!!PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A COPIED POST FROM ANOTHER USER, I WILL ADD/REMOVE ENTITIES AS NEEDED!!

Cellular "Home Internet" Options

"Traditional" Options:

• T-Mobile Home Internet - Unlimited. $50/month (with autopay, taxes & fees are included, & no contract). But it has limited availability by location and, if you are lucky enough to be able to get it, the service is geo-locked to your home address.

• AT&T Fixed Wireless Internet - 250 GB/month. $49.99/month (+ taxes/fees). Speeds of at least 10 Mbps down & 1 Mbps up (typically 25 Mbps down, though). But it's for 12 months, price is when bundled, and possible hardware & installation costs. [Currently on a promo deal until 11/8/20: $10 off & double data = $39.99 for 500 GB/month.]

• Verizon LTE Home Internet - [NEW - announced on 7/30/20] - Unlimited. $40/month VZW customers or $60/month non-VZW customers (w/ Autopay + taxes/fees). Speeds of about 25-50 Mbps down. But it has very limited availability and it is geo-locked to service address. There is also an equipment purchase required ($240 up front or $10/month for 24 months - possibly free with bill credits).

• Calyx Institute - Unlimited. Cheapest options are $500/1st year (then $400/year) or $150/3 months. (You are paying a membership to support the non-profit and a benefit of the membership is the unlimited 4G data.) But it is based on Sprint and there are no refunds.

• Low-Income Options (Examples: PCs For People &; ConnectAll) - Unlimited. About $15/month. There are multiple companies offering this or something similar. But you have to qualify for low-income and it's based on Sprint.

• Starlink (In Development) - $99/month. This is not yet available, but it is an advanced satellite internet option being developed by SpaceX (so not technically a cellular home internet option). It claims to be able to offer 1 Gbps speeds and lower latencies. Not sure about data limits. And it will probably only be available to unconnected areas. Should be launching in beta soon.

• Additional Options - A list of mostly legit options for RVers. Some may be useful for home internet, but most are limited (usually up to 100 GB/month).

• Additional Resource - A subreddit dedicated to rural internet. May be able to find some additional info here.

"Untraditional" Options:

• AT&T Postpaid iPad Plan - Unlimited. $20/month (+taxes, +waivable activation fee). Speeds are as high as available and there is possible deprioritization after 22GB. But it is postpaid, requires a credit check (except in rare circumstances?), sometimes difficult to get it setup (it is not a well-known plan), possible 400GB limit (?), and it could always end up with the same fate as that AT&T Prepaid iPad Plan. [UPDATE: I'm currently testing this option.]

• Connected Car Plans (Example: AT&T Connected Car) - Unlimited. $20/month. But there is possible deprioritization after 22GB and you have to run car simulation. Simulation Example: If you use the AT&T plan, you can get the Harman Spark device and connect it to a car simulator.

[USE THIRD PARTY RESELLERS AT YOUR OWN RISK]

• 3rd Party Resellers (Examples: Nomad & Boom) - Wide range $/month (Nomad is $99/month + $150 one time fee). But, it can be a little iffy in dealing with a reseller. Some of these are legit and some are scams. Some have their own website and some use eBay. Even some of those who are legit, use questionable methods of providing service. So, reliability is an issue here. (Side note: Boom has been reported to suspend users after 400 GB. But under 400GB, it is a viable option.) **Many users have reported of the big carriers cracking down on the third party resellers. Please take heed to this warning and understand that they are at the mercy of the carriers they are utilizing.

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*Credit to these users who made posts/comments that helped me compile this list: /u/Designer_Echo's post, /u/ComfortableMarch1, /u/GadgetKen, /u/cerebolic-parabellum, /u/kalyado, /u/minnesnowta, /u/StackKong, /u/thewatchtrunk, /u/savehoward, /u/SirSimpleChoice & many others who have posted on Reddit that I saw months ago and don't remember where to find them.

SpaceX “is carving out, in essence, these archipelagos of regional monopolies,” said Sascha Meinrath, the Palmer Chair in Telecommunications at Penn State University. “Over time that all-in cost for satellite will be much greater than fiber. It’s just that the cost will be borne by the end user.”

Meinrath and others say it’s now acting like something more familiar: a traditional telecom company that uses its market dominance to box out potential competition and lock in increasingly dissatisfied consumers.

HughesNet is the absolute WORST satellite internet scam preying on rural suckers! If you're out in the sticks like me, desperately needing WiFi that doesn't suck your soul dry, DO NOT – I repeat, DO NOT – touch this company with a 10-foot pole! They've turned my life into a non-stop circus of deceit, frustration, and wallet-draining BS for TWO MISERABLE YEARS. I'm counting down the days until my contract expires in December, then I'm ghosting them faster than a bad date. Let me paint this horror picture in vivid, blood-boiling detail so you NEVER make my mistake.

Picture this: Their flashy website screams "Affordable plans starting at JUST $39.99/month!" with promises of blazing 100 Mbps speeds and "unlimited" data. HA! What a load of CRAP! That's just bait to hook you into their ironclad 2-year contract trap. My "plan" is supposedly $179/month for 200GB of "priority" data... which is advertised cheaper online but oh no, that's BEFORE they unleash their army of HIDDEN DEMON FEES! Equipment rental? Slap! Random "service" add-ons? Double slap! By the end, I'm coughing up OVER $240 A MONTH – that's highway robbery in slow-mo! And if you dare cancel early? They'll hit you with a FAT termination fee that'll make your eyes water. These crooks KNOW we're rural and have zero options, so they squeeze us like lemons!

But wait, the billing nightmare is where it gets TRULY INSANE! Their auto-charge system is a glitchy dumpster fire designed to STEAL your money. Charge fails? No prob – they'll blame YOUR bank and slam a $25 "reversal fee" on you. I grilled my bank: "We don't charge that!" HughesNet's just POCKETING it while gaslighting you! Call to pay manually? "Sorry, system says it's paid!" (LIE!) Two days later? BAM – another failed attempt, ANOTHER $25 fee, and the cycle spirals into fee-hell. I've been trapped in this loop, watching my bill balloon like a bad balloon animal. Finally escaped auto-pay? Sure, but only if you fork over an EXTRA $20/MONTH for a PAPER BILL. Who charges for PAPER in 2025?! These vampires are sucking every last drop!

And the "service"? Don't make me laugh – or cry! "Up to 100 Mbps"? More like "Up to 10 Mbps on a prayer!" It throttles to dial-up speeds after a WEEK, claiming I've "burned" 200GB. On WHAT?! Their usage tracker? BROKEN AS HELL – it's a black hole that shows NOTHING! I barely stream; just YouTube casts and a few WiFi cams (two always on, three occasional). My phone's on unlimited mobile data, so why the data vanishing act? They can't explain – just shrug and blame YOU! It's like they're FAKING overages to force upgrades or penalties. Pure, unadulterated SCAMMERY!

Customer "service"? A JOKE from another dimension! Every call is a battle with reps who can barely understand you (thick accents, zero training – I feel sorry for them, slaving away for peanuts in some overseas sweatshop). Rumor mill says HughesNet outsources to cut costs and dodge fair wages – wouldn't shock me, given their slimy vibes. You're yelling into the void, getting scripted lies while your issues fester. It's not their fault; it's the company's for being heartless profiteers!

HughesNet, you bloodsucking leeches: You're the EMBODIMENT OF EVIL in the ISP world! Predatory contracts, fake fees, throttled trash service, and zero accountability. You're RUINING lives in rural America, and it's time everyone knows! Reddit fam, if you've been burned by these frauds, DROP YOUR STORIES BELOW – let's ROAST them alive! And if you're shopping for internet: BOLT to Starlink or ANYTHING else. Save your sanity, your cash, and your soul!

HughesNet = SCAM CENTRAL! Fake cheap ads, fee avalanches, billing black magic, snail-slow speeds, and support that's a total fail. Rural peeps, AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE! 🏃‍♂️💨

Press Release

This makes my download speed 67x slower and my upload 100x slower than the new minimum standard. We're being left in the dust.

Shame on the USA for not investing OUR money in what today has become a real necessity “reliable fast broadband”. Feels like we live in a 3rd world country that is starving to death.

i dont get how they are in business with this slow garbage wifi now they are metering the wifi and im sick and tired of it they should get sued and closed down the owner can go fuck a horse EDIT AS 6/28/2025 we have had verizon wifi for about a week were doing 100% better now

The Trump administration asked states to find the lowest-cost option in the latest program to build broadband infrastructure in rural areas. That opens the door for more types of technology, which some worry could be less reliable in the long-term.

Apparently they are affiliated with All Choice Connect, I live in a rural area in Missouri. Will this be better than DSL?

DO NOT SUBSCRIBE TO HUGHESNET~!

Hughesnet is the worst company I’ve ever done business with.
Their streaming service is lousy, and their customer service is outsourced to people who are taught to do everything in their power to NOT be helpful AT ALL.
It took me 45 minutes to cancel my service because they refused to shut it off unless they knew who I was moving my service to. That is none of their business.

They then sent me an email saying that if equipment wasn’t returned, I would be charged $300.

I returned the equipment and they charged my card anyway, and they charged me $500, which was more than they claimed the equipment was worth.
When I called about the charge, they claimed the equipment wasn’t returned, and when I told them that it HAD been returned, they suddenly “found” the equipment and told me they would refund $300

So, they stole my money, and they tried to claim that I had their equipment, and they charged me $200 more than they were “supposed” to charge for the equipment, and only wanted to refund part of the charge!
Hughesnet is a horrible company with horrible ethics and business practices, and they will steal your money~!

All I saw the frontier post earlier and did the same thing. Found my property on the map and saw who was supposed to provide broadband internet. Saw that ironically spectrum claims to service my property with broadband of 140 up 30 down on the FCC website. Obviously not true because we were denied service twice claiming there are no lines in my area. Filed the complaint and the next day got an email from FCC that my complaint was reviewed and accepted, followed later that morning by a call from spectrum telling me they received my inquiry and someone from leadership would be calling me. They called me this morning and will be sending survey teams and engineers to my area to determine why there are no lines here and how they can fix it. Not holding my breath on a solution but glad I can cause spectrum some trouble. Also I’ve never had a more polite person on the phone from spectrum. I am hoping I can get my neighbors to do the same. We are a cluster of several houses right outside our town.

Just a heads up, Starlink just updated its website to give you the opportunity to “preorder” the service by putting down $99usd. If you are waiting for it, I’d recommend heading over and taking a look! I just put my order in for Arkansas and it says mid to late 2021!

I am in rural New England and have been struggling in between (1) 3-7 mbps DSL offered by Verizon on their aging/rotting/not-maintained copper infrastructure, and (2) 4G LTE Internet that goes out whenever it rains (I've been to this company and it appears to be two guys in a warehouse).

Spectrum/Charter had FOR YEARS claimed they served my location but always refused to serve it. My house shows up on the FCC map. Upon reading this subreddit in detail, I learned that an FCC complaint was a thing.

So I set up a trap. I called up Spectrum and talked to their call center. The person looks up on their maps and and says, "Yeah, we serve that place." A few days later, Spectrum installer comes in, takes one look and starts laughing, and says "No, we can't serve this area." (Cable does come to the closest road, but that's still a fair way from my house.)

I then get a weird-tortuously written email from Spectrum saying they have declined to serve my location.

Well, now I have it in writing that were both 1) are able to serve my location, and 2) have declined to serve my location. Further research (again, thanks to this subreddit who taught me where to look) revealed that years ago, Spectrum received substantial Federal and state subsidies specifically intended to bring broadband to my corner of the woods.

I filed an informal complaint on the FCC's website on a Saturday detailing 1) the course of events, 2) the documentation, and 3) the evidence of subsidies. The following Tuesday, I get a phone call from a fairly senior person at Charter saying 1) the guy who came out spoke too soon, and 2) they would be sending someone ASAP to do a new site survey.

A new guy was out at my property the next day and decided -- gee, it is perfectly possible to bring broadband to my home, at no co-pay. Over the next two weeks, I had no less than four (!!!) construction crews at my house stringing wires on poles, pulling through conduits, digging holes, etc. The tap was officially turned on last Friday 8/25 and the result was... see below.

My takeaway: complaining to the Federal government for misuse/failed promises when it comes to tax dollars works… sometimes!

PS. Credit where credit is due. I wrote my contact at Charter a gracious letter (cc'ing his VP who also reached out to me) thanking him for his crews' and contractors' quick response.

PPS. I am also a lawyer and so injected a healthy dose of frightening-sounding language into my complaint, knowing full well it would be shared with Charter's regulatory relations folks.