Running DSL Lines

SLOBuds · Aug 20, 2005

OK, here's one that I've been thinking about for a long time now.

We are building a house in the country - currently living in Los Angeles. My wife and I have become spoiled with high speed internet connectivity. It's actually more than being spoiled. My wife works out of the house in a technology field so high speed connections are mandatory. The country property does not have cable and does not have DSL.

My question is whether anyone knows what the process is, and how much expense would be involved, to actually run those lines out to our area. We would just like to know if this is a $1,000 number, a $10,000 number, or worse.

The area is approximately 15 miles from a town where there is both cable and DSL available.

Anyone have experience or knowledge along these lines?

I do not want satellite unless absolutely pushed into that corner.

Thanks,
Martin Petersen

techman · Aug 20, 2005

Problem isn't running the "lines". DSL runs on standard phone copper lines. Problem with DSL is that the high frequency signals, used to give DSL the high data rate, are attenuated over distance and make DSL usable at a max of 20,000' from the equipment in the central switch office. To use DSL in your area the phone company would need to run fiber to a location within 10, 000 feet or so and install a DSLAM, or local acces node. This would likely all be in the many 10's of thousands of dollars.

One possible option would be to get an ISDN line, if available. This would only give you 128kb/s max, about 2X dialup. You might also inquire about a 1/16 T1 line, but the monthly cost will be high.

paul

woodchuckie · Aug 20, 2005

I'm able to get DSL in my rural locaton(6miles from town) because the telephone co. located 5 booster systems throughout their coverage area. One happens to be located on my property so I'm close enough for DSL to work here.

thcri · Aug 20, 2005

Same problem we had. You have two options. Directway/Direct TV has a system that works good but expensive, but still a lot less than you running a line which may be impossible. Distance from the equipment is crucial. Your second option is to check with some of the cell phone companies in the area to see if they have towers in your area to hook up to. This is what we have done. We are paying like $22.00 per month for a 256k line and running three computers on it with no trouble. We can upgrade to a 512 and a 1 meg. OH, I lied, you may have one more option that I am seeing in our area and that is the electrical providers in our area have a sytem to run over the power lines into your house. This is working great also.

Hope this helps.

murph

California · Aug 21, 2005

If this is essential to make a living, you might see if the phone co is planning to run fiber out there and not move there until it arrives. It would be too costly for you to pay them to do it now. Sometimes you just can't bring city life to the country.

I have 'rural DSL', 384k service on a line that tests about 384k max. This is fine for anything short of moving megabytes of photos up or down. The response time is good, which is the most critical thing that will make a line seem slow.

One option that people are experimenting with in Sonoma County ('Telecom Valley') is amateur wireless relay - ordinary wireless over several miles, using finely tuned directional antennas. Apparently you need a co-op of volunteers to maintain adequate uptime. Because of Cal Poly near SLO, you might find a wireless network already exists that you can join. Good luck with this!

SnowRidge · Aug 21, 2005

<font color="blue"> (One possible option would be to get an ISDN line, if available. This would only give you 128kb/s max, about 2X dialup.) </font>

It's more like three of four times when you compare 128K synch against real world so-called 56k asynch results. We get consistent 15 KByte/sec downloads. That's equivilant to a 150kbs asynchronous modem (if it existed).

Some ISDN providers also offer compression (ours doesn't /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif ) which can further boost throughput. It's not DSL, but it's not bad.

_RaT_ · Aug 21, 2005

Also check and see if anyone is operating wireless broadband in the area. That is what we have. It is comparable to DSL. Line of sight is required to the antenna. The distance can be great requireing only that you have a larger dish type antenna for really long distances.

EddieWalker · Aug 21, 2005

DSL isnt' really an option unless the phone company is set up for it. Most rural areas don't have the revenue base to pay for them to upgrade to it, so it's not likely to happen.

I have Directway Satellite for my connnection and it's just terrible. Always going off line, totally unreliable and lousy support. The first thing they do is ask about the weather even though they say the clouds have no affect on it. Of course it happens mostly on clear, sunny days.

Anyway, I talked to the phone company about a T1 line, but that was $1,000 per month. Ouch. Then they suggested a Sub T1 for several hundred a month and I could resell service on it to customers. This is an option I'm considering for the RV Park I'm building.

Wireless is still hit or miss from what I understand. Too early for me to commit to it yet. The sales people from four different companies are very positive about it, but some of their clients I've met with aren't so positive. In time it will get worked out.

I'm really hopeful for the power line technology that I've been reading up on. The power companies are pushing it to monitor there meters, turn them on and off. It seems to work and the technology is there for access to the internet. It's just a matter of time until it's feasable.

Eddie

texbaylea · Aug 21, 2005

We are lucky as Verizon upgraded the lines 3-4 years ago. I get 50Kbs which is tolerable. DSl is out because of the distance.

I am considering wireless broadband since there is a tower within 8 miles and 256K service is less than $50 per month. The clear line of sight is from the shop building about 150 ft from the house. I need to remove some vegation and other stuff so I can bury the line. I will also run a phone line to the shop in the same trench.

Vernon