SureCall Cell Phone Signal Booster Blog

This meme describes a way to use a SureCall cell signal booster that is sometimes overlooked. Fred is an actual person from a small Georgia town who contacted us with his story. He purchased a signal booster from SureCall in an attempt to cut down on his monthly expenses. It worked.

Here’s how he did it.

Internet Options in 2020

There are 4 main types of household internet that consumers can choose from today. They are:

Fiber

Cable

DSL (digital subscriber line)

Satellite

Though fiber’s availability is limited, it is the fastest (and most expensive) available internet option. Cable is the most common form of internet today, due to its wide availability (except for rural areas) and fast speeds. DSL (also called broadband) is typically not as fast as cable. But because it works through a phone line, it’s usually a good option for people living in rural areas. Satellite is the most unreliable of the 4. It can be spotty. But sometimes it’s the only option for folks in rural areas. It does an admirable job.

Fred’s Situation

Fred and his wife had DSL internet. In the very small town of Mineral Bluff, GA (population under 300) it was the best option available to him. Fiber and cable internet are not available there, and local DSL speeds are slightly faster than satellite. The majority of Mineral Bluff residents have DSL internet.

But Fred’s concern wasn’t related to slow speeds. The download speed he was getting with his DSL connection was fine. The issue was the fact that in order to have DSL internet in his home, he had to pay two bills. One for the internet service itself and another for an active landline. These two expenses together set him back $68/month. He wondered if there was a way he could avoid paying for a phone line he never used while also avoiding the poor satellite internet option in Mineral Bluff.

There was a way. And he found it.

Fred’s Solution

He did it with a cell phone signal booster from SureCall.

But signal boosters are not designed to boost Wi-Fi, you might be asking. And you’d be right. They aren’t. So how did this Georgia man fix his internet problem with a device that boosts cell reception?

Fred knew that his smartphone had a hotspot feature. This means his phone can put out a Wi-Fi signal that other devices can connect to. Most smartphones today can do this. However, the thing about smartphone hotspots is that most people use them only sparingly during times when their primary source of internet is down or temporarily unavailable.

But Fred figured, “why can’t my wife and I just get a cell signal booster, upgrade our phone plan to one with unlimited data, and use our phone’s hotspots as a primary source of internet?” And this is exactly what they did. He called their cell provider, AT&T, and put together a lucrative plan with unlimited data and 15 gigs of data per phone for hotspot usage. The change was offered at almost no additional cost because of his long history and loyalty with AT&T.

He then purchased a cell phone signal booster from SureCall and set it up. They then discontinued their broadband internet and landline services. Now they connect their computers, iPads, etc. to their cellphone hotspots utilizing the signal boost from SureCall.

$68 Per Month Saved

Fred told us that because of the cell signal booster, the hotspot generated by their phones is just as fast as the DSL internet they had before. And because there are no monthly fees associated with having a signal booster in the home, they’re saving $68 per month after canceling their previous broadband services.

Will This Work For Everyone?

If you have all the ingredients - an existing cell signal outside your home, a smartphone with hotspot data, and a signal booster - there isn’t any reason you couldn’t do this. But not everyone needs to do it.

Fred and his wife live in a rural town. And in rural towns, out-of-the-box internet solutions like this one are more pertinent compared to a busy suburban area. If you live in a big city, your internet options are likely much less dire. You may even have fiber available depending on where you live. If you have high speed internet available in your area, there probably wouldn’t be a reason to go to the lengths that they did.

But if you live in a rural town where internet options are dicey, using a cell phone signal booster to boost your phone’s Wi-Fi hotspot is definitely something you should consider. It provided Fred and his family with the same speed they were getting before and saved them money to boot.

Where home internet is concerned, you simply want to find an option that’s reliable, preferably fast, and affordable. With the help of a cell signal booster from SureCall, it very well could help you reach all of those goals. If you think this could be an option worth considering, call or email us. Let us know your situation and we’ll help you decide if a booster in the house is the right choice.

Other Internet Options In Rural Areas

We don’t normally talk about internet at SureCall since our products deal with boosting cellular signal, not providing internet connection. But since we’re discussing a rural area internet solution by way of a signal booster, it would be helpful for you to have a bit more information about other internet options in rural areas. We did some extensive digging for you on this topic. If you live in a rural area, the following information will be helpful.

The Best Rural Area Internet Options

In small town USA, internet options are usually 4-fold:

Mobile hotspot

Cable

DSL

Satellite

Depending on where you live, maybe only one of these options is available. In others, all four might be. And some of the internet providers we mention below are not available everywhere. Regardless, we’re going to tell you the best provider in each category for 2020.

Since fiber is almost never available in rural areas, we leaving that off the list.

Mobile Hotspot Internet

Best Rural Provider: Verizon Wireless

Verizon has the largest coverage area of any cellular network as well as the fastest speeds. The downside is that their plans have notoriously small data caps so it’s hard to recommend this as a longterm solution. But there’s no denying that their service, coverage, and speeds are top-notch. If you have a temporary internet need that can be remedied with a smartphone hotspot, Verizon is great.

Verizon’s Get More Unlimited plan or their Play More Unlimited plan are the ways to go for the best 4G LTE mobile hotspot data. Their 4G LTE is crazy fast; up to 15,000 Kbps. But it drops to a measly 600 Kbps when you run out of your allotted data. That’s not fast enough to stream Netflix.

2nd Best Rural Provider: AT&T

In every major category that counts, AT&T isn’t far behind Verizon. Their coverage and speeds are still really good. Check the websites of both companies and see what the coverage is like in your area to help you decide between the two. It also wouldn’t hurt to ask your neighbors which carrier they use.

And any company compared to Verizon is going to be less expensive. It’s also worth mentioning that with AT&T, once you run out of your allotted hotspot data amount, your speed drops to 128 Kbps. That’s nearly unbearable. Just FYI.

Cable Internet

Best Rural Provider: Suddenlink

If Suddenlink is available in your area, you’re in luck. They aren’t available in every state, though. In fact, it’s they’re only available in 19 states as of this writing. The states from West Virginia down through Louisiana and Texas are where Suddenlink is the strongest. They are one of the few internet providers that specialize in providing internet to rural areas.

Their slowest speed is 100 Mbps (still not bad) and their fastest is 1,000 Mbps (extremely fast). Another great thing about them is that if you sign up for their 1,000 Mbps plan you’re guaranteed that price for life. Pretty great. Just don’t miss a payment or you may lose that benefit. They also don’t have any contracts or data caps.

The main downside with Suddenlink is that they have a reputation of raising prices a lot after your first (sometimes second) year. But if you get the 1,000 Mbps plan, that won’t happen.

2nd Best Rural Provider: Xfinity

Because Xfinity has a larger coverage area than any cable internet provider in the nation, it’s possible it could be available in where you live. It’s worth checking.

DSL Internet

Best Rural Provider: AT&T

If cable internet isn’t available where you live, DSL is the next best option. But remember with DSL internet you need to have a phone line in order for it to work. If you don’t already have one, you’ll probably have to pay for one in addition to your internet service. If you need to go this route, AT&T is the best choice. And this type of internet is usually quite inexpensive.

DSL usually caps out at 100 Mbps. That’s plenty fast enough to stream Netflix, play video games, or work from home. The thing to remember is DSL providers, including AT&T, will say that they provide speeds up to 100 Mbps. That top speed is not available everywhere.

2nd Best Rural Provider: CenturyLink and Windstream

These two are comparable in most respects to AT&T DSL service. So if AT&T isn’t available, check these two companies out.

Satellite Internet

Best Rural Provider: Viasat

Satellite internet is an important addition to the industry because it’s brought internet to many areas where it would be otherwise impossible. Unfortunately, in many cases, it’s expensive and not as reliable as most other forms of internet service. But Viasat, where available, is the best provider, all things considered.

Viasat’s max speeds and data caps are the best in the industry. But again, remember that when put up against fiber, DSL, and cable, satellite internet wains in comparison. But this provider offers speeds up to 100 Mbps and monthly data caps up to 150 GB. These are the numbers that coincide with their Unlimited Platinum 100 plan.

Also, satellite internet providers are known for raising their monthly rates after only 3-6 moths of service. Their promotional periods are very short. But compared to HughesNet and other satellite competitors, Viasat still comes out on top where price, reliability, and speed is concerned.

2nd Best Rural Provider: HughesNet

If for some reason you can’t get Viasat at your address, your next option for satellite internet is HughesNet. Their speeds are not as good (only up to 25 Mbps). They’re one of the only other national satellite internet providers.