Remote Internet Connectivity

Vanity | 21 Sept. | Rey

[rey]

I live in a remote area and have difficulty with internet connection. It is so bad that I actually use dial up.

The owners of the property have a satellite dish (Hughes) which they are not very happy with. It is slow (slightly faster than dial up), does not function often, is affected by rain and fog, and, as we are next to a mountain, soemtimes has no connection at all.

We are too far out for a DSL or T3 T4, so far AT&T won't even quote a figure. I do not believe Comcast comes out here and I cannot find a human at the company to talk to. And, to top it off, cell phone service is spotty at best.

So, resident computer geeks, what are your suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

Jim

[AlexW]

“I can’t even add channels to Rhapsody online radio player,”
____________________________________________

Try the DAR.fm. I think you can do one program per day for free.
The service is for recording programs when you can not listen live. Your computer does not have to be online except for playback. I have it doing three US programs.
I keep pushing it on FR, as I want the guy to stay in business.

[GeronL]

ok

[GeronL]

I was following links from there and found:

http://world.kbs.co.kr/aod/aod_ch04_skin_2012.htm?lang=e

KBS World Radio (Korean news, talk, music and stuff)

[Rannug]

I had Wild Blue. The installer put the dish receiver on a wild cherry tree. No shit, and that’s all I’m saying.

[FreeManWhoCan]

I use Net10 for my cellphone service and my cellphone reception is terrible. Does anyone know how to boost my signal? I know that Sprint and other cellphone companies sell that mini cellphone tower to boost their signal in your house but Net 10 says they don’t have one. I also use magic jack to have a “home phone” but since I am using Direct TV for internet, the call quality is terrible.

[trebb]

I recently got Hughes Gen4 - it's expensive compared to the servive where there is cable and other options, but it works for me. They claim up to 10mbs/sec, which would equate to a max of 1.25 MB downloads. I average between 750KBs and 1.4MBs downloads. You only get 20GB a month for the cheapest package, but I find that manageable too - 10GB has to be between 2AM and 8AM so that's when I plan my biggest downloads (usually between 5:30 and 8AM). If/when these bytes are used up, then the "Anytime" bits take over so you can use the whole 20GB if you don't waste the anytime deal.

Not prime and no good for gaming due to the lag time to make the round-trip satellite/earth for request/response, but not bad for normal web browsing and the downloads crank right along.

[Rannug]

I have used Vonage for years for my land line, and really like it. I also have a fax line thru them for $10 a month. Like that too. Verizon is my cell phone carrier. The area I live in is VERY iffy for service. After many “discussions” with Verizon, I was offered a free “service extender”. Free mind you. The thing works. Really good. Can’t believe it. All these years without. Good luck.

[cuban leaf]

The speeds you’ve mention that you’re getting is pretty darn good.

---

I really believe it is because of the satellite they launched in December of 2011 IIRC.

So far it’s still at least as fast as our Comcast when I lived in Bellevue, Wa. Only downside is that when we get some of those Kentucky rainstorms it goes away. But they usually last less than a half hour. The real concern about those storms is having to grade the hill part of my driveway afterward. :(

[cuban leaf]

Could be. What I do know is that when I had comcast in Bellevue the Youtube videos would often not load as fast as they were playing. I don’t have that problem with my satellite.

My sister and her husband live in the sticks in Montana and have had satellite for several years and have always hated it. It’s why I was not excited about going that way. But now that I have had it for over a year, my only complaint is the cost. And it is a small price to pay for what we get - and where we live. ;-)

[Errant]

Does anyone know how to boost my signal?

Net10 uses different carriers, depending upon what area of the country you're in. For instance, here, they use the AT&T network. You should be able to find out who they are using in your area, and install a relay or antenna that will work.

[Errant]

So what’s the lowest estimate for overlaying the driveway? lol

[NewHampshireDuo]

I had Wild Blue. The installer put the dish receiver on a wild cherry tree. No shit, and that’s all I’m saying.

I presume that the past tense says much. How's the cherry tree doing?

[NewHampshireDuo]

I had Wild Blue. The installer put the dish receiver on a wild cherry tree. No shit, and that’s all I’m saying.

I presume that the past tense says much. How's the cherry tree doing?

[Rannug]

I presume that the past tense says much. How’s the cherry tree doing?

LMAO Not worth a shlt. It blew down a couple of years ago.

[Billthedrill]

Great thread, thanks for posting. I'm living in rural Idaho and had wireless for five years, shooting an antenna about 5 miles away across a lake. Great stuff for most of that time but they fell off rapidly with a change in ownership and I finally had them take the antenna away about a year ago because it was NEVER up. Sixty bucks a month for half a meg down. Ridiculous.

I'm sending this through my Sprint Galaxy,used as a wireless AP, and it works very well nearly all of the time, but it isn't fast. Nevertheless, it was good enough for a four-hour VPN session to work on Friday night.

I'm jumping ship to Verizon next week due to signal strength. My neighbor has a Verizon dedicated AP (Jetpack) and is very happy with it. We'll see how that goes.

When I retire I'll probably do the satellite thing but it's too expensive to justify right now because I'm on the road so much. I'll be keeping an eye on threads just like this one for advice and thanks again for posting.

[andyk]

LOL, latency is horrible.

[Windflier]

Wilson makes antenna’s

Death to all misplaced apostrophes!!