Internet options in the country

[Blackpony]

We just finished our new house and unfortunately there is no internet provider in the area. So we are limited to satellite internet. Who do you guys recommend? We will mostly be using it to stream movies and such with the ocassional internet browse. It seems they make you pay for usage like with a cellphone, I see that getting expensive.

[Tx Redneck]

See if there's a terrestrial based wireless provider in the area. Satellite is garbage and will be mostly useless.

http://broadbandnow.com/Fixed-Wireless-Providers

[JC316]

Windstream, Centurylink, and wireless broadband pretty much dominate the rural areas. Wireless is OK while it works, but I once had the antenna ice over and lost internet for two weeks. Windstream is overpriced, but at least they upgraded their shit and it doesn't slow to 56k during peak.

[mardyn]

We're with Rise Broadband out here in BFE... wireless service, works OK most of the time, speeds are generally slow at 3 down and 1 up, but sufficient for most basic browsing use. No movie or TV streaming for sure. Not many other alternatives available.

mardyn

[JC316]

We're with Rise Broadband out here in BFE... wireless service, works OK most of the time, speeds are generally slow at 3 down and 1 up, but sufficient for most basic browsing use. No movie or TV streaming for sure. Not many other alternatives available.

mardyn

I stream netflix easily on a 4.5 down and 512k up.

[stephen4785]

We're in the same boat looking for internet providers. Just moved to Utopia TX out in the sticks. I was looking at hughes net and excede but they're over priced garbage. Both of them throttle you after 20gbs. I actually found a freaking phone company box in the ground next to my house. Called them up and asked if I could get service and they said they couldnt find my house on the map. I tried to give them the numbers off the phone line box next the the telephone pole and they still cant figure it out.

[JC316]

We're in the same boat looking for internet providers. Just moved to Utopia TX out in the sticks. I was looking at hughes net and excede but they're over priced garbage. Both of them throttle you after 20gbs. I actually found a freaking phone company box in the ground next to my house. Called them up and asked if I could get service and they said they couldnt find my house on the map. I tried to give them the numbers off the phone line box next the the telephone pole and they still cant figure it out.

Windstream was like that for me, if you can find the local tech, they should know. You want to talk frustrating? Windstream ran all new fiber lines into my shit splat town, they ran them to the nodes, and then didn't bother to replace the 60 year old copper lines from the nodes to the houses. Line noise is too bad to get anything better than 4.5.

[Snatch Napkin]

I just switched to unlimited through AT&T and mirror my phone to the TV for Netflix.
Can't do Hotspots, so mirroring works.
It's a hassle, but satellite Internet is a joke.

[Blackpony]

Yeah for us we live literally about 1000 yards to city limits, but the providers in our area said they only service houses in city limits at this time. The worse part is its frontier... At the moment our only option is satellite. Hughes net seems to have the best price but the data limit sucks and won't work for streaming like we want. Not sure what we are going to do, we upped our data on our cell phones and have been just using them to browse online for now.

[DeddRekoning]

I use Speed of Light Broadband and they're pretty decent for rural internet. Depending on where you are in Texas, might look them up.

[Mach1Run]

I had to resort to hot spotting off a T-Mobile phone when we need to use the computer on the net. No line of sight so rural WiFi is out and sat costs too much for what you get. Can't even get DSL even though the previous homeowners had it.

[jluv]

Only option for me here in the mountains is CenturyLink. The service is functional, but not great. They have the absolute worst customer service I've ever encountered in my life.