Broadband providers?

[MarkT]

I need to replace my ISP.  Currently have DSL via Centurylink.  There is no cable available in our area, so it's limited to satellite.  Lines into the neighborhood are POTS - twisted pair which limits bandwidth to roughly 3.3Mbps down.  We were getting 7M for quite some time according to the modems setup page but it dropped to 4.096 a couple weeks ago.  A couple TS engineers admitted to me yesterday that we've been "throttled" to 4096 / 640k and both of my DSL modems confirm those exact numbers.  That's what they've committed to deliver here but we really need the 7000 as wifey telecommutes and conferences via VOIP - which at the new speed drops frames and comes out garbled on the other end. Talked with CS at CL today and none would admit what the ADSL TS engineers told me yesterday - that we were throttled; or that we actually had 7000kbps before - that was witnessed by THEIR engineer on my computer just 3 weeks ago.  I am SO PISSED at CL - I've been a Bell customer for my entire adult life since 1970; they are raking in $120/mo for just phone & ISP while telling me I'm getting great bandwidth (somewhere around 3% nationwide - best in country is 505Mbps, avg around 150); I was an engineer for their parent AT&T for years and know their systems well yet they try to treat me like a mushroom.  I said, get this fixed. Put us back to 7000 or we are outta here and I'm writing letters. Though they were polite - including the last manager who just arrived from Mombai - It's clear to me "we don't care - we don't have to - we're The Phone Company."

We are in a cell phone hole, so cell connections aren't an option.  At least not for broadband.  I have a cell antenna we've used as a backup in the past, but it's emergency only - not fast.  Interestingly, Centurylink just had fiber optic installed along hwy 86 a couple miles S of here - right past us, from Castle Rock to Elizabeth. Those users are getting 100M. Even though there are about 250 houses in our development, it's still not worth it to their bean counters to run a trunk line 2 miles N to our area.  Actually to get the speed delivered, the neighborhood would have to be rewired as well - it's all twisted pair which chokes bandwidth expansion.

OK so now my choice is satellite.  Dish offers it but it doesn't look promising from them.  Hughes is the other one I'm seriously looking at.  All of their packages provide 25Mbps, the bottom of the "broadband" definition.  Then have various data transfer pkgs starting at 10Gb / mo.  Don't know of other potential ISPs yet.

Do you have comments - good & bad on Hughes or any other options I can look at?  Again, there's no other landlines available here.

Thanks.

[Serk]

Just something to keep in mind, while satellite can have high bandwidth, due to the high distance the signal travels there is also high latency, which can be very disruptive for telecommuting (VOIP calls and such) adding a noticeable delay in the conversation.

[old2soon]

Dumped century link had hughes net sat dumped them. I'm not up on the tech aspects and I'm now with Cable America. My bill kept going up at cl and my puter kept slowin down.  The girls were still at home when I had h n and they kept running out of the "service" and the next recommended step up-actually 3 steps up according to our useage at the time damn near quadrupled the bill!  AND customer "service" at h n even though based in U S of A at that time the little pin head on the other end of the line kept insisting they had better plans at better prices!  I finally said pay tenshun crap fer brains-come git yer stuff. Look at the h n website and see what folks are sayin today. My experience was some 10 11 years ago but if the paid me $75.00 a month to take their-h n-service I wouldn't. And no way in hell will I go back to c l. good luck with your quest there MARK! RIDE SAFE.

[baird4444]

I was a victim of Dish interweb several years ago living on the prairie in central Illinois with out a landline. Dish would slow down at peak evening hours....    I was relentless in complaining and actually got a discounted rate. Now for the killer.....   I was told by a DISH tech that
                    "There is no guaranteed slow speed".
 He must have thought I was a fool, I could not believe he actually told me that. Don't go satellite.  Are there any wireless options in the area?
           - Mike

[Karen]

Dish for TV here, is OK and earthlink for internet, DSL, is fast enough for me. They offer faster services, I just didn't care... splitters on the phone jacks, you know the drill...

[Atl-Jerry]

I fought that battle for four years at the farm, but 2 weeks ago I installed a Verizon LTE MODEM (Novatel T1114) and am getting up to 30M DL and 17M UL speeds.  This is another device on my shared unlimited plan so it cost about $40 per month.  Yes, they can depriortize after I exceed 22G in one billing cycle, but it will only drop to 3M temporarly.  Considering what I’ve had up until now I can live with that, but I don’t expect it to happen.  I know you said you’re in a cell phone hole, but check out the hi gain directional antennas if you haven’t done so lately.  Also check the other carriers, they are constantly buying and building towers to improve their service. 

Another option is to find a neighbor in that 100M neighborhood 2 miles away and offer to pay for their internet service and share it by connecting it back to your place using Ubiquiti Networks equipment if you can get a clear line of sight.  If you’re not familiar with Ubiquiti, it’s enterprise class equipment at a fraction of what Motorola costs and it’s available in unregulated frequencies.  Ubnt.com

I contacted Megapath about a dedicated data circuit, they could do it on two leased twisted pair and get me decent speeds for about $300 per month.  Their terms of service allowed me to sell any excess bandwidth to my neighbors, who are also suffering, which would help offset my costs.  I considered putting up an omni directional antenna and feeding service to my neighbors, for a fee.  This could be done as a CO-OP or you could become a WISP (Wireless Internet Service Provider), if that appeals to you there’s even grant money available for start-ups in under served rural communities.     

My pitiful DSL ultralite was providing just enuff bandwidth to get 1 frame per second on my cameras, but it would let me see if someone had kicked the door down.

[MarkT]

Jerry, I'm doing some reading with your info as a starting point.  Am I correct in understanding you are connecting via 4G LTE using the cell towers, thru Verizon and getting up to 30M / 17M using that modem, and at a cost about $40/mo?  I am looking at their coverage map and it does not show a hole anywhere near us.  Implies I wouldn't even need special antenna hardware if their map is correct.

[Atl-Jerry]

Yep, 4G/LTE and the speed does fluctuate some using speedtest.net, but it's always awesome.  All the WLS providers have gone to an unlimited plan, I switched from AT&T to Verizon because in south Ga and N. Fla Verizon has the best coverage by far.  This MODEM has external antenna connections for a MIMO antenna.  I had read that the WIFI on this MODEM was weak and I had planned disable the WIFI and use an external WAP.  I placed the MODEM in the center of the house and the WIFI coverage was as good as the Netgear router it replaced.  I cascaded to several external unmanaged desktop switches to get more ethernet ports and all is well.  The actual cost is $45 per month.