Got it. I thought you’d found a couple of others on wispnet aside from them. They may be too big to list with wispnet (I think it’s more for smaller independents to get their names out there). But if Internet America can get service to you, then I say definitely go for it.
I really recommend against Hughesnet and WildBlue. I’ve never met anyone happy with them, except for the couple of people I know who literally only check email and facebook once or twice a day, and nothing else.
Well… I tell ya… after talking to Internet America (which is a fine company), I’m thinking this is all going to cost a little too much. Installing the antenna at my house will be $125. If there needs to be an extension so the antenna will have a clear line of sight to the big mother antenna, it will be $199. The monthly charge is $80 per month for 4Mbps download speed, but I’m already paying almost $100 per month for DirecTV (WITHOUT any premium channels), not to mention my cell phone and aircard, which are costing me plenty, too. And it’s not like I don’t have internet at all. My aircard is plenty fast for regular web use. I’m not in the mood to start adding that much in the way of monthly charges just so I can stream movies. The research was worthwhile, and I appreciate the tips and assistance.
That sucks. I figured they’d be more in the $40-$60 range, but I also figured they’d only be offering 2-3M service. The install charge is just about right, but the extension is a bit much. You can get a 50’ telescoping mast for that price, maybe that’s what they’re quoting you. If that’s the case, there are cheaper ways to raise it.
I might revisit this one day… or maybe AT&T or DirecTV will eventually have service to my house. There are a LOT of houses going in around me 
so the demand will increase for sure. That and the fact that the property values are going up so much that when I need the nursing home I’ll be able to sell this place and afford it are the only good things about the upsurge in population.
I am in a similar boat. I resurrected this thread to see if the OP or any others have found anything more reasonable for a rural location. I can’t get cable or DSL, or cell phone reception where I am. I am currently on…(cue horror music) dial up!
btw…what speed is dialup in Mbps?
And maybe not too much of a hijack, but I can get one single stupid bar of cell phone reception here in certain locations. Is there a device that would “boost” this signal somehow to make cell voice/data reliable, or am I asking for a magic unicorn here?
It depends on the speed of your modem. Most PCs have a 56.6 kb/sec modem, but the highest speed you’re going to practically connect at is 53 kb/sec, as the F.C.C. imposes power limits on devices connected to phone lines.
There are a few other options, like WiMAX, but I don’t know if it’s available where you are. Where is that, by the way? (That might help others to offer you options.)
I only get about 750kb down with Hughes.net. And less than 100kb up. You can pretty much forget about any video streaming.
Oh, and if you go over your alloted usage, they throttle the speed back to dial up speeds for 24 hours.
Ten miles outside of scenic Grafton, WV along the shores of Tygart Lake. Cell service is spotty. Some days I can stand outside and actually complete a phone call inside the house is zero bars.
I called Frontier (who I have landline service with) and they don’t offer DSL out here. I’m having the same problems as the OP with satellite options. Nearly $100/month for something not substantially better than dialup, but with ridiculously low data limits.
If I could “boost” the cell phone, I would be happy with the tether option.
I found a company called 3WLogic that offers service in certain areas of West Virginia, including around Philippi. I don’t know if you’re in their coverage area.
Note that you can boost a cell phone signal, if you can get signal at a location at all - if you can stand on your roof and complete a call you can get decent cell phone reception at some place in your house using a booster like this: http://www.amazon.com/Wilson-Electronics-841262-In-building-Omni-Directional/dp/B0023RRCP4/ref=pd_cp_cps_0
Cellular internet usually has decent speeds but often data caps. But if no DSL/Cable then your choices are usually Satellite which has similar issues, or some non-cellular wireless provider, which is usually your best choice if you want any chance to to stream.
Has anyone tryed Excede yet?
That doesn’t seem too bad. It says its available in my area. $59.99 for 7.5GB and “up to” 12Mbps.
Questions:
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What does “up to” mean? Does it mean that it usually is dial up speed but if Christ returns and miracles it, it may get to 12Mbps?
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How fast is 12Mbps? Could I watch Youtube clips, for example?
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Is 7.5GB enough? I remember at the apartment I used to live, we watched Netflix almost 24/7 and used around 25GB. Would I be free to browse and watch clips for several hours a day without worrying about going over the limit?
Oh and 4) Would that be decent enough where I could scrap the landline and use some type of voice over IP, or would the data/download speed restrict that?
VOIP can easily run on 128kbps, so speed and total data usage are rarely issues. Rather, packet loss and latency are the real problems in VOIP uses and often the wireless providers have issues here - but you can’t really tell until you actually try it, unfortunately, or have someone who also has the service try it for you.
Note that over satellite internet VOIP is basically impossible because of distance - the speed of light from you to satellite back to earth is too slow for VOIP without huge pauses/delay.
Missed the edit window: you have to decide for yourself on Data limits. I personally use approx 250-300GB/month over cable, since I cut the cord/have no satellite or cable TV.
As for speed, honestly 1.5mbps is almost always enough to stream just about anything and to feel plenty fast if you get the whole amount/advertised speed. Really only speeds like 768kbps DSL or slower indicate in and of themselves that you will have an issue just with the advertised speed - higher than that the issue is going to be actually getting advertised speed and contention with other users.
jtgain - You’ll have a hard time doing any real Netflix watching with 7.5 Gb. I’m limited to 5 GB with Verizon and one HD movie on Netflix used up almost all my month limit. The problem with Netflix is, you can’t see what the size is of the item you’re downloading before you download it.
StG
Dialup is .056 megabits, about 6,000 bytes per second maximum. By comparison even a minimal 1.5 megabit DSL connection will give you 180,000 bytes per second. Dialup is very minimal, I wouldn’t use it for much more than reading e-mail. Even that will be painful.
If you’re in a rural area and can’t get cable or DSL but can get cellular service, your next best option is probably a 3g data plan on the cellular network from Verizon/Sprint/etc. They should be able to give (sell) you a USB adapter for your computer that will get you about 1.5 megabit for around $50 per month. The connection is going to be limited to maybe 5GB per month or so, so you can’t watch much video or anything, but it should be decent for browsing. If you make sure to get a 3g modem/adapter with an antenna connector, you can buy antennas to pull in more signal. You’d have to research what frequencies your particular carrier uses and will probably have to do some adapter research as well. These forums helped me a lot when I was getting by on a 3g connection: http://www.evdoforums.com/
If you can’t get cellular service your only options are probably dialup or satellite, and you have my condolences.