Rural High Speed Internet

[MossRoad]

Yes, it only takes one computer to download a boat load of data. But it is nice to have all the computers sharing one network connection. For instance, our house has one computer in the living room and one in the basement. Then I have my laptop. All three can be going at once, depending on the kids' homework load and my work/fun. And we are not downloading much at all, so we would never be looked at for high usage. I think they just put that stuff in there for legal reasons as a way to cut off folks that abuse the service, like someone that would attempt to re-sell network access. We had a neighbor that got cable internet, put in a wireless router and split the bill with several neighbors. As far as I know, they are still doing that. Completely against the contract and probably considered theft by the courts.

 

[SnowRidge]

Might even rise to wiretapping, a federal crime. It's certainly theft of service. I think there is a federal statute against illegal cable hookups. It probably violates that too. It's funny how some people will risk so much for so little reward.

 

[txdon]

Wildblue is satellite, I have had it for almost 2 years. Ron Hall had a Cingular/Att card in his laptop and set it next to my laptop that has Satellite. The speed was just about the same with the satellite a fraction of a second faster. He is mobile I am not. The monthly fee was about the same.

I can receive in a light rain but if it start pouring I loose the signal. I still have not found anything better for my home. I have the mid range speed which is $69 a month. I saw on one web site that you can package it with direct TV and get about $10 off the package a month. FYI.

 

[riptides]

For you all engaged in the data plans T's and C's there are a slew of web sites that have stories on how carriers enforce caps. Some stories are good, some bad. Enforcement varies from, well.....

-Mike Z.

I recommend EVDO Forums - EV-DO Discussion, Support, Coverage, Compatibility, Tips, Verizon, Sprint, KR1, WRT54G3G-ST, Cradlepoint CTR350 : EVDOforums.com

 

[SnowRidge]

For you all engaged in the data plans T's and C's there are a slew of web sites that have stories on how carriers enforce caps. Some stories are good, some bad. Enforcement varies from, well.....

-Mike Z.

I recommend EVDO Forums - EV-DO Discussion, Support, Coverage, Compatibility, Tips, Verizon, Sprint, KR1, WRT54G3G-ST, Cradlepoint CTR350 : EVDOforums.com

Nice link, thanks.

That one covers Verizon and Sprint, which use the same EVDO technology. I haven't seen anything similar for the competing HSDPA used by Cincgular/AT&T and other GSM networks.

 

[riptides]

Nice link, thanks.

That one covers Verizon and Sprint, which use the same EVDO technology. I haven't seen anything similar for the competing HSDPA used by Cincgular/AT&T and other GSM networks.

Your quite welcome. I have not seen any GSM forums offering a daily head to head battle of services. The device owner themselves may have to go visit a device specific forum for how their service provider plays.

Of course if you get cut-off you'll have the knowledge. Maybe...

-Mike Z.

 

[RobS]

Thought I'd post an update to this topic. I had checked out Hughesnet and Wildblue and was agonizing over the costs but pretty much ready. Then I get a flyer on the mailbox for IMBroadband wireless. Turns out I know the guy and he's put an antenna on one of the local cell towers. Much cheaper install, slightly less expensive monthly rate, faster and no contract to worry about. He was out and thinks it will work due to the height of our house (he needs line-of-sight to the tower). So he's coming out next week to hook us up. Pretty exciting for me as any kind of surfing (including TBN) is pretty much out of the question on dial up anymore.

Now a question for the brain-trust: I need a router. I want wireless for my work laptop (need VPN compatibility) but everything else could be wired as I ran Cat5e throughout the house when we built it. My new desktop computer does have wireless capability built in. Are there advantages to either wireless or hard wired? What should I look for in a router?

 

[MossRoad]

There are several different specs regarding the speed of the network. For instance, your house is wired with CAT5 and that is supposed to be good for 100m speeds. Wireless comes in several speeds. I'm running 108M connection to my laptop and kid's computer. So, the theoretical fastest I can transfer data in my house between my wired and non wired computers in 100m. That is also the fastest I can talk from my wired PCs to my router. However, my router connects to my DSL service, also. My DSL service is around 700K. So, the fastest I can get internet data between any computer in my house and the internet is limited by the speed of my internet connection , not my home router.

I bought this netgear router kit from Staples a couple years ago. It is a kit and comes with a PC card. Now, I don't need a PC card because my laptop came with a wireless adapter built in. But the thing was on sale for $29.00! The list price at Amazon that I linked to is $43.00. If you want to buy just the router from Amazon it is $59.00! Go figure?

Anyhow, the Netgear WGT624 router has suited me just fine for two years. I use a VPN quite heavily with work, frequently have 3 computers running in the house at the same time surfing the internet, work, etc... and have had no problems.
Here's a link to a review of it.

 

[Tig]

I've worked with many different routers over the years. As Mossroad points out any router will be (much) more than 10 times faster than your internet connection. Cheap ones work great. Right now my $2.99 Trendnet is the router of choice. All the features you need will be in every router on the market. Firewall and WPA encryption are standard features now. Try Tigerdirect online and see what's on sale. That should give you an idea about prices. You should expect to pay about $40.
All wireless routers will have at least 4 ports to plug computers in that do not have wireless.
I have a wireless ISP at my country place. I am 14 km from the tower, clear line of site with the exception of one tall tree on an island .6 km away. Service is fine. Speed is adequate but fluctuates. 2M is peak. The technolgy they use is the Canopy system by Motorola. Because of the line of site I can use a 2.4 Mhz subscriber module (receiver/modem) otherwise an 800Khz unit would be used. Because of the way my ISP balances resources I had to rent a static IP address for $10 per month to get my internet phone working. Still worth it IMO since it allows me to work from the cottage when I choose.

 

[dmccarty]

Rob wired should be faster the wireless.

But wired maybe fast enough. My desktop at home is connected via wire but we use wireless on the laptops. For most of what I do wireless is fine. At work I can sit at my desk and use either wire or wireless but usually I plug in. If I'm in a meeting I'm wireless and don't really notice the difference that much and I have the old slower wireless.

If you are up/downloading lots of data then wired is the way to go otherwise wireless will work fine and it sure is nice sitting with your feet up in the living room.

If you need to use a desktop/server system at work from the laptop/remotely there are ways to do so efficiently.

Forgot to mention, we have used the router brand that has been bought by CISCO. Can't remember their name at the moment. But I would try to keep all of the networking gear from the same company if you can. In theory it should all work togather but.....

Later,
Dan