Internet options

[kco]

Hello All,

I live where I can not get cable access, and the cell reception is terrible. My kids now use the internet for school projects, so I need to do something. I know satellite internet does not get good reviews, but it is my only option. Any opinions on Wild Blue or Hughesnet? Anything, or any other options I'm missing?

Thanks.

Jim

Sounds like I live in an area comparable to yours. DSL is not available due to a terrible phone company that will not spend a nickle to upgrade 40 year old landlines and poor cell coverage due to hills.

I have wireless internet through a local provider and have had speeds up to 4 Mbps with average being about 1.5 Mbps download and 1 MBps up. I help the local provider and he went to extra lengths to supply my service. My service feeds through two neighbours who are on DSL. They are closer to the phone exchange so DSL works.

Anyhow, wireless internet is an option if you have a provider. If you have a neighbour with DSL and within 10 miles or so, you could perhaps get an additional DSL service at his place and use wireless radios to get the signal up to your place. My provider uses Tranzeo radios.

 

[Uprangewilly]

As others have said a local WISP would be the best, if you dont have a Wireless Internet Provider around you then a cell phone may work.

Look at Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, Etc., and see if you can get 3G at your home. If you can, then use a cell phone like a Droid, Iphone, etc. and get an app like Pdanet for the android operating system and that app will allow you to use your 3g signal from your phone to give your computer internet access through on of your USB ports. I use this for a while till we were offered DSL and it was surprisingly good. Around 1.5mb download. Good luck.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I had Wild Blue for about 4 years, until the phone company got around to providing DSL in my area. Web pages didn't load very fast because of the long ping times and the multiple handshakes, but streaming video worked OK. It was impossible for online gaming. I ran the modem into a wireless router, so my wife and I both had internet at the same time.

I have heard that Hughesnet oversells their bandwidth. You may have to get on a waiting list for Wild Blue, because they only sell what is available. I always got the contract connection speed, with very few weather outages.

The idea of 3G or 4G service from a cell phone is a good one, if you can boost your signal, either with an external antenna or a signal amplifier. Older technology was a wireless cell card in the computer, or a cell phone tethered to the computer by USB. New technology is a cell phone that will act as a WiFi hot spot for up to 4 different devices. The caveat here is that even if you can get a cell signal, you might not be on the cell provider's high speed network.

 

[deerseeker001]

it sounds like the same situation in was in,i had dial-up with 2 phone lines coming in one for phone one for computer.i couldn't stand the download speed.i have had Hughes for 3 years and am very happy with it.it was actually cheaper than the phone line.i got rid of the land line altogether and we use att which was the only one we could get the reception.we are kinda in the sticks in northern WI.no dsl her so this was the best option.

 

[grsthegreat]

I don't know where you live, but i use an over the air microwave Internet type of service, but NOT hughesnet (sucks) or wildblue (very poor reception for me). Mine beams the signal about 30 miles to a mountain top antenna that the provider maintains, then its onto a t5 line. I get 3 meg download and 1 meg upload (could pay for whatever i need). This suits my needs just fine and it costs about $59/month. I was paying 75/mo for hughesnet and i never got NEAR 1 meg download...even on their commercial service. I have a 12" dish on my house that points nearly vertical to mountain top, and no snow or rain collects or hampers service. Unlimited bandwidth and no peak times.Always fast

The big problem with any sat provider is the 22,000 miles out in space. the ping times are ridiculous. Alot of times my speed tests would ping out on me. The land based microwave systems out there have ping times in the range of 30-45MS.

 

[Boondox]

Larry,

We had Wild Blue for years. In the first couple of years it was okay, definitely a step up from dialup. But in the past couple of years it was so SLOW that I couldn't even connect in the evenings without timing out. On one of our many calls to tech support they admitted to overselling their bandwidth significantly, and suggested getting up early if I wanted to surf the Web.

We now have DSL at half the cost and several times the speed.

 

[thatguy]

I use the Verizon hot spot 3g. I have a plan of 10gigs for $80. There is no other dsn or cell signal available in our OK area. It works pretty good but reception can be iffy. I want to look for a cell signal booster for the hotspot.

this is said to work with the 3g mifi

http://3gstore.com/product/2188_mifi-signal-booster.html

Brian

 

[ayelvington]

I'd call your local Chamber of Commerce to see what you might be overlooking. I understand the technical limitations of DSL, and that you don't have decent cellular access. There may be a private wifi solution which is what some of my neighbors use.

We had WildBlue before DSL arrived. My only suggestion is to ONLY commit for one year. Things change fast, and they will want their pound of flesh if you try to get out of your contract early. Yes, satellite has its issues, but there is no comparison with dial-up.

I did contingency communications for the Coast Guard for a while, and sometimes you just have to suck it up and work with what is available!

 

[kco]

I don't know where you live, but i use an over the air microwave Internet type of service, but NOT hughesnet (sucks) or wildblue (very poor reception for me). Mine beams the signal about 30 miles to a mountain top antenna that the provider maintains, then its onto a t5 line. I get 3 meg download and 1 meg upload (could pay for whatever i need). This suits my needs just fine and it costs about $59/month. I was paying 75/mo for hughesnet and i never got NEAR 1 meg download...even on their commercial service. I have a 12" dish on my house that points nearly vertical to mountain top, and no snow or rain collects or hampers service. Unlimited bandwidth and no peak times.Always fast

The big problem with any sat provider is the 22,000 miles out in space. the ping times are ridiculous. Alot of times my speed tests would ping out on me. The land based microwave systems out there have ping times in the range of 30-45MS.

Can you supply a few more details as to the make and model of equipment, frequency, and name of your service provider?

I've just spent another day trying to improve my and my neighbour's signal. I'm on a 2.4 MHz system requiring line of sight and I'm powering-out from topping trees. Besides, the internet provider has three offers on his system and I'm not sure the new owners will be as accomodating.

I have line of site to a major radio tower about 24 km from here. Your service details would help me to ask the right questions.

Thanks

 

[grsthegreat]

Can you supply a few more details as to the make and model of equipment, frequency, and name of your service provider?

I've just spent another day trying to improve my and my neighbour's signal. I'm on a 2.4 MHz system requiring line of sight and I'm powering-out from topping trees. Besides, the internet provider has three offers on his system and I'm not sure the new owners will be as accomodating.

I have line of site to a major radio tower about 24 km from here. Your service details would help me to ask the right questions.

Thanks

My provider is JR electronics in post falls Idaho. They use Motorola Canopy gear, but im not sure of the specifics. Heres a wiki site that describes it better
Motorola Canopy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Good luck