Rural High Speed Internet

[Wayne County Hose]

Are you sure you can't get DSL thru the phone line? I'm in quite a rural area, they told me they can't guarantee it would work, but it might. I'm on it right now.

 

[AlanB]

Another option is to go with the wireless card and a signal booster, this was the other way I was looking.

Cell Phone Antennas and Cell Phone Boosters at Wilson Electronics

This company was reccomended to me as having pretty much the best in the business with great customer service.

That said, I just figured if I was on the fringe, or edges, or I think I was just outside what Sprint and Verizon said I could get, and I was having problems, I would just be stuck. But would be an option worth considering.

I do not believe I have a phone line into my computer at all now that I am running my Wildblue.

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Well, I'm finally sick of dial up at home. Like many on here I suppose, I have no cable or DSL on my street. What are my options for high speed and what can I expect to pay? Equipment needed and installation costs? DIY? Also, any pitfalls or "watch out fors"? We don't have satelite TV and I'm not particularly interested in it either. Kids are used to the seven channels we get and that's fine.

Thanks!

In some areas you are starting to see Co's installing wireless systems, not Wi-Fi. Local phone Co doesn't have any interest in upgrading phone lines and local cable Co isn't interested in bring cable to this street but is available a quarter mile away at the corner. Small independent phone Co in a nearby community started installing a wireless system here to cover all the areas not currently service by local phone Co, Qwest.

Cost for this sytem is in the $30/mo range and they provided the wireless modem. Fortunately for me, they have a close by transciever a couple hundred yrs away. Speed is in the 50-60 kByte range. Range is line of sight for about 2-3 miles. Not exactly DSL or cable but sure beats dial-up.

You might check around to see is there is anything like this in your area.

 

[MossRoad]

Rob,
I'll be in the same boat if we ever build. There just isn't anything out there but regular phone service so I will be looking into satellite, cell and wireless.

I have a friend that lives outside of Cassopolis. I believe they have wild blue. I will ask and let you know. It is satellite. The service has to set it up for you because it is a transmitter.

As for celular service, someone sells a device that you stick your mobile card into and it becomes a wireless access point for your house. Then you wouldn't have to wire anything, just buy wireless adapters for any PCs on your house. It is worth checking into. I think the one service I saw was from Sprint, but I haven't check in years.

Rob,
I checked and they have Wild Blue through Midwest Energy Cooperative.

WildBlue

 

[SnowRidge]

Anyone considering the cell companies' broadband wireless should read the particular company's policies carefully. The last time I looked into it, Verizon had particularly onerous access rules regarding just what you could and couldn't do on their network, while Sprint had almost no rules, according to the report I read. This may have all changed, but it is something to keep in mind.

 

[MikePA]

As for Cingular, if you can get their signal, I bet they also have a monthly data cap. So, while they dont charge / byte they will start charging once youve reached the monthly limit. Verizon charges by the minute (.45 I think) after youve exceeded their cap. W/ them the charges sky rocket whether youve passing data or not.

You lose the bet.

Cingular has 3 DataConnect plans, only the cheapest one ($30/mo), has a 10mb limit. The $60 (the plan I have) and $100/month (adds WiFi) have unlimited data, no monthly data cap, no surprise charges.

 

[RobS]

Rob,
I checked and they have Wild Blue through Midwest Energy Cooperative.

WildBlue

Thanks Dave, and everyone else for all the great input. Now to find some time to study and decide...

 

[Robert_in_NY]

This is something I worry about if I ever move further into the country (which I want to do some day). I have had cable broadband for a few years now and I dread going back to dialup. But I have a few years before I have to worry about it so hopefully there will be more and cheaper options in the future.

As for the OP, does your town have cable? If so how far out of town do you live? If enough people on your road want cable maybe you can convince the cable company to run the line. I have Roadrunner now and am logged on 24/7 without having to worry about how much I download. I really don't want to give up cable if I move

 

[SnowRidge]

We spent about six months looking for new rural property. While broadband access wasn't a must have, it was definitely a really would like to have, so it was something we kept in mind. Because of my wife's work, satellite broadband is out for us, due to the latency, so the two access means we looked for when we considered a piece of property were cable and DSL, with cell tower availability in the back of our minds, too.

One thing became self evident pretty early on. With cable, it made a big difference which county the property was located in. In some counties, even very rural property had cable service. In others, our present county included, if you weren't in or near town or a high end subdivision, you were out of luck.

For DSL, the story was the same everywhere. Low population density equaled no DSL.

We ended up buying a nice chunk of property in a really low population density area. It is a the very end of a very narrow (12 feet wide) winding country road with only few houses on it. As is typical of the area, there is no DSL, but it does have digital cable.

The difference seems to be the cable franchise rules. We bought in a county that apparently had the foresight to require the cable company to serve ALL the county residents, and not just those in dense population areas. Our present county has a taxpayer funded cable TV board. As far as we can tell, it does absolutely nothing for the rural residents.

When we do build on our new property, we may stay with ISDN. It's still the cheapest way to get two phone lines, but we will use cable for Internet access

 

[EddieWalker]

I was talking to one of the guys here who is really up on this stuff and he told me that sprint has about the best system out there. Extremly reliable and fast enough to allow him to work from home or while on the road. He said that he could upload files while driving 70mph on the interstate on trips covering hundreds of miles each way!!!!! Price was around $60 or $70 per month.

I have Hughes satelitte and while it works most of the time, it's not reliable. It will go dead on me in the rain, which I expect, but also on perfectly clear days. It seems that clear, cold mornings are also a time to expect it to not work. I've had everything replaced on it to include the cables. I've had it changed to different satelittes for a stronger signal, only to learn that the signal isn't constant on any satelitte. It has strong days and week days.

When it's working, and to be honest, that's about 99 percent of the time, it's fine. Plenty of speed and all is good. It's those other times that frustrate us.

Tech support is in India. They are very halpful and do a good job, but if you get one that you cannot understand, hang up the phone and try again. Some speak perfect english, others are impossible to understand. Then you go throgh the process of question and answers until they move you up to the next level. At level three, you get the real help. It's a game and there's no getting around it.

Eddie

 

[MossRoad]

I was talking to one of the guys here who is really up on this stuff and he told me that sprint has about the best system out there. Extremly reliable and fast enough to allow him to work from home or while on the road. He said that he could upload files while driving 70mph on the interstate on trips covering hundreds of miles each way!!!!! Price was around $60 or $70 per month....

I have a support guy that has a Sprint card in his laptop and he says he can maintain a connection from Chicago to Boston while traveling I90. I asked him why he is using his laptop while driving!

 

[jimg]

You lose the bet.

Cingular has 3 DataConnect plans, only the cheapest one ($30/mo), has a 10mb limit. The $60 (the plan I have) and $100/month (adds WiFi) have unlimited data, no monthly data cap, no surprise charges.

What b/c you said it? Id like to see the contract first. Like I said *IF* you can get their signal then I bet you get nailed. Show me the contract.

 

[SnowRidge]

What b/c you said it? Id like to see the contract first. Like I said *IF* you can get their signal then I bet you get nailed. Show me the contract.

The following is snipped for their online version of the service plan, which, by the way, they make very difficult to find:

UNLIMITED PLANS CANNOT BE USED FOR UPLOADING, DOWNLOADING OR STREAMING OF VIDEO CONTENT (E.G. MOVIES, TV), MUSIC OR GAMES. FURTHERMORE, PLANS (UNLESS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNATED FOR TETHERING USAGE) CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY APPLICATIONS THAT TETHER THE DEVICE (THROUGH USE OF, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, CONNECTION KITS, OTHER PHONE/PDA-TO-COMPUTER ACCESSORIES, BLUETOOTHｮ OR ANY OTHER WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY) TO LAPTOPS, PCS, OR OTHER EQUIPMENT FOR ANY PURPOSE. Service is not intended to provide full-time connections, and the Service may be discontinued after a significant period of inactivity or after sessions of excessive usage. AT&T reserves the right to (i) limit throughput or amount of data transferred, deny Service and/or terminate Service, without notice, to anyone it believes is using the Service in any manner prohibited above or whose usage adversely impacts its wireless network or service levels or hinders access to its wireless network and (ii) protect its wireless network from harm, which may impact legitimate data flows. You may not send solicitations to AT&T's wireless subscribers without their consent. You may not use the Services other than as intended by AT&T and applicable law.

There was a lot more verbiage, but I think this part gets the point across. I read the above as, 'You can send as much data as you want, but only for the narrow purposes and in a manner that we specify, until we tell you no, which we reserve the right to do, so there! We are AT&T. We are God. Send us your money.'

Advantage to jimg.

 

[MikePA]

The following is snipped for their online version of the service plan, which, by the way, they make very difficult to find:

Please post the link to the site where this is posted. What you posted reads like an 'unlimited' plan associated with a cell phone.

"PLANS (UNLESS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNATED FOR TETHERING USAGE) CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY APPLICATIONS THAT TETHER THE DEVICE (THROUGH USE OF, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, CONNECTION KITS, OTHER PHONE/PDA-TO-COMPUTER ACCESSORIES, BLUETOOTHï½® OR ANY OTHER WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY) TO LAPTOPS, PCS, OR OTHER EQUIPMENT FOR ANY PURPOSE."

This is NOT a data plan associated with a cell phone.

 

[SnowRidge]

Please post the link to the site where this is posted.

This is NOT a data plan associated with a cell phone.

Here it is, and yes it is, although you can get the plan without a cell phone contract. I believe their is an additional fee of $10, if you don't have a voice plan with them. At least, it was the last time I looked into it in depth.

Terms and Conditions | AT&T

 

[MikePA]

Here it is, and yes it is, although you can get the plan without a cell phone contract. I believe their is an additional fee of $10, if you don't have a voice plan with them. At least, it was the last time I looked into it in depth.

Terms and Conditions | AT&T

Please quote the text related to what I was referring to, DataConnect plans.

This has NOTHING to do with a cell phone plan.

DATACONNECT NORTH AMERICA: Available countries, coverage and participating international wireless carriers included in the 'Select Canada/Mexico Roam Zone' vary from our generally available Canada/international wireless data roam zones and may not be as extensive. Voice access is restricted and prohibited. Includes up to 100MB of wireless data usage in the Select Canada/Mexico Roam Zone per month. Select Canada/Mexico Roam Zone is restricted to select wireless carrier(s) and coverage areas within Canada and Mexico. See att.com/dataconnectglobal for a current list of participating carriers and eligible roam zones. Additional wireless data usage in the Select Canada/Mexico Roam Zone is charged at: $0.005/KB. Standard international wireless data roaming rates apply to international data usage outside of Canada and Mexico. Under this plan, you will be restricted from accessing Service through any non-participating Canada/Mexico wireless carriers that may otherwise be included in our generally available Canada and international wireless data roam zones. Requires minimum one-year agreement and you must remain on eligible DataConnect North America plan for a minimum one-year term.

 

[SnowRidge]

Please quote the text related to what I was referring to, DataConnect plans.

This has NOTHING to do with a cell phone plan.

DATACONNECT NORTH AMERICA: Available countries, coverage and participating international wireless carriers included in the 'Select Canada/Mexico Roam Zone' vary from our generally available Canada/international wireless data roam zones and may not be as extensive. Voice access is restricted and prohibited. Includes up to 100MB of wireless data usage in the Select Canada/Mexico Roam Zone per month. Select Canada/Mexico Roam Zone is restricted to select wireless carrier(s) and coverage areas within Canada and Mexico. See att.com/dataconnectglobal for a current list of participating carriers and eligible roam zones. Additional wireless data usage in the Select Canada/Mexico Roam Zone is charged at: $0.005/KB. Standard international wireless data roaming rates apply to international data usage outside of Canada and Mexico. Under this plan, you will be restricted from accessing Service through any non-participating Canada/Mexico wireless carriers that may otherwise be included in our generally available Canada and international wireless data roam zones. Requires minimum one-year agreement and you must remain on eligible DataConnect North America plan for a minimum one-year term.

I did. What you have above are not the terms and conditions. Go to the following DataConnect (Unlimited) page:

Get Started - Wireless from AT&T, formerly Cingular

Now go to the link on the bottom of the page called Plan Terms. It will lead you directly to those onerous terms and conditions.

Those are the published terms of the plan you are advocating.

Edit: Let me add that we are in range of a Cingular/AT&T tower here, and the only reason we didn't switch from ISDN to high speed wireless is those very same terms and conditions. They haven't changed since I looked into it when Cingular was deploying their high speed network. If anything, AT&T may have added more restrictions, by the length of the document.

Sprint is said to not have those kind of restrictions. I haven't checked, since we are not in range of one of their sites.

 

[3RRL]

I have a support guy that has a Sprint card in his laptop and he says he can maintain a connection from Chicago to Boston while traveling I90. I asked him why he is using his laptop while driving!

Moss, I am looking into this as well and and other plans. I have gotten a couple good sources, learned more about it too.
But when I first read your post I said, man, I gotta get a car like that!
I thought you said 190, not I90.

 

[MikePA]

Those are the published terms of the plan you are advocating.

I quoted the terms applicable to Dataconnect. The only other item that might apply is what amounts to a Fair Use Policy. There's NOTHING there that mentions additional data charges which is what jimg keeps mentioning.

I've used this service for YEARS, downloaded service packs and other software, and I've never been FAPped nor been charge for data transmissions that exceeded unlimited. Personal experience isn't enough for some people.

RobS - Good luck in your search.

 

[SnowRidge]

I quoted the terms applicable to Dataconnect. The only other item that might apply is what amounts to a Fair Use Policy. There's NOTHING there that mentions additional data charges which is what jimg keeps mentioning.

I've used this service for YEARS, downloaded service packs and other software, and I've never been FAPped nor been charge for data transmissions that exceeded unlimited. Personal experience isn't enough for some people.

RobS - Good luck in your search.

True, they don't say they will bill you for overages, but they do tell you what you can and can't do, including terms that preclude using the card in a wireless router feeding a LAN, which bans using it for a home network. Basically, they are saying they will take your money as a customer until it is more convenient for them to cut you off than serve you, and they leave themselves plenty of wiggle room to do so by banning a lot of legitimate Internet activities.

So far, you haven't had problems. That's good, but it doesn't mean someone else won't, or you won't at some future date. They have a really customer-hostile attitude, and I don't expect the AT&T control to ameliorate that.