Rural internet options question/Update and new question!

[Shellshocker66]

Update: Post 17 and question.

So I'm planning a move that if I get the house I want, the internet options are limited.

I've already looked at all the cable companies and all are saying no service to the area. When I went up there all the rest of the houses had satellite dishes on them.

I've heard Hughes Satellite service is horrible and the rate plans are pretty high with very limited download amounts. If you start getting close to your plan limits they throttle down the speeds to dial up level.

I did notice a cell phone tower up the hill and I had great cell phone service while in front of the property. So I've started looking into a USB cellular internet connection. Well according to the maps there is no 4g available so I'm going to be limited to 3G speeds.

Once again most of the companies limit downloads and start throttling back if you get close to the max.

I did find that Virgin Mobile offers an unlimited plan (don't know if it is truly unlimited from some reviews) For $50 a month it is one of the better priced deals available and the equipment is around $100 for a unit that supports up to 5 devices connected to it making wifi hotspot in home with 3G connection.

My question is will I pretty much have to give up live streaming on Netflix? I figure it will probably bog down and run up the GB's.

Also if anyone else uses this type of system can you let me know how you like it?

[oldsmoboat]

Forget about streaming netflix.
I had Wild Blue in Grass Valley. About $60 a month for 1.5 down and a lot of latency. 10 GB FAP, then you get throttled. Forget about playing FPS on line too.

Sprint offers true unlimited plans. Might look at them. Also see if anyone offers wireless in the area. Something like these guys:

http://www.smarterbroadband.com

[the86d]

Around here in rural areas the only option, until recently was a line of sight wireless service.

Satellite data is VERY SLOW, and I would avoid it if at all possible, if you have ANY OTHER OPTIONS.

What is your ZIP code of the new place? We may be able to find you one.

IF you have Virgin Mobile service you could go with the cheap "Beyond talk" phone for $35/month for unlimited (throttled after 2gb) and WiFi tether if you have the savvy to root the device, and such. >

You can always pay your current Smartphone provider for tethering if you want to do it legit for about 15-30 extra a month, but your phone would have to be home, if others are wishing to use an Internet Pipe when you are not, this could be an issue.

[CSACANNONEER]

I've been running Sprint for over 2 years now. It's slow here but, it works. I don't even try to live stream.

[Shellshocker66]

Around here in rural areas the only option, until recently was a line of sight wireless service.



What is your ZIP code of the new place? We may be able to find you one.

It's 97524. Eagle Point, Oregon- Out in the boonies! Well actually there is a Walmart about 2 miles down the road, so guess it's not that far out in the woods (of course in Oregon there is a Walmart out in cow pastures I swear).

[oldsmoboat]

http://www.dslreports.com/search

[Shellshocker66]

http://www.dslreports.com/search

Tried it.. The companies they list show the address not support by their service when I go to the main web page.

I think its going to have to be a 3g wireless modem. Oh well bye bye Netflix!

[acegunnr]

I used Sprint with a Franklin 3G/4G USB modem and a Cradlepoint MBR1200 wireless router for internet access for several years until we finally got cable modem access.

The 3G speeds is OK for browsing and email and we averaged 14-25Gb per month on Sprint's unlimited data plan, $50 per month.

[Shellshocker66]

I used Sprint with a Franklin 3G/4G USB modem and a Cradlepoint MBR1200 wireless router for internet access for several years until we finally got cable modem access.

The 3G speeds is OK for browsing and email and we averaged 14-25Gb per month on Sprint's unlimited data plan, $50 per month.

The cradlepoint was what I was looking at when I thought Sprint still offered an unlimited data plan. It looks like they have changed the pricing policy and it is now $79 for a 12GB plan, and $49 for a 6GB plan.

So once again looks like I am back to Virgin mobile who offers the usb modem with the wifi hotspot for $100, and then unlimited for $50 (which may or may not be unlimited).

[JDay]

Checkout ViaSat. They give you speeds that are comparable to cable internet and their plans start at $50/month. They do have a transfer limit but it's not bad and you get throttled when you exceed it so you do not have to worry about overage charges. You want their Exede service.

http://www.viasatresidential.com/exede/home

http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/08/viasat-residential-satellite-broadband-internet-hands-on-video/

HD YouTube videos loaded very quickly, after a brief delay, as did Engadget and many other media-rich news websites. We performed a speed test and registered ping speeds of about 600ms, download speeds of about 30 Mbps and upload speeds of about 2 Mbps, but results aren't as accurate as they would be with a land-based connection because of latency and the way packet data is handled. We also placed a VOIP call, and while the delay was noticeable there, it was still usable.

[Cali-Glock]

I can get a T1 line for $400-500 a month...
Dial-up at 12,000 kpbs

or what I have gone with which is HughesNet -http://www.hughesnet.com/residential-satellite-internet/plans.cfm

I have the Power 150 plan - but with 425meg a day instead of their current offer of 350 meg a day.

Yeah satellite sucks... but it is a better alternative than the others...

[meaty-btz]

Wireless Relay of Cable/DSL/fiber

Essentially, long range wi-fi. It has been done, often, and continues to be done in such a way in many rural places. You just need a solid setup where the one home that is within range becomes the ISP for all the out of range homes. Aka, good neighbors.

Done correctly you can bounce it up winding canyons (I've done it in a commercial application many years ago in Big Sur) for miles.

[NeenachGuy]

I've heard Hughes Satellite service is horrible and the rate plans are pretty high with very limited download amounts. If you start getting close to your plan limits they throttle down the speeds to dial up level.

I've had HughesNet Satellite service for 6 years, and although it sucks, I believe it has been worth it for my situation. But, I also have a Verizon 3G MiFi device that I use when I need a low-latency, fast connection.

Verizon Notes:

Limited to 5GB/month. My wife and I both work from home at least 2 days per week each, and typically we use Verizon for this, since VPN over HughesNet is unbearable. Rarely have we exceeded the 5GB limit, although we have come very close to it.

Sometimes Connection is Flakey. There have been times when the 3G doesn't work so well; either the connection keeps dropping, or it's just not possible to get a good signal. In these instances, I'm happy that I have a back-up (HughesNet).

The 5GB/month applies to uploading and downloading.

HughesNet Notes:

The plan I have limits me to 475MB during a 24-hour period. However, between the hours of 11PM to 5AM, there is unlimited usage. This means that if I need to download 2GB of data every night, I can do it. I just need to schedule the download to run between 11 and 5.

If you exceed your plan's download limit, your speed will be reduced. However, they give you a free restore token every month, which you can use to reset your usage in the event that you've exceeded your limit. You can also purchase additional restore tokens at a rate of 3 for $25, but I have not had to do this.

Uploads do not count against your plan's download limit. On several occasions, we've uploaded photos, videos, etc. and although it can take a while if you have to upload 1+GB, at least you do not exceed your usage.

I have a RoKu which we normally use to watch GBTV over HughesNet. Usually, I'll start a show on GBTV at 10PM, and I can watch the first hour of the show without exceeding my bandwidth, and I can watch the second+ hour during the free download time. For the most part it works flawlessly, as long as you let the stream buffer for a few minutes before playing the show. I've watched a few streaming movies on NetFlix (standard quality; HD is too big), and it is OK. Somehow the RoKu/GBTV works much better than NetFlix, though, and has a higher quality. Amazon Prime streaming movies are OK too, but you just have to remember to watch your usage, otherwise you get FAP'd (FAP= Fair Access Policy).

Before April of last year, I used to multitable online poker to earn a side income and the HughesNet was plenty fast to keep up with the action on 16 tables without timing out (when I play now, it is fewer tables simultaneously). However, other types of gaming (XBox 360, PS3, etc.) don't work over HughesNet, but you can get them to work over Verizon, although even that is too slow for many games. We typically don't play these.

Bottom line, for me, HughesNet is a slow, but fairly reliable connection to the internet, which has filled in quite nicely in areas where the Verizon 3G is either not working, or we are short on bandwidth.

You may not feel a need to have redundancy in your internet connection, but it works well for us.

[Dutch3]

Before DSL was available here, I had an ISDN connection. Satellite was unusable for me due to the latency and dropouts during bad weather.

The ISDN was quite stable, but at 128k up/down was not well suited to transferring large amounts of data. It was also expensive at $130/mo for the line charges and dual 64k channel ISP connection. When it did go down, it could take days to repair as most of the current telco techs are not familiar with the "old" technology.

I imagine it is still an option anywhere there is landline phone service.

[CSACANNONEER]

It's 97524. Eagle Point, Oregon- Out in the boonies! Well actually there is a Walmart about 2 miles down the road, so guess it's not that far out in the woods (of course in Oregon there is a Walmart out in cow pastures I swear).

Sounds like you're going to be in the heart of downtown. I don't even hit pavement for 3 miles, the nearest cow is about 5 miles from me and, I'm in Los Angeles County.