Broadband

[Dustin]

I need some advice.

I've been stuck on dialup for almost one year now. About a year ago, I moved about one hour north of chicago. I used to have cable at one time....

There is no broadband available here. The cable company sucks, and doesn't have plans to ever offer cable internet. They are so bad that I went to satelite TV.

The phone company is Verison. They don't plan on offering DSL, or ADSL here. On top of that, the phone lines here are DAX lines. Meaning that they are one phone line split into two. Also, there is a surcharge for every call made.

ISDN will cost an arm and a leg because of hourly charges, and I can only get 64K ISDN. So that's out.

Satelite isn't a viable option because there is hourly charges, and the system gets messed up if you have more than one computer hooked up at any given time.

I am currently using a dedicated phone line with two ISP's. When I'm D/Ling, I just go use the 2nd phone line.

Now this is getting frustrating, and expensive. Two phone lines, two ISP's. Surcharges, crappy connections even for dialup. Broadband was cheaper! :mad:

There is only one other option that I've considered. I've talked with a company that specializes in internet connectivity, they could lay a T1 line here. That would be great, but extremely expensive, and I wouldn't ever use up all that bandwith.

Mabey I'm missing something...
Do any of you have any other suggestions??

[dnar]

Mate I am in the same boat! Wylie lives 2 miles from me, and has ADSL & Cable available. I am in a new swish area (Golf Course estate) and all I have available is a peice of string and two tins cans..... Oh I do have sat, but that is a clip-on network, for use with dialup.... I feel like I am living in a 3rd world country sometimes...

[vent mode off]

[eldiablo]

Originally posted by Dustin
I need some advice.

I've been stuck on dialup for almost one year now. About a year ago, I moved about one hour north of chicago. I used to have cable at one time....

There is no broadband available here. The cable company sucks, and doesn't have plans to ever offer cable internet. They are so bad that I went to satelite TV.

The phone company is Verison. They don't plan on offering DSL, or ADSL here. On top of that, the phone lines here are DAX lines. Meaning that they are one phone line split into two. Also, there is a surcharge for every call made.

ISDN will cost an arm and a leg because of hourly charges, and I can only get 64K ISDN. So that's out.

Satelite isn't a viable option because there is hourly charges, and the system gets messed up if you have more than one computer hooked up at any given time.

I am currently using a dedicated phone line with two ISP's. When I'm D/Ling, I just go use the 2nd phone line.

Now this is getting frustrating, and expensive. Two phone lines, two ISP's. Surcharges, crappy connections even for dialup. Broadband was cheaper! :mad:

There is only one other option that I've considered. I've talked with a company that specializes in internet connectivity, they could lay a T1 line here. That would be great, but extremely expensive, and I wouldn't ever use up all that bandwith.

Mabey I'm missing something...
Do any of you have any other suggestions??

how about directtv?

if they can offer a T1, they should be able to give you a frame relay circuit (fractional T1) at 128kbps, or 256, etc.

[Dustin]

Originally posted by eldiablo


how about directtv?

if they can offer a T1, they should be able to give you a frame relay circuit (fractional T1) at 128kbps, or 256, etc.

DirectTV, and Starband are hourly. Also, you can't use more than one PC or the satelite gets :confused:.

Should be able to offer a fractional T1... They won't do it, unless they can get enough people to make it worth the large investment.

[pelligrini]

Have you considered moving? :D

[eldiablo]

Originally posted by Dustin


DirectTV, and Starband are hourly. Also, you can't use more than one PC or the satelite gets :confused:.

Should be able to offer a fractional T1... They won't do it, unless they can get enough people to make it worth the large investment.

DirectTV is hourly??? I didn't know that. I thought it was a monthly rate?

So, no internet access provider in your area has enough customers to be able to offer frame relay... who's your phone company? most phone companies offer frame relay.

maybe you should consider moving. :p

[Dustin]

Originally posted by eldiablo


DirectTV is hourly??? I didn't know that. I thought it was a monthly rate?

So, no internet access provider in your area has enough customers to be able to offer frame relay... who's your phone company? most phone companies offer frame relay.

maybe you should consider moving. :p

Sorry, the internet satelite for DirectTV is called DirectPC. They also have DirectDUO (I think that's what it's called) which is both TV and internet in one dish. The internet portion is hourly.

The phone company here is Verison, I hate them. They tried to charge me $800.00 one month for connecting to the internet. They decided to try to charge me per minute.

Guys, if I have to move back to the city to get decent broadband, I'd seriously consider droping the internet first. I moved out of the city to get away from all that congestion.

I love it where I'm at, everyone has at least one acre lots (that's part of the problem), with densly wooded trees between houses. I only have to drive 5mins to get to the closest lake. I can have wild bashes if I wanted, without any neighbors calling the police...

[eldiablo]

Originally posted by Dustin


Sorry, the internet satelite for DirectTV is called DirectPC. They also have DirectDUO (I think that's what it's called) which is both TV and internet in one dish. The internet portion is hourly.

The phone company here is Verison, I hate them. They tried to charge me $800.00 one month for connecting to the internet. They decided to try to charge me per minute.

Guys, if I have to move back to the city to get decent broadband, I'd seriously consider droping the internet first. I moved out of the city to get away from all that congestion.

I love it where I'm at, everyone has at least one acre lots (that's part of the problem), with densly wooded trees between houses. I only have to drive 5mins to get to the closest lake. I can have wild bashes if I wanted, without any neighbors calling the police...

so, you could get DirectPC and just pay monthly?

Verizon should be able to set up frame relay for you, but the loop and hardware setup costs may be prohibitive. you should give 'em a call and check it out anyway.

[Chris Wolfe]

When you say you have 2 phone lines and 2 ISP's, do you have 2 modems multi-linked? Does Verizon support the new v92 and v44 standards? Info about v92 and v44 here (http://www.v92.com/) .

[Dustin]

One phone line is dedicated to the internet. The other phone line is the house phone. I have two ISP's, so when I'm D/Ling, I can go over to the main phone line, and browse the web. I think I'm gonna drop MSN though, and keep Earthlink. Earthlink is way better.

I don't think it matters what verizon supports. It's what the ISP's support.

So if I did what you're suggesting, I'd need to have three phone lines.:eek: The thing with the DAX line would probably prohibit the V.92 modem from being any faaster anyway.

I checked DSL reports. From what they say, I'm close enough to the phone companys CO. So it's a matter of someone laying lines. Nobody want's to lay lines, because of the lot sizes though.:(

[LBaker]

Directpc has unlimited access for $50 a month. Look here http://www.directpc.com/#Monthly%20Charges Click on the $19.95 near the top of the page. There is also another sat company but can't remember the name. I'll look for it and post :)

[Dustin]

Originally posted by LBaker
Directpc has unlimited access for $50 a month. Look here http://www.directpc.com/#Monthly%20Charges Click on the $19.95 near the top of the page. There is also another sat company but can't remember the name. I'll look for it and post :)

Thanks LB! I wasn't aware of the hardwae/price changes.

I think I'm going to do this:

2-Way Satellite Return service
On the Web all the time. You need speed, and lots of it.
No Phone line needed
$69.99 per month
24 Hours a day

DAK-SRPKG
Hughes
$799.95 Waiting List
DirecPC Satellite Return 2 Way satellite system.

ORBITNET-10
Orbit
$199.95 Available
Orbitnet Internet Sharing Software. Share your DIRECPC connection with 10 other users

That's $1,000 to start!:eek:
Phil, I won't be building any more boxen for a while...

[Virus]

Starband and DirectPc are both monthly charges and not hourly. Starband offers 150 channels + unlimited internet for $99 a month. Direct Pc doesn't offer crap because it's not the same company as Direct Tv. Starband is Dish. Go to DSLReports.com to learn about your options. Sprint also has broadband, but not on the east coast. Funny thing is that sprint's headquarters are on the east coast.

[Virus]

Also go to needadish.com to get some good prices on satellite equiptment. The startup is a killer. I love how they quote 2 different prices for the equiptment and the installation. I said, "just give me the equiptment and I'll install it". They said, "we can't do that". I said, "you are the weakest link. Goodbye". Starband's modems are more reliable for uploading. DirectPc has had problems.

[Dustin]

Thanks Virus, I'll check out the other sites before I jump.

Silly me, I should've brought this up here a long time ago...:rolleyes:

[phil]

Originally posted by Dustin
That's $1,000 to start!:eek:
Phil, I won't be building any more boxen for a while...


:eek: Damn...I totally understand though...I wouldn't wish 56k upon anybody now that I have used cable :(