Rural Internet Options

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lucky7chief

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What are people using for home internet in rural areas? I currently use Radiowire which is a local fixed wireless provider. It's okay but want to know what other options are out there. I have a local company pushing GotW3 which is cellular based. I have seen others like Nomad that are also cellular based.
 
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No wired internet available at my location. I have an installed cellular device from Verizon - like a hot spot installed antenna on the house with a wifi router. I am 3 to 4 miles from the tower so speed is slow. I get 15 Gigs per month at this speed and then it slows down to 600 kbps. Can also use my phone as a hot spot. Same Verizon plan and speed. Signal sometimes fades out momentarily.
Other option available here is satellite, but I have no experience with it. Local electric coop now has permission to provide fiber internet, but will be years before they get it installed in all their coverage area.
 
We got grandfathered in on AT&T unlimited hotspot. It's the same as other WISP providers. Bandwidth gets eaten up pretty fast with the kids and download speeds are 20-25 Mbps when it's good - normal is 8-10 Mbps. The only wired option is DSL. Won't do satellite due to latency and weather issues. Other WISP providers exist but their pricing is akin to robbery. Fiber is coming from a local provider but I think we're on the wrong side of the road to get access. We use between 1-1.5 terabytes a month through it. Probably closer to 2 terabytes or more if cell phones are included.

I strongly believe broadband of at least 100 Mbps down and 25 Mbps up should be a standard public utility provided to every residence at a low cost.
 
I had Verizon Wireless until recently and we got fiber. The problem with wireless is that as they add more subscribers to the tower, the slower it gets because each tower has a set amount of bandwidth. Ours got to the point that, at night, it became non-functional for even checking e-mail.

Starlink looks promising and I think there is a thread on here somewhere.
 
Same boat.

All satellite is garbage, pretty much just barely better than nothing. The exception being Starlink, but it is not fully developed yet. Elon Musk is behind it, supposed to be very close to wired internet.

I have a wireless internet that runs on AT&T towers. Cell reception is not real good here, but it's not terrible, still faster than satellite, and cheaper.

ISPs are the lowest of the low and I despise all of them. They've been handed millions to expand rural internet, and stuck it in their pockets. They're a monopoly and they know it.
 
I don't know what is fast and what is slow except by how things seem to function. Speed test I just did shows my connection at 21 Mbps download. I don't know how that would compare to a cell connection.
 
I had dialup until maybe 12 years ago and fiber came. Other options would be Hughesnet and Wild blue that I know about. I get cell service were I live so it has options for net service.

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My download is 24.9 MBPS and upload is 7.59 MBPS
 
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Silver said:
I don't know what is fast and what is slow except by how things seem to function. Speed test I just did shows my connection at 21 Mbps download. I don't know how that would compare to a cell connection.
Click to expand...

21 is pretty good. DSL is "high speed" and in many cases is only 1.5.

Download is only part of the equation as well, latency (ping) plays a bigger part in how fast the internet responds while browsing. A good connection is under 100, satellite of any form is usually around 700.

My wireless internet is only 5-10 download, but seems much faster than satellite because the latency is way lower.

In high signal areas, wireless can be 80-100 mbps.
 
shaz said:
I have Hughes as well and it is horrible.
Click to expand...
I don't have an issue with it. There has only been twice in 3 years where we lost service during a storm. Back when I was working we were in the state capital and had the fastest internet there was at that time. My Hughes isn't much slower that that was.
They installed fiber down in our little town. I doubt they will ever bring it up here. It is 5 miles to where it ends and there is only 3 houses between here and there.
 
Starlink is available for pre-order. I put in mine day 1. Should have it by mid to late 21.... nothing else will even come close. I'll have faster speeds than people in town. Game-changer. It's completely different than anything else out there and will not have the issues Hughes/ViaSat, etc have. As far as speed/latency...no contest. It will eventually surpass ground based internet by a LOT
 
Had hughesnet for 2 years along with their phone and it was awful and the cost was outrageous. ATT put a tower up pretty close and we got their wireless now and it is great. We get 30 mbps and service is actually reliable.
 
lucky7chief said:
What are people using for home internet in rural areas? I currently use Radiowire which is a local fixed wireless provider. It's okay but want to know what other options are out there. I have a local company pushing GotW3 which is cellular based. I have seen others like Nomad that are also cellular based.
Click to expand...
Well it depends on what you are wanting to do online. If you are just emailing, visiting forums and looking at market reports then your data plan smart phone can hotspot at no additional cost or, you can do all of that directly from your phone. You can also stream low resolution blurred video such as youtube from your hotspot connection. Anything more than that will require a satellite link in remote areas.
 
You guys be careful.

Text message between neighbors

Hi, Max. This is Richard, next door. I've been riddled with guilt for
a few months and have been trying to get up the courage to tell you
face-to-face. When you're not around, I've been sharing your wife, day
and night, probably much more than you. I haven't been getting it at
home recently. I know that's no excuse. The temptation was just too
great. I can't live with the guilt & hope you'll accept my sincere
apology and forgive me. Please suggest a fee for usage and I'll pay
you. Richard

Max, feeling enraged and betrayed, grabbed his gun, went next door,
and shot Richard dead. He returned home, shot his wife, poured himself
a stiff drink and sat down on the sofa. Max then looked at his phone
and discovered a second text message from Richard.

SECOND TEXT MESSAGE:

Hi, Max. Richard here again. Sorry about the typo on my last text. I
assume you figured it out and noticed that the darned Spell-Check had
changed "wi-fi" to "wife." Technology, huh? It'll be the death of us
all.
 
We pay for 7 mbps and get about 5 with Radiowire. The GotW3 people are getting 25+. We are getting by but it would be nice to stream more and get rid of satellite TV.
 

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