Internet in Texas

[Bullshop Junior]

I'm looking at trying to set up Internet at our house for Amanda's schooling. We have been using the mobile hotspot on her phone since we moved here and it is just crazy. We are averaging 100 a month in overage fees on at&ts 20 gig plan. That's the most they will let us have on the phones.

So what do you guys use for internet, how do you like it, and how much was setup cost and monthly bill? I would really like to get my phone bill back to the 110 it's supposed to be instead of the 280-320 it has been.

[HeavyMetal]

Verizon has me at $59.00 for a phone / DSL line here in LA one land line no cell service ( boss supplies that) Hate wireless they think it's worth way more than it is!

Any wireless connection is gonna cost you and big! suggest the land line deal and reduce cell usage to minimum levels of use.

Please be aware I have yet to deal with any of the phone companies that didn't lie cheat and steal: I have had to harrass Verizon about 6 or 7 times because I always come "unbundled" some how????

Last call was in May to fight a 310 phone bill after our discussion they owed me 325! Still ridin free until next month, LOL!

Seriously do some searching don't sign a contract and be prepared to fight with them at least once a year because they will forget you got some deal they offered you, and keep your paper work as proof in writing!

[buckwheatpaul]

We are using Hughes Net for our internet and email issues....works pretty good and will be much cheaper than the overage charge applied by those cell phone companies....good luck!

[montana_charlie]

I'm looking at trying to set up Internet at our house for Amanda's schooling. We have been using the mobile hotspot on her phone since we moved here and it is just crazy. We are averaging 100 a month in overage fees on at&ts 20 gig plan.
Maybe it's time you slowed Amanda down a bit ...

Is there nobody 'in Texas' you can ask about the services there?

[lbaize3]

AT&T high speed DSL. Works fine for me.

[texassako]

Who is the landline carrier in the area? You might be able to bundle with your cell bill if it is at&t. We used them for years but changed to suddenlink when they ran their cable in the area. Cheaper, faster, but has more outages.

[Freightman]

I use cable it is Suddenlink fast reliable and not too expensive under $60

[osteodoc08]

Find a local free hotspot.

[tryNto]

use the internet and search for "local internet service providers" in your area.

[Bullshop Junior]

Find a local free hotspot.

Cost her more in gas to drive back and forth the 20 miles to town.

[btroj]

Jr, the easiest way to get an idea of what is available is to contact the local phone and cable companies. They can give an idea of DSL and cable modem costs. Both should be cheaper than what you are paying now and much faster.

[DLCTEX]

Unless you have fiber optic lines near your home DSL will not be satisfactory. I am 12 miles from town and the only satisfactory option here is Wild Blue, Dish internet, or Hughesnet. I have Wild Blue and it costs $52 a month with all charges included, but if she is having to do a lot of downloading you will need to go to higher bandwidth at $72 mo. shop for the best deal on installation.

[Blue Ghost]

My brother & sister in law live down in Gonzales. They finally got high speed internet through GVEC. You might give them a call.

[MaryB]

Looks like this is the local telephone company http://gvtc.com/residential they have internet but DSL is going to be slow unless you are lucky and near an office.


Cost her more in gas to drive back and forth the 20 miles to town.

[attrapereves]

You should have a local telecom and local cable company unless you live out in the sticks. In that case, your only options will be dial-up, Hughesnet, or some cell provider (like Clear).

I'd opt for the cable over anything else.

[lylejb]

Looks like this is the local telephone company http://gvtc.com/residential they have internet but DSL is going to be slow unless you are lucky and near an office.

Looks like Mary found a good option for you.

Also, check out this site. With your address, it can show you what's available at your house.

http://www.allconnect.com/lp-texas/gonzales-connect-utilities.html

As far as DSL being slow, not always.

Yes, it's slower than cable, but it's WAY faster than cell phone internet.

I'm on "10 meg" DSL, I actually get about 8.5 megs using the speed test sites. I run it through a Netgear router, and run 2 desktops and a laptop without any problems

Both kids can be watching you-tube videos and I can be on castboolits all at the same time without issue.

That's good enough for me. It's $74 / mo for phone + internet, inc. tax

Maybe that's too slow for someone else, but I would look into the 12 meg offering.

[Mooseman]

The place we Bought in a small town in Oklahoma only 2 options available..dial up with ATT or a wireless modem from a local phone company limited at 54MBPS in speed and about 70% reliable from what i hear. Apparently ATT ran fiber optic thru the town but never put in a hub for the residents as not cost effective. Its Hard for me to believe as here in Remote Alaska we have High speed DSL via phone lines to hubs/fiber cable with unlimited use that I cant get back in Civilization...

[MaryB]

Local phone company got a grant to run fiber all over town about 10 years ago. So I have fiber in the alley. But they never upgraded the local office to use it or provided the equipment for houses so it sits there unused. Your tax dollars at work

[9w1911]

I use Charter for cable internet and I use a Roku3 to watch tv. I dont pay for cable tv anymore too expensive but me and the Mrs cant live without our internet

[longranger]

Little,lovely and away from everything Buffalo WY,Charter cable 30 mps 5G + phone line $39.00.Bought my own router(Linksys,avoid rental fee) hate Netgear stuff constantly disconnecting and having to reset.I have my phone,fax,Apple Mac Book Pro,Apple TV(access to my iTunes) and Roku.Blaze,MLB,Amazon my "subscriptions",Smithsonian is a great free channel,love almost zero commercials.If I can't get it off the internet,I don't need it. Life is very good.

[500MAG]

For a quick fix, check into a new service provider for your cell phone. We use Sprint and we have a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. When I go up there I just use the hotspot on my phone. We have unlimited data on our phones at less than $100 a month.

[WILCO]

I'm looking at trying to set up Internet at our house for Amanda's schooling.

Take a look at Time Warner Cable in Texas.
Should be able to get internet only with WiFi .
Also, the public library should have computer access with WiFi too.
Most fast food outfits like McDonalds offer WiFi for free to customers.
There's also a WiFi Antenna: http://www.maxiaids.com/products/12094/Long-Distance-WiFi-Antenna.html?utm_source=Froogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=Froogle&idAff=15225&gclid=CMv0-9j62L8CFQYtaQodFmgATw

Good luck and keep us posted.

[shooterbob]

If your outside the city limits your likely only option will be sattelite service like Hughes net. Who is you cable sattelite provider? If you have direct tv or dish they can add it to your service. It is less than 100 per month. Around 50 or so.

[TXGunNut]

I feel your pain, Daniel. I had to upgrade my data service to use my phone for a wireless connection. I'd suggest doing the big downloads/uploads on free wi-fi when available. Didn't say where she was going to school, if it's a brick and mortar school they'll have free wi-fi on campus. Cable and fiber optic networks are growing so maybe it will be there soon. They ran cable past my house the other day so I may look into tying into that. If you're downloading movies or hanging out on you-tube that eats up data as well.

[multigunner76]

We have Rural Broadband here in Louisiana. Its a 900 mega hertz antenna. Totally independant from cell towers or dish systems. No downloads caps and never loose signal in storms and such. Costs around 70bucks a months for a 1meg plan