![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
One thing that sucks about living in a rural area such as the one I live at is lack of broadband options. Here the two major options are either satellite, or a local WISP. The problem with those two are one is restrictive than the next. For example these are the options available to me (comparing the equivalent packages to the one I am using)
Grappa Wireless (a local WISP)
1.5Mbps/500kbps
15GB cap*
10 e-mail addresses
$99 a month
installation and equipment run you from $499 to $1049.. the lowest if you sign a 4 year contract the most expensive if you choose a 1 year contract.
*For a cap twice as big you have to pay $249 a month. I also don't know what they would do if you exceed your cap. I have a feeling it may be cut off service for a certain period though.
If you think that's bad Lobo "Business Wireless" costs $325 a month for 1Mbps
Hughes Pro Plus
1.5Mbps/200kpbs
425MB daily cap (coming out to 12GB every 30 days)*
5 e-mail addresses
$80 a month
$300 dollars for equipment with a 24 month contract
They don't even say how much the equivalent to the $249 Grappa plan costs.. you have to call for an estimate.
*If you hit the daily cap you get reduced speed for 24 hours or until you reduce your daily usage.
WildBlue Pro (my current ISP)
1.5Mbps/256kbps
17GB 30 day rolling cap (for example, if you download 1GB at the first of when you start it'll get rolled off on the first day after 30 days)*
10 e-mail addresses
$80 a month
$249 dollars for equipment, free installation... 24 month contract.
*If you hit the cap you get your speed reduced to 128kbps/28kbps until the amount that gets rolled off makes your total under 80% of the cap. For a 30GB cap you have to get an "Enterprise" account for $200 a month.
EV-DO
Alltel:
114kbps in my area.. I have to move to get 2.5Mbps according to this map neither Santa Fe nor Albuquerque can get EV-DO broadband
Unlimited data
$60 a month
Sounds tempting but I found out about it too late and there's no guarantee that I can get it and I would have to put up with 114kbps which is the the same or worse than being punished by my current ISP. Unless my family moves to an even smaller town like Las Vegas, New Mexico which is in an Alltel broadband coverage area.
Sprint doesn't even offer EV-DO in my area and Verizon has an even more restrictive Fair Usage Policy than the ISP I currently use.
WiMax
WiMax only seems to be availableRio Rancho and Albuquerue. Two places where you might as well get DSL or Cable.
Their service sounds great though.. I'd get the "Max" plan here
6Mbps/768kbps
Unlimted Usage
5 e-mail accounts
54 dollars a month
That's why I support the idea of bringing more types of broadband services online. I've heard of Broadband over Powerline, using "White Spaces" (unused channels) in the TV spectrum for broadband internet. Some people question the need to have more broadband services since you can get services like DSL but that's not the point. Lots of people don't have options including a lot of the options I listed that are available to me for better or worse. Some people can only get either WildBlue or Hughes.
The only thing is there are things holding back certain types of broadband from becoming widespread for a while. Both BPL and TV "White Space" broadband are being held behind because certain people like HAM Radio operator and TV stations are concerned that they may cause interference with their operations. TV stations have a problem with it because for the TV one you'd have to run unlicensed broadcasting equipment. There's also one potential problem with using unused TV channels for broadband. A lot of people assume that since they can get a strong TV signal in a lot of places that means that would work great for internet. Here's the thing... TV stations (and radio stations) typically have to use HUGE antennae towers and a lot of power in order to broadcast that far and at that strength. So even if you can receive the signal that doesn't mean that you can send at the same strength. Maybe the same equipment that is used on their vans can be used but I'm no expert on that and I'm sure it's very expensive. I'd like to know how that would work out.
I'm hoping for WiMax to spread beyond just Albuquerque\Rio Rancho but who knows if they are in a hurry to do that. Their coverage map shows they cover practically the entire area of those two cities (they are actually more like one city). I'm actually starting to wonder if there's anything I could to do help bring it to Santa Fe.
I've heard of some people and getting others to chip in to pay for a T1 line and then share it wirelessly to their homes. I don't know what kind of red tape has to be gone through in order to do this though. They typically start at around $700+ dollars a month plus equipment... and then you have to round up enough people in your area to help pay for the T1 line. It's possible that some people around here are already doing that but you'd have to do a lot of asking around to find those private wireless networks and who knows if they'd accept you. The upside to this is the more people you get to sign up the bigger the line you can get. Although you'd probably be stuck doing support for those people.
The easiest thing for me may be to find housing in town and get back on Cable or DSL. But that's a ways off.. so for now I have to deal with having a 17GB a month rolling cap on my bandwidth.
Either way there are plenty of under-served areas that I would like to see better more affordable broadband be made accessible to.
Grappa Wireless (a local WISP)
1.5Mbps/500kbps
15GB cap*
10 e-mail addresses
$99 a month
installation and equipment run you from $499 to $1049.. the lowest if you sign a 4 year contract the most expensive if you choose a 1 year contract.
*For a cap twice as big you have to pay $249 a month. I also don't know what they would do if you exceed your cap. I have a feeling it may be cut off service for a certain period though.
If you think that's bad Lobo "Business Wireless" costs $325 a month for 1Mbps
Hughes Pro Plus
1.5Mbps/200kpbs
425MB daily cap (coming out to 12GB every 30 days)*
5 e-mail addresses
$80 a month
$300 dollars for equipment with a 24 month contract
They don't even say how much the equivalent to the $249 Grappa plan costs.. you have to call for an estimate.
*If you hit the daily cap you get reduced speed for 24 hours or until you reduce your daily usage.
WildBlue Pro (my current ISP)
1.5Mbps/256kbps
17GB 30 day rolling cap (for example, if you download 1GB at the first of when you start it'll get rolled off on the first day after 30 days)*
10 e-mail addresses
$80 a month
$249 dollars for equipment, free installation... 24 month contract.
*If you hit the cap you get your speed reduced to 128kbps/28kbps until the amount that gets rolled off makes your total under 80% of the cap. For a 30GB cap you have to get an "Enterprise" account for $200 a month.
EV-DO
Alltel:
114kbps in my area.. I have to move to get 2.5Mbps according to this map neither Santa Fe nor Albuquerque can get EV-DO broadband
Unlimited data
$60 a month
Sounds tempting but I found out about it too late and there's no guarantee that I can get it and I would have to put up with 114kbps which is the the same or worse than being punished by my current ISP. Unless my family moves to an even smaller town like Las Vegas, New Mexico which is in an Alltel broadband coverage area.
Sprint doesn't even offer EV-DO in my area and Verizon has an even more restrictive Fair Usage Policy than the ISP I currently use.
WiMax
WiMax only seems to be availableRio Rancho and Albuquerue. Two places where you might as well get DSL or Cable.
Their service sounds great though.. I'd get the "Max" plan here
6Mbps/768kbps
Unlimted Usage
5 e-mail accounts
54 dollars a month
That's why I support the idea of bringing more types of broadband services online. I've heard of Broadband over Powerline, using "White Spaces" (unused channels) in the TV spectrum for broadband internet. Some people question the need to have more broadband services since you can get services like DSL but that's not the point. Lots of people don't have options including a lot of the options I listed that are available to me for better or worse. Some people can only get either WildBlue or Hughes.
The only thing is there are things holding back certain types of broadband from becoming widespread for a while. Both BPL and TV "White Space" broadband are being held behind because certain people like HAM Radio operator and TV stations are concerned that they may cause interference with their operations. TV stations have a problem with it because for the TV one you'd have to run unlicensed broadcasting equipment. There's also one potential problem with using unused TV channels for broadband. A lot of people assume that since they can get a strong TV signal in a lot of places that means that would work great for internet. Here's the thing... TV stations (and radio stations) typically have to use HUGE antennae towers and a lot of power in order to broadcast that far and at that strength. So even if you can receive the signal that doesn't mean that you can send at the same strength. Maybe the same equipment that is used on their vans can be used but I'm no expert on that and I'm sure it's very expensive. I'd like to know how that would work out.
I'm hoping for WiMax to spread beyond just Albuquerque\Rio Rancho but who knows if they are in a hurry to do that. Their coverage map shows they cover practically the entire area of those two cities (they are actually more like one city). I'm actually starting to wonder if there's anything I could to do help bring it to Santa Fe.
I've heard of some people and getting others to chip in to pay for a T1 line and then share it wirelessly to their homes. I don't know what kind of red tape has to be gone through in order to do this though. They typically start at around $700+ dollars a month plus equipment... and then you have to round up enough people in your area to help pay for the T1 line. It's possible that some people around here are already doing that but you'd have to do a lot of asking around to find those private wireless networks and who knows if they'd accept you. The upside to this is the more people you get to sign up the bigger the line you can get. Although you'd probably be stuck doing support for those people.
The easiest thing for me may be to find housing in town and get back on Cable or DSL. But that's a ways off.. so for now I have to deal with having a 17GB a month rolling cap on my bandwidth.
Either way there are plenty of under-served areas that I would like to see better more affordable broadband be made accessible to.
