Individual internet.....

[taffy]

I'm not technologically savvy.  My kid is in college in a shared house.  The internet is terrible and is starting to affect his homework.  He is an undergrad and his roomates are grad students. They have very limited interactions.   Is there a way we can get him personal wifi?  

[livinitup]

Does he have data on his phone? I can use my phone as a hot spot when my home internet gets wonky. But it’s not expensive (for my plan). It may be too expensive for him. So, that’s individual.

The thing is, he doesn’t need individual WiFi to get better WiFi. If he gets a booster then the other roommates get access to the boost, too. That’s okay. It’s not one or other. It’s not like he makes a WiFi improvement just for himself & it’s better if he keeps it just for himself and worse if they use it, too. He can and should figure out why it’s slow or not working and see what he can do to fix it. Is it old? Is it the service? Does it need to be faster? Will it cost money to upgrade? How much? Is it worth paying? Should they split the cost? Will they? Maybe they will. If they don’t then they are jerks. But if he can afford it, then he should do it and pay it anyway.

[tealblue]

Agree, is he using it far from the router and using boosters could help?

I think you can get a hot spot from mobile providers if he can’t or won’t hit spot his phone (some plans have limits on how much you can use your hotspot).

[cmeon]

You could see if something like T-mobile's home internet service is available in his area- it's easy and relatively cheap, super portable.

ETA: And he could control it- share if he wants, keep it to himself if he doesn't.

www.t-mobile.com/offers/free-trial

[penguingrrl]

He should first see if a booster helps. My house isn’t huge but the walls are thick plaster with rebar in them (1920s construction) and we have 3 boosters spread across the house to make sure we have solid connections everywhere we need it.

[livinitup]

We got a booster and it didn’t do much but we still use them in the house. What made the difference was Verizon FIOS came to the house and replaced something that connected their fiber optic cables to the WiFi router. H had them come twice and the second technician found the issue and the fix was free. It was an old terminal or something - even though the service was new to the neighborhood.

There may be more than one solution and it might be huge pain to figure out. But it might not cost much if he does tackle it.

[flygirl]

If you have Verizon you may be able to get their Internet fairly reasonably, like $25 a month

[texasharleygirl]

I have heard of this:

www.weboost.com/products/home-room

I haven't checked it out, but this looks like a good option

[spindle92]

If a booster doesn't do the trick, he may need to get a mesh system.
They are pretty inexpensive and can be purchased straight off amazon.