Internet options

[kco]

Hello All,

I live where I can not get cable access, and the cell reception is terrible. My kids now use the internet for school projects, so I need to do something. I know satellite internet does not get good reviews, but it is my only option. Any opinions on Wild Blue or Hughesnet? Anything, or any other options I'm missing?

Thanks.

Jim

Sounds like I live in an area comparable to yours. DSL is not available due to a terrible phone company that will not spend a nickle to upgrade 40 year old landlines and poor cell coverage due to hills.

I have wireless internet through a local provider and have had speeds up to 4 Mbps with average being about 1.5 Mbps download and 1 MBps up. I help the local provider and he went to extra lengths to supply my service. My service feeds through two neighbours who are on DSL. They are closer to the phone exchange so DSL works.

Anyhow, wireless internet is an option if you have a provider. If you have a neighbour with DSL and within 10 miles or so, you could perhaps get an additional DSL service at his place and use wireless radios to get the signal up to your place. My provider uses Tranzeo radios.

 

[Uprangewilly]

As others have said a local WISP would be the best, if you dont have a Wireless Internet Provider around you then a cell phone may work.

Look at Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, Etc., and see if you can get 3G at your home. If you can, then use a cell phone like a Droid, Iphone, etc. and get an app like Pdanet for the android operating system and that app will allow you to use your 3g signal from your phone to give your computer internet access through on of your USB ports. I use this for a while till we were offered DSL and it was surprisingly good. Around 1.5mb download. Good luck.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I had Wild Blue for about 4 years, until the phone company got around to providing DSL in my area. Web pages didn't load very fast because of the long ping times and the multiple handshakes, but streaming video worked OK. It was impossible for online gaming. I ran the modem into a wireless router, so my wife and I both had internet at the same time.

I have heard that Hughesnet oversells their bandwidth. You may have to get on a waiting list for Wild Blue, because they only sell what is available. I always got the contract connection speed, with very few weather outages.

The idea of 3G or 4G service from a cell phone is a good one, if you can boost your signal, either with an external antenna or a signal amplifier. Older technology was a wireless cell card in the computer, or a cell phone tethered to the computer by USB. New technology is a cell phone that will act as a WiFi hot spot for up to 4 different devices. The caveat here is that even if you can get a cell signal, you might not be on the cell provider's high speed network.

 

[deerseeker001]

it sounds like the same situation in was in,i had dial-up with 2 phone lines coming in one for phone one for computer.i couldn't stand the download speed.i have had Hughes for 3 years and am very happy with it.it was actually cheaper than the phone line.i got rid of the land line altogether and we use att which was the only one we could get the reception.we are kinda in the sticks in northern WI.no dsl her so this was the best option.

 

[grsthegreat]

I don't know where you live, but i use an over the air microwave Internet type of service, but NOT hughesnet (sucks) or wildblue (very poor reception for me). Mine beams the signal about 30 miles to a mountain top antenna that the provider maintains, then its onto a t5 line. I get 3 meg download and 1 meg upload (could pay for whatever i need). This suits my needs just fine and it costs about $59/month. I was paying 75/mo for hughesnet and i never got NEAR 1 meg download...even on their commercial service. I have a 12" dish on my house that points nearly vertical to mountain top, and no snow or rain collects or hampers service. Unlimited bandwidth and no peak times.Always fast

The big problem with any sat provider is the 22,000 miles out in space. the ping times are ridiculous. Alot of times my speed tests would ping out on me. The land based microwave systems out there have ping times in the range of 30-45MS.

 

[Boondox]

Larry,

We had Wild Blue for years. In the first couple of years it was okay, definitely a step up from dialup. But in the past couple of years it was so SLOW that I couldn't even connect in the evenings without timing out. On one of our many calls to tech support they admitted to overselling their bandwidth significantly, and suggested getting up early if I wanted to surf the Web.

We now have DSL at half the cost and several times the speed.

 

[thatguy]

I use the Verizon hot spot 3g. I have a plan of 10gigs for $80. There is no other dsn or cell signal available in our OK area. It works pretty good but reception can be iffy. I want to look for a cell signal booster for the hotspot.

this is said to work with the 3g mifi

http://3gstore.com/product/2188_mifi-signal-booster.html

Brian

 

[ayelvington]

I'd call your local Chamber of Commerce to see what you might be overlooking. I understand the technical limitations of DSL, and that you don't have decent cellular access. There may be a private wifi solution which is what some of my neighbors use.

We had WildBlue before DSL arrived. My only suggestion is to ONLY commit for one year. Things change fast, and they will want their pound of flesh if you try to get out of your contract early. Yes, satellite has its issues, but there is no comparison with dial-up.

I did contingency communications for the Coast Guard for a while, and sometimes you just have to suck it up and work with what is available!

 

[kco]

I don't know where you live, but i use an over the air microwave Internet type of service, but NOT hughesnet (sucks) or wildblue (very poor reception for me). Mine beams the signal about 30 miles to a mountain top antenna that the provider maintains, then its onto a t5 line. I get 3 meg download and 1 meg upload (could pay for whatever i need). This suits my needs just fine and it costs about $59/month. I was paying 75/mo for hughesnet and i never got NEAR 1 meg download...even on their commercial service. I have a 12" dish on my house that points nearly vertical to mountain top, and no snow or rain collects or hampers service. Unlimited bandwidth and no peak times.Always fast

The big problem with any sat provider is the 22,000 miles out in space. the ping times are ridiculous. Alot of times my speed tests would ping out on me. The land based microwave systems out there have ping times in the range of 30-45MS.

Can you supply a few more details as to the make and model of equipment, frequency, and name of your service provider?

I've just spent another day trying to improve my and my neighbour's signal. I'm on a 2.4 MHz system requiring line of sight and I'm powering-out from topping trees. Besides, the internet provider has three offers on his system and I'm not sure the new owners will be as accomodating.

I have line of site to a major radio tower about 24 km from here. Your service details would help me to ask the right questions.

Thanks

 

[grsthegreat]

Can you supply a few more details as to the make and model of equipment, frequency, and name of your service provider?

I've just spent another day trying to improve my and my neighbour's signal. I'm on a 2.4 MHz system requiring line of sight and I'm powering-out from topping trees. Besides, the internet provider has three offers on his system and I'm not sure the new owners will be as accomodating.

I have line of site to a major radio tower about 24 km from here. Your service details would help me to ask the right questions.

Thanks

My provider is JR electronics in post falls Idaho. They use Motorola Canopy gear, but im not sure of the specifics. Heres a wiki site that describes it better
Motorola Canopy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Good luck

 

[kco]

My provider is JR electronics in post falls Idaho. They use Motorola Canopy gear, but im not sure of the specifics. Heres a wiki site that describes it better
Motorola Canopy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Good luck

Thanks for the information grsthegreat. :thumbsup: The Canopy Lite gear looks similar to the Tranzeo equipment my provider uses. But other Motorola options appear to provide better range. I downloaded several manuals from Motorola which will help me evaluate options and to ask providers (semi) intelligent questions.

Cheers

 

[Financegal]

Also very rural and no cable and probably never will be here. They added a few new antennas to the cell tower and it took awhile but I can now also use the Verizon Fivespot 3G. It's much faster than dialup and for the most part is usually available but it's spotty sometimes also. Also told I could get the booster to pull in a stronger signal if necessary - think that would have been a $250 one time charge.

 

[tungularafishcamp]

For me the only options are starband and hugesnet. Starband another satellite internet service is a bit more money than hugesnet and doesnt work very well in Alaska.

I have been really happy with hugesnet, unlimited downloads starting at 10 pm here so can always watch a movie. Never go over my daily bandwidth unless someone is watching video. Had 3 computers out here this summer for awhile and it slowed thing down but all could browse at once.

I got my equipment on ebay and it has worked fine for 2 years. I was able to install it myself(way easier than starband) and the only problem was the modem was registered to a different satellite than the only one I can pick up. Many phone calls to the india help desk(very frustrating especially as I am hard of hearing) I finally got thru to an American technician who is only supposed to help liscensed installers. After talking 5 minutes with him he knew it was at their end, he made one phone call and bam it has worked flawlessly ever since. Rain doesnt slow it down much, heavy snow does tho.

It is in no way comparable to cable or dsl but is way faster than dialup. When I was in Oregon this last winter I picked up a verizon mifi unit for internet at the family farm and it worked ok but not as fast as my hugesnet. Of course it was on the edge of its range and no 3g or anything.

I agree with signing up for the short term cause things are happening fast. Just 5 years ago unless I wanted to pay 6 grand and 2 bucks a minute to make a phone call from home I had to take a 25 mile boat ride to use a phone, now I can lay in bed and surf the net

 

[jmls1994]

Thanks for all of the help so far! MicroPilot suggested that I check out wisp providers. I did & we may be with in range of one. They are doing a site survey and should get back with me in about a week or two. So we'll see. I do currently have the Verizon Mifi, but because of our weak cell reception it is barely faster than dial up. If the wisp provider falls through I might check out cell phone boosters.
Thanks again for all the good advice & suggestions.

 

[MotorSeven]

Hello All,

I live where I can not get cable access, and the cell reception is terrible. My kids now use the internet for school projects, so I need to do something. I know satellite internet does not get good reviews, but it is my only option. Any opinions on Wild Blue or Hughesnet? Anything, or any other options I'm missing?

Thanks.

Jim

My situation is exactly the same. Cell does not work(steep ridges and too few towers), no broadband or fiber optics available(4 years ago they said it was coming in 3 years...project has not even begun).

Dial-up is not an option, so 4 over years ago I went with WildBlue. For a couple of years I was happy with their service, it's not broadband but it is useable. Then like a switch it slowed down, and many calls later along with a service tech visit there was zero change.

I was out of contract so I decided to try Hugesnet. They didn't tell me about the download limit and my old contract with Wildblue was for unlimited downloads. My wife owns a Real Estate Company here and she hit the limit the first day. I called them and the "fine print" of my contract was brought to my attention. It's my fault, but they should have verbally disclosed the 24hr download limit & I thought it was sleazy that they slide this past customers. So I cancelled them & spent a few weeks looking for an alternative...there ain't one as now WildBlue also has download limits. So I groveled back to HughesNet and now just monitor my download quanity. I don't game or open many video's so it has not been a big problem. My wife gets frustrated because she has broadband at here office and it's half that speed at home, but it works.

Eddie mine works on all but the heaviest of rain and snow and is way faster than the WildBlue. $70 a month ain't cheap but it's the only game in town.

 

[tratliff]

I am currently dealing with the same situation. In my area 3g is available but very weak at my place. Phone might ring but having a conversation is impossible. I picked up one of the Wilson desktop DT cell boosters this week at Best Buy ($299) and will install to see if the signal is powerful enough for a 3g hotspot. I'll post results early next week.

 

[hawkeye08]

My provider is Air-Pipe and they also use Motorola Canopy equipment. It is not the fastest but has been pretty reliable. I connect almost 11 miles line of sight and the weather does not impact me (except when temps at the access point hover around freezing causing ice buildup on the antennas).

There are several wifi providers driving 802.3b beyond specs with some success.

 

[troutsqueezer]

After years of Wild Blue we switched over to Verizon 3G Mobile. The online coverage map put us right at the hairy edge so this was a gamble. Sure enough, when we hooked up, the signal was weak and connectivity was intermittant and slow.

Problem solved. I bought a Yagi antenna (small, directional and cheap) and then located the cell tower location thru Antenna Search. I went to Google Earth and plotted a line from my house to the cell tower. I mounted the antenna at the roof line of my house to keep the wire short that connected to my USB dongle (less signal loss) and pointed in the direction indicated by my Google Earth print out.

Now I have 4 bars and very reliable service. If you are thinking of this route, you need to be sure your dongle has a jack to hook up an external antenna. The MiFi does not but the USB760 does. It's best if there are no big hills nor mountains between you and the cell tower. My cell tower is 13 miles away and goes over a few lower hills.

 

[hayden]

Hughesnet sucks, sucks, sucks, sucks. Did I mention they suck?

If you can get Wildblue, do it.

I suffered through Hughesnet for 10 years because there was no alternative. The equipment is unreliable, and the customer service is the worst I have ever encountered anywhere, and I've encountered a lot of really bad customer service. I finally found a local company that had a small network of long distance (2-3 miles) wifi stations. I had to build a receiving station on a hill side, cut down three threes, run 800 feet of conduit, crossing two roads and a stream, pull cat 5 cable, pull power wire, build a mid-way substation to repeat the Ethernet signal, build two power converters, and re-do the house network. Sound like a lot of work? Nope, it was the happiest day of my life 'cause I was able to shut off hughesnet and tell them to go kiss off. I even happily paid an early termination fee.

I used to tell my wife that every time I needed to call them it took a day off my life. It's like there's a voice response system on the other end of the line, except it's a human. But just as inflexible and incapable of rational though and discussion as a voice response system.

All other aspects of their business exhibits equal incompetence. I had to buy a replacement modem (yes, buy - it was just out of warranty), and also had to return the old one. I shipped back the old one, had delivery confirmation from UPS, but 3 weeks later they started sending me hate mail saying I hadn't returned the device and was going to be charged for it. I decided to forfeit another day off my life and called them and spent 30-45 min telling them that they had received the equipment, blah, blah, blah.

Also, when you terminate service, you can return the equipment for a credit, but they won't tell you that. You have to have read it in the fine print of their agreement and remembered it. But they won't give you the credit either, at least not until you call and complain about it. It took 10 weeks to get mine.

After I dumped them, I took down all the equipment, lined it up in a row in the yard, and crushed it all with my dozer. It was glorious!

 

[grsthegreat]

Hughesnet sucks, sucks, sucks, sucks. Did I mention they suck?

If you can get Wildblue, do it.

I suffered through Hughesnet for 10 years because there was no alternative. The equipment is unreliable, and the customer service is the worst I have ever encountered anywhere, and I've encountered a lot of really bad customer service. I finally found a local company that had a small network of long distance (2-3 miles) wifi stations. I had to build a receiving station on a hill side, cut down three threes, run 800 feet of conduit, crossing two roads and a stream, pull cat 5 cable, pull power wire, build a mid-way substation to repeat the Ethernet signal, build two power converters, and re-do the house network. Sound like a lot of work? Nope, it was the happiest day of my life 'cause I was able to shut off hughesnet and tell them to go kiss off. I even happily paid an early termination fee.

I used to tell my wife that every time I needed to call them it took a day off my life. It's like there's a voice response system on the other end of the line, except it's a human. But just as inflexible and incapable of rational though and discussion as a voice response system.

All other aspects of their business exhibits equal incompetence. I had to buy a replacement modem (yes, buy - it was just out of warranty), and also had to return the old one. I shipped back the old one, had delivery confirmation from UPS, but 3 weeks later they started sending me hate mail saying I hadn't returned the device and was going to be charged for it. I decided to forfeit another day off my life and called them and spent 30-45 min telling them that they had received the equipment, blah, blah, blah.

Also, when you terminate service, you can return the equipment for a credit, but they won't tell you that. You have to have read it in the fine print of their agreement and remembered it. But they won't give you the credit either, at least not until you call and complain about it. It took 10 weeks to get mine.

After I dumped them, I took down all the equipment, lined it up in a row in the yard, and crushed it all with my dozer. It was glorious!

When i first got hughesnet it was wonderful...fast fast fast. Then they oversold the service and every month it got slower slower slower.

I paid them to upgrade me to commercial plan and they re aimed dish to different sat. Worked great for a few months...then that slowed down also. Guess they oversold that one also.

I was paying $119 per month for prob 1 meg service on a good day. The best day in my internet life was ripping that dish off my roof , putting it in the front yard and setting it ablaze.

My current microwave system gives me at worse 2 meg at best 3 meg for about $50/month. Now my wife works for Frontier comm, and they promise to get us either DSL or something i believe called VSL within a year ...way out here in the sticks. Up to 40 meg. ill believe it when i see it myself.