Anyone have experience with a wireless internet service provider?

[rnmcd]

I live in a rural area that can't recieve DSL or cable internet and my dial-up (at its speediest) is 26,600 kbs....so slow that I typed this note in August and it's just posting now

I have considered satellite ISP but haven't heard much about quality...but costs are high.


I have heard that there are some companies that offer wireless internet in different areas around the country. Anyone have any experience with these?

Thanks.

 

[todpod]

Your best bet if some local people had their own ISP, the problem is there isn't enough people to entice the big boys to roll that type of service in rural areas. Most wireless ISPs I have seen are in urban areas.
You could always start your own, just put your antenna on top of one of your silos, as flat as it is there you should be able to pick up quite a few customers.

 

[rnmcd]

I have heard that Verizon offers some type of wireless internet that is available to anyone in the same areas that their cell phone service is available.

I should have said that I was intereted in 'non line-of-sight wireless internet service'.

 

[amdskip]

Direcway sucks IMHO. At times it seems dialup is faster.

 

[danzig]

I can attest to the fact that Direcpc/Direcway sucks , though it was better than dial up . Our local dial up isp started doing fixed wireless in the 2.4ghz range at the end of August 2002 , I was the 2nd person hooked up Threw that d@mn Direcpc stuff in the dumpster . Our wisp charges $49.00 per month - advertised speed is 256/256 - we usually get about 25% higher than that . We have only had one outage when lightning hit the 300' tower where the wisp's equipment is located . Charter finally started doing installs here 3 weeks ago and I get Pipeline next week

 

[PlatinumGold]

i like my dialup access thru my verizon phone.

 

[rnmcd]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
i like my dialup access thru my verizon phone.

Are you joking or do you mean that you use your cell phone as a modem for your PC/laptop?

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: rnmcd

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
i like my dialup access thru my verizon phone.

Are you joking or do you mean that you use your cell phone as a modem for your PC/laptop?

yes, i should have said verizon wireless phone.

my cell phone for my laptop.

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

We've got a few WISPs in the area but the closest one is about 15 miles away and I'm surrounded by trees. I'm just waiting for 802.16 to break out and I should be golden.

 

[FoBoT]

we have used sprint wireless for data at work, it works pretty good, not much faster than dial up (~40-60kbps) , but it dials faster

i would use it for personal use if the cost was acceptable. we had a test account, so i have no idea what it costs

 

[wbresson]

what city are you the closest to rnmcd ? There are a ton on wireless internet towers in Iowa, it all just depends on where you are at in the state

 

[Grouchyoldguy]

I have the Novatel wireless card thru Sprint for my laptop. It is advertised at 230kb/sec but I've taken a speed test and it rates around 128kb/sec. It is faster than dial up but not worth the extra money unless you travel alot (like I do).

 

[LongCoolMother]

i use sprint broadband direct, its wireless internet. i get around 800-1000kb/s downloading from fast servers, even though they say max speed is 8mbps. its pretty good for wireless internet, and not pricey (like $50 a month). however, upload sucks majorly, and i mean that literally. it gets at tops like 30kb/s up but the uncapped download sure does make up for it. connected 24/7 and works almost 100% ofthe time (sometimes it might go off, but that is extremely rare).

 

[Grouchyoldguy]

Sprint Broadband is no longer available......http://www.sprintbroadband.com/

 

[LongCoolMother]

Originally posted by: Grouchyoldguy
Sprint Broadband is no longer available......http://www.sprintbroadband.com/

yea, they stopped it a while ago. hopefully there's something along the same lines though.

 

[rnmcd]

Originally posted by: wbresson
what city are you the closest to rnmcd ? There are a ton on wireless internet towers in Iowa, it all just depends on where you are at in the state

I live about 15 miles from Ames, Iowa. I am aware of a few stores (such as Borders Book Store) that offer 802.11b access but the distance is obviously limited.

Any other suggestions?

 

[StageLeft]

I didn't realize that wireless internet was as pervassive as this thread indicates. I'd have thought you were sh*t out of luck, rnmcd, but it seems perhaps not!

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

For rural customers like myself it's getting closer. The 802.16 standard I mentioned is our best shot in the near future because of it's 30 mile plus range. In the meantime you may still be surprised to find there's one near you. Check Here, here, and here. Also, you might want to check the wisp forums on dslreports.com and see what you can turn up.

 

[wbresson]

I was thinking more long range wireless internet not 802.11b ie wireless lan, the wireless internet I'm thinking of though must be line of sight and works ~5 miles from the tower afaik. On the other hand of the spectrum is wireless cellular internet which you could also probably get but it'll be more expensive and slower.


http://www.prairieinet.net/residential/service_areas.html

http://www.dybb.com/serviceareas/index.htm

I know that these sites don't show Ames but you can always ask them

 

[Grouchyoldguy]

Just for clarity, the Novatel card I mentioned above is not 802.11a/b/g. It is cellular internet.

 

[Willoughbyva]

I live in the middle of nowhere, but as soon as I heard about 802.16 I got excited. I hope someone will start doing it in our area.

 

[308nato]

My mother has had this wireless service for a couple of years. The antenna is on a local grain elevator approx 7.5 miles away. Downloads are usually 100>135 k per second. Customer service is top notch.

I believe they have a 30 day trial offer, the antenna is easy to set up. They use a Cisco 350 series card in the equipment package you purchase from them.


EDIT: Forgot the link to DTN.......it's Monday

 

[dman]

I live in a suburban area with tons of homes and business, in S.Florida. It just so happened that we got the boot for DSL or Cableservice for about (3yrs) after our community was built. During that time a few WISP's began in our 'hood. I'm using one of their services right now.

Bellsouth now offers DSL service, and Adelphia is in the middle of an upgrade (our front yards were all just torn up)--so powerlink will be available "soon".

My WISP uses Motorola Canopy equipment. Range is supposedly very good. He purchased a few T1 Lines and just started rolling our service. I thought it'd be slower than it was, but, throughput is generally very good.

Still, I'll probably switch to BellSouth in a few mo's.

 

[rnmcd]

Originally posted by: wbresson
I was thinking more long range wireless internet not 802.11b ie wireless lan, the wireless internet I'm thinking of though must be line of sight and works ~5 miles from the tower afaik. On the other hand of the spectrum is wireless cellular internet which you could also probably get but it'll be more expensive and slower.


http://www.prairieinet.net/residential/service_areas.html

http://www.dybb.com/serviceareas/index.htm

I know that these sites don't show Ames but you can always ask them

WOW wbresson! How did you find those sites? I was able to find prairieinet with a google search but I didn't come up with dybb.com.

I have written them requesting service and I plan to give them a call too.

 

[wbresson]

Originally posted by: rnmcd

Originally posted by: wbresson
I was thinking more long range wireless internet not 802.11b ie wireless lan, the wireless internet I'm thinking of though must be line of sight and works ~5 miles from the tower afaik. On the other hand of the spectrum is wireless cellular internet which you could also probably get but it'll be more expensive and slower.


http://www.prairieinet.net/residential/service_areas.html

http://www.dybb.com/serviceareas/index.htm

I know that these sites don't show Ames but you can always ask them

WOW wbresson! How did you find those sites? I was able to find prairieinet with a google search but I didn't come up with dybb.com.

I have written them requesting service and I plan to give them a call too.

Just a google search, I'd heard of Prairienet before but not dybb. I believe dybb might have serice in Ames now. You might also try PcPartner but I don't think they have service that far East.