Cheapest options for home internet?

[FrugalSaver]

I’m trying to trim my budget there. I mainly have Netflix and some internet surfing. Notihing too substantial.

What providers do you use and what’s the cheapest we mustachians can pay to get connected per month?

[terran]

This is very location dependent, but one thing that might help is that the "low" 10Mbps speed is just fine for the type of use you describe despite what the ISP employees will tell you. They pushed hard saying that wouldn't be fast enough, but I've never had a problem.

[FrugalSaver]

This is very location dependent, but one thing that might help is that the "low" 10Mbps speed is just fine for the type of use you describe despite what the ISP employees will tell you. They pushed hard saying that wouldn't be fast enough, but I've never had a problem.

Thanks for the info. I wonder if I can get it under $20 a month and if so, how much?

[katsiki]

This is very location dependent, but one thing that might help is that the "low" 10Mbps speed is just fine for the type of use you describe despite what the ISP employees will tell you. They pushed hard saying that wouldn't be fast enough, but I've never had a problem.

+1.  We streamed just fine on 6Mbs as well.

[Just Joe]

I'll second the slower speeds. Works great unless the neighborhood speeds sag a little and one of our kids wants to do online gaming while we are watching TV.

Rarely a problem.

[Khaetra]

Depends on what's available in your area as far as ISP's go.  I only have two options and neither are cheap.

[ketchup]

This is very location dependent, but one thing that might help is that the "low" 10Mbps speed is just fine for the type of use you describe despite what the ISP employees will tell you. They pushed hard saying that wouldn't be fast enough, but I've never had a problem.

+1.  We streamed just fine on 6Mbs as well.

I stream fine (and in 720p HD somehow) on 6mbps.  It means the line is basically "tied up" though and nothing else can really happen at the same time, but we're only a household of two so it's not a big deal.

Granted, we have such crappy speeds because it's our only option, not to save money.  I'd love to pay a lot more for a lot faster.

[FrugalSaver]

How much are y’all paying a month?

Great info. Thx

[CheapScholar]

I pay $20 per month with Xfinity for 25mbps.  That’s the best deal in my area.  They tried telling me 25 wouldn’t be enough for all of our streaming (son plays video games and we stream a lot of tv) but it has never been an issue.

[Lulee]

Probably not applicable to your case but I live close enough to the library that I can, with a $30 purchase of a WiFi antenna, use the free guest account they have for all residents (I try to do any larger downloads for times when they're not open so as not to inconvenience other patrons).  I can sometimes stream YouTube videos, sometimes not.  If I were right next door, I could probably stream movies without hiccups any time of day.

I only mention that as we have very limited options in our town --- one cable company and one telephone company --- like others here have mentioned.  Neither is really cheap except for the occasional $20-25 introductory rates.  If my neighbor and I got along well like at my last apartment, I'd offer to share with them so we could get a faster cable connection that we could split the costs of.  Is that an option for you?

[BTDretire]

Probably not applicable to your case but I live close enough to the library that I can, with a $30 purchase of a WiFi antenna, use the free guest account they have for all residents (I try to do any larger downloads for times when they're not open so as not to inconvenience other patrons).  I can sometimes stream YouTube videos, sometimes not.  If I were right next door, I could probably stream movies without hiccups any time of day.

I only mention that as we have very limited options in our town --- one cable company and one telephone company --- like others here have mentioned.  Neither is really cheap except for the occasional $20-25 introductory rates.  If my neighbor and I got along well like at my last apartment, I'd offer to share with them so we could get a faster cable connection that we could split the costs of.  Is that an option for you?

I suggest you look for plans to build an antenna with a old dish antenna.  The record is 237 miles using big dishes, but you only need to the library.
Fun project, I've built 6 or 7 wifi antenna systems. you build the wifi antenna and then put that at the focal point of the dish.
Tons of how to articles.

[AlotToLearn]

Too many kids and devices in my neighborhood for the slowest option. Currently on a promo with my provider for 39.99 monthly
 

[albireo13]

I pay $89 for just internet, 150MBPS.  I think I am being hosed.
I asked about 50MBPS and the best they offered was $5 cheaper.

[Not Sure]

I pay $81/mo for 1.5mb/s in rural AZ.  I wish there was a better option.

[frugalcanuck]

Im in Ottawa, Canada and I managed to get internet down to $33.90/month after taxes.  I think its 25Mbs, but it could be 10Mbs.  Either way, its more than we need.

[Syonyk]

What providers do you use and what’s the cheapest we mustachians can pay to get connected per month?

Well, the cheapest you can pay is $0, and use the library for connectivity.

For most use cases, a 5-10Mbit connection is usable.  You're not going to be running multiple 4k streams on it, but... the streaming 4k stuff I've seen at friends places hasn't really impressed me.  Sure, it's "4k," but the quality isn't much of an improvement over a 1080p stream, or 720p.  You can overcompress and hash up any resolution you want, if you want to fit it in some low bandwidth pipe.  It'll still look like crap.

It's going to be hyper-location-dependent, which you offer no advice on.  So, I could tell you what I'm paying, but it would do you literally no good unless you're in my neck of the woods.

I think I've got the highest in this thread so far - $125/mo.  That's for two separate rural wireless connections that feed the property.  One is 15/3 (on paper, closer to 10/2 in practice), one is 5/1 (backup connection, actually makes rated bandwidth most of the time).  The slower one is used for bulk transfers (I sync things to/from my fileserver regularly, currently updating a local Ubuntu mirror), the faster one is for interactive content.  But most of our media isn't streaming - we host it locally on Plex, and pull content in from optical media.  Not a heavy TV household, by design.

However, I work from the property, and when one of the connections is down for an extended period of time, this causes a problem for me.  I can tolerate shorter outages without an issue, but one connection was down for a week when a node went down in abnormally cold weather, which very much causes issues.  So, the pair (running on independent backhauls - I verified this before getting the second one) works nicely enough, and is perfectly serviceable.  We just don't pull down massive amounts of media, and I keep a local storage server for things like repos/ISOs/etc, since it's way faster than pulling it from the internet each time I need something.

You can function in the modern world on 5Mbit or so without trouble.  Most places won't sell you that low cost of a connection, though, because the infrastructure is the bulk of the cost.

[katsiki]

I've been very happy with toast.net.  They are reselling ATT service at a much better price in my area.  They service a large chunk of the US.  They resell cable in some areas instead of ATT.

[soccerluvof4]

I've been very happy with toast.net.  They are reselling ATT service at a much better price in my area.  They service a large chunk of the US.  They resell cable in some areas instead of ATT.

I went to there website and I notice is DSL. What , if you dont mind sharing package did you go with. They have the 18 MPS for 49.99 and the 25 for 59.99. I can get it per there website in my state so for sure something I need to look into.

[ketchup]

How much are y’all paying a month?

Great info. Thx

$77/mo for our crappy 6mbps DSL, bundled with DirecTV (that I think we last watched in December) so that we don't get a bandwidth cap we'd otherwise be slapped with.

It's great. :D

[katsiki]

I've been very happy with toast.net.  They are reselling ATT service at a much better price in my area.  They service a large chunk of the US.  They resell cable in some areas instead of ATT.

I went to there website and I notice is DSL. What , if you dont mind sharing package did you go with. They have the 18 MPS for 49.99 and the 25 for 59.99. I can get it per there website in my state so for sure something I need to look into.

@soccerluvof4   I went with 25mbps for $59.99 (discounted to 54.99 for 12 months).  Looks like I am also saving $2/month by doing an annual payment upfront (did that after a few months to meet a CC spend).

Previously, I had a lower speed with them also.  Been very happy with the service for about 2 years.

[BTDretire]

I'm paying $45 for 60Mbps, they recently bumped it, I complained and they reduced it back to the $45 a month.
We have a competing cable system running through the subdivision, so it is pretty easy to say, I just got
X company's offer of $29.99 a month in the mail.

[soccerluvof4]

I'm paying $45 for 60Mbps, they recently bumped it, I complained and they reduced it back to the $45 a month.
We have a competing cable system running through the subdivision, so it is pretty easy to say, I just got
X company's offer of $29.99 a month in the mail.

I've been very happy with toast.net.  They are reselling ATT service at a much better price in my area.  They service a large chunk of the US.  They resell cable in some areas instead of ATT.

I went to there website and I notice is DSL. What , if you dont mind sharing package did you go with. They have the 18 MPS for 49.99 and the 25 for 59.99. I can get it per there website in my state so for sure something I need to look into.

@soccerluvof4   I went with 25mbps for $59.99 (discounted to 54.99 for 12 months).  Looks like I am also saving $2/month by doing an annual payment upfront (did that after a few months to meet a CC spend).

Previously, I had a lower speed with them also.  Been very happy with the service for about 2 years.

We usually are streaming on the main TV and the kids are using there devices on or off most of the time. Cell phones are always going. Which do you think would be best? and closest to high speed cable. We have I believe 100 whatever its called but when we had 50 it was fine. Made us go up on some con sale but all of these are less expensive than I am paying now

[katsiki]

@soccerluvof4   I would probably go with 25 in that case.  Cable is often oversold and not running at the advertised rate.  You might run some speed tests to see what you are really getting from your current vendor.

Also, you can upgrade easily with toast.  Just be sure you can go higher if needed/desired.  I am maxed out at 25 in my location but they go higher in more urban locales.

I promise I don't work for this company..  Sounds like a commercial but just a happy customer.

[Spicolli]

I believe I heard that once 5G comes out, it can replace home internet as you can use your cell phone as a hot spot for your home electronics...can anyone confirm that?

EDIT: I did find this...sounds promising!

https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/why-5g-internet-is-so-important-to-the-future-of-cord-cutting/

[BTDretire]

I believe I heard that once 5G comes out, it can replace home internet as you can use your cell phone as a hot spot for your home electronics...can anyone confirm that?

 I'm hoping that will be feasible, I'm in Panama City Fl. and we are supposed to get 5G.
I'll let you know, although after the recent, price increase, they made me agree to a one
year contract to get the same lower price. So It will be at least 11 months before I would switch.

 Edit: on my walk this evening I saw a building permit on a telephone pole, seemed a little strange, so I read it, it was for a cell tower.
There was a strange build on top of the pole and I assumed that was the cell service antenna. That was as far as I'd thought until this thread.
I went and looked for info on when we will get 5G, and in the news video, they showed the same build on top of a telephone pole that I saw on my walk. I have a tower 500 yards from my home. I don't know if that is close or far for 5G? But I know where it is. :-)

[soccerluvof4]

@soccerluvof4   I would probably go with 25 in that case.  Cable is often oversold and not running at the advertised rate.  You might run some speed tests to see what you are really getting from your current vendor.

Also, you can upgrade easily with toast.  Just be sure you can go higher if needed/desired.  I am maxed out at 25 in my location but they go higher in more urban locales.

I promise I don't work for this company..  Sounds like a commercial but just a happy customer.

Nope, I trust ya you have helped in the past with CC churning and other stuff so sounds good. Appreciate it. And so for the most part everything should work the same in the house like use of cell phones etc..oh and we use Roku? just making sure I fully understand and yes where I live they have higher options.

[ketchup]

I believe I heard that once 5G comes out, it can replace home internet as you can use your cell phone as a hot spot for your home electronics...can anyone confirm that?

EDIT: I did find this...sounds promising!

https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/why-5g-internet-is-so-important-to-the-future-of-cord-cutting/

Eh.  Maybe.  If enough people start using it as home internet, I see huge congestion issues flaring up at first.  Cell providers are smarter than me of course, so I'm sure they'll try to be ready.

Nothing will beat fiber to the home though.  I've had it before and I'd kill to have it again.

[katsiki]

Nope, I trust ya you have helped in the past with CC churning and other stuff so sounds good. Appreciate it. And so for the most part everything should work the same in the house like use of cell phones etc..oh and we use Roku? just making sure I fully understand and yes where I live they have higher options.

Yes, I wouldn't expect any issues.  As far as cell phones, I assume you are thinking of wifi for data when the cell phone is in the house.  Just make sure you have a wifi router.  Toast's device will include wifi capabilities (if ATT), if you don't have your own.

We have 3 roku's so no issues there.

[FrugalSaver]

I got an offer in the mail today from a provider for the following:

- $14.99 / month
- 30mps download
- no monthly caps
- no contract
- data streaming, etc

QUESTION - it says for an additional $5 / month i can have in home wifi.  Why would i need to pay them for that?  Is there not a way i could do that myself if i have a wifi router?

This seems like a pretty good deal even at $19.99/month

[ketchup]

I got an offer in the mail today from a provider for the following:

- $14.99 / month
- 30mps download
- no monthly caps
- no contract
- data streaming, etc

QUESTION - it says for an additional $5 / month i can have in home wifi.  Why would i need to pay them for that?  Is there not a way i could do that myself if i have a wifi router?

This seems like a pretty good deal even at $19.99/month

The $5/mo is probably a rental charge for their own shitty modem/router/WAP combo.  You can definitely do better and cheaper if you buy your own.

[CoffeeAndDonuts]

$50/mo, fiber at 300 up and down and it hits rated speed reliably.

Independent isp that does a great job. Glad to live in a place with 3, arguably 4, isp options. The 4th is a city wide wifi. I used that a decade ago and have friends that do still. It was a bit flakey but workable and about 15mbps at $20/mo.

Compared to what I had in new orleans, this is great.

[DaMa]

I'm lucky to be in a market with multiple carriers.  I have the lowest speed plans, 10-25mbps, for $20-30 per month.  I stream to one TV, use a laptop, and 2 cellphones -- frequently use 2 or 3 at one time.  I don't have any problems except an occasional brief buffering on the TV. 

I used to work from home once a week, and it was much slower than being wired into the work network.  I did a lot of data analytics and would download data to computer rather than try to do work over VPN, because it was too slow.  If I worked from home a lot, I would have needed more speed.

I'm writing, because many people think they need more speed than they really do. 
Also, Comcast and Wow tend to run the lowest new member rates between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

[Syonyk]

I'm writing, because many people think they need more speed than they really do. 

Seriously.

I occasionally make the mistakes of reading tech site commentary about internet speeds, and the vast majority of people think anything below 100Mbit is basically a modem, and 300-500Mbit is a "civilized" speed, with gigabit being Proper speeds.  The thought of 5-10Mbit down is literally horrifying to them.

Works fine for me, and I have no interest in living in the sort of places I can get gigabit internet.  We just don't do much in the way of video streaming or online gaming - which is a far healthier way to live life.

[jpdx]

$43/mo for 100 down, 50 up. The fast upload speed is a welcome feature with fiber internet.

Use your own modem/router instead of renting. This is almost always a better deal.

Fast, reliable internet is important to me since I often work from home.