The bad news...it's so far out in the sticks that cable hasn't even made it that far yet...so in the next few weeks, I'll either be offline for an indef period or, coughing up the scratch to get satelite tv (which I don't watch anyways) in order to connect with something a bit faster than dial-up...which would suck.
Anyone have experience with Sat-internet?
Cost?
Speed?
Down time?
I've also considered doing the cell phone to computer connection
Good? Bad? A ripoff? Limitations?
I have about 2 weeks to decide on something or, possibly be happy in skipping it altogether and missing out on reading about the latest idiotic idea in D.C or, the daily body count from shootings in Toledo.
8 comments:
Sepp,
What I know about it you could write in a matchbook, with a grease pencil.
If this is a photo of your place, it looks nice. What about your job in Perrysburg? Long commute or are you going to start raising pigs?
Sepp,
That's a really nice looking homestead that you have there.
I live out in BF Egypt too and cable is not nor ever will be an option. Wireless via Verizon is not reliable yet. Maybe when the update to a 4G network everywhere but not until then.
I opted for satellite. I went with Hughes several years ago and they are very reliable. Hughes has about 57 satellites whereas Wild Blue has only two. Wild Blue is crap. My neighbor tried it because it was a little cheaper and he is with Hughes now.
The quality is good and very fast. The cost is $80 a month for the package that I have. They have a cheaper option for $60 but it is slower and the dish is a bit smaller.
Connection is good and I have only had outages during really bad thunderstorms or during heavy snow storms. Normal rain and snow have been no problem. In fact it is raining now as I write this post.
The only problem with satellite connections is their "download allowance". If you download a number of videos you will exceed the daily allowance. They have recently adjusted their policies to allow users to bank their usage from past days. Since their new policy I have yet to exceed my allowance. Hughes has a download meter toolbar which is handy. I have yet to hit 50%.
If you have teenagers downloading music and videos you will have a problem. Ditto with Wireless as they have a maximum threshold and you will pay dearly per MB if you exceed your plan.
Hands-down, I recommend Hughes.
The pic in the post isn't of my place. I'll try and get a few posted before we cut the cable.
Actually muddy, I do plan on adding a few feeder pigs to my collection that will be pulling freezer duty later on.
I've added 20 minutes to my drive to work which I can deal with.
Hardnox, I'd forgotten all about Hughes.
Here at our house now, regular TV isn't watched often since we have netflix. I think in the last year we've watched live tv 3 -4 times when there was a weather issue.
I'll check into Hughes asap, thanks!
TJ, I'm in the same boat as you since I've always had easy cable access and no need for anything else.
Sepp- I wish I could help, however I fall into TGP's knowledge table on this one. I wish you luck though, and please find some way to keep in touch. Congratulations on your purchase.
Thanks for the input guys! Weighing the options since I never would have guessed that in this day and age the cable companies have not yet gained control of every square inch of Ohio and every household.
A sat tv / phone / internet combo is not only foolishly expensive but, would leave me stuck paying for tv (a shitload of shopping channels that count as "channels") that I don't watch and no way to opt out of the tv portion.
Hughes as Hardnox suggested, is internet only and, limits my netflix classic shows and movie usuage.
The same goes for the cellphone / computer hookup option...overly expensive and very limited for us netflix users.
I'm not a paid spokesman for netflix but, for those of you who don't have it, it's cheap to try out, thousands of new and old movies and classic tv shows from the internet to your Wii and commercial free.
My wife got it about a year ago to try out for $8 a month and, it's the only channel ever on in the house ever since.
Look at it like youtube for your tv without having to search, find all the missing parts and deal with commercials or, waiting until whatever you want to see is scheduled.
Johnny O, my drivetime to Cedar point is now about 15 min shorter than before so, let me know when you're going this summer.
I know that Hughes has several packages to choose from. They have a commercial version that allows huge downloads and permanent access. The store down the road uses it and his TV is on all day.
I'll check the price on the commercial version Hardnox.
Post a Comment