Cell/internet reception in marginal areas

[Oaktree]

Close to 8 years ago now 'someone' said that he would work to have internet access to everyone in the country and the ones out in the country.(rural).This has yet to happen His insight imagined many people with open wi fi signals so eventually all the US would be a spiderweb of connections. This hasnt progressed at all as far as I can see. And one stumbiling block I doubt they considered was that people would lock theirs. (and for good reason).On a similiar note my two elderly relatives at one point had 'good' TV reception . and would be able to get the official notices of emergency. NOW with the digital they get ZERO channels. HMM Not to well thought out in my opinion..Ill take a snowy signal over none. didnt meant to highjack and rant lol

Well, totally different "someones" for the tv and internet (the decision to go digital for tv was made during the Clinton administration). When I bought my present house about 10 years ago dial-up and satellite (ugh!) were my only choices for internet. About 4-5 years ago my town signed a deal with Time-Warner cable, took 'em a while to get thru the assorted red tape and actually run the lines but we've had cable here going on 2 years now. TV, internet & phone about $35/mo cheaper than we were paying for just landline phone & satellite internet. Around the same time Fairpoint ran fiber thru town too. Wi-max is available in some places, but due to the terrain coverage is spotty. So progress is being made, however slowly.

Yeah, we lost all OTA tv reception when things went digital too. We're close enough to Canada where we could get a couple Canadian stations, but when they went digital in '11, it was all over.

We're the same out my way, although we have a land line for phone, cable is nonexistent, so we rely on dish for our TV and internet. Cell service is pretty spotty as well. I hated it when I first moved out there, but being disconnected(or limited) actually has it's perks IMO

My stepsons and their spouses/significant others get antsy when their smart-phones don't work here, but my wife & I don't mind...ready-made excuse for not having a cellphone ourselves! IMHO the ability to be reachable anytime/anywhere soon becomes an obligation to be, and I don't even want to go there!

 

[Country Geek]

This web site is squirrely tonight (locks up a lot). Anyhow, I read a post a Y'all can see the obvious issue - if I aimed at the Verizon tower what about the towers of the other carriers. Fortunately they were fairly close to the Verizon tower so I got away with it

The other carriers are probably actually on the same tower as Verizon. Cell companies usually don't own the towers, they are usually owned by tower management companies that lease space to carriers, and they usually try to get multiple carriers on each tower.

 

[Country Geek]

I feel grateful to have 5 MB DSL at my little piece of paradise, it came to us after about 9 years of complaining, petitioning, attempting to bribe CenturyLink (having all the neighbors offer to write a check right now for one year's service). To this day no one knows which of those, if any, actually finally worked.

I also live near enough to a major highway that I can get Verizon 4G LTE but not reliably... it winks in and out with various conditions. When it's working I can get up to 15 MB download on it, which is real sweet as long as you remember the data caps.

It does seem pretty divided, if you are in town you usually have at least two choices, cable and DSL, but once you are rural you have DSL only or nothing. It's pretty frustrating watching the phone carriers invest in upgrading DSL in areas that already have it or already have cable, while lots of people languish with no real choices. But they go where the money is, if they get 10% of the customers in town they are probably still making more than if they get 100% of the people in a rural area of the same size and expense to service.

 

[japody]

We just got 4G LTE after suffering with no internet out in the country. It works GREAT. 17MB download and no data cap!

 

[Country Geek]

We just got 4G LTE after suffering with no internet out in the country. It works GREAT. 17MB download and no data cap!

That's awesome. What carrier provides LTE with no data caps?

 

[japody]

Bugs Island Telephone (BIT). $62.95 at 4MB. They service Southside Virginia.

 

[Country Geek]

Bugs Island Telephone (BIT). $62.95 at 4MB. They service Southside Virginia.

That's excellent. I found their page for the service. BIT

Local phone co-ops seems to be doing some of the best work in getting broadband rolled out to rural areas. I guess that makes sense because they are closer to their customers and also don't have urban areas to prioritize over rural areas. There are a few pockets in my county that are served by co-ops and they seem pretty happy.