Broadband options.

[JB]

I have been on a local wireless broadband network for several years. It has not proved to be reliable or economical (maybe economical compared to satellite). They made me buy the hardware (including a replacement transceiver) and charge me a bit over $40 a month.

For the past few months it has intermittently been slower (much) than dial-up and interrupts service several times a day.

I have fine tuned my vocabulary of abusive rebukes and am looking at alternatives. I am not buying any more hardware and I am not going to pay for slower service than dial-up.

I casually looked at the Hughes satellite but far too much cost.

Bob_VT suggested I check into using my AT&T cell service.
How does that work? Anyone using it? What does it cost?

Anyone using another alternative? Tell me about it.

BTW, I am on dial-up now and it seems so fast after the past few months.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Broadband options.

Ask your dial tone provider about DSL. Most phone companies are near done upgrading their lines for it, even in the country. If you see any finned telephone wiring boxes near you, likely the DSLam is already in place.

DSL runs on your voice line. A cheap module supplied by the phone company separates the signals.

hope it helps
John

 

[i386]

Re: Broadband options.

Sounds like he was on one of those line of sight wireless deals. We have that here, but their target market is people who can't get DSL or cable. Though I will say eveyone I've talked to here is quite satisfied with their service.

Here's the other (residential) options I know about. JB may or may not be able to get some of these.

DSL. Works through the phone line. DSL is digital, and you can still make phone calls without interrupting the internet service. May or may not have to buy/rent the "modem". DSL is not available everywhere for different reasons.

Cable. Works through CATV service. Usually you have to pay for at least basic cable service in addition to the internet service. May or may not have to buy/rent the cable modem. This option is often NOT attractive to those who already have sattellite TV.

Sattellite. Their target market is customers that can't get anything else. Therefore, it's better than dialup, but if the service stinks where else you gonna go? What little experience I've had with sattellite hasn't been good. It's usually pricey too.

Cellular. The best option IMO for folks in rural areas with limited options. It's just a device that connects to your computer and the cellular network. You need a strong cell signal to get good service. This is also a good option for travelers with laptops.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Broadband options.

I had wireless like JB until recently. Not sure what frequency equipment you are using but if its the 2.3 GHz stuff, any trees in the way will severely degrade performance. For mine they used a lower 900Mhz link. It cost more but had excellent service.

One thing you should find out is if they are throttling your link. In my area, if anyone started doing way to much video streaming or file downloading, they would punish you by lowering the throughput. Also, your wireless company may just not have enough bandwidth to service your entire area.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Broadband options.

My job title is "The Network Guy".

When I set up the road warriors, I set them up with standard wireless G, which will work in most hotels, motels, coffee shops, etc. In a pinch on the road you can always park in a Super 8 motel parking lot and get a signal. They also have an ATT wireless card and account. It will work anywhere the phone signal is good, but at best it's slower than the Super 8 parking lot.

I do sophisticated VPN circuits through these links. Sometimes quirks in the service fuddle up the connections. DSL has been best, with some providers better than others. Next is cable, next cellular, which will work about 50% of the time. Satelite has proven to be almost useless, and unless the other link is 30 miles off the end of the road (I did one of those) is not worth the bother. I almost leased a couple of short tower sites and put in a wireless T1 for the wilderness site. I wound up putting a complicated web site/router in the wilderness. It took a large solar panel just to power it and a couple of terminals.

Another trick is if you can get line of site with about 1/2 degree around it (freznell zone) you can get a reliable point to point with Cisco wireless bridges and directional antennas up to about 14 miles. You can get DSL in to the source, and air it to wherever you need it.

Good luck.
John

 

[gonefishie]

Re: Broadband options.

Depends on what cellular provider's signal is the strongest at the Hide Out, an Air Card would be your best bet.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Broadband options.

I can't wait till I see JB's location changed from "The Hideout" to "The Super 8 Parking Lot"

I'd be looking to see if it was possible for AT&T to lend you a device to see if it works at your home.

 

[JB]

Re: Broadband options.

Well squeaking gets the wheel lubed.

Tech was here yesterday. Upgraded my transceiver (the old one was getting throttled) and doubled throughput speed. No charge.

Seems good this morning.

I will look into an air card. No cable or DSL out here in the boonies yet and Hughes still wants my first born just to hook me up.

Thanks for the input, folks.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Broadband options.

I would absolutely visit AT&T and ask to borrow one for a test. I would not invest one dime until it was tested in your home.

The other possible solution (IF available) is an equipment upgrade. Depending on the frequency your current wireless system is on may have an impact on your reception.

Did you know that all other wireless items and or products should be 4-5 feet at a minimum away from other wireless items. If you have a cordless telephone it could be sucking your wireless signal away from the computer. It sounds strange but it happens. If you have cordless telephones... as a test...... unplug the power supply and the telephone base from the in-coming line and try your current wireless. Many of the telephones, microwaves and broadband run very close to each other in frequency. The solution may be to install a wired phone and forgo a wireless in a location in the same room.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Broadband options.

Many a wireless tech has overlooked the phones near the computer

 

[j_martin]

Re: Broadband options.

Many a wireless tech has overlooked the phones near the computer

You got that one right. All wireless devices are required to accept interference from other devices. The way they do it is to back down the speed and complexity till they're doing CW at 40 words a minute. (it seems)

I maintain a local wireless telephone system that has 10 wireless access points, along with the routers, controllers, etc. Every day at precisely 12:05 pm it goes down flat for 30 seconds. I think the big telephone relay tower a half mile away does something at that time, because the mayhem is worse in the part of the system closest to it.

I reboot the controllers once a week to clean up the residual damage.

John

 

[Knightgang]

Re: Broadband options.

Glad they got you fixed up for now. Double check on that DSL thing. There is supposed to be DSL available for every land based phone customer, since it runs on the phone lines...

 

[mscher]

Re: Broadband options.

My neighbor had DSL, but both the provider's on-line accessability lookup tool and the Sales Rep ( who presumably used the same tool), indicted that DSL was not yet avaliable in our area.

Huh? Someone 100' away has it.

Called the provider's (Embarq) local office and asked to talk to a Tech. Explained the situation. They checked their local mapping and sure enough it was there. Our address was not in the system becuase it did not have an active land line for several years.

Was up on awesome DSL two days later. Lost the service once in two years.

 

[jlinder]

Re: Broadband options.

DSL is not available everywhere there is a land line. You need to be within a certain distance of the central office or a DSLam.

Your distance also can affect how fast your service is. Long lines can mean your maximum speed is reduced. Most noticed when you are out in the boon docks.

Glad to hear it is better for you. You might want to do some tests going to the public speed test sites like speedtest.net

Let us know what you find.

Being told it is not available is not all that odd. I have fiber on my street, and a fiber connection post is in my front yard next to my mail box. I was also told I could not get DSL because it was not available. Took a week to get them to understand this.

Then when I asked them how fast was their service the person on the phone actually asked "Why do you want to know?" Could not believe it, wanted to ask "Is your mom home?" Took another week to get an answer.

It was called DSL but really was a separate ethernet line they ran from the fiber post to my house.

Then later when I wanted to switch to Vonage and save $45/month I was told I needed the phone line to be able to get the data service. It was called and tariffed as DSL so they could not sell it separately.

Had to switch to Comcast for cable to get data service through them so I could get rid of the AT&T phone.

Been glad ever since. Getting a minimum of 6Mb/s with comcast cable, much better video, and Vonage has worked well.

 

[trendsetter240]

Re: Broadband options.

Many a wireless tech has overlooked the phones near the computer

Thank you for this! we've been having problems with our wireless connection for months. I thought it was a problem with the air card but never bothered to replace it.

I just removed the cordless phone (from right next to the computer) and immediately noticed an improvement. Faster connection and not dropping out downloading large files.

Nice one.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Broadband options.

Coupla items

DSL has been improving dramatically. I have a 1.5m down by 400k up that's a good 3 1/2 miles from the DSLAM.

Sometimes it's a marketing thing. I have one site that I work with that has a $500 a month T1 frame relay into it. DSL is not available at that site.

One holiday it was dropping packets and setting off alarms. I was working with a talkative technician and found out that it is actually DSL into the back room.

Ticks me off to no end. I'm working on a long airlink to get around it. Also, T1 on the punch down block bites like a fire ant. It's over 100V radio frequency.

my 02
John

 

[Mark42]

Re: Broadband options.

I use Sprint Mobile Broadband as my home internet service. I have a small directional panel antenna in my attic (about 12x12"), and a Cyfre Ca-819 Amplifier, and a router. The cell tower is about 7 miles away, not quite line of sight, and my speed tests show 1100 - 1300 kbps down 400 - 700 kbps up. A lot faster than basic DSL. And 100% reliable.