Running out of Internet options...
Okay, so I moved to a new apartment on north side, within North Star Village. Nice area; nice apartment. I originally moved here (selected this apartment) with the notion that BBVI will work here. I had them out, and they told me straight up; they can't see the towers--they can't support me. ACK!
Now I'm trying Choice, since I'm told the tower I can see not a block or two from me is a Choice tower, but so far that's been little luck, too. SOB.
I'm running out of options.... My life is integrated with the net. My professional, and personal, life all revolve around the internet. It's kinda required for me -- I DID ask about it before moving in, only to find out they were wrong. /sigh
So, now I'm trying to figure other options. I require a personal hotspot, or direct internet access -- I have 5 devices (computer, laptop, xbox, ps3, iphone) to connect to the internet (and feasibly more -- ipad, kindle). (eg: a laptop card won't work for my needs)
Who's left? Innovative. Any other options? I know Sprint has a personal hotspot box, but does that work down here (well?). AT&T have any options? Are there any others I don't know about?
Thanks.
innovative has internet option but i dont know anything about it
I am on STJ and had AT&T. I had to switch from unlimited to their new plan which is limited. I work from home and need internet. AT&t was also becoming unreliable. BBVI and Choice both said they couldn't help, so my only option was Innovative. I gotta say, my speed is very fast, faster than those on island that have Hughesnet satellite by far, and it it has been very reliable (been on it for almost a year). My business is internet based and I have three to four computers plus iPhones working off it. My friend that lives 5 mins from me got Choice about 3 months ago and hates them. Service always experiencing outages, bad customer service, etc.
I am quite impressed with Innovative (never thought I would say that). Hope that helps.
Oh, right. Guess I should have mentioned this is all on STT, too. My last landlord had Innovative, and it was crappy ... however, I think it may have been mostly her router, which dropped packets a lot.
One issue I have with Innovative is their price. They are so expensive for such little offer compared to others. $60/mth just for 1meg down. Ouch. My cellphone gets 1 meg down! (it's upload that bottlenecks the tethering) Plus, I'm told Innovative requires you to sign up for a useless phone plan, too. ( DSL does not require an active phone line to work )
However, if it's wireless DSL, like BBVI, then fat chance -- I'm surrounded by loads of foliage. Amazing views, but no real clear views outside of my neighborhood. I do have 1 tower in direct LOS of me, and I was told it was a Choice tower -- however, this Choice modem doesn't seem to think so ....
I have until Friday with Choice. I have a couple friends with contacts within Choice (techs); so I plan to hit them up on Monday. I know people on both love / hate sides of the fence. It seems very hit or miss with Choice.
PS: I'm posting this on my laptop using my jailbroken iPhone tethering, btw. _
Try the Virgin Mobile pay as you go to see if it works for you. It's at Radio Shack.
Bottom line, it doesn't matter how good/cheap the others are if you don't have access. Sounds like Innovative's your only option.
right now innovative would be your best bet. You also save 5 or 10 bucks depending on if you have their cable or phoneline. If you can wait 2 years check out the Broadband VI project for the whole virgin islands
If you are using the free standing modem from Choice, and it's not working, you might try the outside mounted option. If that is a Choice tower, that might work better for you. Good luck....it's been a problem for a lot of us over the years.
...I moved to a new apartment on north side, within North Star Village. Nice area; nice apartment. I originally moved here (selected this apartment) with the notion that BBVI will work here. I had them out, and they told me straight up; they can't see the towers--they can't support me...My life is integrated with the net. My professional, and personal, life all revolve around the internet. It's kinda required for me -- I DID ask about it before moving in, only to find out they were wrong...
If high speed Internet access is crucial for you and the apartment was misrepresented as having sufficient access, you may be best off finding another place to live and work. I had Ackley (now BBVI) come to my house before I agreed to buy it to ensure that I would have the access I need to telecommute. It sucks, but having a great apartment isn't worth being continually frustrated by the speed of the service you use in your employment.
If you are using the free standing modem from Choice, and it's not working, you might try the outside mounted option. If that is a Choice tower, that might work better for you. Good luck....it's been a problem for a lot of us over the years.
Here's the irony with the modem: I've been moving it around the house, seeing how it handles itself. I moved it to my bedroom window, which put it in direct LOS to the tower. I've had it at the door, which did the same thing (my door is a sliding class door). But, the one place I found it got the "best" signal (still only 2 bars, but not stable) is on my UPS on the floor in a little corner. I don't get it. It gets 2 bars, connects, but doesn't remain stable, and has very, very high latency (over 14k ms pings to google). And that is the only place the modem will even GET a connection. Everywhere else, it would just constantly bounce between RANGING_FAILURE, Authentication: EAP Failure and PK_FAILURE(exact name iffy). Pretty annoying. I'll gladly opt for the ceiling mount I can guarantee to get a good strong stable signal.
@dntw8up I'm chalking this up as she didn't know / understand. She told me they get BBVI (this is a dual plex) but later I asked her husband and he told me no, they use a Sprint card for his laptop...
Maybe it's a defective modem??? You could ask to try another.
I know you didn't want to go with Innovative and don't need the phone line they make you get, but you might find that handy, if/WHEN your cell doesn't work.
Maybe it's a defective modem??? You could ask to try another.
I know you didn't want to go with Innovative and don't need the phone line they make you get, but you might find that handy, if/WHEN your cell doesn't work.
Oh, my cell will by no means by a primary means of internet. It was purely in comparison.
I live the next mountain over...Upper Caret Bay...the only thing we can use where we are located is either Sprint or AT&T aircard. Innovative doesn't even work for us but perhaps they will for you. I know Choice worked for one of my friends when she lived about halfway up Northstar and she had to telecommute for work. Hope you can find something that works...best of luck!
Interesting timing: Innovate just went through a site redesign, and their prices even dropped. No more "Advanced Member" prices (or what ever they called it).
If you have good cell phone reception, you can get a cellular modem from Sprint. They have unlimited access for $60/month. Then you have to get a wireless router for it. You can order that off the internet. Read the fine print, many of them don't work with USB cellular modems, but some do.
ATT has cellular USB modems also, but you only get 5 G per month for the $60. With all those devices I'm guessing you need more than 5 G.
Innovative and Sprint are on my list to check out. Innovative before Sprint. Definitely can't do AT&T - my last month's iPhone usage was over 9gigs, and that was just from Netflix. lol
I have a WRT610N router I traditionally use for my network--dual band, 5g/2.4g wireless a/b/g/n support. Unfortunately, no support for USB modems....
Choice is giving me the run-around now. They didn't show up this morning for the scheduled site survey. A tech called me at 11am and just blindly told me it was my modem, and take it in to get replaced. However, I already had the modem tested yesterday, and it connected just fine at the store -- full bars. Tech didn't mention anything about service in the area, issues, strengths, tests at my place, etc.... I have until Friday (lunch) to return the modem. I'm continuing forward with it (will swap it tomorrow), but I'm already planning to return it Friday.
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