Internet in the boondocks

[brycez28]

Well, there have been a lot of road bumps, but looks like things are finally coming together. We are scheduled to close on a 5 acre property with a 42'x90' bunk barn and short 2 car garage on it (6' walls), on the 31st. We have multiple offers on the sale of our house that we will be reviewing tonight!

Still trying to brainstorm how to convert part of the barn into usable garage space.

Anyway, trying to find an internet source. Only cable company I can find to service the address is Frontier and they told me they only offer 1mbps to the address...for $48/month! I find it hard to believe they can't get a fast connection to me, since they already have cable running to the property?

I have been living off my cell phone data for the last couple months and use about 12GB/month on that- without (much) video streaming. I need internet access for my business, so most of my usage is for that.

Any opinions on Satellite internet? I see most of them also have a data cap, then speeds are slower.

From the coverage maps of local cell phone carriers, it looks like I'll be lucky to have a voice connection everywhere on the property. Data coverage looks like it will be very poor at best.

 

[Stadger]

Yep, satellite is slow and upload speeds are even slower. It's the price you pay to live in God's country.

 

[k-os]

Have you looked into services like ExcelNet? Basically long-range wifi. I know a few people that use them (I'm also in the Sheboygan area). Service doesn't seem the best, but it's all they had available other than satellite.

 

[Mike.VA]

I'm using Hughes and its great ,,,,for a few days. Then it's SLOW. Dont't get this.,
No video streaming, or even using the internet when it begins to creep, and that is day 3-5 of your plan.

Talk to your neighbors is the best suggestion I know.

If you get Verizon, they have a upside down flower pot antenna that works a mobile hot spot that works well. Again, video is going to eat up the data, and be costly.

 

[brycez28]

Have you looked into services like ExcelNet? Basically long-range wifi. I know a few people that use them (I'm also in the Sheboygan area). Service doesn't seem the best, but it's all they had available other than satellite.

I will have to check into that more! I just looked at the coverage map and the new address (few miles west of Cascade) would be covered.

 

[kd3pc]

Frontier in MIddle TN is the dogs' stuff. Poor signal at best, non-existant service and so on.

I am "lucky" to get internet DSL from a local phone company, but you are required to purchase a "land line" at $39 per month, to then get internet over that fiber line. 2Mb is $49 on top of that ....

but at least we can get a reliable and useful connection.

If you are moving to the sticks, and NEED the net, make sure you ASK before signing the house purchase. I previously had Verizon FIOS in VA and when we put paperwork in to "move" FIOS they told me sure they can provide that. It was only after settlement and putting in a real address to their engineering department, that we THEN found out - NO FIOS!!!

check before you move.

 

[TractorJeff]

Nice Barn!
Use either the upstairs as a Shop (I see the ramp) or just use the downstairs as it is probably concrete already! No matter what, sweep and vacuum it numerous times as it reduces pests and fire!
Put a Gazebo on top of the Silo with Spiral Stairs!
BTW make sure the Roof is good to keep it standing for a whole bunch more years!

 

[sublime68charger]

Nice Barn!
Use either the upstairs as a Shop (I see the ramp) or just use the downstairs as it is probably concrete already! No matter what, sweep and vacuum it numerous times as it reduces pests and fire!
Put a Gazebo on top of the Silo with Spiral Stairs!
BTW make sure the Roof is good to keep it standing for a whole bunch more years!

what he said and post up more pics of your new space.

I have Dish and its Okay but like said there is a data cap and speed can be slow.

good luck!

 

[Falcon67]

DSL is best, cable if you can get it. We're at $100/mth for 12m down, 500K up DSL. Anything else like sat internet is slow as hell. Cable company uses same service that provides the DSL, so no help there. In the sticks you pay a premium. In the local "big" (110K population) city you can get 500m Suddenlink with fiber right to the house dmarc for about $50.

 

[brycez28]

Nice Barn!
Use either the upstairs as a Shop (I see the ramp) or just use the downstairs as it is probably concrete already! No matter what, sweep and vacuum it numerous times as it reduces pests and fire!
Put a Gazebo on top of the Silo with Spiral Stairs!
BTW make sure the Roof is good to keep it standing for a whole bunch more years!

Thanks! I MIGHT be able to squeeze my truck downstairs. But definitely wouldn't have enough height available to jack it up any. I'm slightly concerned with leakage of fluids upstairs. I do have an oil leak that needs attention, once I have a place out of the weather to look at it! I'll probably end up putting down 3/8" or 1/2" plywood to catch anything that might leak, and to help distribute weight. My truck weighs in the neighborhood of 8200-8400 pounds.

Roof is in good shape, except some ridge caps have blown off. As soon as we get the property, I'll be making a call to a local roofer who did my mom's roof last summer and have him put up vented, metal ridge caps.

 

[matt_i]

I had HughesNet in middle TN and hated it, so slow, locked into a 2yr contract. I had a lightning strike about 500 ft from my house and had to basically re-buy the install a 2nd time due to all the equipment dying, about 9 months into it. Otherwise I was paying the monthly fee for another year until the contract ended.

 

[TractorJeff]

The upstairs of barns like that had tons of hay in them. No worries on an 8000lb truck! They drove loaded wagons and horses into the upstairs and later Farmers often backed wagons of bailed hay up into them.
Plywood should be thick enough to distribute vehicle weight and make a smooth surface for your creeper to roll on.

 

[hoonjr]

If you can afford it, check out unlimited cellular data plans. I pay $110 a month for a Tmobile unlimited data plan through 4ga I had to buy a LTE router and an external antenna but it was the literally the only option aside from CenturyLink DSL which was essentially useless on my road. I didn't do any research on satellite providers as I wanted to be able to stream a lot and didn't want to deal with data caps. Due to my proximity to the nearest Tmobile tower I'm able to pull down 10-15Mbps steadily. More than enough bandwidth to stream video. The MOFI LTE router while expensive has been rock solid and the wifi it broadcasts reaches everywhere in my house. My only complaint is of course the cost. Both startup and monthly. It was worth it to me as I view decent internet as a must these days.

 

[larry_g]

I amazes me how many escape the city and then do their best to drag it our here to the country.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[ishiboo]

Here's my solution. I'd be happy to assist you with the installation/design if you find you require a solution. It's a bit expensive but for me it wasn't really an option.

 

[joes169]

I will have to check into that more! I just looked at the coverage map and the new address (few miles west of Cascade) would be covered.

Your likely neighbors with my BIL, he lives just 2-3 miles East of Dundee!

I've had a Verizon aircard for more than 10 years, but haven't exclusively tried itat his house, but I'm sure it would run at 4G's. It does have data limits, I pay about $115 with tax/charges for 16 GB's per month.

"IF" you're on high ground, with no tree lines in the way, you might be able to get Bertram Wireless out of Random Lake for less moneu.

Good luck!

 

[My Old Tools]

T-Mobile has the advantage of de-rating most of the streaming sites (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Pandora), meaning streaming doesn't count in your data usage. ATT only de-rates their own Direct TV feed. Pay an extra $25 a month and get your streaming in full HD instead of phone size. That's the route I'm going when we move to the lake. If you can get a decent signal anywhere, put up a Wilson repeater to get it into the house. Make sure it is a 4G repeater.

You can use a Cradlepoint router with a USB modem or the Netgear 4G LTE modem router with a SIM card. Either of those can feed other routers/access points.

We have a WISP in the area but they admit they do 1Mb on a good day. ATT clocks at 68Mb/s. I haven't clocked T-Mobile yet but it is reported around 15Mb/s, plenty for our use.

 

[ishiboo]

T-Mobile has the advantage of de-rating most of the streaming sites (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Pandora), meaning streaming doesn't count in your data usage. ATT only de-rates their own Direct TV feed. Pay an extra $25 a month and get your streaming in full HD instead of phone size. That's the route I'm going when we move to the lake. If you can get a decent signal anywhere, put up a Wilson repeater to get it into the house. Make sure it is a 4G repeater.

You can use a Cradlepoint router with a USB modem or the Netgear 4G LTE modem router with a SIM card. Either of those can feed other routers/access points.

We have a WISP in the area but they admit they do 1Mb on a good day. ATT clocks at 68Mb/s. I haven't clocked T-Mobile yet but it is reported around 15Mb/s, plenty for our use.

Keep in mind T-Mobile limits those streaming services to 480p though. 480p looks like **** to me ever since HD came out, and now with UHD...

 

[theoldwizard1]

Have you looked into services like ExcelNet? Basically long-range wifi.

This is your BEST solution !

As crazy as it sounds, if you have enough neighbors and some one who lives on a hill (or does not mine having a tall antenna) you might be able to setup a co-op !!

 

[theoldwizard1]

Basically long-range wifi.

OP, check here and here !

 

[brycez28]

Your likely neighbors with my BIL, he lives just 2-3 miles East of Dundee!

I've had a Verizon aircard for more than 10 years, but haven't exclusively tried itat his house, but I'm sure it would run at 4G's. It does have data limits, I pay about $115 with tax/charges for 16 GB's per month.

"IF" you're on high ground, with no tree lines in the way, you might be able to get Bertram Wireless out of Random Lake for less moneu.

Good luck!

That would put you BIL really close to me! I'll be about 6 miles from Dundee. I'll be on lower ground with tree lines a few acres to the east and west.

 

[brycez28]

what he said and post up more pics of your new space.

I have Dish and its Okay but like said there is a data cap and speed can be slow.

good luck!

I'll try to get some more pictures this weekend. The sellers are having some lambing event that they invited us to (the have lambs).

 

[mopar4wd]

As someone mentioned if you use Cell service Cradlepoint is a good option to distribute the service in the house. I have run a couple of their products at work and found them very user friendly.

This one is similar to the current setup we use.
https://cradlepoint.com/products/mbr1200b

 

[VintageVeloce]

There are stories all over of people who have bought homes hoping to get good Internet. And when the couldn't, end up moving away! Check with the neighbors. And if you really need Internet for your business, be absolutely positive what you need is available. And don't trust any cable or phone company promises. If the neighbors don't have it, don't believe it till you see it working.

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

 

[timdgsr]

This is your BEST solution !

As crazy as it sounds, if you have enough neighbors and some one who lives on a hill (or does not mine having a tall antenna) you might be able to setup a co-op !!

This is what I would look into as well. Also, I would take a 1mb cable service over satellite net any day of the week. The data caps on satellite are a joke.

There are stories all over of people who have bought homes hoping to get good Internet. And when the couldn't, end up moving away! Check with the neighbors. And if you really need Internet for your business, be absolutely positive what you need is available. And don't trust any cable or phone company promises. If the neighbors don't have it, don't believe it till you see it working.

This! I made had the previous owners of my house have the local ISP install internet service as part of the contract. I offered to cover all of the installation/disconnect fees if the contract fell through for any other reason. It delayed the closing for about a week and a half, but internet is not optional for me.

 

[gungatim]

use this site: http://www.antennasearch.com/sitest...=towerreview&pagenum=1&cmdrequest=pagehandler

find what towers are nearby your place. get a parabolic antenna like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003CFATOW/?tag=atomicindus08-20

build a tower and get as high as you can, use a compass and aim that antenna line of site to the nearest tower. they you'll have to hack whatever wifi signal is there... if you have cell service, you've got a tower within 5 miles to try and hit. if you don't want to hack then you'll have to use one of the cell internet service providers but it will still be pretty slow. you'll alos need a range extender/bridge to push the signal from the tower to your house...it can be done. legality is questionable...

 

[Showkey]

There are stories all over of people who have bought homes hoping to get good Internet. And when the couldn't, end up moving away! Check with the neighbors. And if you really need Internet for your business, be absolutely positive what you need is available. And don't trust any cable or phone company promises. If the neighbors don't have it, don't believe it till you see it working.

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

Three years ago I was buying my forever home..........every home I looked at I tested the internet and cell service. My agent, a friend, commented that it ( internet) is very often a huge concern on a home purchase in rural areas.a

It is changing in many rural areas but it is a slow process. There was just a special segment on the news last night on the funds and programs to bring internet in rural areas of Wisconsin.

My other concern was trying to avoid propane and really wanted Nat gas. I would have purchased a home with propane.........would not have considered a with no Internet. At the time I was working and internet was critical to my work......it was NOT for netflix

 

[StingRay]

I've had terrestrial microwave which is a point to point from a tower to your dish by two providers. Both sucked. I have satellite now and pay an ungodly 100 bucks a month for slow intermittent service that has a data cap. It's still better than the alternatives. Depending on the amount of leaves on the trees I do get varying degrees of cell service but it's generally not a good enough signal for anything but casual browsing and a bit slow at that. Aggravatingly the guy across the road can get DSL. I'm one post too far for that.

 

[Falcon67]

I amazes me how many escape the city and then do their best to drag it our here to the country.

lg
no neat sig line

Borderline on the political barrier, but Internet access is the 21st century equivalent of rural electric power and phone network build outs. It's become an important tool for education, work as well as leisure. Our land lines already get the !@#$ taxed out of them, we should be using those $$$ to push internet service out to underserved locations. And it'll have to be Federal or State dollars - for example here, we're maybe 2600 people total. There is a **** load of high speed fiber that runs right down I-20, straight past town. Windstream owns the local phone switch and taps into that fiber, same as every city down the way. Will they dig in their pocket for a fiber buildout or high speed wireless into a town of 2600? No, no way in hell. There's no business case for them to do so. So it's pay for 12m DSL, get 5~10 on good days and deal with it. the other option is a wireless company that charges the same as our 12m link but you get 3m tops.

"High wireless taxes date back to the "Ma Bell" days of AT&T (T, Fortune 500), when few Americans had cell phones and various governments saw wireless surcharges as a way to support expensive services, such as rural telephone infrastructure build-outs. Every American today pays 5.82% of their cell phone bill to the federal Universal Service Fund, which originally paid for those rural phone services."

My point would be, we ain't done yet with the buildout.

 

[My Old Tools]

Keep in mind T-Mobile limits those streaming services to 480p though. 480p looks like **** to me ever since HD came out, and now with UHD...

$25 a month gets you HD

 

[ishiboo]

use this site: http://www.antennasearch.com/sitest...=towerreview&pagenum=1&cmdrequest=pagehandler

find what towers are nearby your place. get a parabolic antenna like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003CFATOW/?tag=atomicindus08-20

build a tower and get as high as you can, use a compass and aim that antenna line of site to the nearest tower. they you'll have to hack whatever wifi signal is there... if you have cell service, you've got a tower within 5 miles to try and hit. if you don't want to hack then you'll have to use one of the cell internet service providers but it will still be pretty slow. you'll alos need a range extender/bridge to push the signal from the tower to your house...it can be done. legality is questionable...

Um, so your idea is for him to build a tower first, and then try unsuccessfully to illegally hack into enterprise-class WPA2 security to get free Internet service? Legality is not questionable, it's just plain illegal. Not to mention, the security processes in place have not been found to be easily broken, let alone by your average Joe.

I hope this wasn't a real suggestion.

 

[ishiboo]

I've had terrestrial microwave which is a point to point from a tower to your dish by two providers. Both sucked. I have satellite now and pay an ungodly 100 bucks a month for slow intermittent service that has a data cap. It's still better than the alternatives. Depending on the amount of leaves on the trees I do get varying degrees of cell service but it's generally not a good enough signal for anything but casual browsing and a bit slow at that. Aggravatingly the guy across the road can get DSL. I'm one post too far for that.

Realize a true wireless connection like point-to-point WiFi can be EXTREMELY fast. For $100 a side you can buy a complete product which gives you 8-9 miles of line-of-sight range at several hundred megabits a second.

It does matter how the provider feeds it, like anything.

 

[ishiboo]

Three years ago I was buying my forever home..........every home I looked at I tested the internet and cell service. My agent, a friend, commented that it ( internet) is very often a huge concern on a home purchase in rural areas.a

It is changing in many rural areas but it is a slow process. There was just a special segment on the news last night on the funds and programs to bring internet in rural areas of Wisconsin.

My other concern was trying to avoid propane and really wanted Nat gas. I would have purchased a home with propane.........would not have considered a with no Internet. At the time I was working and internet was critical to my work......it was NOT for netflix

It's funny, due to rural broadband funding by the federal government, areas in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin have fiber run right to the house, while city/suburban areas are left in the dust.

My girlfriends mom has a farm in the southwest where there's a few dozen people per mile, the local coop has fiber to every house, and hers is probably 1400' from the road. They don't even subscribe to phone or Internet service, it's just sitting there waiting to be used.

Meanwhile, only thing here without getting creative is 3mb DSL.

 

[maxpower_hd]

Depending on how often you need it for your business you might be able to get by in a pinch by going to the library or in my case the local Elks Lodge. They have free high speed there for members. I have used it when in between services on my laptop and tablet to send invoices. Just a thought for a temporary solution.

 

[Wood'nMetal]

We have Exede/Wildblue and it's **** service and the customer support is terrible! We've also had Hughes and it was as bad or worse.

I'd be thrilled to have consistent 1M speeds at this point!

 

[Chris_the_wrench]

We've had Hughes net here in Oregon for about 6 months. We only had them or another satellite option. It's very inconsistent regarding speed and we only get 10 gigs a month for about $80(after fees/taxes). Sometimes I can stream a baseball game or movie no problem, others getting garage journal to load is an exercise in frustration. We have no cell service but I'm alright with all of that.

Chris


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[texasprd]

Check and see if InternetAmerica is available in your area. We are on a different wireless/line-of-sight ISP, but my B-I-L (who lives close by) uses IA and has been satisfied. For IA (and others like them), you have to have a mast on your roof or attached to the side of your house and a small parabolic antenna and radio modem at the top. It's line-of-sight, so the mast has to be high enough to "see" the broadcast antenna (typically on a cell tower or water tower).

 

[Pen & Wrench]

Not sure if they can help with other alternatives but I suggest you contact the Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association if you haven't already, and see if they have any other suggestions.

 

[padroo]

I wouldn't buy a place without fast broadband internet. I am an idiot telnet junkie. Lol

Seems like there are always trade offs in life.

 

[lostmind]

Check and see if InternetAmerica is available in your area. We are on a different wireless/line-of-sight ISP, but my B-I-L (who lives close by) uses IA and has been satisfied. For IA (and others like them), you have to have a mast on your roof or attached to the side of your house and a small parabolic antenna and radio modem at the top. It's line-of-sight, so the mast has to be high enough to "see" the broadcast antenna (typically on a cell tower or water tower).

We have this system , they usually mount the relay on a grain elevator with a tower on top. It's reliable , except for ice storms , but far from fast.
Sometimes I just have to walk away and come back 20 minutes later.
I can't stream off two devices at the same time , my wife usually wins out.
Better than no option , and we have adapted.
$40 a month, local company