Rural High Speed Internet

[riptides]

Thanks Dan.

Last Result:
Download Speed: 4942 kbps (617.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 1324 kbps (165.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

All I know is it sure is faster than dialup!

Now that you on high speed, TBN will require more postings on your projects and rural life.

Congradulations and enjoy the ride.

Consider yourself lucky to have a company offering WiFi. The US broadband market leave MUCH to be desired. Everyone, everywhere in the US that has a telephone should have broadband speeds. Too bad for us.

-Mike Z.

 

[txdon]

Rob you are flying. As a comparison with Wildblue satellite my test results are:
Download - 736 kbps
Upload - 120 kbps

 

[MrJimi]

here is one for you
Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test
Have fun
Jim

 

[MrJimi]

I pay over $50 per month for this

http://www.speedtest.net/result/218549921.png
and I love it
Jim

 

[RobS]

Looks pretty darn good Jim, here's mine:

 

[MrJimi]

Very impressive Rob. Now if I go and get results from another server, the results will vary very much and if you will notice it is 300 miles away from me??
If your happy with what you have.. That is all that is important and you aren't paying over $50 per month like I am


I don't think these things are very accurate
Jim

 

[MikePA]

Here's some pics of the install.

Where and how did they route the wires?

 

[RobS]

Where and how did they route the wires?

Here's where my homework finally paid off Mike. I had prewired the house at construction with two each cat5e and coax from each room/location to the basement. All he had to to was tie in to one of the cat5e lines in the attic which ran to the basement where I brought it back to my computer room. That's where the router is. My desktop is hardwired, wife's laptop and my work laptop are wireless off the router. The kids each have one of our old desktops in their rooms. I intend to link them in only for print sharing but no internet. They can only use internet from one of our PCs, at least for now.

I'd post a picture of my basement wiring closet but it's really embarassing. Works great but as I'm unwilling to spend the bucks for a tidy wiring box it looks hideous.

 

[tommu56]

Rob
does the broadband use your power?
and do they have a web site.

tom

 

[cqaigy2]

Wow that's great!! Highspeed access and at a resonable price. I'll hazard it's a little faster then my 26.4kbps dialup.

 

[UpstateSC_Papi]

Just found out today that new home site has nothing... no cable, no DSL... sigh... interesting thread here...

Appears AT&T and Wildblue have some sort of "partnership" now?

RobS - Still liking your setup?

Michael

 

[RobS]

Just found out today that new home site has nothing... no cable, no DSL... sigh... interesting thread here...

Appears AT&T and Wildblue have some sort of "partnership" now?

RobS - Still liking your setup?

Michael

Yep, still loving it but I'm holding my breath slightly until summer when all the leaves are out. Should be OK, but...

 

[UpstateSC_Papi]

Do you have a website or other contact for them besides www.imbroadband.com? That link is worthless. Only talks about setting up email.

Are they national or just Michigan/Midwest located? I might be wasting my time investigating them.

 

[RobS]

They're local, operating off only two cell towers. I suspect that is the case with these outfits. I wouldn't have any idea how to contact someone about service in your area.

 

[UpstateSC_Papi]

Hmmm... Interesting... I wonder how I can start up this business in my area! I know of at least 6 people that would be interested... I digress... Thanks for the info!!

Sidenote - Commented on your photo site. Very good stuff!

Michael

 

[RobS]

Thanks! I just put that site together in the past couple of weeks. I'll PM you with the imBroadband phone number. Maybe you can pick their brains on how to find and/or set up something similar.

 

[wjoerob]

We have Wildblue, and just came out of a "slowdown" of this "service" we pay for. A family member did a little too much downloading, and next thing you know there is no service. SLOWER than dial-up, no connection at all! It took 2 weeks to get out of it, because it's based on a 30-day "rolling average". During that time, do you think I could get hold of anybody by phone or online? Nope, Customer Service and Tech Support were AWOL. Several times, the recording told me "Please try you call back again in a few hours" and hung up on me! They also have the 3 levels of "service", each with its own upload and download limits. But how do you keep track of how much you've been doing if several family members are on a network? Believe me, I will be cancelling once the year's contract is up, and also the DirectTV I got as a package with it.

 

[MasseyWV]

We only had dialup available for many years, then we got DirecWay (now HughesNet), and finally were able to get real cable internet.

Words of warning about HughesNet (from actual experience).

1. It is too expensive.
2. Expect frequent connection issues (especially when it rains).
3. Technical support is a joke.
4. Not half as fast as they claim (especially with their Fair Access Policy).

 

[WarrenF]

We have Wildblue, and just came out of a "slowdown" of this "service" we pay for. A family member did a little too much downloading, and next thing you know there is no service. SLOWER than dial-up, no connection at all! It took 2 weeks to get out of it, because it's based on a 30-day "rolling average". During that time, do you think I could get hold of anybody by phone or online? Nope, Customer Service and Tech Support were AWOL. Several times, the recording told me "Please try you call back again in a few hours" and hung up on me! They also have the 3 levels of "service", each with its own upload and download limits. But how do you keep track of how much you've been doing if several family members are on a network? Believe me, I will be cancelling once the year's contract is up, and also the DirectTV I got as a package with it.

On the Wildblue portal you can pull up your account download information. The problem is many people run into the Fair Access Policy, even when they are told about it and cautioned at time of install. Then they think it is Wildblue's fault for not paying attention. Here is a suggestion, either go up in the service level, or stop trying to provide Internet service to all of your family with your wireless router.

Many people think they are scamming the system....by hooking up their next door neighbor or family member who lives next door. Sadly, you usually get burned.

Practice this saying....NO I am sorry but I purchased the system for the people in my house to use. However if you would like to purchase your own system, I would be happy to provide you with the number I called.

 

[riptides]

On the Wildblue portal you can pull up your account download information. The problem is many people run into the Fair Access Policy, even when they are told about it and cautioned at time of install. Then they think it is Wildblue's fault for not paying attention. Here is a suggestion, either go up in the service level, or stop trying to provide Internet service to all of your family with your wireless router.

Pretty wild asumptions on your part. If you get down to it, we are talking about data limits. No where in the access policies does it say from where they must originate. Most other ISP access policies have this same fault.

-Mike Z.