TV/internet out in the boonies

For you folks that live out in the country - What's the best, most economical way to get TV and internet to a rural place? Do I really need both a Hughes Net subscription and a Direct or Dish TV subscription AND a smart TV? We have Netflix and Amazon Prime at home.

I hate more monthly subscriptions and the last time I tried Direct TV we got just some crap channels for 60.00 a month.

We're probably getting another place and the wife says there's has to be something else besides reading and...well, you know. We are getting older. She hates cedar so much, I was going to show her how to operate a chainsaw, but apparently that is not going to be an approved activity.

Our internet was terrible. I ended up adding a standalone hotspot to my Verizon account and just left it at the ranch. It really isn't the best solution, but I write it off for work, so there's that. We mostly just do streaming TV out there. I would just tell her that her choices are chainsaw and...well, you know. Bet you get a lot of cedars cut down!

I am 35 mi. nw of paris, 30 ne of bonham, 16 mi. to nearest gas station in honey grove.

we have exede for internet and it is way better than hughes, had them and total krap.

direct tv but owners pay for it so not sure of cost but it works longer than the internet in bad weather.

pretty sure exede is att owned

Just bought a place near Floresville in the trees...I use antenna for tv and it's not really getting too many channels. I use my Verizon phone for a hotspot for the laptop, She is always on her phone for internet.
I guess the internet works ok if you get one of those tall skinny poles about 80' high attached to your roof with the mini dish on it.
At some point she will want more, I am really just not caring much about that stuff right now because I have a lot to do.
Sorry, not much help.

Verizon worked for me until I got AT&T verse.

Centurylink solved all our problems. It comes in through the phone landline. No bad weather outages now.

There are some good fixed WiFi providers popping up in rural areas - much higher (some have none) data limits and way better speeds. We looked into it about a year ago and they said we needed a 60' tower...I'll pass. They're supposed to be putting up a few more of their own towers in a few months so we'll check back then.

Right now we have Exede and Dish. We also stream Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu; between the 50gb we each have on our phones for hotspots and the Exede we never run out of data.

Exede is just meh. Speeds are ok. Customer service sucks.

I have been very pleased with Dish. Much more pleased than I was with DirecTv

We heard that you could mirror Netflix, Amazon, etc from your phone to your TV and you could do it over LTE/4G without using hotspot data...we couldn't get it to work with our Iphones - probably would work with an Apple capable TV - but ours is a Samsung smart TV and I guess they don't get along - even with some device my wife ordered. Just another option if it works for you.

Verizon Mifi - got one added to my account for $10/month. Bro in law has a $30/month plan. Creates a wifi user name and password, Synced it up to our smart TV at the ranch and boom: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, youtube, Etc.


https://www.verizonwireless.com/internet-devices/

I use my IPad for internet and an antenna for tv.

I have the AT&T/Direct TV unlimited package so I play the same Direct TV I have at the house on my tablet using the TV for a monitor. Also works for internet, which I can't even get at the house. My home/deer camp computer are the same. My tablet with a Bluetooth keyboard. Need to get a Bluetooth printer, or one that will print from the cloud.

Resurrecting this old inquiry 'cause I'm fixin' to pull the trigger on something. It's all so dam confusing. All companies have a "teaser" price for 3 months, or 6 months. ("Cheezy", if you ask me). ViaSat (old Exede), expensive but a possibility. But a router isn't included? But some kinda "equipment" needs to be leased? What the? And why does it say "Wifi included"? What the hell is "internet" without "wifi"? Hughes net already has a dish on the house that came with the place and I know I just need a code/password, and maybe some updated equipment to at least have internet in the house. Plus, it's cheaper than ViaSat.

Over the last 3 days I've spent about 3 phone calls, 20-30 minutes each, with the Dish retailer out of Houston. We've had our identities attempted to be stolen so many times that I have every possible "lock" and fraud alert on our credit reports. Even after unlocking both mine and my wife's TransUnion and Equifax accounts, Dish couldn't get in. 'Gave them Soc.Sec. numbers, both me and the wife answered security questions, etc. Complete Nothing worked. Apparently, I could qualify for a not-so-small loan to help buy this place (granted, I had to fill out a few forms), but I'm unable to get satellite TV!

All suggestions are appreciated and I'm always amazed at the help on here. I wouldn't bother with this crap, 'cept the War Dept. is demanding TV and internet. I know I'm also gonna have to get educated on the cell phone hotspot stuff. 'Never bothered to understand that neither.

As an aside, I called Frontier Telephone's 800 # several months ago, as the previous owners had a land line and I wanted to make sure there wasn't fiber, or something available in the area. Who knows, I might have wanted a conventional land line. Get this...THEY DIDN'T ANSWER THE PHONE and no way to leave a message.

Not sure where you are buying, but look into Line of sight internet. I had to put up a 60' tower, but now Ive got internet fast enough for multiple people to stream movies.

As for the "wifi included" that just means they supply a wireless router. Most places you just have the modem inside that you plug into your own router to get wifi.

I have Dish satellite for TV at my place and hotspot for internet. A new tower has gone up - I can see it a few hills over from my drive. WIth the new tower, neighbor got West Tex Connect (I think that is the name) and said he has pretty good internet and purchased a smart tv for hulu/roku/youtube, etc. I am researching, but he said he gets all the locals through Hulu and pays less than $50 a month total.

That's a helluva price. 'Just a little too far west of me, according to their website. (No Menard or Junction listed on their blurb on their website.)

Hughes net and ranch wireless are the ones I've recommended in the past

We had Dish at the ranch in Batesville

Creekrunner,
Check with Hill Country Telephone Co-op. They have fiber to the home in several areas, including Junction. They may offer some wireless solutions also. Main office is in Ingram.

Thanks. I've seen their office in Junction. We used to sell them equipment. 'Didn't know if they have anything out that road. I'll stop and check next time I'm in town.

I live 18 miles to the closest town and have horrible cell phone signal in the barndominium I live in. I have had Hughes Net since 2007 and really like it for internet. I have them upgrade my old system to a newer Gen 4 system last year. I also have Dish Network and have used them since 1996. Both have worked well for me in very remote places I have lived at over the past 24 yrs.

You might try West Central Wireless. They cover Gillespie County and counties west of it. They provide internet services as well. They have their own tower sites throughout west Texas. Their headquarters are in San Angelo but they have satellite offices. One is in Kerrville. For internet, they do a pre-installation site survey before doing the install. I got one of their cheap smart phones just to have a phone that worked in the Grapetown area near your old place. So far I'm happy with their phone service and I'm looking into getting their internet services. Others on here that live out further west of Gillespie County may have input on their overall service. From my understanding, they were the only option in west Texas before the big 4 phone company started to accommodate the oil boom in west Texas.
I finally had to put an AT&T tuned cell phone booster on a 60 foot tower to get adequate service for the house and I use my iPhone as a hot spot and it works pretty well. My "War Department" is still not happy with the AT&T internet service because it's so inconsistent. Ghost signals that go from 3 bar LTE to periodic No Service. If you have any service at all where you are at with your phone, the hot spot with your phone or a mi-fi adapter may be the cheapest solution. It's easy to hook up your phone to the computer. Use your charging cable and plug it into your phone and then the USB into the side of your computer and turn on your hot spot option in settings on your phone. The computer screen should recognize a new usb device an ask what you want to do with it. Click on connect on hot spot and you should be connected to your phone and be able to use the internet connection through your phone. If I can figure it out, you can too.

Who is your electric power supplier? Some of the electric Co-ops offer internet services also.