Ditching the fast-paced city life no longer means ditching high-speed internet. Moving to rural areas, even if just outside the boundaries of local cable internet providers, used to mean subjecting yourself to the painfully slow internet. Thanks to modern advances in internet services, it’s now possible to live in a remote setting without feeling cut off from the world.
The Problem with Dial-Up
Traditional dial-up is one of the only options available to many rural Americans. But it’s slow, really slow. Even modern dial-up modems cannot transfer more than 56 kbps. Older and poorly maintained phone lines will strangle these speeds even more.
Want to join the 3% of Americans using the old-school dial-up internet? Didn’t think so! Let’s take a look at your modern-day options instead.
Mobile Broadband
If you have access to cell service, mobile broadband is one of your rural internet options. Mobile broadband is offered by companies like Verizon and AT&T which allow you to connect to the internet through a mobile phone network. The speeds offered by this type of connection vary from 5 Mbps to 12 Mbps. However, mobile broadband is unavailable in many countryside areas of the U.S and is also more expensive than satellite internet.
Wireless Broadband
Another possible option is Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs). This internet service works by connecting an installed antenna on your roof to your service provider’s tower. WISPs are locally operated and will not be available in all areas, though they are a good choice when available.
Satellite Internet
Satellite internet is the best choice for rural locations. The internet is delivered to your home via a satellite up in space rather than through a fixed cable line connecting you to your provider. Meaning, your house can be located anywhere and still receive the same uninterrupted internet speeds. For example, satellite internet easily reaches remote ski lodges, isolated lakeside cabins, and rural farmhouses. Since the orbiting satellite connects directly to a satellite dish on your home, it can provide the fastest download and upload speeds available to rural areas.
Taylor is a digital writer for Home Tech Scoop who loves sharing her opinions on tech, entertainment and social media trends. For the latest in gadgets, apps, home automation and telecom technology, follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.
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David Rider
July 13, 2018 at 12:48 pm
Satelite internet is always the best choice though the mobile internet can be a bit useful when you are not at home and you want to access the internet from a mobile device. In rural areas, satellite internet is the best option.
Benjamin
December 26, 2018 at 3:23 pm
Except God forbid a cloud pass by in just the right spot. Partly cloudy weather? Good luck. Raining? Sorry for your loss. Satellite internet might be okay for those who only need it to check email and surf the web, but if you expect to stream or work from home then you’re simply out of luck. Satellite will not give you the reliability you need.
Ross
February 23, 2019 at 10:53 pm
I couldn’t disagree more, I’ve dealt with satellite internet twice, it is slower than dial-up, you’re locked into a contract for internet that literally won’t load web pages (forget Facebook or yahoo where ads play automatically) for TWO YEARS, and it’s ridiculously expensive. Which satellite internet provider do you work for?
Sheryl Donnell
March 6, 2019 at 9:11 pm
If Satellite is the best we have, we are sorely behind in this arena. Having just bought a home on the edge of every available service and only Satellite it is like living in the 80’s however then we had nothing to do on the internet. It takes so long to do anything when we once used a total of 40 g’s a month in our worst month, we used 100 g’s in 2 weeks for less usage and are now throttled even slower. There is no higher package to buy.