Author Topic: Uniquely disconnected (connectivity suggestions please)  (Read 859 times)

Aardvark

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Uniquely disconnected (connectivity suggestions please)
« on: July 12, 2022, 08:45:56 AM »
Current state:
phone-I have a 2016 Iphone SE with a broken screen, broken home button and charging port that is giving up on me.
phone network-I'm also running RedPocket mobile which worked well for a few months but has been infuriatingly buggy over past 6 weeks.
home wifi-I just moved into a new apartment and have not yet arranged Wifi. I don't need anything fancy, just something good enough for my wife and I to have zoom calls at the same time (we also watch about 5 Netflix movies a year, haha).

If possible it would be great to land a package that solves all three of these problems in one shot and gives me great rates for using one provider.
I am based in Boulder Colorado.

Any thoughts/advice on how best to solve any one of these problems OR on how to take a many-birds-one-stone approach would be great!

Thanks in andvance!

yachi

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Re: Uniquely disconnected (connectivity suggestions please)
« Reply #1 on: July 12, 2022, 11:16:54 AM »
Options for home internet are sometimes *very* geographically limited.  In my neighborhood for example, the options are cable internet from the local TV company, or dsl from the local phone company, and cable is the only option for a fast enough connection to be able to do two simultaneous zoom calls.  Other areas have the option of fiber internet or cable internet, both of which are fast enough for what you're looking to do.

If your only fast option is Xfinity home internet service (cable internet), you can add a cell phone service to the plan for a good price, and get a new phone with them too.

You'll want to buy your own equipment too: cable modem and wifi router in the case of Xfinity.  This saves you on monthly equipment rental costs.  The payback is something like 2 years, and you can get better equipment than Xfinity rents out.  When you call around, ask for "home internet service" not wifi, because the service to your house is what you want, and your wifi router will provide the wifi.  You don't want to be quoted prices with their equipment rental included.

lutorm

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Re: Uniquely disconnected (connectivity suggestions please)
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2022, 11:57:12 PM »
Boulder doesn't sound that disconnected. If you were way out in the boonies, I'd recommend Starlink.

Aardvark

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Re: Uniquely disconnected (connectivity suggestions please)
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2022, 06:57:59 AM »
Haha, yeah - Boulder is not disconnected, but I am. When last were you in search of home internet, a new phone and a phone plan all at once?!

Thanks @yachi I think I found a pretty good deal at XFinity. Wild home internet (600mbps uncapped), an unlimited phone plan, and a new iphone SE all for $75 per month.

This feels like an un-mustachian deal simply because it's like the macbook pro version of home internet and phone plan. Both the home internet and the phone plan are WAY beyond what I need. But if I scale down to 50mbps and a ultra crappy 1Gb phone plan from redPocket Mobile, and then buy a refurbished old iPhone it seems that I will only save a very few number of dollars each month.

Also this has cost me too much time already and I want to move forward, even if it costs me a little bit more money because I didn't whittle the plan down to the ultimate mustachian level.

Still open to thoughts, but probably gonna go for the xfinity plan later today.

yachi

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Re: Uniquely disconnected (connectivity suggestions please)
« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2022, 03:12:10 PM »
Haha, yeah - Boulder is not disconnected, but I am. When last were you in search of home internet, a new phone and a phone plan all at once?!

Thanks @yachi I think I found a pretty good deal at XFinity. Wild home internet (600mbps uncapped), an unlimited phone plan, and a new iphone SE all for $75 per month.

This feels like an un-mustachian deal simply because it's like the macbook pro version of home internet and phone plan. Both the home internet and the phone plan are WAY beyond what I need. But if I scale down to 50mbps and a ultra crappy 1Gb phone plan from redPocket Mobile, and then buy a refurbished old iPhone it seems that I will only save a very few number of dollars each month.

Also this has cost me too much time already and I want to move forward, even if it costs me a little bit more money because I didn't whittle the plan down to the ultimate mustachian level.

Still open to thoughts, but probably gonna go for the xfinity plan later today.
I think that's a good deal.  There's a project in my county to bring county-owned fiber optic.  So far there's one main trunk and it hasn't spread to any communities yet.  I'm hoping that brings some good competition.
I pay $60 for just the internet part, and then about $37 for cell service for two phones through Ting, and I still have to buy the phones outright.  Our internet service is I think 60 mbps.  Not the slowest they offer because we had problems with it, but a tier or two up from that.