No Cable, No DSL, No T1! What's a Geek to Do?
As I'm sure many readers are aware (because I tend to write about the minutae of my life in very public places), I recently picked up my household and moved from a lovely home in Los Angeles to a small, but lovely condo in South Florida. Everyone who knows me said "What the heck are you doing?" And at this point, I have to agree.
In any case, a view of the ocean and the chance to walk on the beach any time I want just isn't working for me (there are other issues at play here, as well, but they would just sound like whining, but geez, does the neighbor have to slam her door that loud every five minutes all day and all night? Do they have to use the communal laundry machine on the floor nonstop?)--I miss a view of trees, and land. So, believe it or not, we're heading back across the country, to lovely rural NoCal (somewhere between Sacramento and Reno). The house is great, tons of land, room for horses (not a terribly likely occurance) and blackberry bushes galore. So what's the problem now?
It's actually so far out in the boonies that there's no connectivity. Yea, you can use dialup. But Verizon won't bring out a T1, you can't get cable, and DSL availability is laughable. I've been doing the research on rural options, and satellite is about it. Luckily, this technology has improved slightly since it first appeared ten years ago or so. DirecTV's offering (DirectWay) appears to cause only vehement anger among those who suffer with it. StarBand has less virtriol tossed at it, but it's still pretty ancient technology. Fewer people seem to hate this solution than do DirecWay. Finally, research found the solution I hope I'll be going with (they're not quite ready to install yet): WildBlue. Apparently, WildBlue uses a newer technology that gets better download and upload speeds, handles latency better (hey, it's a long way up to that satellite and back!), and doesn't barf so badly on inclement weather. In addition, WildBlue is by far the cheapest solution. (It doesn't support static IP at this point, but intends to next year. This is an issue. If you have a dynamic DNS service you like, let me know...)
I'm hoping for the best. If you're using dialup because you can't get any wired high-speed, consider WildBlue. And if you know of any way to get fixed wireless, or some other wireless high-speed solution, please let me know.
I'll report in with the results of both the high speed follies and, of course, the big move. Again. We're accepting volunteers to help transport the cats.