Ok, this is a vent/question type post. I just moved into a house that is only a few miles outside of the city. Four, precicely. Had I knwo the issues I would have with internet service, I may not have moved!
While we are very close to town, apparently, it’s not cost effective for DSL, Cable or Wireless to be out here. I have been doing a lot of research and I’m finding that the satellite systems that might be offered out here (wildblue, hughes, etc) supposedly have a lot of complaints due to the fact that they assign so many customers to the same satellites and the result is that within 6 months, the service bogs down to the speed of dial up. And that’s IF I could even GET the service out here….so far, I’m being told by Wildblue that they currently aren’t even accepting any more customers due to the afore mentioned situation. I was told by a competitor of theirs, coincidently, that they had to stop signing customers up because they’ve already had 3 lawsuits against them for overselling, for lack of a better term.
Anyway, I am now looking into wireless. A local around here is apparently setting up towers and is offering the service, provided you have a clear line of sight of the tower. I live in a very hilly area so we’re not even sure it would work; he’s coming out next week to check things out. If he determines that I don’t have a line of sight, I have to wait until they put up another tower in the next few months.
I am just beyond frustrated here. It looks like the choices I have are a) stay with dial up that drives me NUTS, b) sign up with Hughes who is fairly expensive and I’ve heard complaints about the speed dropping significantly within 6 months, c) wait for the local guy to come look and tell me that there’s now way possible for line of sight or d) go with a company out of STL that sells their equipment and install (satellite) for close to 2K but they seem to really know their stuff and I believe I’d have great service if I did it. And if I could swallow the sticker shock.
Sigh. I guess I’m asking for others to share their experience when in a similar situation and tell me what worked for them. What is the comparison between wireless and satellite? Which one is better? What would you do in my situation?
Signed,
Very frustrated and slow on the internet
