Non-crap internet options for rural areas?

[Vausch]

The title gives it away but here's the longer version. I'm in a rural area and my internet choices I know of are Wilblue, Hughesnet, and Intermax, which are in order sh*t, wet sh*t, and cannot be given because we're TOO rural (in this case we have too long a driveway at 250 feet).

A while ago I found it was best to tether my phone to the computer and use it as a modem, but it doesn't work for my entire home and I'd be the only one that could get internet. The problem with Wildblue and Hughesnet is they have very low bandwidth caps of 12gb a month and 200mb a day and they will cut you off if you exceed it (Steam really compromises this) and they charge almost double what I'd paid for with Time Warner Cable before I had to move back home with service that would rightly have me take that satellite dish and throw it through the company window.

Does anybody know of any good, fair priced internet choices for a rural area? The FCC's Fair Access expansion isn't taking place fast enough and no other ISPs in my area have been willing to make an expansion.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Not really my field of expertise, but prospects aren't good. Might as well go for the one that's merely shit.

I live in a rural area, but I lucked out with a fairly decent local provider.

 

[Vausch]

Not really my field of expertise, but prospects aren't good. Might as well go for the one that's merely shit.

I live in a rural area, but I lucked out with a fairly decent local provider.

Lucky you. Judging by what I'm seeing I'm stuck with the one that's merely shit for the next few months until I can move.

 

[Newtonyd]

I had your problem, ended up going to the local library for internet. It was somehow way better than the shit my college provided.

 

[alandavidson]

Another way to do it is use your cell phone as your modem. Hook your cell to an external antenna, and that will be way faster than dial-up.

 

[Vausch]

Another way to do it is use your cell phone as your modem. Hook your cell to an external antenna, and that will be way faster than dial-up.

That was what I tried but the problem is it only works for one computer, so nobody else in the house would be able to go online.

 

[lonesome killer]

Sorry man, but you can't make an ISP out of thin air. If they don't want to expand to your house then there's nothing you can do. I feel your pain. The only ISP around me is $40 a month for 3Mbps speeds when TWC has 7Mpbs for the same price. It's either nothing or satellite, but satellite is expensive and you wouldn't be able to game worth a damn on it.

 

[loc978]

depends on the area... personally, I've got a little cable co-op I go through, who provides cable internet, TV and phone service in sort of overlapping competition with Comcast (who doesn't provide service quite this far out into the boonies. My driveway is about an eighth mile that winds down the side of a hill... the road up top is paved, though). If you can get cable TV where you are, chances are you can get cable internet. If not, gods help you. Satellite internet has always sucked.

Also, damn... no cable, yet you get cell phone service? That's pretty backwards of where I live. have to head up to the main highway to get even Verizon service. AT&T or T-Mobile, SOL, drive 30 miles to the city.

 

[chaosyoshimage]

Look for local ISP companies. I got a wireless internet ISP where we have to hook a think up to our TV antennae outside. It's a little faster than HughesNet and could be about double the speed if we wanted to pay more. The big difference between getting something like this and the goddawful HughesNet is that FAP BS. Seriously, we payed a ton just to get that cap to 350 MB a day. Now, there is a free period between like 2 and 5 in the morning, but I couldn't use that time back when I was in school (Nor would I be able to use it if I had a job or was in college or something). If you're a fan of anime, games, or streaming TV, yeah, avoid HughesNet at all costs, I had to deal with that crap for years...

 

[Akimoto]

Sorry man, but you can't make an ISP out of thin air. If they don't want to expand to your house then there's nothing you can do. I feel your pain. The only ISP around me is $40 a month for 3Mbps speeds when TWC has 7Mpbs for the same price. It's either nothing or satellite, but satellite is expensive and you wouldn't be able to game worth a damn on it.

Concur. Mainstream Internet runs by cable but we are so used to wireless we tend to forget that what we don't see is the main body and we are only using data nodes/points. Like lonesome killer said, satellite is the next best thing but that's also not a guarantee.

Unfortunately I don't really see corporations willing to rally to the needs and cause of a rural area unless there's money or PR in it for them.