# Internet service in the boonies **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 11, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-service-in-the-boonies/730695 "2015-09-11T18:58:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-service-in-the-boonies/730695/21 "2015-09-18T00:17:15Z")
DSL may not work if you are too far out. You need to be with a certain distance or the equipment. I’ve got [hughes.net](http://hughes.net). And it’s ok for email or browsing. Streaming doesn’t really work at all. With the cap and the limits… ---
**Author:** ![mistermike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mistermike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistermike)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-service-in-the-boonies/730695/22 "2015-09-18T13:22:47Z")
Network guy here. Located in Central, Ohio. AT&T is the incumbent land line phone provider for that area. Although it is true DSL availability and speeds are dependent on distance from the end-user to the C.O., the fact that a pole is within 30 feet of your address lead me to believe that you should have (at least) a minimal speed option DSL available to you there through AT&T. Another possibility will be Horizon-Tel out of Chillicothe, OH. Not far from you at all. Horizon-Tel was a beneficiary of the Appalachian stimulus funding for upgrading network services in order to provide internet access in and around the area you are in. They have a pretty substantial fiber foot-print now in rural Ohio and would be my second guess if AT&T Landline services can not help you. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-service-in-the-boonies/730695/23 "2015-09-18T13:29:19Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I’ll check around with my other neighbors when I go down this weekend. I sure wish I could figure out who owns the telephone pole right outside my house! In my experience, utility poles are marked with a serial number and/or location code. I assume this is used by the electricity/cable/telephone company to identify and locate downed lines. So do you see any sort of marking on that pole? BTW, I assume the house has electrical service, so there’s gotta be a power line running to it. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-service-in-the-boonies/730695/24 "2015-09-18T16:26:51Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > So what do people who live in the boonies do for internet service? We just do without. We have a little weekend house in a mountain hollow a little more than 2 hours from NYC. It doesn’t even get cell service. Me, my wife, and two 12 yo daughters are internet junkies so we slurp it up when we’re in the city but when we’re up at the house we do whatever else we like to do and the girls go play in the woods or do other non-Internet things. The public library in the nearby village is the closest internet oasis. And it’s free of course. It has carrels and little rooms and nooks and crannies so I imagine one could occasionally set up and put in a day’s work if necessary as long the office and library hours were consistent and no screaming was involved. Our options are dial-up and satellite services WildBlue and HughesNet, which, as you determined are too expensive for a weekend place. Plus they didn’t work well with VPN which was necessary for office connection. Another option mentioned was a T1 line but again, too expensive. Running it as a shared line with neighbors was mentioned but that sounded like a headache. And we’re too far away from a Verizon central office for DSL. So realistically anything approximating broadband would be satellite. If your neighbors can’t help maybe there’s an electronics business in the area that has a line on all of the options at your location. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-service-in-the-boonies/730695/25 "2015-09-18T17:24:16Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I will work on that. I called HughesNet, Dish and DirecTV. All offer internet plans that have the data caps mentioned above, plus way exceed what I’m willing to spend for a weekend place. Thanks for your input. I guess no streaming for me. I feel your pain. I bought a lake house in east Texas in June. I had to switch my cell phone from AT&T to Verizon, because AT&T has _no_ service at all there. My wife and sons have Sprint, which is barely able to connect a few times a day to exchange text messages - voice calls are not possible. I have managed to hotspot my phone through Verizon for work, but it’s marginal. And forget about streaming. And a limitation I didn’t realize with Verizon is that I can’t talk and have a data connection at the same time like I could with AT&T, so no Webex. On the other hand, I could get cable Internet service there, I just don’t want an extra bill. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-service-in-the-boonies/730695/26 "2015-09-18T20:04:31Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > See if anyone in your area offers Line of Sight or Fixed Wireless service. That’s internet where they install an antenna on your house so there’s a signal straight from their tower to your antenna. > [@trmptgn](#): > > If you have any bars with Verizon you should inquire about getting one of their paid internet hotspot plans. I used to have their service way out in a farm house and they had me buy a big antenna to boost the signal reception and a usb modem. It worked well and I do most of my work online. I’m going to look into both of these for the farm, where we’re using HughesNet satellite. I am not happy with them. I sometimes need to do some remote desktop type of work, and the latency is a killer. Let alone sometimes not even being able to perform a simple google search in a timely manner. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-service-in-the-boonies/730695/27 "2015-09-19T04:37:33Z")
> [@mistermike](#): > > Network guy here. Located in Central, Ohio. > > AT&T is the incumbent land line phone provider for that area. Although it is true DSL availability and speeds are dependent on distance from the end-user to the C.O., the fact that a pole is within 30 feet of your address lead me to believe that you should have (at least) a minimal speed option DSL available to you there through AT&T. > > Another possibility will be Horizon-Tel out of Chillicothe, OH. Not far from you at all. > > Horizon-Tel was a beneficiary of the Appalachian stimulus funding for upgrading network services in order to provide internet access in and around the area you are in. They have a pretty substantial fiber foot-print now in rural Ohio and would be my second guess if AT&T Landline services can not help you. A more informative version of what I was going to say. A phone pole implies DSL would be available. It’s not like you have to be close to some physical building. It can just be a metal box full of DSLAMs (essentially the DSL-to-Internet modems.) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-service-in-the-boonies/730695/28 "2015-09-19T05:27:39Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > A more informative version of what I was going to say. A phone pole implies DSL would be available. It’s not like you have to be close to some physical building. It can just be a metal box full of DSLAMs (essentially the DSL-to-Internet modems.) I was told that it has to be within 3 miles of your location. I would LOVE to be able to get DSL. It would be a huge step up from satellite. Satellite works, for very basic internet. But overall, kinda sucks. What I don’t get is that DirecTV can stream TV 24/7. No limits. But HughesNet falls on its face after 30 minutes of streaming. It can obviously be done. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-service-in-the-boonies/730695.md?page=1)