Dial Up or Satellite Internet/TV- Are they worth it at all?

[Leta]

Right now, we live in town, and we have dry loop DSL through AT&T. It is $19.95/mo, no taxes, no surcharges. It is very, very fast. We ask a lot out of it- we have an internet TV streaming device called a Roku and our home phone runs over VOIP with a device called a NetTalk. The NetTalk costs us $30/yr, and we have two subscriptions for the Roku, Netflix and Hulu+, which each cost $8/mo. So our version of the "triple play" (TV, internet, and home phone) costs us $38.50 per month. It is very inexpensive, we can drop the TV subscriptions during the summer months, and we are happy with it. We've gotten very comfy with this.

If all goes as planned, we'll be moving out into the township this spring. The only phone company there is TDS. Basic phone service is reasonable- $20/mo. However, there is no DSL and there is no cable internet available either. TDS got stimulus money to install DSL, and that is supposed to be online May 2013, or roughly a year after we (hopefully!) move there, and part of the stimulus award stipulates that is has to be reasonably priced, so it's supposed to be about $25/mo for regular and $40/mo for top tier.

So we are pondering what to do for that year until DSL becomes available. We tossed around the idea of getting a smartphone, but the coverage out there sucks, there are data caps, and holy crap are smartphone service packages expensive. We also looked into a MiFi, but it's no better than a smartphone. So our options boil down to TDS dial up at $22/mo or HughesNet or WildBlue satellite. Both HughesNet and WildBlue are available in the township, but they are really expensive- $200 for installation, $100 for equipment, $63.60 per month for service (after taxes). Aaaand they want you to sign a two year contract, which I am deeply hesitant to do, especially if the township does get DSL in 2013.

I know that satellite internet is supposed to be faster than dial up but slower than DSL. So I'm wondering if it would be worth 3x the cost of dial up. And about dial up- is it as slow as I remember from back in '98?

Obviously, a Roku wouldn't work without broadband. (Except maybe as a paperweight.) We are batting about the idea of getting a dish for TV, since the basic $20/mo package is only $4/mo more than what we are paying right now for Hulu+ and Netflix. But do they make you sign a contract? Or can you only have it for six months out the year, the way we do it now with our subscriptions?

I'm willing to go without pay TV entirely, but I feel like we'd be really lost out there with no internet connection at all. We keep in touch with our families primarily via email. I don't need to be able to stream (though I admit, I will miss the crap out of Pandora), but we do need to be able to email, access Google Voice, and read Wikipedia.

Anyone have any thoughts on what our best bet is?

 

[Marianne]

Good luck with this...seriously.

We built in the Twilight Zone. VOIP didn't work, even though we could see the thing 1-1/2 mile across the fields from our house. Some cell phone carriers don't have coverage here, etc. We're a half mile away from everything.

We have had both Direct TV and Dish for TV. Yes, we had to sign a two year contract with both. Sprint was our only phone option (we have to have a land line for business). It took them a month to get our land line connected, even though the line was in the dirt already. Eagle was our only resonably priced 'high speed' internet choice at the time. It was high speed once in a while. For TV, phone and internet, it was $200+ a month.

Now we have fiberoptic through a more local company and we had to sign a three year contract. Supposedly it was going to cost $99 a month for the basic package, but with the channel upgrade (so DH can watch his fav team play b-ball), a few extra minutes on the long distance, all the extra taxes and BS, we pay about $187 a month.

Dial up wasn't too terrible when we first got a computer. After we sold our house and moved to a townhome, it was awful - I could go take a shower and be back before it finally connected. High speed wasn't much faster. When I called about it, they explained how the wiring in the entire neighborhood was, etc etc. and there wasn't anything they could do. The explanation was plausable at the time, I just don't remember enough of it now. But I hope I never have to go to dialup again. YMMV

It seems like there are some areas that all the cheaper options work, and others that are in some kind of time warp bubble (my place).

And what is Pandora?

 

[Leta]

Pandora is music streaming. You tell it a song/artist you like, and it builds a station around that. You can have as many stations as you want. You give thumbs down to songs that you dislike, or just music that you don't want on that station. (Like today, I gave a song I love, "What's Goin' On" by Marvin Gaye, a thumbs down, because it came on "Queen Radio". I want 70's rock on Queen Radio, and Marvin Gaye on Motown. When it comes up on Motown- which it will, eventually- I'll give it thumbs up.)

It's free, and pretty much the best thing ever.

 

[Leta]

I'm getting somewhat stressed about this. DH is four square against getting dial up, but satellite sounds like a lot of money for not much. DH wisely suggested that we check to see if that house is on the school's WiMax network, but nope.

I really don't want to have to drive to check my email.

 

[Marianne]

For me, I came to some middle ground with all that. I decided that it was a good thing that I didn't have to use trash service here ($20 a month), nor did I have to be connected to rural water ($30 per month before you use a drop of water), country living (priceless to me). So, we pay the extra $$ to have what we want.
The fiber optic is good. It took about four years to get into this area, but it was worth the wait. Hopefully you'll come up with something reasonably priced for your area.

 

[dacjohns]

Dial up will drive you crazy because it is so slow. This forum will even probably be slow if a thread has photos in it. Most web sites are so heavy with graphics now I don't think you will be happy with dial up.

 

[newmochick]

As a former user (over 2 years) of Wildblue . . . it was ok if you didn't download a lot (ie have children that liked You tube videos) because if you go over your cap, they slow you down. If you can find Wildblue equipment (check craigslist, I would sell you mind but you are too far away) than there is a change in the contract, I believe you don't have to keep it for 2 years but you would have to check on that. There are issues with any dish - For both dish tv and satellite tv, if you want to look at the weather radar and see what is coming - you won't have a signal, hence you will have to rely on a weather radio. I use to have cable and satellite is slower but I can't compare it with dsl.

I got so mad at wildblue for slowing me down that I went looking for something else. In my area, sprint is trying to get market share with their 4G service. I had to sign a 2 year plan (suppose to get broadband county wide next summer) but it was worth it to cancel wildblue. The fee is $50/month (cheaper than the $79 I was paying for the high end of wildblue). I don't have 4G 100% of the time yet so it is a 3G/4G service. I am capped at 3G but unlimited use for 4G. I have faster service with sprint and I don't have the weather issues I had with satellite. If not sprint than check verizon (although Verizon 4G is capped).

My 2 cents, for what it is worth.

I am told that Hughes net and Wildblue are owned by the same company but I don't know but they work the same way with the same issues.

 

[me&thegals]

Can you get broadband from a cell company? We had 3 G from Verizon for $40/month, but now we're switching to 5 G from U.S. Cellular for $50/month, dropping our land line and getting a basic cell contract for $69/month. It will be a savings from our land line, broadband and Trak phones.

 

[Leta]

You know, I'm starting to think that maybe we will get a smartphone or a MiFi. If I can a 1 year contract, it'll be up around the time DSL (hopefully) becomes available. I'll really need to investigate the coverage, though.

 

[lorihadams]

We have a five spot through verizon wireless that we use for internet. Can't get DSL and don't have 4G until 2012 so it is a 3G. We like it, we get decent service and decent speed. The good thing about getting a phone with a wifi connection built in is that you could take your laptop with you and get service anywhere you can get signal through your phone. My husband takes our wireless card and laptop with him on the road and does google earth topographical maps while looking for areas to take his clients hunting/set up stands and blinds, etc. When we visit my granny, she doesn't have a computer, we can take it with us and the kids can still have access to the internet to do school related stuff too.

If you are getting ready to switch phones or update your cell phone I would look into getting one with a hot spot built in, it will cost you every month for the data package but may be cheaper in the long run. We had to sign a 2 yr contract with our hot spot. We only have cell phones so our two phones with 1400 minutes, texting, and hot spot is $155 per month. We figured it up and it was cheaper to do it that way than to pay for everything separately or try to do dial up with a landline blech.