Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Rural Internet

This is a question for you guys living out in the sticks.

I am currently living on the edge of Cincinnati, Ohio and have bitchin' good internet service via Cincinnati Bell's Fioptics fiber. I'm planning a move to the country, SW Bracken County, KY in the future. Right now, I use a Verizon mobile broadband router when I'm down there, and it gives me 16 GB a month at roughly DSL speeds. That's good enough for a weekend away from it all, but for permanent living that will not be enough.

What I'm wondering is what y'all do for Internet service? How much does it cost? What speed? Do you have a limited amount of bandwidth available? What are your recommendations?

I switched from ATT Hotspot to Dishnet.

Dishnet is far, far better.

I have Hughes net. 50Gb peak (8am to 2am) and 50Gb off peak (2am till 8am). Also included is internet phone (VOIP) which necessarily has a delay but is tolerable.
Download speed is anywhere from 800kb to 3.2 Mb per second and is usually around 2 Mbps.

Cost is about $130 per mo.

We had dial-up service with this ISP Toast.net (based in OH) several years ago long before DSL was available in our area.
Was very satisfied with the service and especially their support staff.

We eventually had to go with Bell South (now AT&T) for DSL as they were our only option at the time or else I'd still be signed on with them.

Now that they do offer high speed service over a much wider area including many rural areas should we ever decide to switch to another ISP they would probably be my first choice based on our past good experience.

Might be worth giving them a shot to see if they offer anything in your area.

My off peak is unlimited with Dishnet.

Not sure how much it is, since I bundle all of it with TV satellite. Probably about the same as you, though.

Here in rural NSW we are on ADSL at 1500, in February we will have access to the NBN which changes all the rules and reduces costs significantly.

Interesting to see how quickly it takes terrorists to work out they can disrupt large sections of the economy with an axe.

For all you rural folks check if there is a WISP that serves your area.

http://www.wispa.org/Directories/Find-a-WISP






I was to far away from the switch when I was last living in MN and there was a WISP that covered my area problem solved.

For those inclined they are not overly expensive to set-up and might be an option for a group of people.

http://swiftfox.net/index.php/category/starting-a-wisp/

DSL, about 5Mbps, though it can vary depending on time. Unlimited download. About $50 a month.

That is a good deal.

I don't see how you guys can stand it at 3 to 5 Mbps. I'm getting 30 to 50 and sometimes that seems slow.

Every time I feel sorry about slower internet I just go to the back porch and fire off a 30 round magazine through my AR15.

AKA...Gotcha!

Me too, through verizon.

Living in the sticks, DSL is about the only option that doesn't have a limit on downloaded data. It runs about $50/month, but I normally have about 10 Mbps with a 0.75Mbps upload speed.

I just ran a speed test and I'm almost at 7Mbps.

I can watch Netflix etc about 99% of the time with no problems.

YES! Being able to shoot on your own property is a real plus. One of the little joys of country living...

My shooting bench is on the front porch, so I hear what you're saying. This move is going to be filled with tradeoffs. I have turkeys and deer sticking their heads in the bedroom window, but it takes an hour's driving to get to the nearest Kroger store. Elk come to visit occasionally, but getting friends to visit will be like pulling teeth. Still it is nice to go out with a cup of coffee in the morning and listen to turkeys gobble off your own front porch and eat your breakfast at the shooting bench. N'est pas?

I gladly traded slower (DSL) Internet for not having a neighbor closer than about 400 yards.

The hour drive to a Kroger store isn't all bad, it just requires better planning and bigger though less often trips to the store. Other than fresh milk, we could go for several weeks without needing a trip to town. Different mindset from the folks that have to stop in the store on a daily basis.

While I am not a "prepper," the farther you live from the city the better if we ever get into SHTF situation. In addition, having some fuel/ammo/food on hand isn't a bad idea. I hope you enjoy your country living!

Craig

Go satellite Internet but avoid Hughes net like the plague it functions horribly and customer service sucks asss.

What else is there?
We have Verizon DSL. They just flipped a switch one day and said you now have access to DSL. We live at the end of a private[gravel]road-1/2 mile and then our drive is another 3/8 mile. Our line[old thin copper] is almost buried. Fiber optic would be nice.
Speeds suck.