Rural Internet & Cell Phones

[rScotty]

In the photo forum, PILOON just posted something that got me to thinking.....

For myself and many other rural types PLEASE keep the files small as many simply don't have hi speed.

Our phone provider only provides dial up service and we have to resort to a private system but even that is limited and extra slow on week ends. (Too manydownloading hi def films)

I've also wondered about just how this difference in communication speed will add to the different was of looking at the world between rural and city populations.

Take cell phones for example.....When I go to town, I see people absolutely glued to their pocket phones. No matter what they are doing, they seem to think it is equally important that they be simultaneously talking to someone while they are doing it*.

That doesn't happen so much in the rural US simply because there still isn't much cell phone coverage in rural areas. In fact, where we live, there isn't any cell phone service at all.
We are only 100 miles from Denver - close enough that we sometimes shop there - and our telephone plugs into the wall. Basically it is a type of dial up via wires. Long distance is an expensive premium service.

Us rural folks have always spent our time differently than our town cousins, and with the difference in cell phone coverage our divide seems to be growing larger.
rScotty

*what ARE they talking about so much??

 

[marchanna]

Sharing funny pictures from the internet and gossiping.

 

[forgeblast]

Its called the digital divide. Its frustrating at times when you want to use technology and the bandwidth is just not there. Dont get me wrong I enjoy the disconnect but when I want to use it and its not available then its madding.

 

[oosik]

I'm almost 76. So I grew up in a completely different age and time. You know all the "NO's". No TV, no internet etc,etc. When I leave the house - I VERY SELDOM take my cell phone. Only if I am going to be making an important call. My MAIN mode of communication is via email. Cell phone service out here is the pits.

I don't have a land line phone or hard line for internet. I often wonder if its a matter of insecurity that drives folks to be in contact with somebody all the time???

 

[PILOON]

LOL, won't tell my age but as a youth our 1st phone was on the wall with a crank on the side.
Then came a major update, a candlestick phone. (And we were merely in the suburbs of Montreal.)
Our Tel# was 305 R3-1

LOL now I'm 'back in the sticks', 1 hr north of Montreal on a lakeside with every sort of wildlife to enjoy and still close enough to a major metropolitan area, 40 mins commute for those so inclined, and many do so as rush hour traffic will show.

LOL, now I have me a new smart phone and it is smarted than me, but hey, I graduated from a flip. It was an Xmas gift from my wife.
Guess I should make a call with it to see if it actually works, if I can figure out how, LOL.
At least it is 'SMART' as it transferred all my contacts from this computer.

 

[kcflhrc]

I don't know, I see plenty of farmers around here talking on the phone while in the tractor or combine. So I think it's more of a coverage issue than anything. We are southwest of Kansas City and cell coverage is pretty good. Not taking your phone with you nowadays into the field is just kinda silly. I have heard plenty of stories of farmers hurt in the field for hours before anyone found them. So the phone is not only convenient but a good safety measure.

 

[pmsmechanic]

We live in an area that has oil therefore the cell service is excellent here. In fact most people don't even bother with landlines anymore. Most cell plans include enough minutes to accommodate what you need. I have unlimited calling to any number in Canada. We haven't had a landline for about 7 years.

Internet is through a separate company that sprinkled the province of Alberta with carrier grade towers and started selling internet. It's not the greatest or fastest service but it's adequate. I still remember dial up though and don't miss it one bit. I wonder if satellite would be a viable alternative. Around here the competition keeps prices reasonable.

 

[Oaktree]

I've also wondered about just how this difference in communication speed will add to the different was of looking at the world between rural and city populations.

Its called the digital divide. Its frustrating at times when you want to use technology and the bandwidth is just not there. Dont get me wrong I enjoy the disconnect but when I want to use it and its not available then its madding.

It can be frustrating, and doesn't seem to be getting much better. The switch to digital tv was another step that isolated rural America...you're pretty much stuck with some sort of pay service for reception if you're more than 50 mi. or so from a city, especially in mountainous areas like where I live.

When I leave the house - I VERY SELDOM take my cell phone. Only if I am going to be making an important call. My MAIN mode of communication is via email. Cell phone service out here is the pits.

I don't have a land line phone or hard line for internet. I often wonder if its a matter of insecurity that drives folks to be in contact with somebody all the time???

I also only use a cellphone (just a cheapie "burner" flip-phone) for emergencies, etc. Our home phone is part of a cable bundle, don't plan on getting rid of it anytime soon. When we moved here in the mid 00s, there was almost no cell service north of the White Mountains. It's better now, but get away from the major highways and it gets spotty fast. Pretty iffy here at the house. I have zero interest in getting a smart phone.

While it isn't great, satellite internet is at least an option in rural areas. I ditched it about 5 years ago when cable came thru here, and from what I've heard it's better now than it was, though some things like latency or storm fade you're pretty much stuck with.

I don't understand the need many (especially those under 40) have to be "connected" at all times.

Take cell phones for example.....When I go to town, I see people absolutely glued to their pocket phones. No matter what they are doing, they seem to think it is equally important that they be simultaneously talking to someone while they are doing it*.

What's even worse is the need most young people and way too many not-so-young people seem to have to check their email/Facebook page/whatever it is they're checking every couple minutes even at the dinner table or in a face to face conversation. I wonder if they realize they're being rude, or are just so self-absorbed that they don't care.

 

[cqaigy2]

Maybe Elon's satellite will come to fruition and provide decent internet for those of us in those areas that Cable etc ISP companies won't go.

 

[kcflhrc]

Plenty of options for satellite internet if that's all you can get.

 

[ericm979]

There's already satellite internet with wide coverage. Has been for a long time. For example DISH network covers the entire US. You'll need a sky view to where the satellite is just like with satellite TV. The main drawbacks to satellite internet is that it's very asymmetrical- (high bandwidth download, low upload) and the travel up to the satellite and back down to earth adds a delay. It's mostly noticeable if you're remotely logged into another computer. The typing delay gets annoying.

When I first moved to the mountains 20 years ago I was running web and mail servers from my house and did a lot of remote logging in for work. So I got 56k frame relay instead of satellite. This was back when you could run a web server off 56k as web pages were a lot smaller without tons of javascript. The phone company had five trucks on our road for a week pulling new lines from the local exchange to our place. I got my fixed fee $1k installation's worth on that one. Since then a couple services have popped up to provide radio based internet to our mountains and we switched to one of those.

 

[oosik]

Well - if it weren't for satellites I would not have internet or TV service. My crappy phone service - who cares. When I go out to work on my property - I just have to do it the old way - BE CAREFUL, ALL the time. 36+ years out here and never hurt myself so bad that I couldn't get back to the house.

I've had experience getting emergency services out here - it takes longer than the "golden hour"...............

 

[PILOON]

We are 'up north' which is cottage and retirement area. (only 1 hr close to Montreal).
Beautiful clean environment and pure air.

City consul announced that they were installing WIFI in all the parks!
WHAT? so the youth can breathe fresh air while texting all day?

Guess that's the price today to get the youth outdoors.

 

[kcflhrc]

I'm relatively certain you don't need wifi to text. I will say this though. I install broadband for a living and wifi pacemakers are the new norm. Pretty crazy stuff

 

[bunyip]

I'm relatively certain you don't need wifi to text. I will say this though. I install broadband for a living and wifi pacemakers are the new norm. Pretty crazy stuff

But if it is free it saves your data quota.
Texting annoys me especially customers ahead of me at the hairdresser who have to pull out their phone when it beeps, makes the wait longer and I would put money on it that the message is not even important.
Mine has gone off in my pocket and the hairdressers asks if I am going to take it, I tell him it can wait for which he is grateful as it must impact on his profit margin at the end of the day.

 

[Oaktree]

The main drawbacks to satellite internet is that it's very asymmetrical- (high bandwidth download, low upload) and the travel up to the satellite and back down to earth adds a delay. It's mostly noticeable if you're remotely logged into another computer. The typing delay gets annoying..

Isn't most consumer internet asymmetrical? My cable is 15M down, 1 up. I don't know why it's that way unless it's to discourage residential users from web hosting and the like.

You're lucky you can get get remote access programs to run at all. Before I got cable I had Wildblue...the latency was so high and the speed was so low that Teamviewer (which I use to remote-administer clients) would time out before it even connected.

 

[ericm979]

Yep, consumer internet is pretty much all asymmetrical now. It wasn't that way 20 years ago. Now days people download movies, web pages are super bloated, etc. But few produce anything. If you do you can buy web and email hosting in the cloud so you don't need your own servers.

For the last 25 years wife and I have worked from home a lot when we have regular jobs and all the time when we're self-employed. Good internet has been a must.

 

[rScotty]

I don't think we will be going back to the "good old days" before cell phones became so popular. So somehow the cell coverage has got to improve. Maybe upgrading coverage could be made part of the new public interest in infrastructure improvement.

If so, I'd welcome it. I'd like to have coverage where we are. Yep, right now it does look to me that many are over-using it to the detriment of the rest of their life....but that's the way it is with new toys. Frankly, I'd have loved to have modern communication available to me when I was a kid. Wouldn't have lost touch with so many old friends and classmates that way. I expect the modern generation will have the opposite problem.

Hmmm......with so much computing power, speed, and the cloud available for a storage resource, how about we invent a a "smart phone" that translates between languages in real time?
rScotty

 

[Oaktree]

I don't think we will be going back to the "good old days" before cell phones became so popular. So somehow the cell coverage has got to improve. Maybe upgrading coverage could be made part of the new public interest in infrastructure improvement.

If so, I'd welcome it. I'd like to have coverage where we are. Yep, right now it does look to me that many are over-using it to the detriment of the rest of their life....but that's the way it is with new toys. Frankly, I'd have loved to have modern communication available to me when I was a kid.

Yeah, cell technology is definitely has 2 sides. Certainly makes life easier if you need to be on call for work, are expecting a call or are on the road a lot. The downside is once it's possible for you to be reached anytime, anywhere it quickly turns into an obligation to be.

As far as coverage improving, that is happening, I'm seeing new towers going up all the time here. I'm sure there are places so thinly populated that there will never be enough ROI to make it worthwhile.

 

[ratpie]

all hail lord elon. may the dark times be behind us.

starlink officially started yesterday