???for those of you in rural area

15 years ago

I have dial up service and have only one to choose from and it the pits.

I log on at 24.0 kbps and it takes forever just to download my mail.

Is there a internet sevice that I can get that will free my phone line up and give me faster speed.

I wanted to get the free avg 8.0 but it will take 12 hrs to download it with my speed ...and then it errors out because the speed is to slow for the download.

we only have one phone service also and that is centruy tel and they do have a new internet serv but we are to far from the service have to be within 10 miles and we are like 15 miles.

Help this is really getting bad when I think its not even worth turning my computer on~~~~~~~~~~ hugs for all imabest

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (17)

mariend
15 years ago
I don't know if they have Wi-Fi? Many RV parks have that. Hope someone here can help. Another one is People?? something.
marilyn_c
15 years ago
I have dial up and mine never is that fast. Usually it is 14.4 and somtimes 16. something kbps.

Mail isn't a problem for me, except when someone sends me a video or a lot of pics at one time. Then it makes me want to pull my hair out. They go to OE, but I have to go to my isp and to gmail and delete them there. Sometimes it takes all day.

I know...no help. Just commiserating with you. :(

I use Avast, anti virus, which is free and love it. I like it better than when I had AVG...but it is a slow download...altho it surely wasn't any 12 hours. Maybe a couple.
Related Discussions
Bats & other interesting creatures
Q
Comments (10)
Matt, We've had about average numbers of everything, although not necessarily at the "right" times. Hummingbirds were earlier than usual, but Purple Martins were a little later than usual. Grasshoppers began hatching in late January, which is normal here. Our HUGE june bug hatch was in April, probably around the 15-20th, and then the massive rainfall at the end of the month (11.87" in one day) seemed to wipe out a bunch of them. Flea beetles were about 2 months late. For a long time, I thought we weren't going to have any at all, but then they arrived. Colorado potato beetles were exceptionally late. For once, cucumber beetles are late and so are squash bugs. (Maybe the rains drowned them!) Butterflies and moths a little late but they are here. Lightning bugs here since mid-May. Toads and frogs galore. The cicadas and other things that make a racket all night long started about 6 weeks early and I don't know what that is all about. The bat population seems light so far this year. The mosquito outbreak was insanely awful after 18 or 19" of rain fell in Love County in a 4 or 5 week period from the end of April through the end of May. Since the rains stopped and the July heat arrived in early June, the skeeters have virtually disappeared. Dragon flies and damsel flies have begun to make a comeback after they virtually disappeared last year when all the ponds and creeks dried up here. Snakes have been a mixed bag. I had a pretty early encounter with a rattlesnake/hawk war in the back yard when I returned from a fire one day. Then, no snakes for ages. Then, one in the henhouse (it died 'cause the eggs are not for the snakes). Then a couple in the pond and one in the garden and another in the yard this week. I am about sick of snakes. Ooodles of turtles, including a big one living in and around the lily pond and one living under the chicken coop. A few bobcats, foxes and coyotes. Tons of cottontail rabbits and deer. There's way too many raccoons and they are feasting on the corn. Not very many ticks or fleas. Some chiggers. Lots of flies, bees and other pollinators. Tons of wasps. That's the "wild thing" report from southcentral Love County, very close to and surrounded by the Red River! Dawn
...See More
A must have for those building in a rural area!!!
Q
Comments (15)
We've built a couple of rural houses (hubby falls in love with a new piece of land) in steep, heavily wooded terrains with snow and large storms. Our first house had solar panels tied to the grid and a whole-house furnace. Not good, we had six separate incidents of no heat or electricity, each time lasting about a week. We had a double solar array of 48 panels, it was a big house. The next house, smaller with 24 panels generating around 12 KW hours was off-grid solar with a back-up diesel generator. Much better, although our house filled up with cold, waterless, shower-needy neighbors when their power was out for 3 weeks. I didn't mind that, I just set visiting hours and a shower schedule. Our next house (building now, and the land is much flatter, hurray!) has an off-grid solar system, diesel generator, and a century fireplace. That century stove is classified as a furnace...it's the only heat we'll use or need. The wood smoke smell is absent, and it uses very little wood. We're hoping to get hydroelectric power set up in a few years, so the winter stream run-off generates extra power when we need it. I'll tell you the big number one item you want for an off-grid system is a great battery. We lucked into some giant batteries from a failed dot-com, what a difference that extra power storage made! We're renting a regular house in town while we build. We've had 4 power outages, without heat, this winter. My goodness, the power bill is so high! I hadn't paid an electric bill in 7 years, I had no idea the rates had grown so high.
...See More
How do you find an architect in rural Iowa?
Q
Comments (19)
I have subscribed to Fine Homebuilding and reading the Green Building Advisor site to research better building methods. There are some local builders (very small groups including Amish that is literally next door). I have been watching their work so I have an idea who I may go with. I will do most of the finishing work (not drywall though because I hate drywall). DH builds furniture in his freetime whole I do the sanding and staining because I have the eye and patience for it. We have a lot of experience with finishing and remodeling work so I'm looking forward to it. There are also several cabinet makers within minutes of the farm so hopefully we can go with one of them. Installing cabinets doesn't sound very appealing. Plus my grandfather was a cabinetmaker so I want them just right.
...See More
Selling a home in a rural area....someday:)
Q
Comments (9)
From someone who has sold in a rural area. Find someone local, i went thru 2 RA because being from the city did not understand rural condiditons. We were up in the mountains 45 min from the city and in a high fire area. We had our own mutual water system, heated by fuel oil and wood and because the roads were private helped maintain them. Had plenty of snow and low temps winter, lots of wind, and hot temps in the summer. We were near a desert so that explains the variations. It too me 2 years to sell, but that was because of RA that did not/would not list and show to people who really wanted that type of property. 3rd RA sold in 2 weeks, with a 45 day escrow but that was over 10 years ago when loans were easy to get. We did have a small community which did help us and we all had from 5-10 acres. 6 yeas is aways down the road, but you might start next year or so, talking to the people who have not sold, to different agents, to even the people who come to hunt/fish etc. I would NOT tell anyone you don't know you are going to sell, just act as if you have friends looking in your area and find out what they think of the area. If we knew what state or area you are in that might help. We too built our own place.
...See More
lydia1959
15 years ago
We have the Centurytel DSL ... wait a little while and I'll bet they will expand their service area. It's as cheap as dial-up was for me now that I'm not paying for Callwave too.
iowagirl2006
15 years ago
I am in the same boat as you - except I have a much faster dialup connection.

My phone company said the likelyhood of them expanding to my area is slim to none.

Your only choice is satellite internet - such as WildBlue or HughesNet.

It will be much better than your dialup - but not as good as DSL.

I haven't made the change to Satellite internet due to the cost. The best deal I have found is $49/month for WildBlue through Dish Network. That is just too much for me to spend on something I can live without :0)

You could research your choices on Satellite internet and see what your best deals are.

Watch for high installation fees - that can add a bunch to the overall cost. And they often want a multi-year commitment to their service.

I was able to download the new AVG at the library and bring it home on a USB flash drive.
pattico_gw
15 years ago
I don't know if they are doing this in any other areas or not...but my cousin Roger owns a company that is putting up wireless conection on towers. So you can get wireless wherever you go..."even at home"

patti
maybee_gw
15 years ago
There are satellite services you can get...Hughes net and Wild-blue are two that I know of
FlamingO in AR
15 years ago
Can you get cell phone service where you live? I use my Alltel cell phone to get broadband internet access, it's called Axcess Mobile and it works really well, WAY faster than dial-up, like 10-20 times faster.

We live out in the deep woods and satellite and DSL are not an option for us here. And there will never be cable, either.
Jodi_SoCal
15 years ago
Imabest, I'd be happy to download AVG for you, burn it to a disk and snail mail it to you. Contact me via my profile page so I can get your address.

Jodi-
workoutlady
15 years ago
I've heard good things from people who use their cell phones. I'd check that.
cynic
15 years ago
If your question is whether a different dialup service would be faster, probably not. Most dialup outfits work through the same modem pools so you're essentially calling the same place. Your problem is likely the phone line itself and you can't do anything about it.

So your option is tethering a cell or satellite if cable & DSL aren't options.
cathyid
15 years ago
We have Wild Blue. It works fine, but just like regular satellite service, we can have problems with reception during bad weather. I don't know if it is the same everywhere, but our rate is dependant on the speed we want.We have one that is on the slow end, because I was not going to spend what the real high speed would cost. We have a lot of options in this area, but we live in this little pocket and WB was the only company that could get a signal. They wanted multiple year obligation and we told them we wouldn't sign up for any over 12 months.
roseluver
15 years ago
I had the same problem you are having. My solution was Hughes Network. It cost about $500 for installation and runs me around $60 a month. Expensive but so worth it. Good luck. Charlene
joyfulguy
15 years ago
I am on copper wire phone line provided dial-up also and I think that my download speed is 28.8 kbps. I think that I could have 56 if I had a more modern modem.

It is a lot slower than at the library, for sure, and it takes quite a while to download a picture or graphic ... but I am willing to accept that.

I downloaded AVG (about 7.[something]) I think ... and it didn't take a really long time - maybe an hour, or slightly more, if I remember correctly.

Going to work every day is not part of my agenda for living, these days.

I pay $9.95/mo. if I pay annually (and it's soon due) or $14.95/mo. if I want to pay monthly.

I think that satellite is about $50./mo. (and don't know how much for a bundle with TV coverage ... but I don't have that).

I didn't watch TV enough to feel that it justified my paying for even basic service, when I lived in the city and the cable was in the unit.

ole joyful
Maggie4
15 years ago
We also have dial-up, so I know how you feel. It's the pits. I just downloaded AVG 8. yesterday. Only took 5 hrs,not good and did get a Error due to the slowness.
We can get DSL but it will cost 50 plus the reg phone so I'm not willing to pay that, so I just chug along. I sure wish the smaller phone companies could compete with the larger ones. Wouldn't that be nice.

You do seem to have an extra slow connection speed, maybe you could have your phone guy check your lines. That sounds very slow. Ours connects at 49.2 kbps or you should check your modem. My older computer was 10yrs old . Brokedown and bought a new Dell last year much, much faster.
Kathy_TX
15 years ago
I feel your pain Kathy. We live in the country, and I'm on dialup, but a tad faster than yours sounds. I checked with AT&T since they are our cell and land phone provider, but they don't offer the DSL out in our area. I also checked with HughesNet, but they wanted $400.00 installation and $60.00 a month. I don't spend enough time on the computer to spend $60/mo. on internet, and one of my sisters in northeast Louisiana is on HughesNet and she says that it's not really a lot faster than dialup.

I guess I'll just plug along with what I have. LOL
JoanMN
15 years ago
I downloaded AVG 8 yesterday, on DSL, and it took about 35 minutes, it must be huge.
We used to have Hughes network, it was better than dial-up, but I did seem to hit refresh a lot.
Ima, have you checked with the various sites and put your phone number in? Flamingo couldn't get Hughes cause of their trees, so she is using a cell phone somehow. She said it works great.
JoanMN
imabest
Original Author
15 years ago
Jodi you have email and thank you to all the rest of y ou.
At least I know I'm not alone in this slow world of computers hugs imabest

???for those of you in rural area

Comments (17)

mariend

marilyn_c

Related Discussions

lydia1959

iowagirl2006

pattico_gw

maybee_gw

FlamingO in AR

Jodi_SoCal

workoutlady

cynic

cathyid

roseluver

joyfulguy

Maggie4

Kathy_TX

JoanMN

imabest
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

???for those of you in rural area

Comments (17)

Related Discussions

imabestOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

imabest
Original Author