Starlink

[Ken45101]

Maybe this has already been mentioned. Verizon is expanding rural coverage and offers $40 or $60 unlimited internet. Sprint has $50 for 50gb plan and is also expanding coverage. No additional charges for going over and so far hasn't slowed down for us. Sat services hard sell if expansion continues.

View attachment 672982

"Not available in our area", of course.

 

[cqaigy2]

"Not available in our area", of course.

Ditto

 

[LouNY]

"Not available in our area", of course.

No idea were it is avilible.

 

[ponytug]

Lot's of what if's with Starlink at this point. As far as speed and reliability there is no current replacement for fiber and honestly I can't foresee anything competing with fiber in the near future. Anything wireless is going to have more issues than a fiber connection as long as you can keep the idiots from cutting it. The amount of data you can push down a single piece of glass is truly mind boggling.

I totally agree. Lots of ifs and unknowns.

We are three miles from the fiber terminus, but it might as well be the moon. There are no public plans to put fiber in the area, which, for us, leaves

• Microwave wireless internet
• Satellite internet (Hughes/Viasat)
• Starlink (?)

The first offers 60 Mbit/s symmetric up/down speed for $350/mo, 36 months minimum contract, (fully payable upon cancellation) and a $7.5k installation cost. That is over $20,000/three years or less of service. No data cap. Higher speeds for even more per month.
The second offers 25-100Mbit/s down, 1-5Mbit up for $50-$150/mo in this area, with 150Gb data caps, high latency, and widespread reports of reduced speeds even when under the data cap in these work from home times.
The third offers 100Mbit/s speed, low latency, for reportedly less than $100/mo, and an install cost in the hundreds of dollars. Data cap is unknown.

None of these comparisons are apples to apples in my book. All three have weather related reliability issues. For my spouse who has day long Zoom meetings, only the first or third options are workable. We are currently fence sitting, hoping to get in early on Starlink, if only because the cost to try it out is so much less than the alternative. $20k vs ~$3k

And yes, we have attempted to get a quote for pulling the fiber here, but AT&T isn't even willing to quote it. Off the shelf quotes in other areas are in the $90k-$180k range just for the pull. It isn't trivial terrain.

All the best,

Peter

 

[LittleBill21]

I totally agree. Lots of ifs and unknowns.

We are three miles from the fiber terminus, but it might as well be the moon. There are no public plans to put fiber in the area, which, for us, leaves

• Microwave wireless internet
• Satellite internet (Hughes/Viasat)
• Starlink (?)

The first offers 60 Mbit/s symmetric up/down speed for $350/mo, 36 months minimum contract, (fully payable upon cancellation) and a $7.5k installation cost. That is over $20,000/three years or less of service. No data cap. Higher speeds for even more per month.
The second offers 25-100Mbit/s down, 1-5Mbit up for $50-$150/mo in this area, with 150Gb data caps, high latency, and widespread reports of reduced speeds even when under the data cap in these work from home times.
The third offers 100Mbit/s speed, low latency, for reportedly less than $100/mo, and an install cost in the hundreds of dollars. Data cap is unknown.

None of these comparisons are apples to apples in my book. All three have weather related reliability issues. For my spouse who has day long Zoom meetings, only the first or third options are workable. We are currently fence sitting, hoping to get in early on Starlink, if only because the cost to try it out is so much less than the alternative. $20k vs ~$3k

And yes, we have attempted to get a quote for pulling the fiber here, but AT&T isn't even willing to quote it. Off the shelf quotes in other areas are in the $90k-$180k range just for the pull. It isn't trivial terrain.

All the best,

Peter

is anyone connected within 3 miles of you? any chance you have line of site to them? if not can you run the cable yourself, there are so many options anymore, 3 could be doable. just depends how bad you want it

 

[rekees4300]

No idea were it is avilible.

Verizon's definition of "unlimited" is hazy. What good is unlimited data when it's controlled by limited speed? :confused2: I checked their coverage map for "rural home LTE" and of course "Not available in our area".

Verizon Launches Unlimited 4G Home Internet for Rural Users: Here Are the Maps | PCMag

Note: "You need to buy a $240 router."

 

[cqaigy2]

I check Verizon coverage, it show ok for LTE and spotty for 5G. I have a Verizon work phone and it seems to get about 1.5 Mb down and .24 Mb up, but that fancy "unlimited" plan isn't available here. Probably because of lack of infrastructure, i.e. one cell tower in 10 miles.

 

[Mat4644]

For us just like many phones router is no cost with 2 year plan.

 

[ponytug]

is anyone connected within 3 miles of you? any chance you have line of site to them? if not can you run the cable yourself, there are so many options anymore, 3 could be doable. just depends how bad you want it

Thanks! We did try to explore that, but nobody down the road has fiber, so no line of sight benefits. That leaves over the air microwave links. One neighbor who is more or less line of sight to us is considering it, and if they do it, and it is the right one of the two microwave providers, we might be able to relay off of their tower, which would save trenching, and cut the monthly cost in half.

A decade ago, there were some guys pushing line of sight lasers, from 25 miles away, but they were never able to make it work, and they are no longer in business. I suspect that OSHA came down on them for the magnitude of their laser power, but I don't know that for sure.

I just wrote a letter to the Public Utilities Commission asking them to prioritize fiber to customers not served by alternate means. We will see where it goes.

Fingers crossed for successful Starlink connections.

It would be nice if Verizon served this area...I'm kind of a belt and suspenders guy when it comes to mission critical things like phone/cell service and internet, and all I can really say about AT&T is that they aren't cutting it. I had a manager and a tech come by today to tell me, in not so many words and politely, that I should be grateful to have any internet connection, even if it periodically slows down, and even if it loses packets, and even if the phone causes issues with the DSL. I've had DSL for over twenty years, and I am well aware of what it can and can't do, and episodically slowing is bad equipment or bad copper somewhere, and definitely not "normal". I don't appreciate being treated like a mushroom.

All the best,

Peter

 

[ernemats]

Nothing new on Starlink???





/