Hello everyone!
The first obstacle has come up: In our temporary accommodation, where we plan to live during the construction phase, there is no DSL connection available for us.
In the region, a provider (Inexio, formerly Quix) has expanded their network, and I was able to order broadband from them – but I just received an order confirmation stating that the technology at our installation address is not yet deployed, and they can’t give us a scheduled activation date. 🙄
That’s just great – selling connections without having the capacity. Talking to support revealed that the distribution point (cabinet) at our address is full, so they’d have to expand it first, but whether and when that will happen is unclear.
Via the national telecom provider, we get 2 Mbit down, which is not enough for working.
Now we have two options: a Gigacube from Vodafone or something similar (are there other providers like this?), or Starlink.
Edit: Luckily, LTE is available at the address.
Starlink, of course, has high initial costs. And their website provides very little information, despite asking for consent to charge about 700€ (euros) with just two clicks.
Does anyone here have experience with Starlink (or Gigacube) and can share their experience?
Good luck,
kati1337
The first obstacle has come up: In our temporary accommodation, where we plan to live during the construction phase, there is no DSL connection available for us.
In the region, a provider (Inexio, formerly Quix) has expanded their network, and I was able to order broadband from them – but I just received an order confirmation stating that the technology at our installation address is not yet deployed, and they can’t give us a scheduled activation date. 🙄
That’s just great – selling connections without having the capacity. Talking to support revealed that the distribution point (cabinet) at our address is full, so they’d have to expand it first, but whether and when that will happen is unclear.
Via the national telecom provider, we get 2 Mbit down, which is not enough for working.
Now we have two options: a Gigacube from Vodafone or something similar (are there other providers like this?), or Starlink.
Edit: Luckily, LTE is available at the address.
Starlink, of course, has high initial costs. And their website provides very little information, despite asking for consent to charge about 700€ (euros) with just two clicks.
Does anyone here have experience with Starlink (or Gigacube) and can share their experience?
Good luck,
kati1337
WilderSueden schrieb:
We have this small Netgear device that provides me with mobile internet when I work from Switzerland. I believe it cost around 200 CHF back in 2020. The latency is manageable as long as you’re not using a GUI on remote systems. Everything works smoothly with CLI.Is it reliable? Have you ever experienced major outages lasting a long time with it? I’m less worried about occasional speed drops and more concerned about the internet being completely unavailable for an extended period.
That would only happen if the cellular tower goes down, right?
W
WilderSueden31 Mar 2022 10:00It actually works quite reliably. Of course, you’ll have problems if the mobile network is disrupted, but I haven’t experienced that so far, and it usually doesn’t happen. Landline connections can sometimes be disrupted as well; then you just have to accept it.
WilderSueden schrieb:
It actually works quite reliably. Of course, you will have problems if the mobile network is disrupted, but I haven’t experienced that so far and normally it doesn’t happen. Landline connections can also sometimes be disturbed, so that’s just how it is. Great, thank you very much for your assessment.
We have to work from home, so any insight into how reliable something like this is worth its weight in gold. Even if it’s only temporary, we still need to remain reachable during the day.
I often use LTE in remote areas, and it works very reliably through the Magenta provider for Teams, Slack, GitHub, and others. Sometimes we are both in remote locations and have different Teams video calls at the same time. No issues at all. It’s best to test beforehand whether the provider you choose is reliable in your area. Magenta also offers a Speedbox, but I’m not sure how good it is. For me, my phone is sufficient—just connect and go. The Speedbox is available with 100 GB (100 gigabytes) and unlimited data plans.
We recently had a Starlink setup at a construction site. In summary: so-so.
The connection dropouts were initially disastrous; it only worked reasonably well after mounting the antenna on a very high roof.
Since the antenna basically needs a clear line of sight to the satellites, your location is very important. Low-lying areas are generally worse than flat terrain.
The initial purchase costs are one thing. The ongoing monthly fees of around 100 EUR (about 100 USD) are what would discourage me more.
You might also want to look into LTE directional antennas. They can potentially improve performance significantly.
The connection dropouts were initially disastrous; it only worked reasonably well after mounting the antenna on a very high roof.
Since the antenna basically needs a clear line of sight to the satellites, your location is very important. Low-lying areas are generally worse than flat terrain.
The initial purchase costs are one thing. The ongoing monthly fees of around 100 EUR (about 100 USD) are what would discourage me more.
You might also want to look into LTE directional antennas. They can potentially improve performance significantly.
Starlink should be the last resort. If something else works, go with that.
Every mobile network provider has online coverage maps. Take a look through them. These maps aren’t always perfectly accurate because they are calculated, not measured, and usually refer to outdoor coverage rather than inside buildings. Still, they give you a starting point to see where it might be worth checking.
Alternatively, you have smartphones with you and can check reception indoors. If your devices are up to date, it’s especially worth looking at 5G coverage as well as LTE.
If you find, for example, that Telekom already offers fast 5G at your location, choose a product with a short contract period and just try it out. You can switch again later. This is especially important if your connection is vital for work.
P.S.: I would have checked this _before_ choosing the new location. For me, it would also be essential for work—without broadband, I wouldn’t move anywhere anymore (and this has been true for some time).
Every mobile network provider has online coverage maps. Take a look through them. These maps aren’t always perfectly accurate because they are calculated, not measured, and usually refer to outdoor coverage rather than inside buildings. Still, they give you a starting point to see where it might be worth checking.
Alternatively, you have smartphones with you and can check reception indoors. If your devices are up to date, it’s especially worth looking at 5G coverage as well as LTE.
If you find, for example, that Telekom already offers fast 5G at your location, choose a product with a short contract period and just try it out. You can switch again later. This is especially important if your connection is vital for work.
P.S.: I would have checked this _before_ choosing the new location. For me, it would also be essential for work—without broadband, I wouldn’t move anywhere anymore (and this has been true for some time).