big 3 phone providers. ATT works out by the lake, but not much most places around here. Verizon is good in our area, but not at my house. T-Mobile is newer, 5G, and may be a good choice, if you get their signal.
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Another thing to consider. Back in the day, we briefly had a Sprint hotspot. We could drive around in the car with it and get a WiFi signal via the Sprint network. I would guess that if you can power your hotspot, you could take it with you. Just a thought. And remember, for short term, you can likely use your phone or tablet as a Wi-Fi hotspot. If it has a cell card in it, then the option to set up a hotspot on the device is likely in the Settings App.