Does Broadband refer to wired connections, wireless connections, or both. My primary residence is on Long Island where, believe it or not, the cellular coverage is poor. I have a cable internet connection and a Verizon "box" which converts my cell phone calls to internet data so I'm OK there, although it's expensive. For my vacation home, cell phone service has been available for only the last few years (Verizon only) but I have it now. I was lucky that the cable company (Spectrum) had a line running down my street, ending pretty much in front of my house, so I was able to get it; again expensive. (My next door neighbor can't get it. Well, maybe "can't" is too strong a word, they could get it if they paid $10,000 to extend the line about 1000 feet down the street to their house!).

mtvhike, I think it's more a generic term for the capacity the connection provides and it's indifferent as to the technology used.

You may not need your Verizon "box" for cell calls. Most newish smartphones have a setting that can be turned on that, for lack of a better description, I'll describe as "On/Off, route telephone calls and SMS messages over Wifi whenever connected". My Verizon Moto smartphone has that, my daughter's Verizon iPhone has that. Some parts of my house are in a bit of a cell tower shadow too because of hilly terrain but our Verizon phones (whether used inside or outside) are always solid with HD sound call quality over Wifi.

You can probably use the same feature at your vacation house. An advantage when abroad is that when you connect to Wifi, your phone acts as if it's in the US and you can make and receive calls and SMS messages to US numbers for free in unlimited amounts.

Note that my son bought a newest model Verizon-system phone of a major brand (I forget which) from Costco and that feature is disabled.

Elmer, it's called Wi-Fi calling, and on VZ, it's usually under Advanced calling.

That said, if you still have a signal, but maybe a low signal, VZ seems to prefer to default to cellular rather than wifi calling so it may stick to the poor cellular signal vs. the great wifi signal. That's what it does in my house with 1-2 bars anyways. The network extender that mtvhike has would just give you a better signal in the house. The newer extenders are actually LTE, but the damn things are $250. It's a ridiculous price to pay to have a consistent signal in your house.

Elmer, how well does the wifi call switching work in your house?

I don't know when Wifi calling is on, what the default connection is? The Verizon signals in my neighborhood and home are inconsistent, sometimes good and sometimes poor. Connection with a poor signal appears to suck battery life, as the phone seemingly turns up the power to communicate with the nearest but obstructed (in places) cell tower.

I set my phone to airplane mode FIRST when I get home, then turn on Wifi. That way my only connection is through Wifi and calls and SMS messages get routed that way. I have a great home Wifi signal (Netgear Orbi router and satellite). Call quality is excellent inside and out. On a Moto Turbo Droid 2 it's at Settings, Advanced Calling, Wifi Calling - On.

I've had 3 trips abroad in the last 8 months and just returned from Europe. I activate International mobile use as a fall back but always do the Airplane mode then Wifi-On where I'm staying. I had several long phone calls back to the US from London last week and with an excellent Wifi signal in my hotel, the call quality was as if I was down the street from the person I was speaking to. And free. A domestic Wifi connection, especially in a home with a good signal, is no less excellent.

Another plus - Comcast internet and other cable companies put out a public Wifi signal for the use of customers, in urban areas all over the US. from routers at many customer sites, public places but also homes. You may have seen the signal - in Comcast regions, the SSID is xfinityWIfi. In other areas, it's CableWifi. There are literally millions of such sites in the US. I have the logon as automatic (it's my Comcast signon) so that when I'm in range of a signal, my phone connects. Because we have a family plan with a fixed amount of monthly shared data among 6 users but monopolized by the younger users, I try to use a wifi connection when possible to save on my own data consumption.

Elmer, Verizon uses cellular by default and I'm not aware you can change that other than your Airplane mode.

Wow, you are diligent in turning that airplane mode on. May of us are not :), but my phone normally works ok over cellular. If I know I'm going to make a call to somewhere important, I'll switch to Airplane mode. My wifi is outstanding as well (Ubiquiti UniFi).

I use xfinitiwifi as well, but I don't set it to default because I want to make sure I'm using my own wifi when I'm at home. Do you ever find that the xfinitywifi is chosen over your home wifi network?

I don't think I'm diligent about turning airplane mode on, it may be more the opposite, I'm sometimes forgetful about turning airplane mode off when I leave the house. I'm retired now so the importance of being always reachable is reduced and less important than before. If I look at the (normally silenced) phone to check for messages and see that Airplane Mode is on, I'll turn it off.

I'm not sure I said that the xfinitywifi connection was a default, more that the sign on credential is remembered so it connects when available without any intervention on my part (if my wifi beacon is on).

As for it overriding my preferred signal - no, not really. I believe I have one neighbor whose equipment broadcasts the publicly available connection but it's only stronger than my home signal at one far end of my backyard and certainly not inside nor adjacent to the house. It's not an issue. Is it for you?

I've presumed that especially with homes in residential neighborhoods, the publicly connect-to-able xfinitywifi signal comes from people using Comcast's integrated modem/router box. Do you know? I know there's not such a signal in my house but I have my own equip, a Surfboard modem and the router as described.

We have friends in the neighborhood whose house is lower and so more significantly shielded by a hillside from the Verizon tower than mine. Before I realized what was happening, I could lose 30-40% of my phone's battery charge during an evening at their house. I remember now to keep Airplane Mode on when we go there. Funny enough, the last time there, I got a call. Looking at my phone, it was connected to an xfinity signal, apparently coming from one of their neighbors.

I think it has to be an xfinity/comcast rented modem/wifi router combo unit as Comcast would be able to configure the wifi network. They wouldn't have access to configure your own personal wireless router. It's not broadcasted at my house either, but I do see it available in my list of networks with 4 bars.

I am on Verizon and have used Wi-Fi calling when I am up in Canada and it works great on my LG G6. I didn't realize about SMS messages over Wi-Fi. I always put my phone in airplane mode when we cross over. Last week I got a text while over there and was puzzled because I had airplane mode on but now I realize it must have came through the Wi-Fi. I didn't realize that about SMS. I will have to test it when we go over next month.

We have spectrum for our cable and internet. One feature I love about them is their mobile hot spots in cities I guess you would call it.. When we travel I have found I hardly have to use my cellular data when there is no Wi-Fi because there will be a spectrum connection.

"Note that my son bought a newest model Verizon-system phone of a major brand (I forget which) from Costco and that feature is disabled."

Which phone did he get Elmer? Every phone I have had on Verizon locked or unlockef allowed me to turn on Wi-Fi calling. Don't need it anymore since we now have unlimited calling and texting while in Canada. Just got my son a Samsung unlocked phone for verizon not long ago and he is able to turn on Wi-Fi calling. Mary

"Note that my son bought a newest model Verizon-system phone of a major brand (I forget which) from Costco and that feature is disabled."

This thread is nearly 2 years old, did you notice?

My sons are adults who buy their own phones and what I said on the subject was all I knew then or now. This son has a doctorate in a STEM subject. I have no doubt about his ability to understand something as simple as what a phone does or doesn't do and why. I don't remember but I think his comment I was sharing had taken place in a conversation 6 months or more before my comment in this thread.

Thankfully I don't live anywhere near the Canadian border so I don't really have anything more to add to your situation. Maybe what's sold varies regionally, maybe not.

Elmer, note that this thread was resurrected by spam. Just flag it. Crafty Lady, like many of us, didn't notice that. If I could do one thing it would be to help people learn what (obvious) spam looks like and how to flag it.

Why do you say that it was resurrected by spam? I see no problem with these conversations continuing, as long as people recognize that some of the comments are out of date.

Yes sushipup, I had noticed that. I found it odd to see a followup comment/question to something I'd said 2 years ago and had long since forgotten about.

mtvhike, the problem was with an embedded link to a questionable company. The person posting it has a bunch of other assorted posts also touting questionable links. That's spam, which is not allowed. I don't care if the thread is resurrected, just that the link may prompt someone to click on it and get a possibly nasty surprise.

Sometimes the links are paid for just to increase a company's ranking in google searches, and the poster is paid for his work. Some links have been traced to real bad actors who want either your personal info or access to your computer. Whatever, I hope people recognize spam and flag it. But to raise an old thread for real info, that's not a problem as I see it.

Elmer, had to get satellite as the Verizon land-line DSL got increasingly unreliable (they don't maintain landlines any more). No cable or fiber-optic here, and cell-phone signal is poor. The satellite is certainly far better than the DSL -- usually 15 mbits/sec dload and 4 upload. Heavy weather in the direction of the satellite can block the signal, but that's rare. For me in the sticks, really the only option left.

Do you have a monthly data limit on your satellite connection?

Everyone has their own shopping list when deciding where they want to live. Small towns, flyover regions and rural settings are not on my list. Adequate internet service isn't a make or break for me but it's probably one of dozens of reasons why, in the aggregate, living "in the sticks" as you've said isn't for me.