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Verizon HomeFusion Uses 4G LTE to Complete Last Mile Nationwide

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Users who live in rural areas without access to cable and DSL connectivity must compare internet connection speeds in kilobytes, not megabytes.

Verizon HomeFusion brings fast internet speeds to rural areas and suburbs too far away for traditional wired Internet with the speed of 4G LTE.

That means users can enjoy speeds of 5 – 12 Mbps down and 2 – 5 Mbps up. Verizon 4G LTE currently covers 2/3rds of the population, including many rural and suburban areas. The network is growing each month and the HomeFusion service is available nationwide.

Verizon Home Fusion RouterVerizon designed the new HomeFusion service for use at home, offering many features that make it better than a MiFi or a dial-up connection.

Unlike MiFi devices that typically stop at 8 connected devices and lack USB ports, Verizon Home Fusion is the only connection users need with support for 20 wireless devices and four Ethernet ports for connecting storage, game consoles and desktops.

The HomeFusion service includes an antenna connected to the exterior of the house and a Verizon router inside the house. The equipment is $199, as a one time service fee.

Verizon HomeFusion 4G LTE Home Broadband

Monthly access to HomeFusion starts at $60 a month and Verizon includes 2 months of 50% extra bandwidth so users can figure out how much they are able to do online without going over the monthly limits.

  • 10 GB of data – $60
  • 20 GB of data  – $90
  • 30 GB of data – $120
  • Overages billed in 1 GB increments, at $10 per GB.

These prices seem steep compared to Cable and DSL connections, but the convenience of a fast connection for remote workers, for entertainment and for schoolwork is a price many users are willing to pay.

I know many users who have used a 3G or 3G LTE MiFi as a home internet connection because there was no way to run cables to their house for anything other than dial-up. This is an OK solution, but they constantly bumped up against the number of connected devices, the MiFi needs to stay charged all the time and would often overheat.

It’s great to see mobile connectivity bridging this last mile, and unlike many options HomeFusion is available nationwide, though 4G LTE speeds will only work in areas with 4G LTE.

Hopefully the prices will drop and the data caps will rise as the service matures.

11 Comments

11 Comments

  1. Eric

    05/10/2012 at 11:56 am

    I actually called VZW about this a couple weeks ago. By the time I was done speaking with the customer service agent, who completely agreed and commiserated with my observations (but, logically, could provide no answers), she strongly recommended I type all of it up and submit it to VZW. They need the feedback, she asserted. And I believe they do.

    This product is shortsighted, and does the consumer no favors. The market share it is targeting is so small (currently), it’s pathetic. First, it’s marketed as a faster, LTE-powered solution. But in the same voice, marketed as a “rural” or “last mile” solution. Sorry, but that isn’t current reality. Population centers receiving 4G/LTE capability are far-removed from the “last mile” subscribers. I am a last mile subscriber, in rural eastern Virginia. I assure you, we won’t see LTE for many, many moons to come. It’s quite ironic and contradictory to offer this LTE-touted product as a solution to those that, for the most part, probably already have access to cable, DSL, FIOS, or other high speed option(s). For those of us truly living on the outskirts, in a rural “last mile” environment, we’re still left with dial up, satellite, or if luck (in my case) MiFi 3G access…barely. It’s our choice to live our country “last mile” life, however, I resent VZW marketing a product that we cannot use, and will not be able to use for many, many months (at best) to come.

    My second point. I’d like VZW to explain to us, the logic of marketing a **high speed** product such as 4G LTE-powered HomeFusion, with download speeds of 5-12MBps downstream…which would be (IF we received 4G LTE) nearly 10x faster than 3G, and yet sell packages with nearly the same data cap(s) per cost!! (Oh, AND add a $200 equipment fee). This, is inexcusable. $60 for 10GB. Great. That’s $20 cheaper than the current 3G 10GB cap, however (and this is a HUGE however), the floodgates are opened to data that is available at speeds MANY times faster than 3G. Logically, one will reach their cap faster, and/or go over their cap consistently, incurring significant overages, and lining VZW’s already deep pockets. Sure, let’s tell the customer to be disciplined…monitor your usage, receive VZW’s text messages and e-mails announcing your gradually escalating use per month, etc. You get to do what you always USED to do faster, but you won’t be able to do any more than that, as the caps have not grown with the capability. THAT, my dear VZW, is a serious foul. 20GB for $90, sure, I could pay $10 more and get another 10GB. But, as advertised by VZW, once I connect my son’s “game console”…how long do you think it will take to exhaust that extra 10GB? A week? Maybe? Doubt it would take that long. Movies? Out of the question. VZW (and/or any other telecommunication giant) should not be marketing services with exponential increase in capabilities with no change, or only miniscule changes, in the data caps and associated costs. All is does, as a consumer, is solidify the already clear feeling that the Big Red conglomerate is asserting its monopoly and taking advantage of the customer. Period.

    For all of these reasons, and others, this family of consumers living on the “last mile” of Big Red’s coverage, will not be taking “advantage” of HomeFusion. Not until VZW gets their collective act together and offers a product 1) that is indeed available to the market in which it’s fishing, and 2) offers some level of reasonable data/cost packages commensurate with the capability it’s offering. Until then we’ll stick with our much more cost effective, and livable 3G option.

    • Tony

      09/25/2012 at 6:24 am

      in all fairness i’m also in middle of nowhere Virginia, i have no access to dsl or cable, but a month or two ago 4g showed up on my phone!! It was totally unexpected and out of nowhere, so don’t give up some hope for it. As for these plans, they are crazy, 60 dollars for 10 gigs? might as well get a phone and just teather for that….

  2. Bill

    05/15/2012 at 8:21 am

    I am also a rural “last miler”. I can’t get cable TV in front of my house (too few houses per cable-mile). We’re out of range for 4G, by about six miles. Verizon just put up a new tower 1.25 miles to the NE of my house, so I get a great signal from them.

    Check out Millenicom.com. They have 3G modems that work on Verizon’s system, AND (the best part) – NO CONTRACTS. They go month to month. I’ve had them for about six months now, and they’re great.

  3. Tyler Dennis

    06/09/2012 at 1:51 pm

    Okay i like the idea of this but one major problem! There is a data limit. I use a 3g cell phone to tether and i have rooted it to give off its own wifi hotspot. I also have the grandfather plan so i have unlimited data. This is good because i use on average at least 10+ GB a month. highest i got to was 40GB. I use it for online games streaming music and videos constantly. So this product does me no good.

    Whenever someone smart enough comes out with an unlimited plan again i will be happy. Sadly Sprint isn’t in my area or i would be with them for a home internet source.

  4. Abby

    06/21/2012 at 4:20 pm

    I am with you Eric & have been so disgusted with these carriers for many moons. I myself am in a “rural” part of Arkansas. Unfortunately Verizon Wireless is the only carrier I can get & it’s 3G if it works right. I’m on a 5GB plan for $60 a month. There’s no streaming video what-so-ever! Which we learned the hard way. My husband uses it basically to play his Playstation 3 online, believe or not online gaming doesn’t use up that much about 2.5GB a month & that’s playing every day for 3 hrs. But no one else can use the Internet. And as you put it “streaming movies” is out of the question. Why do these carriers of smart phones & wireless Internet not offer an unlimited plan is beyond me. These smart phones have apps for YouTube, Hulu, even Netflix (the Playstation 3 comes with Netflix built in) when you can’t watch anything with their limited data plans! It’s a false advertisement of smart phone devices & wireless Internet cards. Makes me so mad I want to scream. If Sprint were in my area I would totally switch but I’m stuck with my 5GB Verizon plan. Had AT&T wireless but it never worked. As far as 4G network, just like you I am sure it will not be in my area either for many moons! I will never understand the corporate greed these carriers have!

  5. Faith

    07/27/2012 at 8:02 am

    This service is a joke. I have tried to sign up for it since this would be my only option for internet service. I have a tower less than a mile from my house. After I signed up and paid the deposit, they could not get the router to connect to the service. After several weeks, they said the problem was fixed but then said I was not eligible because I was not registered with e911. No one could tell me what e911 is or how to register. No one can tell me why this is a requirement for Verizon internet service. When I call customer service lines, they have no one that will even talk to you about Home Fusion and just tell me I have to go into the store. When I go into the store, they have no answer other than they will not sell the service to me until I am registered with e911, which they do not know what it is or how to do that. What a farce!

    • John J. Patterson

      09/18/2012 at 7:39 am

      I was the Director of Kentucky 911 before retiring in 2005. e911 is enhanced 911 and is the direct phone line to the public safety emergency services dispatch for your community. “Enhanced” means that the dispatcher will see on his/her computer your address when they answer the call. 911 simply means that you only need to dial the three digits “911” to be connected to them. 911 dialing is the universal number in the US for contacting emergency services and is available in virtually every county in the US. You can register with 911 in your community by contacting the local police or sheriff’s office – use their 7 digit number to contact them. Do not dial 911 for this purpose as it is only used for emergencies.

  6. Pete

    07/06/2013 at 1:08 pm

    I will never pay for any internet service that is not unlimited data period! Especially at Verizons outrageous prices? To have any kind of data cap is just foolishness

  7. Michael Ponder Jr

    10/06/2013 at 4:14 am

    This service is a joke… i got it a week ago.. 30 gigs.. and i already used up over half of it, and it won’t refill until the 26th.

    This is ridiculous…. if it’s supposed to be a supplement for DSL, it should have WAY more data offered for the price.

    I’m paying over 120 dollars a month for this damn thing, and all i get is 30 gigs?
    If DSL or Cable was in my area, i would get at least 100 or more gigs.

    The government gave verizon money and even freed up the air waves for them, so that they could offer a broadband solution to rural areas, but this is NO solution, this is a JOKE!
    And now i am locked into a 2 year contract.

    And i get sick of the excuse “it costs a lot to run the lines needed for broadband” yeah? But once you run it, the profit will be regained later down the line, it’s called an investment for a reason.

    And one of the first rules of business is “you have to spend money, to make money”.
    Once another option becomes available here, satellite and this wireless crap from verizon will become obsolete.

    If this is supposed to replace DSL for rural areas, it’s far from it.

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