Satellite TV/Internet - 1 Subscription/2 Locations?

[SCRich]

Very cool but no internet compatability. Sat Internet requires both a transmitter and receiver unlike Sat TV which only requires a receiver. That transmitter is going to be the tough part for a portable internet connection.

 

[Jagmandave]

There is another solution.............if you have a laptop with wifi capability, you can buy a subsciption thru the phone co, I think Verizon and Sprint do this, then it's similar to a cell phone subscription for your laptop. Several on this forum have done this. If you can get a cell phone signal in both of your places, you're home free. Just take the laptop and there's no setup to do.........

 

[SCRich]

SNIP>>

There is another solution.............if you have a laptop with wifi capability, you can buy a subsciption thru the phone co, ....

Not quite cellular and WiFi have nothing to do with each other. What you are speaking about is EVDO (Enhanced Voice Data Option) and that will require the purchase of a PCMCIA card plus it's activation just as if it were an additional phone either on your existing account or a new one. There is also EVDO rev.A which is quite a bit faster but not available by all carriers or in all areas. There are now USB EVDO adapters and CardBus adapters also at least with one carrier. BUT again because a cellular carrier has phone service does not mean you will have EVDO service and just because you have EVDO service does not mean you will have rev.A. Chances are if you are in a very rural area you will have neither and your data speeds will be about the same as dial-up at best. If you do have rev.A and a good signal your speeds can exceed that of most DSL packages.

EVDO is actually ALMOST a seperate cellular frame, often requiring additional antennas on the tower, in some cases it's EXACTLY like building an entirely new cell site. If the population and subscribers in the area justify it they will do it but usually the big city wins and get's the additional coverage.

I have been building them and maintaining them for almost 10 years now. October starts me on 4 weeks vacation a year!

 

[CJ4]

yes I had cellular internet there at the lake and it worked but was very slow and was $60/mo....I just cancelled it.....sureley satellite would be faster than that. Alltel is the only cell coverage in that area so the pcmcia cards won't work either. I think the solution must be:

1. Cancel cable at home in the city except for cable internet.
2. Subscribe for Direct TV in the city and let them set it all up
3. Buy a new Dish and cable for the farm
4. Move my receiver where ever i go.
5. Get Satellite internet at the farm. (Still a little liery about this from what you guys said.....esp since the contracts are 18mos to 2 yrs with this)

 

[MikePA]

yes I had cellular internet there at the lake and it worked but was very slow and was $60/mo

Just for reference purposes, I have a Cingular 3G AirCard and get 1.1 meg download and 300K upload speeds.

 

[RedRocker]

I have a dish I bought on ebay that I leave at our remote property, we just grab one of the boxes and haul it with us when we go up there. All the comforts of home.

 

[nolefan]

When our place in the mountains was recently completed I had a similar situation. I canceled my cable service at my home in Fla and went with Directv. Then they installed a dish and provided me with a standard receiver for free at my place in NC this past summer. All I have to do is call their 800 number and deactivate my receivers at one location and activate the receivers at the other location and this way I avoid having to haul receivers back and forth. Also if I am going to need additional recievers I can still bring them along. If i'm not mistaken they did this through the "movers choice" program they have even though I explained my situation and that I was not moving. The good thing about this besides them installing it and not charging me is that I only pay for the receivers I have activated at any given time. Can't help you on the internet problem as I am kind of in the same boat. No land line for dial up and I can't justify the expense of satelite internet for the amount of time I spend there. I hope I stumble across some kind of solution in the near future as having internet access would be tremendously helpful when we are there.

p.s. This past december I called them and said I wanted to be able to access my HD programming while I was at the NC house so they came out and switched the singleLNB dish they had installed originally with their latest HD dish again at no charge! All I do now is take my HD receiver with me when I go up but will eventually just buy one for there.

 

[CJ4]

Thanks guys......that's what i'm going to try to do........i got a good deal with "Dish Network" so i guess i'm gonna try to find a 2nd dish to put at the other location and see if it works..

 

[NoMo]

Thanks guys......that's what i'm going to try to do........i got a good deal with "Dish Network" so i guess i'm gonna try to find a 2nd dish to put at the other location and see if it works..

If you want to come to Tulsa to get it, I have a dual-LNB dish (from Dish Network) that you can have. Then you'll just have to come up with the cables.

 

[stumpfield]

Thanks guys......that's what i'm going to try to do........i got a good deal with "Dish Network" so i guess i'm gonna try to find a 2nd dish to put at the other location and see if it works..

Don't they require you to constantly hookup the receiver to a phone line? Make sure you ask to see if that's a requirement. They charged me $5 each time when not hookup to a phone line. It appears the receiver dialed dish network every night. I guess that's their way to making sure you are using the service from only 1 location.