Satellite Internet Connections

[Gary Sisco]

It's only just dawned on me that, potentially, when we've moved, we won't have a DSL connection anymore.

Anyone here using one?

[Root Doctor]

It'll cost you a fortune.

[MRS]

My ma has one and it's slow as molasses.

[Gary Sisco]

Just what was worrying me.... The DSL here isn't cheap, though.

I couldn't go back to dial-up speeds again.

[Dan G]

The problem with satellite, as I had it explained to me when I was buying a dish, was that it only works one way - to download. You still have to be on a landline of some sort to send anything from your computer. So if you send large files by email, upload to servers, etc., that part is still just dial-up.

[Gary Sisco]

Sucking more by the second .....

I finally found out last month why DSL is so scarce in a rural area. The digital signals have a maximum range of 3.5 miles on standard phone line. So you have to be within that range of the nearest switching place.

[Robert de St. Loup]

Any cable TV availability in the new place?

[Gary Sisco]

Good thinking.

I doubt it, though, as we wouldn't be living in town, with the horses.

There's no cable where I am, now.

[steve(thelil)]

Originally Posted by Gary Sisco

Good thinking.

I doubt it, though, as we wouldn't be living in town, with the horses.

There's no cable where I am, now.

You can just print out what you want to write and have one of the horses deliver it. It's slightly faster than dial-up.



-always here to help

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Gary! You're moving from your dream house? WTF? Damn, if I had more money, I'd buy your place. That view out the front is gorgeous. I thought that you'd be there forever. Are you moving out of town (or into town if it's toward Burlington)?

[Ron Thorne]

Gary-

Your best hope is that cable has made its way into the rural area where you and Bronwyn will eventually reside. The difference between a cable modem and DSL is pretty striking. I just did the research in December before taking the plunge, after years on a watching-the-paint-dry dialup.

The cost for a 3Mbps (download) broadband cable modem is $39.99/mo. where we live if it's not bundled with other services such as telephone and television. We were already a tv subscriber so we bought the bundle which also gave us enhanced telephone features and a few more cable channels. The upload speed is 256Kbps. They also offer 5, 7 & 10Mbps plans, but 3Mbps is plenty fast for our use. We have unlimited downloads, which is an important feature. The plan also includes 4 e-mail accounts and a 10MB web site storage space.

DSL is still an improvement over a dialup, though. No question about that.

[Jon Abbey]

FWIW, there's a new fiber optic phone line means of Internet access that's much faster than cable, my mom just ordered it. it's not available in many areas yet, though, and certainly not wherever Gary will be, just for the general discussion.

[Jazzooo]

"The problem with satellite, as I had it explained to me when I was buying a dish, was that it only works one way - to download. You still have to be on a landline of some sort to send anything from your computer. So if you send large files by email, upload to servers, etc., that part is still just dial-up."

not really true--we're on satellite, and while uploading is slow, we do not have to use dial up or anything else to do it. The downloading speed is slower than i prefer, but definitely faster than dial up. if it's the only option, you will prefer it to dial up without a doubt unless you are uploading files every day.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I recently switched to FIOS fiber optic Internet in my house. Now that I'm getting 15 Mbos down/2 Mbps up, I can't imagine dial-up.

I did look into satellite Internet services many years ago and the price was outrageous, especially two-way service. It was something like $150 per month. If there is cable TV in the area, get that strung to your house. It'll be a whole lot cheaper than satellite. It's too bad Verizon decided to pull out of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. You'd probably have FIOS in a couple of years if they had stuck it out.

[Gary Sisco]

Well, on the basis of this thread, I don't have much to look forward to. Cable for obvious reasons doesn't extend to folks in rural areas outside a town (the reason there is none where I am now). Who'd run the cable and dig the trenches and so forth for so few customers, if any could afford it in any case.

Satellite might be the only option, unless we get lucky and find ourselves within 3.5 miles of a switching station so we can get DSL again, perhaps. It's not available everywhere by a long shot. People in urbanized or suburbanized areas have access to technology that's only fantasy outside those areas.

Kevin -- See the Gary Sisco's Equine Adventures thread.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Well, that settles it, Gary. You and Bronwyn are just gonna hafta set up your next horse farm somewhere in Manhattan or one of the other boroughs in NYC. I hear there's still some open land in Flushing. Just think, a fast internet connection plus good bagels and mucho live Jazz.

[Gary Sisco]

I wish. Maybe they'd give us some stalls in Central Park.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Gary Sisco

Maybe they'd give us some stalls in Central Park.

Yeah, but not the kind you want.

[Gary Sisco]

Yeah, well. I wasn't looking forward to living in a stall, anyway.

[Jazzooo]

We pay about $70 a month for satellite. buying the box was expensive, but I don't remember.