What do you think of Calyx's internet?

Thank you all, very much, for the suggestions on home internet. I never used to pay attention to Sprint offerings because coverage was terrible, but this new town has good Sprint coverage. So now I am leaning toward Calyx Institute because they offer a Sprint hot spot and more importantly, they don’t require a social security number or other similar intrusions to sign up. They are very pricey though. $500 for the first year, which gets me the hot spot and apparently unlimited unthrottled internet per month. Would love to know what you guys think of Calyx. Are they reputable, or are they likely to go the way of 4gcommunity? And with the Sprint-Tmobile merger, will I be left holding a useless $500 Sprint hot spot? I’ve never used a hot spot before, so any insights on speeds and other stuff also much appreciated. Thanks guys!

(Things are complicated by the fact that my landlord refuses to let me put up a dish or any kind of antenna, so satellite and dish-type home internet solutions are out. I got very excited to be reminded of Tello because I already have Tello. But then realized that their unlimited 2g doesn’t allow tethering, which means I can’t use it as a substitute for home internet. My internet use is mainly email and surfing, but I do need to watch video lectures which I think uses a lot of data. Have always had unlimited home internet before this, so I don’t really know how much data I’ll need, I just want to have enough data for a reasonable price and not run out).

You may have already seen this, but there's a pretty good review of Calyx here:

(starting at post # eight-- darn those auto-emojis!)

From my reading, Calyx seems more stable than 4G Community or some of the other players, because they're not pushing the boundaries as hard on the intent of the service. But it's always a risk when you pay upfront for a year. It's a risk I'd take if I was in a similar situation, based on what I've read about Calyx.

I wouldn't worry about the Sprint/T-Mo (possible) merger over 12 months-- even if it goes through, there are not likely to be massive changes to the Sprint network during that time frame. (But I wouldn't sign up for a second year until looking again at the landscape.

Speeds are totally dependent on your location: you'll see roughly the same speeds as phone users. Check out one of the websites that features user reports for your locale. I don't know what bands the hotspot can access, or what bands Sprint uses in your area, but this could be a limiting factor. Since you have Tello, you could do a speed test, and download Signal Check Lite (free from the Play Store), which I believe will let you know what bands your phone sees. (You might want to use one of the other alternative speed tests instead of Ookla SpeedTest, since it can gobble a lot of data during the test if you have good service.)

I'd guess that something in the 5-10 mbps range would probably work for your needs, but someone with more knowledge might have a more reliable opinion.

I personally would never risk something like 4Gcommunity again, mainly because when I did have 4gcommunity and they made their announcement I JUST HIT one year and was about to renew. That was almost a few hundred dollars mistake.

Landlords can be tricky. If it is possible to setup cable, since it does not require a giant dish, I would try for comcast.
https://www.xfinity.com/learn/offers/details?offerId=9626100164
You can try them for a year at the same price as Calyx, and comcast does have the ability to let customers connect to many different hotspots around the country free. So a benefit is if you go to a friend's place, and they have comcast, you dont even need to ask for their password. Likewise, if you go to a restaurant and they use comcast their password is not required either.

There are apps that do have the ability to override this restriction, I believe it is called PDANET or something like that. That is my two cents.

I have a Tello line, and it's been great. I only have 200mb LTE, plus 2G fallback-- so it's been easy for me to play with 2G.
Even with PDANet to overcome the tethering problem, I think you would find the 2G unworkable for your needs. Video simply isn't possible, even with inset screen and low resolution. General web browsing works just fine with some patience and Puffin browser.

PDANet might provide a solution for a cellphone plan with significant amounts of LTE & no allowed tethering.

Avoid Calyx at all costs!
I'm in a solid Sprint area, I get 4 out of 5 bars with the Mifi 8000 Mobile Hotspot, and I'm averaging 1mbps with Calyx. And it's spotty connection at that. I've been dealing with this for over a month now, talking to Calyx, talking to Sprint, talking to the device company. They've replaced it three times now and one device was able to get higher mbps, but not for long. It's been the biggest pain and now I've paid for a year and will have to now pay for another internet service at the same time to be able to get anything done. I've already had to pay double my phone bill because I have to keep using my phone's hotspot, someone how that works just fine, whereas the Calyx set up doesn't. Calyx's response to all of this.....basically too bad, you gave a 'donation'. Never mind that I only gave the 'donation' in exchange for internet service that isn't being provided. They did suggest paying more money for an external antennae, however the signal isn't the problem. Extremely aggravating, I wish I'd never heard the name Calyx.

Long shot, but I think I remember this being a 'thing' with one of the other Sprint hotspots-- can you check in the menu and see if the hotspot allows you to select a particular band? (I think maybe Chelle reported having to do that to get decent speeds.)

If you're in the US, in almost all cases your landlord is NOT allowed to impose a restriction like that...

I see this exception from the link, though:
"Effective January 22, 1999, the Commission amended the rule so that it also applies to rental property where the renter has an exclusive use area, such as a balcony or patio."
I imagine a fair number of apartments do not have applicable exclusive use areas.

IANAL but how is this a restriction to the rule? I would agree if it said "the Commission amended the rule so that it only applies". But it says "the Commission amended the rule so that it also applies". "also". "also" doesn't restrict. "also" adds. no?

@KentE is referring to "exclusive use area" (vs. "common area").

@uhthisb mentioned "landlord", which implies rental.

I didn't read through a history of changes to the rule. I did read the 'also' as adding something, though.

I took it to mean they were adding protection to rental properties when those properties have an 'exclusive use' space for mounting the antennae. Presumably, rental units (of any type) did not previously enjoy that protection.

I probably compounded the confusion by using the word 'exception'. The exception, or restriction, is only from an outsider looking at what rental units might not be covered by the 'added' protection.

We are reading it the same way! I thought there was a difference but there isn't.

Yes, that was what confused me.

I followed the last link on the table on the end of that page to what I think is the page describing the original rule:

"The first category includes the case in which an individual owns his home and the land on which it sits.  This type of ownership can apply to either a single family detached home or a single family rowhouse, and the owner may be subject to restrictions in the form of covenants or homeowners' association rules that are usually incorporated in a deed. ... In addition to covering restrictions on antenna placement on property owned by the viewer, our rule will also apply where an individual who has a direct or indirect ownership interest in the property seeks to install an antenna in an area that is within his or her exclusive use or control."

Seems the original rule was 'ownership' and after a while they added 'rentals'.