Franklin County questions (Roanoke, Boones Mill: house, live in, moving to)

[enitinco]

We are moving to the Callaway area from out of state. What are good options for cell phone coverage, for internet and cable/satellite tv? Can you recommend any smaller telephone companies for hard line phone service?

I just found out that much of the county is on dial up internet, and that might be my biggest adjustment from city life!

Thanks for your suggestions.

[seanpecor]

Callaway! Hello neighbor I live in the Boones Mill area, about midway between Callaway Road and Route 220, off of Bethlehem Rd.

Lessee, out here in the boonies I have fixed broadband wireless. It's about 1.5Mbps in both directions. It's faster than the T1 I used to have and about $750/month cheaper so I can't argue with that! If you can see a distant hilltop from your house with a tower or two sticking out of it, then there is a chance you can get B2X online's fixed wireless service. Check into B2X Online and have them do a survey of your future address. The dish is pretty small, smaller than your typical satellite dish.

For telephone companies, you're stuck with Embarq as far as I know.

For cellphone coverage, the best is Verizon Wireless but don't rule out Sprint/Embarq. The lone tower on Cahas Mountain you might see from your place is a Sprint tower. But I use VW and the only place I lose service is Five Mile Mountain Road (drive it and you'll see why).

Truth be told most of the population of Franklin County is served by Sudden Link cable, B2X online or DSL. The fringes (and the Callaway area might be in that fringe) are indeed stuck for the time being with dialup, but B2X is adding lots of towers in the County so you might not be without broadband after all.

For satellite TV we like Dish Network. We've got the latest HD-DVR and it's been working flawlessly since we got it last Autumn. They've got the most HD channels by far. Oh, and plus they have RFD-TV, which should become your new favorite channel now that you're moving to Callaway

Sean

[enitinco]

This has been very helpful to us, and it looks like there might be some hope.

I've been viewing these boards for some time, and your posts are always encouraging. Roanoke and Franklin Counties should be paying you! Terrific Roanoke/Boones Mill pics, by the way, that you posted on the other thread. I think you made my husband's day!