| Speednetllc/SpeedConnect or Alternative Coleman, Mi I have a bit of a problem, my parents live in the middle of nowhere south of Coleman Michigan. I called Speedconnect and was told that they could provide them with 3mb broadband at their location. Having looked at a a few reviews a couple from here at dsl reports I am a bit worried. These reviews were mostly from a number of years ago, so one thing I am looking for is current customers and their thoughts on the service that they are receiving. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I am also open to any alternatives, my parents house is located in the woods, but they do have a 45 foot antenna tower that looks out over a mostly open field to the south. If anyone in the area knows of another service provider that would also be great. My parents have tried satellite internet through Hughes net, but run into the bandwidth cap when my mother does her work from home.
Any help or information that anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Kyle |
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| I've been a customer of Speednet since 2004.
Their service has had its ups and downs throughout this time. This past summer they added equipment to my local tower in Saginaw which has given 3.0mbps speed with no dips - 24/7. I don't know whether this would apply to your parents' location.
Since this past summer there has been about an hour or so of downtime total for me, so in terms of speed and uptime they are more reliable than they used to be. Their front-line customer service is consistent in my opinion.
Keep in mind that they will need to pay $70 per month for the 250gb download cap.
For strictly browser-based internet usage, this should work fine for them if they're okay with the high monthly cost. |
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| reply to Acention
asdf114141 Thanks for the reply, I have spoken with speednet and they will be getting the $70 a month plan, as with my mom's work she needs quite a bit more than the 5gb cap that the lower plan offers. I believe that my parents would be receiving their internet out of the Mt. Pleasant area so here is to hoping that they did the upgrade your local tower received across their whole network.
When you say strictly browser-based internet do you mean to say that you would not recommend it as a stable connection with low latency? My mom works from home at times for work using a VNC connection, one of the primary reasons for them getting the internet. If she wouldn't be able to maintain here connection reliably then this might not be what they are looking for.
On a side note, when speaking with the sales rep she spoke about them having a 10mbs option in the near future, have you heard anything about this? I am a bit skeptical about this unless it is something like a los 4g system.
If anyone has any other information or thoughts about speednet or an alternative any information would be appreciated. |
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| During offpeak hours I get about 10ms latency to the tower so it's basically like any other type of normal broadband.
On some days there is definite congestion where my latency will be really unsteady during evening hours - usually from 7 to 10pm - so I don't use it for gaming during that time. Here's a graph of the jitter around 9 PM to give you an idea if you're curious: »i41.tinypic.com/25t7uhe.png
As long as 3.0mbps is enough bandwidth to support your mom's VNC, I'm sure it'll be fine.
The only information they've given out publicly (and over the phone when I last spoke with them) is that their 4g network is going to be distributed in mid-December. The rep also told me this would not coexist with the current network and would actually replace it, so I'm hoping that using 4g at home at a desktop works just as well as the current setup in terms of latency.
I know no alternatives to Speednet in my area - if there were, I probably would have cancelled, since the high latency from 7 to 10 pm really bothers me - that being said, though, I don't mind having them since they're the most reliable option next to 512k DSL or something. The service was really low quality for a couple years but in the last year or so they seem interested in improving it, so it's good to see that.
I'm glad I could help you out - there's not much discussion online about Speednet that I've found, so I'm happy to share what I know. |
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Reviews:
 ·Speednet Wireless
| reply to Acention
I'm a recent subscriber to their new 4g technology in Clio, MI. I was unable to subscribe to their previous LOS technology which provided 3 mbps due to tall tress across the road from me. The new 4g service (outdoor antenna/modem combination) runs an ethernet line into your home, with a PoE adapter which can then plug directly into your computer/router.
For the first week or two the service was very inconsistent, sometimes 5-6 mb and other times down to less than 1 mb. After talking to tech support several times they finaly discovered they had a network issue that they resolved a few days later. I've had a 10.0 mbps solid connection ever since (2.0 mbps upload). Ping is okay at 70-90 ms. Overall, a HUGE upgrade from my sprint and verizon 3g services! I'm on the premium $70 plan which has a 200gb cap and VOIP (although they are currently out of the phone adapters), and I've been able to stream two HD netflix streams at once! Very happy customer now! I'm about a 1/4 mile away from being able to get cable to my house, otherwise i'd go with that option but this is a very close value for those who are in the same boat.
»speedtest.net/result/1675928434.png |
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| reply to Acention
I know of a guy that lives in Sanford that is a genuis. He lives across from the animal clinic. Get ahold of him, he could help you out I bet. Bill |
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