Maybe . . just maybe .. we’ve rented a house. No signed lease yet but Vince talked to the guy yesterday and he’s telling us it’s hours and Vince has paid the deposit but who knows. I’m not counting on anything happening til it happens.
I love the house — would have been happy to buy it if it had more land, but it doesn’t and worst of all . . there’s no high speed internet available.
We know about Hughes Net and Blue Sky but both of them require a 24 month commitment and if you cancel before the end of 24 months, you still pay for the service through the contract period. Why cancel if you have to keep paying? I hope we’re in a house of our own before the end of 24 months and many areas out there do have Verizon high speed internet.
There’s always McDonald’s 20 miles away but you can bet having to do that would affect how often I blog and check email.
What else is available? Is dial up really impossible? I load lots of pictures! Is dial up unlimited? It’s been forever since we’ve had dial up. I figured between you all, someone has to have a solution for me. Thanks!
Darlene Gerber says
You may want to consider purchasing a wireless USB modem. It may allow you to get more speed from a dial up. I would contact Verizon and ask them some questions.
Linda B in MI says
yes Judy…we got one when we got rid of our house and internet service…and I don’t need to be in the same room… we got it at verison
Paula says
A friend of mine has a second house where they don’t have phone or cable. She’s using a cell phone with a modem and routing it through a laptop (through Cricket). Talk to your cell phone provider and see if they can hook you up with a cellular modem. She’s only committed for a month.
Kay Devaney says
Ditto to what Paula stated. We do the above at our cabin, and it works great. On a few cloudy days we have noticed the wireless internet is slower. k in mn
Vicki W says
You can’t even get DSL through the phone company? That’s what I have out in our little rural area. I don’t know what I’d do without it!
Heather says
I was going to suggest the same as the previous poster, talk to your wireless provider and see what they have to offer. I know through Verizon Wireless you can get a USB modem that uses the cell towers to connect. I am not sure of the cost though. And depending on what kind of mobile device you have, you might be able to connect your computer to the internet via your cell phone. Good luck!
Karen says
I would be doomed – I have to have my internet. Even when we travel we have our phones – Palm Pre Plus – a mobile hot spot that we take with us. Check with Verizon I bet they have other options for you.
Karen
JudyL says
Verizon doesn’t offer any service out in that area.
Diane in CA says
If there are close neighbors with internet, could you piggyback off theirs with a wireless modem and you pay them ?
JudyL says
If the neighbors had high speed internet, I could probably get high speed internet. It isn’t available out there. They use AOL and dialup. Vince has already knocked on their door and asked them. 🙂
karyl says
for the RV we hooked up a verizon hot spot gadget, a lil stick thingy you plug in the side of the laptop.. However, you need to check thier site to see if you are in a location that will reach. It was $90 for the gadget and then you buy the time on a card, so no contract is needed.
Kathy Alden says
Judy, where we live there is no internet either. We did discover however microwave internet. The company is called Speedyquick, here in Idaho. However you may have something similar in your area. They installed a dish on the side of the house similar to a satellite dish that is able to pick up the signal from a transmitter on a mountain. It is internet for areas where there is none. You may have to ask around to see if its available. It is not satellite internet like Hughes net. So much better and cheaper. We also have a modem from verizon that we use when we are traveling. We can have 5 computers on it at a time. You do have to sign a two year contract with this, I think its $40/mo for it. Its wireless so it does not have to be plugged into a computer.
Phyllis says
Is there a public library?
Carmi says
I have DSL through our rural telephone coop. They also had several speeds available to subscribe to. I went middle of the road and it has been working for over a year. I do have a wireless router connect to it because I work from home a couple days a week. This way I can have both online at once. No problems. I had Hughes Net but I really like supporting our locals and this has worked out very well for me.
suzanne says
we know someone that lived there for a bit, they are gone now….they had high speed through at&t. Worked on a laptop. If the cell phone service in in the area and there is a tower, you can get the service through at&t
Judy Wolf says
I had Hughes.net for several years until our local phone company got DSL into our area. Here’s my take. If you are just doing regular internet like facebook, email, etc it’s fine but if you are downloading and uploading a lot, you get into what is called fair access policy which basically shuts you down for 24 hours. I had the middle plan and whenever I needed to have access, invariably, I exceeded the fap and was shut down. Also, I was the only one online, if my husband and son had been accessing too, we would have been shut down all of the time. I would not recommend it at all. It is a real pain in the a…
Judy in MO
Denise says
I have dial up and survive. I’m at the edge of the city and most of the companies haven’t extended their service this far and I refuse to pay the cable company’s prices for internet and tv when I can get enough channels for free. 🙂 All depends on the type of stuff you are doing online. For me – I just need to read emails, blog — it works fine but I’m definitely not a web surfer. If you spend a lot of time surfing the web, dial up would really irritate you.
Teresa says
Not to add to your issues, but dial up isn’t practical for the type of things you do. If Dial up is your only option you will have to do a lot of modification on how you use the Internet and your blog.
As one poster mentioned satellite is your best bet. It’s not perfect, but for people in the middle of nowhere it’s better than nothing, but it also isn’t everywhere.
When I first moved to San Jose, about 10 years ago, I couldn’t get anything but dial up. I couldn’t believe that in the middle of Silicon Valley (and I live in the city not a suburb) I couldn’t get high speed Internet. I was a Network Engineer so Internet was my life. That was a few years ago, but I was stunned at the time. After all this is the Silicon Valley for crying out loud.
You’ve put up with so much the last few months and it I know you are uncertain when it will end. It’s a testament to the kind of person you are that you’ve held up as well as you have.
I’ve always said that if “That which does not kill us makes us stronger”.. well, I’m plenty strong enough thank you, so it can stop anytime! And I think the same of you…it can stop now! I hope it does, but through it all you just hang on to your family, your faith and yourself.
Martha says
Most cellular phone companies have some sort of cellular modem or MiFi type of connection. Some cell phones allow you to tether or surf through the phone connection. You WiFi connect to your phone and then can surf off your laptop through your phone’s internet connection. Check with whoever provides good cellular service in the area to see what is available. This of course will only work if there is a good cell signal.
Good Luck…..
Diana in TX says
our high speed is through ATT and I can also get it on my i-phone. As some one said, check into your cell phone provider about the wireless router etc. Dial up does seem to take forever, we are all so used to high speed everything. But here is still isn’t as bad as when we lived in Taiwan. DH would get home from a late night dinner with visitors, turn on his computer, go to bed. Get up several hours later and it would still be downloading files from the US!!!!! And I won’t even begin to go into house/apartment hunting experinces there!
Gona says
I live in a rural and remote area in the country where internet service is not available. But Verzion has the MiFi card which is wireless and the service is great. It is a two (2) year contract and they offer 5 gb for $50.00 per mo or 10 gb for $80.00. You will be able to check your usage thru out the mo to see how much you have use ( by the way when you go over your gb each additional gb is $10.00 per gb). Also you can connect the Mifi service to other electronic in your house such as your TV, camera, blu ray (for streaming movies) pc, printer, laptops and their is probably more. You can watch the latest TV shows on your TV with the mifi or on your laptop. Verizon is getting ready to launch another (new) internet service but its not in my area as yet for me to upgrade to but I am watching for it. If you have any question my e-mail addy is incl.
gona
Linda in NE says
Yes, dial-up is impossible. You can’t even get to a lot of websites because they time out before they get loaded. Would drive you crazy…at least it would me. Head for a Verizon store and ask about their MiFi. Or, there’s always tethering cell phones. I think both options are kind of pricey…especially if you need more bandwidth and if you go over your plan it can be really pricey so you’d maybe have to try a couple different plans & keep a close eye on your useage. Good luck.
Doris says
Dail up is awful. The storys about slooooow downloads are true. If you go that way make sure you contact the phone company and tell them you want unlimited long distance. I didnt and the first bill was out of sight,over 400 dollars.But even then some will exclude internet calls. Find a teenager in the area and they can tell you what service to get. Maybe when you move the satellite could be relocated at least until the contract is done.
Carol Kimble says
We use MiFi from Verizon where we live out here in the country as there is no cable and no DSL through our phone service. We previously had a “wireless to the house” set up, but we have lots of trees and that became a problem and we didn’t want to cut down the trees which was the only solution. The MiFi provides speeds about like DSL wherever you have cell phone service. The little wireless modem can connect up to 5 devices and is very small and portable. We take it with us in the car and in our motorhome whenever we travel.
Tracy says
I have a similar problem with access. I use a Sprint Wireless modem with a router. They no longer have unlimited plans available. It is amazing how fast we go through 5gb/month. The price after that is pure extortion. Satellite is okay but uploads take forever, not good for blogging.
quilterbee says
When I had dial up it took forever to load anything and if I was writing something it would kick me off and everything I had just wrote would be gone. It would probably take hours to load pictures. You really don’t want just dial up.
I don’t know anything about using it thru your cell phone. I’m just glad there are other options for you besides dial up.
Deputy's Wife says
I don’t really have any offer to give, but if you find something that will let you pay month to month, let me know. We bought a camper this year. When we go camping it is pretty difficult to be without the internet (yes, I know it is camping…) but when bad weather comes it sure is nice to have the internet to watch the radar. We have found a couple of campgrounds with Wi-Fi, but would like to have something we could take every time.
Also, my friend got internet through her cell phone company. Be careful of hidden costs. Her son used the internet to play games, post pictures, etc. and the bandwidth she was charged for was several hundred dollars. I don’t know if it was ALL due to the gaming he did, but she was shocked that no one had told her about that. She simply thought it was the monthly charge was all she paid for. So make sure you ask about how much usage you are allowed to have!
Terri says
Maybe you can use the data plan on your iPad for a few months? And my brother in Odessa uses Clearwire, it’s a satellite carrier, maybe they are in Brownwood also? I would also go into a couple of cell phone stores once you get there and talk to them about options.
Cheryl M. says
Judy I sent you an email about using the cell phone as tethering.
Cheryl M.
Julia says
We are with a wireless company called Digital Bridge. Here is there web address, http://www.digitalbridgecommunications.com/
We have the antenna/dish on our house. I like it.
Cindy B says
I’m so glad you aren’t homeless in Texas again! I keep basic cable tv just for the internet service. I can get broadband high speed though it. Or whatever it is, it’s fast and of course wireless. We pay $19.99 a month on our cable bill and it’s unlimited use. The cable tv with streaming on demand is a must with grandkids and DH around so it’s a win win.
Mary C in WA says
If your Techno-guy in house can’t figure it out, you are really moving into the middle of NOWHERE! The Smart phones and I-pads should work, you know Vince would love to take you shopping for one…
Kelli Kramer says
Hello Judy!
I used to live in an area where I would only be able to get very slow dial-up internet by paying through the nose. I ended up getting a USB Modem through US Cellular and it worked great! I sure hope you are able to have internet somehow! I really enjoy your frequent posts!
Nancy in NC says
I have no advice to offer, but all the people using Mifi sounds awful to me. When we lived in SC we couldn’t get decent cell phone reception in our house, can’t imagine having to rely on that for internet!
Liz says
Dial up sucks and forget it if you want to upload pictures.
We live in the country and finally went with Wild Blue, the medium package. Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We can’t be without internet.
carol c says
Verizon
Clear Choice
TMobile has one now
Anne says
Wal-mart sells the cards for WIFI that let you buy it a month at a time via Virgin Mobile. My husband has one for when he’s traveling for work and unable to get on the net at a hotel. There’s no commitment but you do have to buy the card.
Connie says
I work in a computer store as an office manager and we sell dial-up as well as WildBlue, but i have had Hughes net for 9 years since i live in the country. Wild Blue is cheaper than Hughes, but your bandwidth is easier to understand and they give you 1 free token a month if you go over in a 24 hr period and you can buy additional for $7.95. They also have a meter you download so you can keep an eye on where you are with your usage. I am on the highest plan and have only had to use tokens during computer reloads. Hard to go over usually unless you use youtube a lot.
I am sure you would hate dial-up for what you do on the computer. Our company doesn’t care if you are on 24/7 for dial-up, but not all companies are created equal. If you do go dialup, skip AOL and look for a company that allows you to use your account from anywhere in the US with local access numbers, and ask about their cancellation policy and access policy.
You can always go with Hughes for the 2 year period and then switch to RR or DSL if it is available where you move. During my last upgrade a few months ago my connection was dropping constantly and I explored tethering, Verizon (I can’t get Sprint or AT&T here) options and anything i could think of, but in the end, they offered less bandwidth for about the same price. Turned out there was a bad part outside and it was fixed for free, and i pretty much have free internet for the next few months for putting up with it. It is more expensive than RR, but if you stay in the house any length of time, consider Hughes for your sanity.
Janna says
Millenicom–http://www.millenicom.com/page/plans
They resell Verizon bandwith–$70/month for unlimited usage. You have to purchase their aircard and a router to broadcast the signal to many computers in your house. If your Verizon phones will work at this house, so will this aircard.
Hughes.net and WildBlue are both awful–I speak from experience!
Linda Steller says
Judy – if you get cell reception at the house, you can get the Verizon MiFi — it’s what I have. Just a little box about the size of a deck of cards you can either keep plugged in at the house (to charge the battery) or you can take it with you and run it on battery to have wireless internet any place you can get cell reception. I take mine with me especially when I’m going to a hotel that requires I pay for internet, or sometimes I just take it down to the park and do my email reading there — just because I can!
Sharon says
I have never heard of Blue Sky before. Because of the layout of our property, we can’t get a signal off the Hughes satellite. A few years ago, we graduated from dial up to Wild Blue, and we love it. I believe they have three levels of service. We use the least expensive one, and it’s so much better than dial up. We are using a Linksys wireless router for three computers.
Carol Campbell says
Well. Judy, we have a farm near Brownwood and the only service we get when there is through AT&T. They are the cell carrier there with 3G service you can tether to a laptop. But would have to go to an AT&T store there to make sure it’s available outside of town wherever you end up. My husband drives through there all the time going to the farm. He said you should be able to look up a locater coverage map on the Internet. Any AT&T store should help you.