If one lives outside the cities and the suburbs, what is the best choice for high speed interent. Is DSl available out in the country, or am I stuck with dial-up? What do the super rich folks from Hollywood and Wall Street do for their internet when they have houses way out in the boonies? I can't beleive they just use dial-up. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Rural Broadband?
- Thread starter seabass069
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i'd first check with your phone and cable companies to see if they offer dsl or cable out there; they might. i have a friend out 'in the boonies' who uses satellite, and he somehow manages to game, despite its high latency.
I'm stuck out here in the boonies with a heart pounding 28,800bps dial-up
No cable or DSL available.
And I've lost 8 modems over the years from power surges.
Direcway sat would run $599 for the dish and $59.00 per month
and because of the crappy phone lines I would only have one way incoming.
No cable or DSL available.
And I've lost 8 modems over the years from power surges.
Direcway sat would run $599 for the dish and $59.00 per month
and because of the crappy phone lines I would only have one way incoming.
Check with your phone company and see whether you can get DSL. I've heard that coverage isn't as good in the US as it is here (bigger country = higher costs) but try it anyway.
Yeah, best to at least check with your DSL provider, you never know.
Here, for instance, my province is about 1.5x the area of Texas, we only have 1 million people in total (i.e. very barren and wide open!), yet my company (the local ISP) has managed to deliver High Speed Internet (1.5 Mbps minimum) to any town with a population of 400 or more. Smaller towns have high speed wireless access.
Of course, not everyone is going to be as lucky as this, I realize - we are one of the most advanced ISPs in N. America...
But as I said, at least check what your options are - in this day and age no one should be relegated to dial-up!
Here, for instance, my province is about 1.5x the area of Texas, we only have 1 million people in total (i.e. very barren and wide open!), yet my company (the local ISP) has managed to deliver High Speed Internet (1.5 Mbps minimum) to any town with a population of 400 or more. Smaller towns have high speed wireless access.
Of course, not everyone is going to be as lucky as this, I realize - we are one of the most advanced ISPs in N. America...
But as I said, at least check what your options are - in this day and age no one should be relegated to dial-up! 
Would broadband over powerline work out in the country. I know it's not blazing speed but wouldn't the uploads be better than dial-up?
AFAIK. broadband over power lines is still being tested, but not available
in many areas.
Google broadband providers and enter either your phone number or zip code
in their availablity engines.
Sometimes the local county information web site will also list local providers
including wireless, depending on your line of sight situation to their transmission repeaters.
in many areas.
Google broadband providers and enter either your phone number or zip code
in their availablity engines.
Sometimes the local county information web site will also list local providers
including wireless, depending on your line of sight situation to their transmission repeaters.
I've experienced the same thing the OP is going through. Dial-up is far too slow, satellite is far too expensive, DSL isn't available and neither is cable. But we've gotten lucky, in my town (actually a village of 250 ppl) we are able to receive Wireless Broadband. And no, I'm not referring to WiFi. Wireless Broadband is high-speed internet that is essentially broadcast from radio transmitters from a high location, the town water tower in my case. If you sign up, an installer comes and either mounts an external antenna on your house or if you're close enough to the tower, you'll get a small antenna that's mounted (suction cupped) to one of your windows. A radio receiver (the equivalent of a modem) is connected to the antenna and also connects to your computer or router as in my case. The cost of this is $39 a month and $199 to connect, pretty comparable to most of the high-speed ISPs near where I live.
My bandwidth ranges from around 370 - 460 kbps, which is nothing compared to a lot of people, but anyone coming from dial-up will be extremely happy. I will say this though, our ISP only guarantees 256 kbps, but we're very close to the tower thus explaining our higher than expected bandwidth.
Here's a link to my ISP http://www.lazernetwireless.com/index.html
And here's a Wikipedia article on Wireless Broadband http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband_Wireless_Access
I will tell you this though, Wireless isn't available in very many places, but it'd be good to ask around about it at least, or possibly generate some interest in it.
My bandwidth ranges from around 370 - 460 kbps, which is nothing compared to a lot of people, but anyone coming from dial-up will be extremely happy. I will say this though, our ISP only guarantees 256 kbps, but we're very close to the tower thus explaining our higher than expected bandwidth.
Here's a link to my ISP http://www.lazernetwireless.com/index.html
And here's a Wikipedia article on Wireless Broadband http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband_Wireless_Access
I will tell you this though, Wireless isn't available in very many places, but it'd be good to ask around about it at least, or possibly generate some interest in it.
Another alternative is if you get a digital cell phone signal you can get a data connector for your computer or use your cell phone as a modem. Speeds start at 384 Kbps and go up from their. Though it runs about $80 a month for unlimited data access. It's a little cheaper if you use your cell phone as a modem since you combine the data a talk plans.
Like others check DSL and cable first- some rural cable companies actually have high speed in more rural areas than others...depends on the company and when lines were put in.
I work at a school that is rural and we just installed the DirecWay...which is now hughesnet.com in the states. It is awesome for rural use. It was costly (hardware ran $1,000 for our small school) but like someone else said it is around $499 (after rebate) for hardware for a house and montly service is around $59 but well worth it if you use the net much and can afford it. (I see online that they have a deal where you pay $100 up front, then $99 a month for something like 15 months.) Speeds are not as fast as my cable at my house, but plenty fast. I think there is a one year time committment at least. I imagine that prices will begin to drop in the next year or two as rural areas get more options with high speed.
Sat. Net had nothing to do with a phone line so won't tie up your phone which is good. Just have to have a view of the southern sky but the Sat. is higher than the Direct TV Sat. I think so most homes can get it.
good luck!
I work at a school that is rural and we just installed the DirecWay...which is now hughesnet.com in the states. It is awesome for rural use. It was costly (hardware ran $1,000 for our small school) but like someone else said it is around $499 (after rebate) for hardware for a house and montly service is around $59 but well worth it if you use the net much and can afford it. (I see online that they have a deal where you pay $100 up front, then $99 a month for something like 15 months.) Speeds are not as fast as my cable at my house, but plenty fast. I think there is a one year time committment at least. I imagine that prices will begin to drop in the next year or two as rural areas get more options with high speed.
Sat. Net had nothing to do with a phone line so won't tie up your phone which is good. Just have to have a view of the southern sky but the Sat. is higher than the Direct TV Sat. I think so most homes can get it.
good luck!