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Old 02-07-2013, 11:32 AM
 
3 posts, read 3,827 times
Reputation: 15

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I recently retired in Jackson and in the middle of a move to Prentiss in Jeff Davis County. I have been spoiled with Comcast TV and Internet.
I have never been on a satellite TV or internet setup, or DSL, but searching around on the www for reviews etc, no company seems to be that great. Most seems to be terrible.

Can any small town people here please advise me who to steer clear of on any kind of connection?

I hate to sign a 24 month contract and be unhappy for two years, much less very unhappy.
Being retired on a tight budget, I can't afford to make a two year mistake and get ripped off $$$ like so many in the reviews of various systems do, ie Windstream and Hughsnet seems to be the worst that I have read about so far. Nothing at all good online written about Windstream DSL.

Thanks ahead for any advise, who to steer clear of and maybe who might be at least okay.

jerry
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Old 02-08-2013, 08:22 AM
 
Location: Mississippi
314 posts, read 1,100,794 times
Reputation: 437
Living in rural areas really limits your internet choices. I was with Wildblue for about four years. It was expensive, and speeds were only comparable to slow DSL. You are also metered in your usage, so watching video is out. Ive read that the current incarnation is much faster, but I have no experience with it.
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Old 02-08-2013, 08:52 AM
 
Location: Floribama
18,923 posts, read 43,219,633 times
Reputation: 18717
Dish now has DishNet.
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Old 02-08-2013, 09:39 AM
 
Location: Mississippi
1,112 posts, read 2,568,940 times
Reputation: 1579
When I lived in a rural area, about 7 years ago, I had Hughesnet. I do not have experience with the new Hughesnet Gen4, but upon researching it I can tell you how it stacks up.

Hughesnet Gen4 has definitely expanded its download speed, however, it is still expensive for what you get. With the lowest package you get 10mbps download and 1mbps upload. I bet it still gets extremely slow during peak times as well due to the number of users per satellite. You will pay $60 per month plus $10 per month to lease the equipment, or $60 per month plus $199 one time fee if you buy the equipment. They have 2 more packages at $80 and $100 per month that offer additional upload speed and/or download speed and more data limit.

The fair access policy will limit you to 10gb per month usage with the lowest package plus 10gb during bonus hours (2am-8am). Unless you only browse the web and do light downloading this will be easy to use up.

Satellite internet, regardless of provider, is awful for online gaming due to latency. It is worse for gaming than dial-up. The signal from your dish to the satellite takes roughly one second round trip. This doesn't sound like much until you realize that data is sent in small packets when gaming, and there is a one second delay between each packet. This makes for a very slow gaming experience.

Hope this helps. It is ok for web browsing and light downloading when the satellites aren't overloaded with customers, it sucks for gaming, and you are limited on usage.
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Old 02-08-2013, 10:58 AM
 
Location: Chattanooga, TN
3,045 posts, read 5,198,321 times
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I've lived in rural and urban areas and used a variety of connections. In general, in terms of speed and reliability, any direct wired option is better than any wireless option. Price always depends on competition. Larger towns will have more options so it'll be cheaper. Satellite is the most expensive because they're selling to people with no other option.

- Direct fiber is the best, but available in very few areas. My current provider starts at 50Mbps and goes to 1Gbps, and 50Mbps is about the same price as the local cable provider.
- Cable is next, and is an option in more areas that fiber, but still not available if you're completely rural
- DSL is generally slower than cable and is the slowest wired option other than dial-up, but is still leaps and bounds better than any wireless option. It's availability is randomly based on the old telephone network and how close you are to a hub. It may be available at a house way out in the sticks but not available downtown. You can check availability HERE (click the link near the top of the page).

- Cellular wireless is the best option if you can't get a wire, but obviously only if you're near a cell tower. You will have variable speeds and strict download limits. My parents barely have a cell signal, but they were able to install an antenna on the roof of their house wired to a signal booster inside. This cost them a few hundred dollars in equipment, but it boosted their cell coverage so well they got rid of their old land line. Their internet connection is with a Verizon MiFi.

- Satellite is your last-ditch option. It's the slowest and most expensive. You've read the negative reviews here and on other sites, and I've never met anyone who was happy with theirs. About the only positive is that it will be slightly faster than dial-up.
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Old 02-08-2013, 12:41 PM
 
Location: Mississippi
1,112 posts, read 2,568,940 times
Reputation: 1579
I can definitely confirm what jwkilgore said. If you can get any wired internet connection instead of satellite, do it. Reliability, speed, and usage limit are all miles ahead of satellite.

My brother has cellular internet, as it is his best option at this time. WiMax is becoming more available though, and if you can get it, this would be your best option for rural areas where wired connections are not available.

Last edited by jhadorn; 02-08-2013 at 12:54 PM..
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Old 02-08-2013, 02:33 PM
 
Location: Northwest Hills, CT
352 posts, read 775,281 times
Reputation: 242
I live in a rural area and have Excede satellite - I don't think it's bad at all. I was getting kicked off a couple of times a week for an hour or so but as it turns out, they didn't install a waterproof lens so there was water in it. Haven't had a problem since they fixed it.

I was a little nervous at first about a satellite internet connection because I'm used to cable and I need reliablity because I work from home. So far so good, until we get cable lines out here....
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Old 02-08-2013, 11:52 PM
 
93 posts, read 214,822 times
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KaoCT how long have you had Excede? I'm moving out to the country and I'm thinking of getting it. I also work from home so need to be able to reliably get emails. I don't do gaming or watching video so that doesn't matter to me.
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Old 02-11-2013, 11:22 AM
 
Location: Northwest Hills, CT
352 posts, read 775,281 times
Reputation: 242
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alluvial View Post
KaoCT how long have you had Excede? I'm moving out to the country and I'm thinking of getting it. I also work from home so need to be able to reliably get emails. I don't do gaming or watching video so that doesn't matter to me.
I've had it for about 3 and a half months. I don't do the gaming or videos either, sometimes I have video conferences and they are a little slow, but I think that has to do with my connection into the corporate network.

Even with the storms and all the rain since yesterday, I'm having no problems at all!
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Old 02-11-2013, 11:31 AM
 
93 posts, read 214,822 times
Reputation: 108
Thank you!
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