Rural Internet Connection (Omaha, McCook, Holdrege: house, rent, work)

[Off Pavement]

We currently use satellite internet, but wonder about wireless access or DSL in rural areas. Wireless is available in our area while DSL is not at the moment, and frankly the $80 monthly charge and decreasing satellite speeds has me looking into alternatives. Your thoughts?

[downthathighway]

Well I don't know how your reception is there, but you have several choices.
My sis lives in a rural area and has satellite internet, but it is different from the National companies. Some sort of co-op venture limited to members near them. And they pay about $50 month. Not sure what company that is.
If you have good cell phone reception you have several choices. Wireless broadband or a data plan with the cell phone company. I have 2 connections, one mine- a Verizon account with a card that goes in my laptop' PCMIA slot. They now have a modem that plugs into any PC's USB port also. 2 year plan $60 month unlimited, it can be found for even less $ now.
Also my company supplies an AllTel cellphone. For an extra $20 month they pay for a 'data plan' unlimited.For that, you need to have a wire from the cellphone plugged in to the computer. They do not charge 'by the minute' even though the cellphone is 'on'
You should check with cellphone providers and compare prices/ reception there for either broadband card access or data plan. Bonus- with either of those 2 you can use it anywhere if you have a laptop.
Reception is always better in metro areas and along Interstae highways. But there are very few areas I do not have internet access.
We were mostly comparing cell plans, but on the Omaha thread is more ideas:
Wireless Companies

[tpabes]

Might check with these:

McCook Internet Service - (308) 345-1782

Pinpoint Internet out of Alma- 308) 928-9700

Didn't see any out of Holdrege or Norton, Ks through yellow pages.

[Off Pavement]

What kind of speeds have you experienced with the wireless plans of which you speak?

A line of sight antenna wireless connection is availabe in the Cambridge area through ATC Communication of Arapahoe NE, and Pinpoint has DSL as well as a wireless plan. I'm leaning toward the ATC connection as their advertised connection speed is faster than my satellite is providing at a much lower cost. Verizon and AT&T don't offer wireless plan in this area according to their web sites.

[downthathighway]

Originally Posted by Off Pavement

What kind of speeds have you experienced with the wireless plans of which you speak?

A line of sight antenna wireless connection is availabe in the Cambridge area through ATC Communication of Arapahoe NE, and Pinpoint has DSL as well as a wireless plan. I'm leaning toward the ATC connection as their advertised connection speed is faster than my satellite is providing at a much lower cost. Verizon and AT&T don't offer wireless plan in this area according to their web sites.

(Below is pasted from my post in Omaha thread)
Try that Verizon link at the bottom, it will read your speed no matter what your internet connection is.

...When my company closed our branch here and we began telecommute they set me up with a Data plan through their cell provider, Alltel to access internet on the co. laptop. It has worked very well, at speeds almost 2X Verizons, and it has worked all over Nebraska, even rural areas(alabeit a little slower, to be expected though)
...This 'add-on' data plan adds about $20 to the cell phone plan, seems well worth it, for internet access any time. The cord supplied with the kit plugs into laptop USB and that cord has a duplex plug built in to keep the phone charger hooked up up.
...I'm no 'techie' but did an online speed test with the wireless card and cell modem:
wireless card 349.7 Kbits, Cell modem(alltel) 486.5 Kbits
Beats dial-up anyways.

Note- my Verizon speed just now is 268 Kbps here in Omaha, slower due to the firewall,etc on my company laptop.
Verizon Online SpeedTest

[itsMeFred]

I'm 12 miles from pavement, 90 miles from a WalMart, 150 from a mall. Ie, fairly rural (though I've lived far more so...)

I have DSL.
For us it comes from the local phone co. Basically anywhere within 3 miles of a phone box (those concrete outhouse looking buildings) and they can get you DSL in my area. For us, you pay for the higher speeds. I'm currently at 128K up and it's $29 per mo. unlimited. Each step faster is another $10 per mo. until you're up to 1024K which is $59 unlimited.


--Erin

[Off Pavement]

I have to pass this true story along about our experience with QWest DSL in the Denver area and their tech support.

Our DSL worked for 1 day...sort of... after the installation. We called tech support which turned out to be someone in India. We know this because the name he gave us was John Wayne, and when we asked where he was, he said India. We have since discovered that these foreign support centers assume American names to make conversations smoother.

Anyway...my wife finally starts getting frustrated talking to John Wayne, and makes the comment that the DSL modem is a "piece of crap". John Wayne replyed "it is not crap...it is ActionTech!" (the brand name of the modem). We never got our DSL working, and ActionTech was a piece of crap, and we still like telling the story.

[Sandhills Guru]

There is also a newer cellular company in your area boasting of their wireless service. Be careful, even with the best reception it is slower than dial up. I would ask for a demo for your computer before signing any 2 year agreement with a cellular company.

[Off Pavement]

Good point, and somthing I have asked about. I have been told that if I am not happy with the connection speed at time of installation, there will be no charge. This is more of a hybrid wireless as there are some wires from a line-of-sight antenna on our house to the router, and not cell service. At least not cell modem like I normally think of.