Homestead Internet Service

nosedirt · #1 10/24/14, 11:55 PM

These questions are for everyone but especially those in Kentucky and also those anywhere that are off grid.

How do you receive internet? Satellite, Cable, DSL??? What is the quality and speed?

If you get into the "backwoods" of central Kentucky, what is available for service? High speed? Is it reliable?

For those of you who run a business or work remotely, do you have issues with reliable high speed service?

I have "heard" (for what that is worth) that in some areas of the country, you cannot get cable or phone(land line) without being first hooked to the grid. Somehow I doubt this but does anyone have experience or knowledge in that area?

I appreciate the thoughts and comments of anyone willing to share.

nosedirt

Harry Chickpea · #2 10/25/14, 12:46 AM

Exede satellite. Quality has been steadily improving, but of course is not like a wired connection. Compared to Hughesnet, it is amazing. We don't get meaningful cell phone reception and still have a land line. Some companies don't allow working over a satellite, since I have my own company, I do.

The "heard" comment likely relates more to establishing a presence that companies are comfortable with, in thinking that you won't be pulling up stakes and leaving them holding the bag.

MoonShadows · #3 10/25/14, 05:31 AM

There is an article in the current edition of GRIT Magazine that discusses this topic.

bergere · #4 10/25/14, 06:11 AM

HughesNet... just up graded to the Gen4 service,,, and its a whole lot better than their old satellite!

Is the only option for this area.

nosedirt · #5 10/25/14, 01:33 PM

My wife will contact her home office on Monday to double check. I have in my mind that due to security purposes they do not allow a satellite connection. But that may have been a different company she was working for before.

We are very spoiled with our cable net connection. Rarely goes out, speed is good, etc. It will be hard to find something as good.

The availability of internet may interfere with our plans and cause us to do some adjusting.

Thanks all.

Mallow · #6 10/25/14, 01:47 PM

I use Verizon 4g service through a Cradlepoint router. I connect to my work VPN and use VoIP through the connection with no issues.

rambler · #7 10/25/14, 02:17 PM

Cable. Not available in remote areas. Or typically outside of city limits much.

Telephone line DSL - best bet in remote areas if you can get it. Can be slow if you are far away from one of their repeaters, but even slow unlimited is better than some of the other options.

Satellite - not great, has latency issues for some uses. Data limits. But it works when others don't.

Cell data plan - aka Hotspot device - works well if you have LTE coverage, works ok but slow if you have G3 coverage, not so much in remote woods or mountains with poor coverage. Data limit can hit you pretty fast. Portable is very nice can take it with you.

High speed wireless - need to see by line of site some sort of a tower within about 10 miles that is broadcasting the signal, pick it up with a grill-looking dish. Tend to be small regional companies that come and go.

Paul

arabian knight · #8 10/25/14, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rambler

Cable. Not available in remote areas. Or typically outside of city limits much.Telephone line DSL - Paul

I am so lucky, wish all small towns would get this FTTH.
Which means Fiber To The Home.
I not only fast DSL service but on those same DSL telephone lines I get Cable many HD and when the Fiber does get connected to the house right now it is just at the side of the house but has not been connected up. When it does many more HD programming and faster yet DSL service.
And this is in a 3 country area Everyone that wants this can get it. No matter where you are you can get fast DSL plus cable tv. Neat

FarmboyBill · #9 10/25/14, 03:05 PM

I HATE, HATE, H A T E Hughsnet. I only keep it here till I move, then im done with them. Ive been out of contract with them for over a year.

bergere · #10 10/25/14, 06:05 PM

In NW Oregon, we were lucky to have very high speed DSL... unlimited bandwidth.

Here we have HughesNet... even with the business account I hated it.

Until.... I switched to the new Satellite and to the Gen 4 top of the line business account.
While not as good as the DSL in Oregon.... its 100% better than the old satellite.
Pleasantly surprised by that.

With the old system... was lucky to read email. Now I can work on my online art shops and stream quite a bit of video on my kindle!
Couldn't do that on their old system.

simi-steading · #11 10/25/14, 07:26 PM

I have Hughesnet again... When I had it about 10 years ago, it was BAD... real bad.. but now, it's pretty good.. Every now and then I may have an issue streaming video, but not often..

I wanted Exede, but I couldn't get it because the bird is too low in the sky for me to see it over the ridge behind the house..

It's our only option where we live in the middle of nowhere..

GoldenCityMuse · #12 10/25/14, 08:14 PM

In rural New Mexico, I have DSL. Quite a few people further out than I have it too. No latency. Make it your first choice.

For reference, The closest Walmart is 66 miles away.

FarmboyBill · #13 10/25/14, 08:19 PM

Im on U tubes ALOT. about the third or 4th week into the month I lose it due to (Fair access code). It restarts on the 10th of the month, but im usually going 2 weeks without it.

nosedirt · #14 10/25/14, 09:25 PM

Moon,
I just read the article in Girt that you mentioned. Good article. I sold Grit when I was a kid. It was a rural area s I had to cover a lot of ground just to get a few papers sold but it was good experience. i didn't know they were still around. Thanks

nosedirt · #15 10/25/14, 09:33 PM

I checked the Exede site and according to it we could get service in the zip code we are hoping to go to. I'm hoping to make a trip to Kentucky sometime this winter to do some scouting so that will help.

Finding a good internet service has the wife very apprehensive about the move. Currently we have cablenet with a 50g per month limit.

We had DSL when we first moved into this neighborhood but it was not very good. I think it was simply Qwest not wanting to invest in the area. Some of the neighbors have it now and are happy.

nosedirt

nosedirt · #16 10/25/14, 09:35 PM

Mallow, your method is new to me. I will look it up on the Verizon site to learn more.
Thanks,
nosedirt

Mallow · #17 10/25/14, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nosedirt

Mallow, your method is new to me. I will look it up on the Verizon site to learn more.
Thanks,
nosedirt

If you have Verizon LTE coverage look up buying an unlimited grandfathered plan. That's the only way to go if you use a lot of data. I ended up with three of those accounts. 2 cell phones and 1 for internet service.

calliemoonbeam · #18 10/25/14, 10:20 PM

ND, if your wife works in the medical field they will tell her no satellite is allowed due to HIPAA regulations. I have known people who tried regular satellite like HughesNet anyway, but the biggest problem is that it won't maintain that dedicated connection you need to do that kind of work. I don't understand the exact explanation for it, but it drops the connection a lot, usually right in the middle of a report, lol, and you just lose that work. I don't know anyone personally who's actually made it work for that, sorry, and it's grounds for instant dismissal and a possible lawsuit if you get caught by the company you work for.

Last year I looked into getting an RV and traveling and was looking for solutions for work. I use a lot of bandwidth, about 50 GB per month (have a 250 GB limit at the moment, lol, with DSL through the phone company), so regular cell plans weren't near good enough either. The best thing I found was Millenicom. It's based off of the phone tower system, and I don't know what the difference is but apparently it won't drop connections like regular satellite will, and it offers more bandwidth for the best price I found. I think it was around $140 a month, which is a lot more than some places, but way less than most if you can even find another one with a 50 GB allowance. And if she uses it for work, you can deduct it on your taxes, which always helps.

You might check into that. Good luck!

P.S. With any of the routes you go other than DSL, I think a VPN would be a good idea to be sure you have a secure dedicated line. I'm required by my accounts to have one, even though I'm on DSL.

msscamp · #19 10/25/14, 10:23 PM

I live roughly 5 miles west of a fairly big town(for Wyoming, anyway), and I cannot get cable tv, DSL, or broadband internet - despite the fact that the people across hwy 26 can. I have satellite tv(I do not get abc, cbs, or nbc, however), and wireless internet because that is all that is available unless I want to go with Hughes Net and I will pass on that, thank you very much. For the first several years, the wireless internet sucked. I finally got a hold of a good rep and they pointed me at a different tower and it's pretty good now. When we lived on the ranch(10 miles north of Ft. Laramie), our telephone service was owned by the people who lived in that area and they were responsible for any and all servicing of it. We had 2 broadcast channels that we could get through an antennae. Don't be so quick to discount not being able to get phone and tv if you live in a remote area - it happens. LOL

SouthBrookFarm · #20 10/25/14, 11:10 PM

I had DSL through SCRTC (phone company) in Glasgow, KY, which is about 30 miles NW from my house. The speed was fine, but they offer faster speed for business use. I have Exede satellite now . . . it has a glitch now and then, especially during storms, but it works fine most of the time. I haven't found any "work from home" customer service job that would allow me to use satellite service. I do hope you find a place that will work for you. I love the idea of more homesteaders moving to KY.