Turkey Creek
5 year old buck +
I am sure that we had a discussion on rural internet options and opinions. Can someone point me to that thread, I cant seem to find it. Thanks
Can someone point me to the thread on rural internet?
- Thread starter Turkey Creek
- Start date
It varies so much from area to area I doubt the thread really would help.Just google internet in your zip code and it should give you some options.Just don't believe all of them without checking into it.The wireless point to point work ok most of time in winter but if you have trees there will be issues when leaves come out. Fiber to the home is best and usually only available in the country if you have a independent phone company.The big companies don't spend money on rural customers.Some areas you will have to depend on satellite providers such as Hughs net.There isn't anything magic about the internet only if it's available to you.To stream tv you will want on average 10Mg or more
chickenlittle
5 year old buck +
Not sure how ill get the wife to move to a farm without fast internet. Last place i was serious about would likely have supported a directional antenna to pull in 4G cell service for internet. Otherwise maybe get verizon DSL which would have been great 15 years ago but too slow for video.
At our old house across the border in PA, we had a local telephone co. that rolled out DSL and TV service about a dozen years ago. It was wonderful.
My folks in rural PA have poor DSL from verizon...better than dialup but too slow for streaming video. My ATT phone is not much better in their house but 10x better in all of my deerstands.
At our old house across the border in PA, we had a local telephone co. that rolled out DSL and TV service about a dozen years ago. It was wonderful.
My folks in rural PA have poor DSL from verizon...better than dialup but too slow for streaming video. My ATT phone is not much better in their house but 10x better in all of my deerstands.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
There are not a lot of great options.
Satellite - Speeds are increasing but it is expensive and most plans have a limit or speed reduction after some pre-set limit of data is hit. This is similar to the way many "unlimited data" cell phone plans work. Another downside is latency. This doesn't affect web browsing or even streaming video, but it does impact gaming and many VPNs. In general if you are just using email and web browsing it is tolerable but expensive. Don't expect to stream much video. Weather can impact it.
WISP - Typically faster than Satellite with low latency (50 ms). Weather can impact it. Functionally this kind of works like cell phone data but it is fixed so there is no tower switching or hand off functions needed. A dedicated transmitter/receiver is on your property with a directional antenna pointed at a tower. One of the better options if you can get it. I'm seeing real unlimited plans starting to pop up. (Keep in mind that no plans are truly unlimited, even FIOS if you read the fine print of the TOS. They don't charge you more or slow you down but they technically can kick you off). But from a practical standpoint they are unlimited unlike most phony "unlimited" cell phone plans. The biggest issue is that WISP is not available everywhere.
4G- This approaches Ethernet speeds but it is expensive with limited data per month. Verizon's coverage is pretty good in many rural areas. ATT and many others have much less rural coverage. However, 5G is starting to roll out this year in a few test cities. It has much greater bandwith, 10 gbps with ultra low latency of 1 ms. I would expect 5G to push down the price of 4G as it becomes more ubiquitous but time will tell.
These are probably the general options for rural. It is pretty hard to find reliable reviews for WISP since many of these companies cover very small regions. Performance can be very unique to your location with this terrestrial solution.
I'm in the same boat as you. Retirement is coming up in a few years and internet service will be a challenge. We will be about 15 minutes outside a college town so there is hope but time will tell.
Thanks,
Jack
Satellite - Speeds are increasing but it is expensive and most plans have a limit or speed reduction after some pre-set limit of data is hit. This is similar to the way many "unlimited data" cell phone plans work. Another downside is latency. This doesn't affect web browsing or even streaming video, but it does impact gaming and many VPNs. In general if you are just using email and web browsing it is tolerable but expensive. Don't expect to stream much video. Weather can impact it.
WISP - Typically faster than Satellite with low latency (50 ms). Weather can impact it. Functionally this kind of works like cell phone data but it is fixed so there is no tower switching or hand off functions needed. A dedicated transmitter/receiver is on your property with a directional antenna pointed at a tower. One of the better options if you can get it. I'm seeing real unlimited plans starting to pop up. (Keep in mind that no plans are truly unlimited, even FIOS if you read the fine print of the TOS. They don't charge you more or slow you down but they technically can kick you off). But from a practical standpoint they are unlimited unlike most phony "unlimited" cell phone plans. The biggest issue is that WISP is not available everywhere.
4G- This approaches Ethernet speeds but it is expensive with limited data per month. Verizon's coverage is pretty good in many rural areas. ATT and many others have much less rural coverage. However, 5G is starting to roll out this year in a few test cities. It has much greater bandwith, 10 gbps with ultra low latency of 1 ms. I would expect 5G to push down the price of 4G as it becomes more ubiquitous but time will tell.
These are probably the general options for rural. It is pretty hard to find reliable reviews for WISP since many of these companies cover very small regions. Performance can be very unique to your location with this terrestrial solution.
I'm in the same boat as you. Retirement is coming up in a few years and internet service will be a challenge. We will be about 15 minutes outside a college town so there is hope but time will tell.
Thanks,
Jack
Turkey Creek
5 year old buck +
Thanks for the input. It will be just my usage so that will help with the overall amount used per month. I dont watch much for tv other than college football in the fall and I can watch that at a family members house, so I would just as soon not waste money on a tv/internet provider. I do watch some YouTube so I am not sure how fast that would eat up my "unlimited". I can get a couple of local stations through an antenna if I get desperate for entertainment.
Is that WISP the same as WiMAXX? Another fellow mentioned that to me.
Is that WISP the same as WiMAXX? Another fellow mentioned that to me.
Peeps
5 year old buck +
I got lucky at my cabin. I am about 3/4 mile off a 2 lane US hwy. The area cable company runs a line down that hwy from town to town with some short branches going down the side roads. One of those branches ends at my house so I have Internet threw them. Costs are way higher than at home. I pay $84 month for 50 gigs. We run Sling TV and our security cameras up there.
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
I am starting to find this problem as well.
I have a question that is some what related, has anyone used one of those cell phone boosters that you put inside your house to get better reception on your cell phones? I have reviewed them in he past, and the reviews vary from “ works great” to “ my exception is worse now”.
I usually have 3 bars outside, but inside it drops to 1-2 and I get a random no signal. I’m just looking for something that may help bring better reception indoors.
I have a question that is some what related, has anyone used one of those cell phone boosters that you put inside your house to get better reception on your cell phones? I have reviewed them in he past, and the reviews vary from “ works great” to “ my exception is worse now”.
I usually have 3 bars outside, but inside it drops to 1-2 and I get a random no signal. I’m just looking for something that may help bring better reception indoors.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Back in the day when things were all analog those kind of devices were more effective. Keep in mind that with today's smart phones, negotiation between the phone and tower adjust power levels at the phone. Just make sure you are not looking at stuff for analog phones if you are using a 3g or 4g smart phone.
Thanks,
Jack
ksgobbler
5 year old buck +
No development. We were in at US Cellular yesterday and my 8 yr old asked about internet. They have a new program for folks in our situation. On a case by case basis you can get unlimited internet for $100 a month. They are letting us test it and so far it is plenty fast enough to stream YouTube on our TV. She said it's only for existing folks and they have to check how much usage the particular tower gets.
mikmaze
5 year old buck +
I put in a weboost setup at my upstate place, 4g , but no where near as fast as true, line of site tower 4g... but for a place we only use 10 weekends a year, it works. Tried arguing with verizon to build a tower on my land, no dice, not enough people around to benefit from it. I bug em at least once a year to try to persuade them otherwise.
https://www.weboost.com/products/connect-home-4g
.
https://www.weboost.com/products/connect-home-4g
.
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Turkey Creek
5 year old buck +
I think they used to pay $10,000 a year for rent to place a tower on your land.
mikmaze
5 year old buck +
I'd be happy if they paid a simple grand a month. I know lots of seasonal hunters would be happy to have the service, especially in an emergency situation........
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Satellite networks like Hughsnet have long round-trip times and don't work well with interactive things like games and VPNs. Both satellite and most terrestrial networks are starting to get "unlimited" plans. I put unlimited in quotes since they generally slow you down after a certain level is reached.
I'm encouraged with a new development in my area in central VA. We just bought our retirement property and I met with the local electric coop representative to get a feel for where power lines will run. We were both hunters and had a nice side chat. He gave me an update on the coops plan for internet. They plan to use their existing easements to run fiber to the premises (fttp). Evidently, for anything wired, the biggest hurdle is acquiring easement and they already own them. One county in the area is using them as part of their rural internet planning so they are starting there. Other counties are looking at WISP and other alternatives and still doing studies. The county using them as part of their rural internet planning is giving them tax breaks and why they are starting there. He told me that they currently plan to build out the fiber in all counties where they operate regardless of county incentives. The primary purpose is they want the fiber for their own communications so they can remotely manage the power network. There is plenty of excess capacity that can be used for ISP purposes.
He told me that they need about 20% of the homes in a given distribution area to buy the internet service to make it profitable for them. So, if they don't get that level of market penetration in the first counties, they may abandon their plan, but their current plan is to have their entire service area covered in 2 years.
That looks promising with the timeframe of our retirement move.
Thanks,
Jack
I'm encouraged with a new development in my area in central VA. We just bought our retirement property and I met with the local electric coop representative to get a feel for where power lines will run. We were both hunters and had a nice side chat. He gave me an update on the coops plan for internet. They plan to use their existing easements to run fiber to the premises (fttp). Evidently, for anything wired, the biggest hurdle is acquiring easement and they already own them. One county in the area is using them as part of their rural internet planning so they are starting there. Other counties are looking at WISP and other alternatives and still doing studies. The county using them as part of their rural internet planning is giving them tax breaks and why they are starting there. He told me that they currently plan to build out the fiber in all counties where they operate regardless of county incentives. The primary purpose is they want the fiber for their own communications so they can remotely manage the power network. There is plenty of excess capacity that can be used for ISP purposes.
He told me that they need about 20% of the homes in a given distribution area to buy the internet service to make it profitable for them. So, if they don't get that level of market penetration in the first counties, they may abandon their plan, but their current plan is to have their entire service area covered in 2 years.
That looks promising with the timeframe of our retirement move.
Thanks,
Jack
ksgobbler
5 year old buck +
Depends on how many people need on the tower. Neighbor was the network engineer and traveled the country putting them up. My brother is the mayor of a small town and Verizon is placing a tower on town owned property. He says the town will be getting $1600 a month
The only option I have for Internet service is CenturyTel. Their customer service is not that great, their prices are high for 25Mbs service and a satellite option is way too expensive. Just one of the draw backs of living in the country. With that said, I would never want to be part of the rat race that is all cities. Country living is for me!
Most of the point to point wireless isn't fast enough or reliable enough especially is the spring in summer so that leaves Hughs net ant there can be weather issues with them.The FTTH is still the best but is expensive as it runs about 25000 to bury a mile of fiber.Century tel,ATT and those other big companies aren't ever going to supply rural internet to the really rural areas as they have to pay stockholders.Most of the cell phone boosters work by sending your cell call over the internet so without the internet they don't do anything
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