Seems like a viable option for some, looks faster than cable ISPs.

'...available for 30 million homes in the US and offers some compelling features like average speeds around 100Mbps, no data caps, hardware rentals, or contracts from $60/month.'

[9to5mac.com]

With SpaceX now at about half of the launches it needs for StarLink, we are now seeing glimpses of the first real competition to the cable internet monopoly. Nice.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2021 12:47PM by sekker.

One needs to submit their cellphone number 'to determine their eligibility'.

So this may be a new customers only deal, and that free 250MB a month is a non-starter.

Maybe.

So this T-Mobile plan is just an ISP/home internet and not a data plan for a phone as well?

This is great for rural areas, maybe not even available for city folk?

I wonder what the chances are of losing both cell and ISP services in the event of some extreme emergency that send people to their phones and/or computers.

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And hope is a lousy defense.

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I’ve got it. It was kinda buggy at first (certain pages would not load (?)), but better now. The best download speed I’ve ever gotten is around 30 mbs, and it’s usually lower than that - currently around 10 mbs per Speedtest.net.

But that’s honestly fast enough for me, and I’m only paying $50/mo all in (“for life”, I think) instead of the $90 I was paying XFinity for 30 mbs plus a phone line.

We have really @#$%& options for internet in Minneapolis/St Paul, at least in our area.

I wonder what the chances are of losing both cell and ISP services in the event of some extreme emergency that send people to their phones and/or computers.

This is what I wonder about, too. I assume that you have some redundancy if your ISP and cell phone provider aren’t from the same company. This is a factor to consider when you think about how utterly dependent we have become on internet connectivity.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2021 02:04PM by Ammo.

I can't imagine using 5g as our only internet. We've got Verizon 5g with a repeater (or whatever it's called) literally one house away, and we still get spotty data (sometimes nothing). If that's the best you can get, I guess it's an option, but...

Quote
kj
I can't imagine using 5g as our only internet. We've got Verizon 5g with a repeater (or whatever it's called) literally one house away, and we still get spotty data (sometimes nothing). If that's the best you can get, I guess it's an option, but...

I've had to live with only 4g/LTE for awhile last year, was usable for Zoom video calls even though I was at about 5Mbps using my iPhone for a hotspot.

I am sure 10Mbps with low latency would also be fine for a 2 professional household.

"$60/month"

Plus the FCC Random Tax of $5.99/mo
And the Spanish American War Repayment Tax of $3.99
And the Because We Can Tax of $5.99
And the "If we say it's from the government, they won't question it" tax of $4.49.
And the "Let's see how stupid the customers really are" assessment of $9.99.

So, yeah, totally "$60/mo"... which will cost you $90.45 when you actually pay the bill.

Say what you will about the cost of Starlink... They told me it was $99/mo, and I pay $99/mo, unlike the cable company that I dumped.
"Big Cable" can eat the peanuts out of my $#!^...

---

Paul F.
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A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
----
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Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
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--

--
Eureka, CA

TMobile has been good about no hidden fees in the past. Have they changed their business practice?

Quote
Paul F.
"$60/month"

Plus the FCC Random Tax of $5.99/mo
And the Spanish American War Repayment Tax of $3.99
And the Because We Can Tax of $5.99
And the "If we say it's from the government, they won't question it" tax of $4.49.
And the "Let's see how stupid the customers really are" assessment of $9.99.

So, yeah, totally "$60/mo"... which will cost you $90.45 when you actually pay the bill.

Say what you will about the cost of Starlink... They told me it was $99/mo, and I pay $99/mo, unlike the cable company that I dumped.
"Big Cable" can eat the peanuts out of my $#!^...

This is absolutely true for AT&T.

Quote
RAMd®d
One needs to submit their cellphone number 'to determine their eligibility'.

So this may be a new customers only deal, and that free 250MB a month is a non-starter.

Maybe.

I'm guessing this requirement may have to do with determining whether a user's home is close enough to a 5G tower to achieve the throughput being advertised.

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It is what it is.

Quote
sekker
TMobile has been good about no hidden fees in the past. Have they changed their business practice?

For me (so far!) it’s $50/mo. That’s it. All in. No fees.

Like pdq stated, the price includes all taxes and fees so the $60 price is the price. The price was $50/month during the initial rollout, but has now been increased to $60. I tried it late last year but didn't have great service.

I am hopeful to get coverage from Starlink some time this year.

Gilbert

Quote
Paul F.
"$60/month"

Plus the FCC Random Tax of $5.99/mo
And the Spanish American War Repayment Tax of $3.99
And the Because We Can Tax of $5.99
And the "If we say it's from the government, they won't question it" tax of $4.49.
And the "Let's see how stupid the customers really are" assessment of $9.99.

So, yeah, totally "$60/mo"... which will cost you $90.45 when you actually pay the bill.

Say what you will about the cost of Starlink... They told me it was $99/mo, and I pay $99/mo, unlike the cable company that I dumped.
"Big Cable" can eat the peanuts out of my $#!^...

As I’ve previously reported here I’m getting over 300 down with 18 ping. $50 period for us early adapters. You do not have to have T-Mobile phone service although I do.

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Asheville, NC Area

Quote
MartyStickle
As I’ve previously reported here I’m getting over 300 down with 18 ping. $50 period for us early adapters. You do not have to have T-Mobile phone service although I do.

That's impressive.

my $40/month FiOS 200 down/200 up, 8 ms AND $40/month Comcast 200 down/5 up.9 ms have competition?

Quote
space-time
my $40/month FiOS 200 down/200 up, 8 ms AND $40/month Comcast 200 down/5 up.9 ms have competition?

You have $40/month Comcast because there's competition.

In my area, they've carved up exclusive zones where each provider has it's own monopoly. Comcr@p charges over $80/month for 25Mbps/3Mbps here.

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I know, I was trying to sarcastic... I lived just a town away and I was paying 2x as much since there was no FiOS.

Quote
sekker

Quote
kj
I can't imagine using 5g as our only internet. We've got Verizon 5g with a repeater (or whatever it's called) literally one house away, and we still get spotty data (sometimes nothing). If that's the best you can get, I guess it's an option, but...

I've had to live with only 4g/LTE for awhile last year, was usable for Zoom video calls even though I was at about 5Mbps using my iPhone for a hotspot.

I am sure 10Mbps with low latency would also be fine for a 2 professional household.

I'm not so sure about 10Mbps being enough, but I am sure the reliability is not even close. I'm connected to a virtual machine all day, taking calls, etc, and I can't get disconnected. My wife teaches classes on zoom, and disconnections are scary to say the least. Maybe some places have cell service reliable enough, but definitely not here. In fact, we have to go ethernet in the house, as wifi is noticeably less reliable.

Quote
kj

Quote
sekker

Quote
kj
I can't imagine using 5g as our only internet. We've got Verizon 5g with a repeater (or whatever it's called) literally one house away, and we still get spotty data (sometimes nothing). If that's the best you can get, I guess it's an option, but...

I've had to live with only 4g/LTE for awhile last year, was usable for Zoom video calls even though I was at about 5Mbps using my iPhone for a hotspot.

I am sure 10Mbps with low latency would also be fine for a 2 professional household.

I'm not so sure about 10Mbps being enough, but I am sure the reliability is not even close. I'm connected to a virtual machine all day, taking calls, etc, and I can't get disconnected. My wife teaches classes on zoom, and disconnections are scary to say the least. Maybe some places have cell service reliable enough, but definitely not here. In fact, we have to go ethernet in the house, as wifi is noticeably less reliable.

10Mbps is not enough unless all you do is send emails and browse the web. You need AT LEAST 25 Mbps for a Zoom session to be reliable.

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If you do not need VPN, I can assure you a reliable 10 (as measured) is more than fast enough for good zoom. I had to test the edge of this last year. Great? No. But more than usable for a zoom classroom with breakout rooms.

I found my 5 Mbps from ATT wireless more reliable than my charter cable internet then.

As for inter-house connectivity, wired all the way if you want a quality internet. I like our google mesh wifi for home IoT etc, but I’ll take our wired Ethernet first for work.