rural internet service

Hi all,

I am in a rural IL (central between springfield and decatur) outside the range of standard broadband service (dsl, cable, etc). The two alternative internet service technologies that I am familiar with are satellite and cell phone. I would appreciate any comparison on the two technologies (speed, coverage, cost), and any suggestions on service providers. Thanks for any help on this,

Kev

Reply to
kevin.pavin
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Visit

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see what coverage is available in your zip code.

The speeds range from sparkling, better than DSL, to fast dialup. I'm in the moderate dialup range where I live, but Cingular works well for me, and I can take it with me almost wherever I go, which isn't possible with a normal satellite setup.

Around Decatur, I don't see the highest speed services deployed by either of those Cellular providers. Do you have cellular voice coverage?

Satellite is more expensive to install by quite a bit, a little more expensive monthly, might be faster or slower, depending on your location for cellular, but would probably be available in areas where there is no cellular coverage at all.

Reply to
dold

Cellphone data service is barely better than dialup at its best with respect to speed, is expensive and is limited in allowed transfer amounts. Verizon probably has the best coverage in rural areas, but you'll have to check with each carrier for your location. Cell data has its place, but substituting for fixed location service is not one of them.

Satellite service works when there's nothing else available, but latency means you won't be running games or VOIP applications over it and they also can limit transfer amounts of data or throttle your service. It's also pricey.

There is a third choice: You may be surprised at the number of Wireless ISPs that cover rural areas. All you need is line of sight to their tower, which is typically on a water tower or grain elevator. WISP service is typically much more economical than the other two and performance-wise, can be as good as wired service.

Start at

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to see what's available in your area.

Reply to
Rick Blaine

I suggest that your comments are out of date.

Cingular: "Theoretical peak downlink speed of 3.6Mbps and uplink speed of 384Kbps Avg Download speed of 400 - 700 Kbps on BroadbandConnect Network Avg Upload speed of 100 - 120 Kbps on BroadbandConnect Network "

Unlimited data plans would be $60 per month, maybe cheaper. A 20MB per month plan is $39.99.

In urban areas, the newer cellular services can exceed some DSL. In rural areas, the dialup is not always good. At home, I have a 21600 dialup, 30-40K cellular, and 6M cable.

At my previous location, there was no DSL, no cable, dialup was 24000 on a good day, but EDGE is deployed on Cingular, at about 100k.

Reply to
dold

Actually at worst, cellular is at least twice as fast as dialup. Unlimited data plans are around $60 a month. While not the best substitute for fixed location, many companies will use it as a back up.

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shows several WISPs in the trans Springfield - Decatur area area.

Reply to
decaturtxcowboy

verizon has 3 data networks. the slowest (quick-2-net) is capped at

14.4 kbps; mama bear is called 'National Access' (1xRTT) and has a theoretical limit of 140 kbps but real world speeds are between 80-120 kbps. the papa bear is EVDO with speeds ranging from 300-600 kbps. with both 1xRTT and EVDO users may experience occasional higher data bursts. dialing an ISP on your cell caps your data speed at 14.,4 kbps. 73, rich, n9dko
Reply to
Rich

I have service from a local WISP and it works great now that I got onto their 900 MHz system. I was on 700 MHz and it is apparently getting interference from distant TV stations which just killed it at various times. Like every other service provider, do your homework, but I'm quite satisfied now again.

- Nate >>

Reply to
Nate Bargmann

See if there is a wireless internet service provider (wisp), if not go with the satellite service, as cellular would be about the same as a dial up line.

Reply to
Dana

Not for data over cellular.

That is fixed broadband, which may not be available in rural areas.

Reply to
Dana

"Dana" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

Well, I just finished a project using EVDO, and saw consistant d/l speeds of 800-900 kbps and uploads of 250-300 kbps.

I would say that is not just barely faster than dial-up, more like upwards of 20x.

Reply to
DanS

Fair enough - but where were you located? In a metropolitan area or out in the middle of a soybean field? And were you subject to any stated or unstated bandwidth caps? Any restrictions on being a server or server like host?

Sorry - data over a cell network is not a replacement for fixed internet service for most people.

Reply to
Rick Blaine

Rick Blaine wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

It was the Sprint service. No bandwidth caps that I am aware of. Actually it was an EVDO-to-WiFi device, for mass transit use.

While we are lcoated in a metropolitan area, it's a 3rd ring suburb, and the next town is 'the country'. According to the EVDO coverage maps on the Sprint website (a year or more old), that map indicates we are right on the fringe of coverage. Going by that map, I wasn't sure if it was going to work at all, let alone how well. All of this testing was done in a circa

1920's all brick building, from an interior office, with no external walls. I could only assume it would have worked better on the street.

I never claimed it was....but if that's the best you can get.......

Reply to
DanS

Specifically for data over cellular.

Fixed? No, this is cellular. It is only available in certain areas, but it is those same areas that have some hope of landline high speed access. Rural is rural, more so for landlines than cellular, as I note from my experience in Northern California. An area that has no DSL in any nearby CO, no cable modem service, but does offer EDGE, the 100Kbps+ service from Cingular.

On a case by case basis, given the fixed service available and the cellular service available, it needs to be considered. This poster has already looked for a landline alternative.

Cellular might not displace the $12.95 DSL offering from SBC, but it is available where other services are not.

Reply to
dold

Ah, so that's the secret project. That will be handy having buses running around with open access points. I can improve my vehicle location system, update my current location, check in if my laptops get stolen, and send short SMS type messages. Please make sure the access point authenticates quickly.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

While not the fastest, I was in a rural area in northern idaho, where verizon only had the 1x data system (about 100Kbps, other carriers didn't work there at ALL, not considered broadband, but faster than dial-up).. Used an always on data card with a Kyocera KR1 router to allow multiple computers to access the single data link (both wirelessly and wired, also a pda)...

Does any specific carrier have cellphone service in your area? If so, consider a cellular data card and a kyo router

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PS if you happen to be in an evdo area, then you can use the higher speed evdo instead of the 1xrtt.... (most cell data cards do both, and go right in the kyo router)...

Reply to
Peter Pan

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