Rural America Takes to Makeshift Broadband

fox ^

[Suzie_Cue]

Rural residents desperately seeking fast Internet connections are taking it upon themselves to get broadband service.

Last year, residents in Summit County, Colo., formed the Ruby Ranch Internet Cooperative (RRIC) Association, otherwise known as "the Co-op."

After 10 months of negotiations, Qwest, the main local telecommunications provider, told them it would cost too much to roll out digital subscriber line (DSL) or cable Internet access to the area.

[SamAdams76]

What good are 500 channels and really fast downloads if there's nothing to watch or anything I want to download? I'll wait.

You've got a "Cable TV" mentality. Broadband is not cable TV. It is the Internet at high speed. There is not 500 channels but millions of websites. I use the Internet to pursue my hobbies and interests. There is no end to information out there in what interests me. Many times I'll be on a thread here on Free Republic and my interest in a particular subject will be piqued. So I'll run a Google search and come up with volumes of information. For example, there was a thread here not too long ago about the Jonathon Pollard spy case. With a few mouseclicks, I had add the information I could ever want on Jonathon Pollard and within an hour, I was able to come back to Free Republic and discuss the case with some knowledge. It's incredibly educational. Whenever a question pops into my mind, I can usually find an answer in minutes on the Internet.

[stinkypew]

Who are the leading manufacturers of broadband equipment? I wanna buy some stock.

[The Great RJ]

Qwest's DSL is a joke and their tech support is non existent. My son and I recently spent hours trying to hook up Qwest DSL service for a friend --Qwest just sent the modem and a 200 page manual in the mail. Once we finally got things going it was hardly faster than dial-up and went down within 20 mintes of installation.

If cable isn't available, I wouldn't mess with DSL. These co-op guys should go satelite dish.

[mewzilla]

Well, with the limited amount of time I spend on-line, I won't be saving enough time with broadband to justify spending $50 a month on it. That's not a cable mentality, that's a not-made-of-money mentality :)

[bribriagain]

Will do. btw: They charge for a new dish, which can also be used for your Direct TV for an additional charge. I figure I can eliminate 1 telephone line and my ISP account and come out ahead financially.

[dtel]

Who are the leading manufacturers of broadband equipment? I wanna buy some stock.

Look under penny stocks.

[Clifdo]

Boy, how right you are! I obtained mine thru SBC Global in connection with Southwestern Bell Telephone here in Norman, Ok. They hooked it up for free; I pay $29.95 for six months and then $49.95 a month. I was able to give up a separate phone line and it is cheaper than AOL's DSL service. I would sooner give up my almost anything I have rather than my DSL service.

[chnsmok]

I am thinking of this, but the setup is so costly for the 2 way. How do you like it?

[DeSoto]

I am amazed that nobody mentioned satellite service in the article. I have had Starband since 1/01 and I am happy with it. There is a latency that makes some people unhappy (it does take time for the signal to travel 50,000 miles), but the 1/2 second wait is not that bad. The best part is that it is available anywhere, without forming co-ops or building systems that may need technical maintenance.

The cost is about $60/mo. but I cancelled my ISP and my second phone line, so the cost is only a little more than I was paying before. And it is definitely worth it.

[SamAdams76]

I'm not exactly made-of-money as you imply and my budget is tight! Consider that with dial-up, I had to have an extra phone line run into the house. That added $25 a month to the $20 a month I paid my dial-up ISP for a total of $45. So I am really paying just $5 extra a month for broadband as I was able to cancel that extra phone line also. What does that extra $5 a month buy me? Freedom. No longer do I have to surf Free Republic with my wife and kids tugging at me so they can get a turn. Now everybody in the house gets a fast, always-on connection. Even if I didn't have the extra phone line, paying the extra money is a no-brainer. But to each their own.

[bribriagain]

I just signed up yesterday. They're spreading the install cost over 12 months to minimize the $ pain. Turns out to be $99 a month for 12 months then drops to $59 after that.

[bribriagain]

I think broadband and satelite have Verizon spooked; everyone's dropping their second phone line. BTW: I despise Verizon.

[wattsmag2]

50 bucks isn't bad. I only pay 43 bucks a month for cable digital. So far, I access at at least 2.4 MBit and often at 3+ Mbit. I will never go back to phone modems or DSL.

[Balding_Eagle]

The only problem is now I am being told to hurry up and get the house wired for a LAN so everyone can be on at the same time.

I got my house wired for a LAN, used about 500' of CAT 5, just in time for wireless.

If your pocketbook can stretch, go wireless right from the start. That way, when you get a laptop, you can read FR anywhere in the house, front yard, or deck. I still have all the connections around, but only use them with the desktops (I have a home office).

The laptop is used many hours a day, we just carry it to wherever we are. Mrs. Balding Eagle uses it to listen to religious music/sermons, I read FR, DU (now THATS interesting!), and other stuff.

Another bit of advice. All my LAN connections end in the basement furnace room, along with the cable modem. As a result, my wireless switch is there too. The wireless range is somewhat limited because of all the metal, wires, and plumbing there. If you can, have your wireless transmitter on the main level, and not in the mechanical room.

[kitchen]

... Boulder (slogan: "Bandwidth to the Boonies")...

Since when is Boulder remote rural? More like bandwidth to the loonies.

[Mr_Magoo]

THIS is why I decided against wireless for my network.

[weikel]

Right as usual.

[weikel]

The Qwest service on the East Coast is a joke( thats why WPI went to another ISP) supposedly they are good on the West Coast.

[VOA]

Qwest officials were not available for comment. 

This one line tells me that these "Sagebrush Rebellion"-style folks are on the right track.

It will be interesting to see all the consequences as DSL (and general Internet access)
spreads like "Rural Electrification" did a few generations ago.

My suspicion is that it MIGHT
1. Even help speed the depopulation of rural America as the kids see even more of what's
shakin' outside of "flyover country"...
2. And at the same time, some folks will make the move from urban/suburban areas
when they realize they can be out in the sticks, but still wired into the rest of the planet.
(Could be that #1 and #2 will balance out and just be a wash.)

3. And the final death nell of small-town newspapers might be ringing...
will subscriptions to newspapers in towns under (oh say) 50,000 population just
shrivel and die as the Web becomes the trusted news source?

[Senator Pardek]

I get my DSL from Verizon - I'm shocked at how fantastic it is. I'll never go back either.

I just ran a test on my system - It told me I was downloading at 687 kilobits/sec., as opposed to a 56K dial-up, which probably maxes out at 40 Kbs/sec.

Next week, I'm gonna upgrade to double the rate for a mere 10 bucks more - more power! More speed, damn it!