Thursday, August 08, 2024

What options are there for rural, fast and uncapped internet in 2024 in the Netherlands?


My parents live in a rural area in the Netherlands. So they don't have coax-cable via the monopolist player Vodafone/Ziggo, nor can they take an internet subscription via copper wire (POTS) on ADSL or VDSL. Well, technically they can, but the speed would be roughly 6/1 Mbps which was pretty good in 1996, but that was long ago.

Growing up, we had a dial-up at 56 Kbps (remember those?) and then ISDN that was, if you were willing to pay for the use of 2 phone lines, faster at 128 Kbps. For kids today, that means our home internet was about 0,1 Mbps. Yes, that is slow. Very slow.

My parents are currently using Odido (until recently called T-Mobile) "4G for home" which is a solution of sorts. It's advertised as 30/5 Mbps at € 43,50 per month. Too bad that it's way slower when the air is charged (in a storm), when the leaves of the trees are wet (like in the rain) or when there are many people visiting the nearby area because they are now all sharing the one antenna that covers the area. 

You might think that that is expensive. And it is. The lack of competition in Europe leads to higher prices for internet connections, especially in countries that only have 3 large players in the market. See the Rewheel reachers paper here: The state of mobile and broadband pricing – 1H2024.


But nowadays, next to the option of using 4G/5G internet, there is another option for rural areas: satellite internet. 🛰️📡

A comparison chart for uncapped internet with at least 50 Mbit/sec download speed, both for 5G and sattelite options:

Provider and bundle name

Max speed?

Up-front costs

Comment

Price per month

Price after 2 years including upfront costs

Price per month, all-in after 2 years

Source

KPN Unlimited50, but via Ritel

50 Mbit/sec

You need to buy a 4G/5G router *1

I am shocked at the price difference. This reseller Ritel offers €5 per month discount. 

21,50

816,00

34,00

https://www.kpn.com/shop/mobiel/sim-only/


KPN Unlimited50

50 Mbit/sec

You need to buy a 4G/5G router *1


26,50

936

39

https://www.kpn.com/shop/mobiel/sim-only/


Odido 4G voor Thuis Sim Only

30/5 MBit/s

A router is supplied with this subscription

This is the "official" way to get a SIM-only card for home internet

43,50

1056,00

44,00

https://www.odido.nl/shop/product/wnc-dl5m2/22036020


Odido Unlimited Basis

300/80 Mbit/s

You need to buy a 4G/5G router *1

This is the un-official method. Every day you get 10GB, when you need more you have to request extra (free) data in the Odido app.

32,50

1080,00

45,00

https://www.odido.nl/mobiel-abonnement/sim-only


Vodafone Red Unlimited

360 Mbit/s

You need to buy a 4G/5G router *1


32,50

1080

45

https://www.vodafone.nl/abonnement/mobiel/sim-only


Odido 4G voor Thuis Sim Only

30/5 MBit/s

You need to buy a 4G/5G router *1

This is the "official" way to get a SIM-only card for home internet

35

1140

47,5

https://www.odido.nl/shop/product/4g-voor-thuis-sim-only


Starlink Residential

±100-300 Mbit/s

249

Standard Actuated antenna and WIFI 5 router for €249 + 23 shipping

50

1472

61,33

https://www.starlink.com/nl/service-plans


Starlink Residential

±100-300 Mbit/s

349

Standard antenna and WIFI 6 router for €349 + €23 shipping

50

1572

65,5

https://www.starlink.com/nl/service-plans


ASTRA2CONNECT *2

20/2 Mbit/s

489,5

The speed is below the minimum 50Mbit and there is a 50GB/m data cap

72,91

2264,34

94,35

https://www.arobantennebouw.nl/thuis-vakantiewoning/internet/astra2connect-internet-via-satelliet-set/


SkyDSL2+ Home L with premium

75/6 Mbit/s

99,8

You rent the sattelite antenna

50,075

1301,6

54,24

https://www.skydsl.eu/en-NL/Personal/Internet-via-satellite/tariff/details/345


Tooway Connect 

30/6 Mbit/s

Both the speed and data cap discuallify this internet provider from the comparison

https://www.deschotelshop.nl/tooway-internet-via-satelliet-complete-set



* 1  Bring-your-own-router, so about €300 if you buy one like: https://www.coolblue.nl/product/948628/acer-connect-x6e-5g.html 


* 2  I meantion this option even though the speed is below 50 Mbit/s and even though the data plan is limited to %) GB/Month



My conclusion is that if a 4G/5G router with a subscription is not an option for you, then Starlink is your best choice. They are by far the cheapest option for hardware, as well as the cheapest per month subscription price. You can also cancel anytime, so you aren't stuck with a data plan for 12 or 24 months.




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