Looking for tips to improve your ISP choices?
Looking for tips to improve your ISP choices?
I reside in the heart of the American Midwest, specifically in Iowa, just 20 miles from the city. For years, our home internet was unreliable, switching between several providers—AT&T, Sprint, US Cellular, and Verizon. The latter offered the most competitive plans at the time. Our surroundings are dominated by cornfields, and for many years we struggled with land or wired connections. Only recently did Quest/CenturyLink expand their presence locally, now delivering 10mbps downloads and 1mbps upload with an unlimited limit. While this is slow for most users, it represents a significant improvement for my family. My father works remotely as an IT specialist for a financial firm, so the upgrade matters greatly.
The issue is becoming apparent: we’re reaching the limits of our current bandwidth, especially the upload speed. As the tech enthusiast in the house, I’m handling projects that could benefit from a more robust connection—particularly a DIY Dropbox setup on my NAS. This would let me share files via download links or even provide a full library for friends to access. The need for extra capacity is clear; a 5GB file would take ages.
A subscription to a real Dropbox or Google account wouldn’t suffice, given the volume of data I generate (10TB and growing). I’m also planning to host game servers like Minecraft, which demands substantial bandwidth. Realms worked before, but I can’t modify them, and buying multiple would be costly.
I’m considering upgrading to a better service and seeking advice. I reached out to my current ISP, who admitted they’re capping my speed regardless of usage. They suggested I might need to bypass the cap or negotiate unlocked access. I’m planning to install a PFSense router for the house, hoping it could help mask my usage or unlock capacity.
Additionally, a nearby Verizon cell tower with fiber optics caught my attention. The technician mentioned they’d try connecting to it if possible. If I wanted to tap into that, who should I approach? Could I negotiate a direct line to bypass the provider’s restrictions?
I’m also exploring other options—anyone willing to discuss unlimited download/upload speeds with high capacity within a reasonable budget? My current monthly cost is around $70, but I might pay more if the deal is favorable. I’m aiming for something under $90 per month. Thanks for your help!
Verizon is the best choice for faster speeds when needed. Your closest landline is available. You can also send long-distance Wi-Fi from nearby locations.
The services offered vary a lot depending on location, sometimes even down to your zip code. What you can access might not be the same as what someone just across the street has. You can't simply connect to a tower; you need proper equipment and support from an actual ISP. A fiber connection alone isn’t enough—you also need the right setup and service. Even if a tower is in your home, if your provider doesn’t offer fiber, you won’t get it. Rural areas are especially lacking, and big cities don’t always have the same quality as other parts of the world. Building high-speed lines like fiber is costly, and ISPs often decide it’s not worth it unless they can charge a reasonable price for many users. In some places, you might pay around $70 per month for 10Mbps, which could be affordable in a large city. 5G could be an alternative if you have a nearby tower, but you’ll likely face data limits.
The problem is clear—it's not worth investing in quality service for you. You won't be able to access the fiber connection to the cell tower. DSL has limited range and similar performance to internet via coaxial cable with low upload speeds.
I have a suggestion. I’m still planning to set up a PFSense router. Do you know if there are 4G PCIe cards that can hold a SIM? My question comes from the fact that we already have a landline internet, but my dad still uses a Verizon 4G router that was included in our plan with our phones. It’s probably still linked to his phone to keep his number active while we switch to the new internet. We’re still paying for it and it’s working. My thought is, what if I put the Verizon SIM into the PFSense router and make it the main internet source? The Verizon plan offers unlimited data with wide bandwidth for mobile use—about 35-50 Mbps in either direction, except when it’s a hotspot where there’s a 15GB cap, then speed drops to 600kbps. The router setup would be similar to a phone’s because we’d have a phone number attached and could even send texts from it. On Android devices, you can configure all internet traffic as open without hotspot restrictions using certain scripts. It seems possible to turn the PFSense router into a mobile device and route all our connections through it instead of relying on the hotspot feature. I haven’t built or designed the router yet, but I wanted to make sure everything is correct, so what options do I have? Also, I’d like to connect our home phones to it via a phone line that goes directly from the base station to the Verizon router.
There might be PCIe or M.2 options available, though I haven’t found any full-sized PCIe cards. Some high-performance devices can be connected via USB or have Ethernet ports. I’m not sure if the USB setup works with PFense. That’s a pretty vague description now. "Unlimited" usually doesn’t mean truly unlimited. Even with older plans, they’ll still slow down or prioritize your traffic. For instance, Comcast charges around $30 for “unlimited” data after about 10 TB, according to what I’ve heard. So yes, it sounds like a trick. It gives the impression of mobile data, but they’ll track usage and might cancel service if enough data is consumed. That’s a breach of their terms of service. Probably no one is streaming from the tower because upload speeds on LTE rarely exceed 15 Mbps.
The only services available in Iowa are typically Mediacom, CenturyLink, Hughes Net, etc., but access really depends on your location. In the more remote areas, especially those far from towns, options are scarce. Someone in my area did something similar—his home is near a business that provides internet, which he set up himself since there’s no local coverage. This approach hasn’t been widely discussed before.