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Big Island The Island of Hawaii
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Old 06-28-2012, 06:13 PM
 
Location: Hawai'i
1,392 posts, read 3,054,194 times
Reputation: 711

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Wow, we're getting close. Our lease starts August 1 and our landlord has reminded us that we need to get an electricity account established (done) and we need to think about internet. We're not sure yet if we're going to get a land line phone, we've lived without one for so long. We never watch TV as in never ever ever, so we don't need advice on cable or satellite, thanks. (Anticipating some of the more helpful members adding that, you know who you are, you helpful people you...actually, we asked the landlord to remove the TVs so that we don't have to worry about them.)

Looking at Hilo yellow pages online, I see MANY options, including Dish...wait a minute, isn't it cloudy there, how is the Dish supposed to work?

Does DSL still need an active phone land line to work like in the old days? I've never had cable internet, wondering about how well that works too. Because of the lack of infrastructure where we are now (i.e. phone lines, cable lines, etc.) we actually have wireless internet here that receives signals from a transmitter on a nearby mountain. Some days, it's pretty good, some days, it's like old timey dialup.

Anyway, we would like input from people who live or work near Hilo about your personal experiences with your ISP.

Mahalo!
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Old 06-28-2012, 06:22 PM
 
Location: Kahala
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I work in Hilo - and my Verizon Wireless 4G card works great with good speed.
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Old 06-28-2012, 06:36 PM
 
Location: Hawai'i
1,392 posts, read 3,054,194 times
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But what's your experience with DSL or Broadband there? He has an aircard for the boat obviously, but will be away half the time.

I guess I'll be easy to please. I just ran a speed test here...my internet is actually working well tonight...here are the results.
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Old 06-28-2012, 06:44 PM
 
Location: Hawai'i
1,392 posts, read 3,054,194 times
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The landlord has hawaiiantel.com so I looked it up....wow is it CHEAP...for a landline phone* without long distance (we don't need L-D) and basic internet with up to 7 mbps (note that is SPECTACULARLY fast compared to our current .45 MPBS) is only $42.90/month. We pay twice that for lousy internet and no phone.

Anyone have good or bad to say about hawaiiantel.com?



*when I lived on the mainland, about all I used my basic landline phone for was to make my cell phone ring so I could find it when I left it somewhere around the house or yard.
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Old 06-28-2012, 06:44 PM
 
Location: Kahala
12,120 posts, read 17,923,379 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DebbyDiver View Post
But what's your experience with DSL or Broadband there? He has an aircard for the boat obviously, but will be away half the time.

I guess I'll be easy to please. I just ran a speed test here...my internet is actually working well tonight...here are the results.
My Verizon 4G LTE card is mobile broadband - and regularly gets over 6 Mbps download and nearly the same upload (way faster than DSL for upload). It is only $30/month for 4GB. The coverage in Hilo is extensive and I've never had signal problems.
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Old 06-28-2012, 06:49 PM
 
Location: Hawai'i
1,392 posts, read 3,054,194 times
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Hmmmm...he has an ATT aircard (because he could not buy a Verizon one here and didn't have time to buy anything else there before starting his new job) and it's really expensive and he's limited as to the amount he can use it. Do you have limits on yours?

Although, to think, when he's home we'll have both computers networked (so he can surf at will and not run up his aircard charges), and we have guests frequently who also want to be on our network....nah, we're going DSL or broadband, it fits our lifestyle better.
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Old 06-28-2012, 06:56 PM
 
Location: Kahala
12,120 posts, read 17,923,379 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DebbyDiver View Post
Hmmmm...he has an ATT aircard (because he could not buy a Verizon one here and didn't have time to buy anything else there before starting his new job) and it's really expensive and he's limited as to the amount he can use it. Do you have limits on yours?

Although, to think, when he's home we'll have both computers networked (so he can surf at will and not run up his aircard charges), and we have guests frequently who also want to be on our network....nah, we're going DSL or broadband, it fits our lifestyle better.
It is broadband. It is also a hotspot - up to 10 devices can connect to it at a time.

The AT&T 4G network speeds are terrible all across Hawaii compared to Verizon. I have a 4GB plan for $30/month and never come close to the limit. As an example, 4GB is 250 emails a day with attachements and surfing over 300 webpages a day. 4GB is only an issue if you want to watch HD video on a consistent basis.

The advantage with the hotspot is you can take it with you - the beach - the other side of the island - the cafe - anywhere you get a signal.
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Old 06-28-2012, 07:07 PM
 
Location: Hawai'i
1,392 posts, read 3,054,194 times
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Well, we do use a lot of bandwidth, we love to watch music videos on YouTube (one of the things we prefer over TV watching). And we have an internet business so I'm online with that a lot. If it were unlimited for $30 I'd be interested.
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Old 06-28-2012, 07:14 PM
 
Location: Kahala
12,120 posts, read 17,923,379 times
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If you want DSL go to the Hawaiian Telcom site and enter your new address - it will tell you if you are eligible. DSL is bound by distance if it is copper wired (and the service degrades the farther away you are from the central office). You should ask for a trial if the speeds turn out to not be very good.

Cable internet as a rule is generally higher speed - but costs more.
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Old 06-28-2012, 07:25 PM
 
Location: Hawai'i
1,392 posts, read 3,054,194 times
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That's where I got the info above in post #4.

Not deciding until we are on the ground but trying to get info now. Thanks.
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