Rural Internet

[seanR]

I am moving 20 miles out side of the city and will not have cable anymore.
I will still be able to get 4G cell but no DSL or Cable.
What do you people that live outside of the city limits use for internet?
No phone lines, so even if I wanted dial-up I couldn't get it.

 

[old_man]

Get yourself an unlimited data plan on 4G is the best way. Other than that, satellite is OK but your latency will drive you nuts.

 

[souske]

If you have 4G, could you just make your phone a hotspot and go from there?

 

[bigalpha]

I've had some experience with those 4G hotspot points you can get from ATT or Verizon. Actually decently fast. I would recommend it.

 

[ChiXJeff]

Sounds like cellular or satellite will be your only options.

Cellular "unlimited" plans are anything but. Read the fine print very carefully. At best, once you hit the cap, you'll get throttled back. Worst case is that you'll get hit with overage charges. Yes, I know, it's not right, I don't have enough money to fight that war.

Satellite is expensive, and has major latency issues. You're not running a VPN that I know of, so that's not a problem, and you're not a gamer, so that shouldn't be an issue either.

In either event, you're going to have capacity issues. Don't plan on streaming video across it, like a lot of Youtube, Netflix, Hulu, etc.

 

[scottmcneal]

I had Huges, but went with Wild blue.Now i think they're the same folks.We can't get phone here(old wiring), not even Cell service.They're putting in towers now out here for us so it is getting better.I have both Dish and DirectTV.I get more from dish for less.Both have great picture and service.


HTH

 

[seanR]

Don't plan on streaming video across it, like a lot of Youtube, Netflix, Hulu, etc.

You mean on satellite, or 4G?
Our plan was to forgo dish TV and get OTA and internet video.
I have read the researched satellite internet, and do not think it will work for us.

How much usage would we occur if we watched an average of 1 hour of HD video, 2 hours of web browsing, 4 hours of internet radio per day?

I do not do the pirate bay and torrent stuff so I am not worried about that.

Can I bridge a 4G receiver into my wired LAN?
Here is a list of our network attached devices:
2 printers
Media center computer
desktop computer
lap top
2 bluray players
2 tvs
Squeezebox
NAS

We are very heavily dependent on the internet and I never gave this a thought when I started building this house.

 

[ChiXJeff]

Don't plan on streaming on either cellular or satellite. Data caps can kill it.

1 hour of HD video will probably be more than the rest of your daily traffic combined, and depending on quality, could be anywhere from a couple of gb to 8 or 10.

Yes, there are ways to route your cellular hotspot into your home network. I haven't done it personally, but it's doable.

 

[XJLI]

if you had unlimited with ATT or verizon from a while ago, you get true unlimited data.i was grandfathered in bc i've had unlimited everything since i was 18. solid 4G service will blow cable speeds away.

 

[ChiXJeff]

if you had unlimited with ATT or verizon from a while ago, you get true unlimited data.i was grandfathered in bc i've had unlimited everything since i was 18. solid 4G service will blow cable speeds away.

Really? Verizon 4G here in the Twin Cities is running 15-18 mbps. I'm getting that easily on cable service 40 miles outside, where 4G doesn't even exist.

It all depends on the cell & cable carriers. Your mileage *WILL* vary.

 

[seanR]

if you had unlimited with ATT or verizon from a while ago, you get true unlimited data.i was grandfathered in bc i've had unlimited everything since i was 18. solid 4G service will blow cable speeds away.

I am currently on the unlimited Verizon plan but was told when I get a 4G device they will not grandfather it in to my existing plan.

What about http://www.t6b.com/Residential_Internet.html
Any one have experience with wireless?

 

[SC Rednek]

Sounds like you're going to have to use dial-up. I think I have one of those AOL diskettes laying around somewhere...

 

[XJLI]

Really? Verizon 4G here in the Twin Cities is running 15-18 mbps. I'm getting that easily on cable service 40 miles outside, where 4G doesn't even exist.

It all depends on the cell & cable carriers. Your mileage *WILL* vary.

true. my house is barely outside of 4G service, but if i go downtown i'll pull 25mbps down easy. i'm also 30 miles west of NYC so... cable service here is ~5-8mbps, fios is fastest, my home connection with that is always a steady 25mbps down.

I am currently on the unlimited Verizon plan but was told when I get a 4G device they will not grandfather it in to my existing plan.

that sucks.

 

[ChiXJeff]

I should point out that one of my coworkers has a 50mbps cable connection at home.

Sean, unfortunately.... it's all about the money. You're in a bad spot, you do want a fair amount of bandwidth, and you really don't have many options.

Hmm.... 'nother possibility. Any microwave relay services available? The T6 service you mentioned is a radio system, but I don't think it's a microwave service.

 

[kastein]

Microwave point to point is super expensive to set up but with a tall enough tower and the right equipment you can hit 50 mile range @ 100mbit or more over C-band equipment no problem. Granted, that's a few hundred feet up on the towers, with 2 meter dishes and about 7-10 grand worth of RF bling on each end...

I wonder how much 20 miles of RG6 and some cable amps would cost? :gee:

 

[seanR]

Sounds like you're going to have to use dial-up. I think I have one of those AOL diskettes laying around somewhere...

No phone lines, so even if I wanted dial-up I couldn't get it.

Might I suggest this

 

[ChiXJeff]

Microwave point to point is super expensive to set up but with a tall enough tower and the right equipment you can hit 50 mile range @ 100mbit or more over C-band equipment no problem. Granted, that's a few hundred feet up on the towers, with 2 meter dishes and about 7-10 grand worth of RF bling on each end...

I wonder how much 20 miles of RG6 and some cable amps would cost? :gee:

Not necessary to go to that level. My sister has a microwave service with a patch antenna shooting across the lake some 10 miles, with nowhere near that cost. Granted, she's only getting 1 or 2 mpbs, but it's really her only option for broadband. There's no cable service where she is, and she's too far from the POP for DSL.

 

[kastein]

yeah, I'm sure you could get much cheaper - that's just the only microwave networking equipment I have any experience with :eyes: The best part is when you keep losing entire stations to thunderstorms because the crackheads won't stop stealing your grounding cable for scrap money.

I have seen some cheaper stuff you could implement easily, not sure what reliability/performance are like. Hell with a decent mesh dish on a 20 foot tower you could probably get most of that 20 miles, the problem would be finding a company (the one you linked maybe?) that would be willing to host the other end of the link on their tower/building. My dad looked into that kind of service since he is building a house in rural Maine but I am not sure what he decided on.

 

[SC Rednek]

Might I suggest this

I tried the first one and even got a couple right, but it's too boring without pictures.

 

[ChiXJeff]

yeah, I'm sure you could get much cheaper - that's just the only microwave networking equipment I have any experience with :eyes: The best part is when you keep losing entire stations to thunderstorms because the crackheads won't stop stealing your grounding cable for scrap money.

I have seen some cheaper stuff you could implement easily, not sure what reliability/performance are like. Hell with a decent mesh dish on a 20 foot tower you could probably get most of that 20 miles, the problem would be finding a company (the one you linked maybe?) that would be willing to host the other end of the link on their tower/building. My dad looked into that kind of service since he is building a house in rural Maine but I am not sure what he decided on.

*NOBODY* implements radio on their own. I used to work for a microwave radio manufacturer (2ghz to 38ghz at the time.) The company needed a hop from from Bloomingdale to Schaumburg in IL, and a microwave link was just too blasted expensive from a path survey & licensing issue over land lines.

Any provider with a radio link will be ready with all of the equipment & installation.