Exploring Our Connectivity Options
Our home is small and cozy. We have loved living there. But we missed not having broadband Internet access. This photo was taken last summer, right around the time that I began exploring our connectivity options.
It wasn't enough that we just get high-speed Internet. I had specific goals:
- Minimum installation cost
- Reliability and low maintenance
- Low latency (specifically for VoIP and Xbox Live)
- Minimum monthly cost
Here are the options that I would explore over the next 7 month:
- Cable Internet
- DSL Internet
- Satellite Internet
- Broadband Over Power Lines
- Fiber
- Cellular/Mobile Internet
- Wireless ISP
- WiMax ISP
- DIY Wireless
1. Cable Internet
Cable would have been great. Relatively low cost, low latency, great speeds. Unfortunately, when we moved in, we were told that there is no cable service in our canyon. Just in case, I called Comcast. After a very lengthy phone call -- they had a hard time even locating us on the map -- the agent confirmed my belief.
"Any plans to add service in our area?" I asked.
"Nope," was the response, followed by an explanation that Comcast cant' even consider installation in a new area unless there is a significant or growing population.
2. DSL Internet
There are no phone lines running up our canyon. But a friend suggested that telcos might be obligated by law to provide phone service. So I called Qwest to see. Those who I talked to weren't able to tell me much. After being transferred from one department to another, I finally got my name added to a "New Installations" list.
A few days later, a very knowledgable, friendly technician named Deanne called me. She explained that there are no phone lines in the area; that the nearest existing terminal is over 2 miles away to the west (as the crow flies). She told me I could still order service if I wanted it, but warned that I would need to be prepared to bear around half the cost. Hmmm.... The cost of installing poles, probably by helicoptor due to the rugged terrain, then running phone wire over a distance of +2 miles? Doesn't really meet my first goal. :) She quickly went on to suggest a better option: If our canyon association were willing to bear half the cost, Qwest would bear the other half, and should the cost go beyond $30,000, the federal government will also bear part of the cost.
There aren't enough of us living in the area for that to be an option, but I went ahead and asked here one more question. If we did somehow manage to run phone line those two miles, would we be able to get DSL Internet? She told me that DLS service is only available within 15,000 feet from the base station. Unfortunately, her records showed that that phone terminal (+2 miles away from my home) was already at the extremity of that range, and that there's no way we'd be able to get DSL in our area.
So DSL wasn't an option. I cancelled the installation ticket. She gave me her phone number in case I had any other questions, and we ended the call.
That phone number would be used many more times a few months later.
