Tether vs ISP?

[Overcomer]

I'm considering adding tethering to one of my lines on VZW. I would have to upgrade that line to (probably) a Droid device. This would be for my mom...thus my question(s). She is in a rural area and is wanting to get Internet here soon. The only option outside of dial up is something like Wild Blue service(through satellite tv). I have read and the reviews are not that great.

So my question is this...if you had to choose between tethering or something like Wild Blue what would you do? I have never tethered before, and I could deal with the occasional technical issue, but my mom could not and would be ringing my phone to do this. So I guess my other question is how reliable is tethering? Her data useage would be really low...just email and lite surfing, so I think the 2Gb amount would be sufficient in addition to the 30/month data fee.

Thanks for the help in advance!

 

[RW-1]

First, unless your sat TV internet had a provision for a typical wi fi router that the Droid could connect to, it's already out of the picture.

Any tethering you do either USB or thu wi fi tether would be slower than a "typical" DSL/Cable wi fi connection. But there are a lot of variables to this, each case is different.

So my gut would say just get the tethering for her, She tethers USB, and doesn't go over the limit, done!

What I would also say is to try it out first for speed comparison, if you're rooted you could tether already for her and see how well it does...

 

[dezymond]

I've never heard of Wild Blue, but i'm sure it's much faster than tetherting. However, we all have different uses for the internet that exceed beyond basic browsing and email.

For your mom I think tethering would be the better option. No need to pay more for faster internet and extra hardware that probably costs 3x as much as a tethering plan. However, considering it's 2gb cap a month that could be easily be exceeded....

You could just get her a Droid and then use easytether, that's what i do whenever i have an "emergency" and need to get online without turning the router on in the other room.

 

[Overcomer]

First, unless your sat TV internet had a provision for a typical wi fi router that the Droid could connect to, it's already out of the picture.

Any tethering you do either USB or thu wi fi tether would be slower than a "typical" DSL/Cable wi fi connection. But there are a lot of variables to this, each case is different.

So my gut would say just get the tethering for her, She tethers USB, and doesn't go over the limit, done!

What I would also say is to try it out first for speed comparison, if you're rooted you could tether already for her and see how well it does...

Concerning the sat tv internet....if she goes that route then there is no droid so that is not a problem.

I am rooted..so I guess me doing a little test would be a good option. I am going to get her a laptop in a few weeks (internet or not) so she could see how it does with all of the gear and then go from there.

I don't think data will be an issue, but we all know how that goes...

From the other post, Wild Blue is similar to Hughes Net but a little cheaper.

Thanks...

 

[Uprangewilly]

If I was her I would use tethering. I also live in a rural area and it works great for me. When I do a speed test it gets around 1 Mb download and around .4 Mb upload. She could use either PDAnet or Easytether to avoid paying the $20/month Verzon would charge. With PDAnet and Easytether you just pay a one time fee to buy the APP. Now these two APPs are for tethering with the USB cable, not WIFI. And 2Gb is plenty of bandwith for her, I play Xbox while tethering and I dont use more than 2GB/month. But that wouldnt matter if she uses PDAnet or Easytether since Verizon claims the data plan is "unlimited".

 

[FunN4Lo]

Of course different services in different areas will be "different". I just got back from a mountain vacation. The cabin had satellite TV (worked great) and the owner advertised free wifi. It had wifi, but it was using a satellite ISP. It has been a long time since I was on dial up... but I had dial up flashbacks. It was Slooooooooooooow. I was thankful for Droid and Verizon with PDANet. Much faster in this instance

 

[EbE404]

To play the devil's advocate to the others here:

1. What are the odds she will go over the data cap?
2. How is 3G reception where she is?
3. Is she technically savvy enough to repeatedly set this up and/or troubleshoot it if it goes wrong?
4. If the answer to number 3 is "no", are you willing to be on call to fix it?

 

[Overcomer]

To play the devil's advocate to the others here:

1. What are the odds she will go over the data cap?
2. How is 3G reception where she is?
3. Is she technically savvy enough to repeatedly set this up and/or troubleshoot it if it goes wrong?
4. If the answer to number 3 is "no", are you willing to be on call to fix it?

1. Not likely since it will be just email and maybe some web surfing.
2. Excellent reception.
3. Not yet, but she will be
4. She's my mom...of course I will be on call :heart: dancedroid...

 

[crspang]

Have you considered something like an ipad? As much as I dislike apple, I would think a 3g connected ipad would be ideal in this situation.

 

[Overcomer]

Have you considered something like an ipad? As much as I dislike apple, I would think a 3g connected ipad would be ideal in this situation.

That is not a bad thought...but like there commercial says - Less bars in more places - it's true. ATT does not work well where she lives. Verizon coverage is awesome.

I'm thinking that a mifi card/box/whatever you call it...may not be a bad option either. She already has a cell phone - very basic. Is the mifi hotspot more or less plug-n-play vs. tethering?

 

[crspang]

Have you considered something like an ipad? As much as I dislike apple, I would think a 3g connected ipad would be ideal in this situation.

That is not a bad thought...but like there commercial says - Less bars in more places - it's true. ATT does not work well where she lives. Verizon coverage is awesome.

I'm thinking that a mifi card/box/whatever you call it...may not be a bad option either. She already has a cell phone - very basic. Is the mifi hotspot more or less plug-n-play vs. tethering?

Yeah the VZW mifi is similar to wireless router.

If I were in your situation I would wait until November to see what kind of tech will drop for the holiday season. Then the things I would seriously consider would be an iPad type device with wifi only and a mifi device. There are rumors that VZW will be launching LTE around the holiday season.

 

[HamDog]

First, I'm not sure if there are any "tethering" plans available for the Android system yet. I know there is none for the original Droid. You can still tether using one of the programs mentioned here, but it is against Verizon's term of service. I don't know of anyone who has gotten caught, but one day they could go after them. Personally, I tether using PDAnet, but I seldom use it.

Maybe someone here can chime in with a definite answer if any of the Android phones from Verizon can be purchased with a tethering plan. I know Sprint offers it on the EVO, but that's all I know.

And as far as satellite internet access, initial costs can be high, so check with your provider. Also, latency sucks, but your mom doesn't have to worry about that if she's not a gamer.

 

[ilikemoneygreen]

We've had wildblue for the past 2 years. Ive had my tether on my droid since like january. TO be honest wildblue isnt bad, I hated the 7gb cap though. I would do my downloading on my tether and my surfing on wildblue. Wildblue was a consistant 1.2mb/s for me. Our only problems were on the stormy days that we couldnt have connection... Wild blue is rated better than hughesnet as well. (just for those peeps that havent herd of wildblue) And just in case your wondering, If your mom loves youtube, then shell have to hit pause at the beginning for a minute so it will load. (i dont have to do that now with my new cable internet )