Another thing to consider is a wireless internet provider (WISP). After suffering with dial up for years waiting on cable or DSL to reach me, a WISP finally started service in my area. Although I've only had my wireless service for a few days, so far I am very impressed. I appear to get faster service than the LAN at my employer. WISPs use a radio signal to send the data to a small antenna at your house. The WISP will provide a modem and from there is very similar to cable or DSL. WISPs are generally cheaper and more reliable than satellite internet (no rain fade)and can be much faster. For TV, satellite might be your only option, but both DirecTV and DishNetwork offer competitive plans that should work as long as you have an unobstructed view to the satellite. There are usually plenty of good first time subscriber offers available from both companies in which you can get receivers for up to 4 rooms for free or with one DVR for around $50. The link below has a lot of good info on WISPs and a link to a list of WISPs. Here is a link that might be useful: Wireless ISP Users Chat

Couple notes: I've used the T&B Snap N Seal coax connectors with a lot of success. The tool may be more expensive than the Klein one, but it's what all the installers that have worked on our DTV over the years have used. I bought one many years ago, and I think they've at least gotten cheaper. I wouldn't do anything that requires that you have to terminate Ethernet cable into male connectors. This is a pain to do, and pre-terminated patch cables are cheap. Terminating into female Keystone wall jacks is much easier- just maintain the twist of each pair as close to the termination as you can (there are many videos on doing this). I like the impact version of the punch-down tool- not sure if a different version will cut the wires. I bought one of the cheap ones from HD that had bad reviews and it's held up so far- maybe it would be bad if you used it all the time for dozens/hundreds of terminations. We have an old house (built in '49) and I've wired or rewired a big chunk of it. I've also put a lot into improving the insulation and air sealing. For that reason, I would hesitate to use open back wall boxes. I have had great success with retrofit or "old work" boxes- it's so much easier to just cut out an old box (hack saw or reciprocating saw to the nails), reach in to fish new wires, then slip a retrofit box into the hole. I tend to do some combination of a gasket under the wall plate, caulk, and/or expanding foam in the holes in the back of the box. It's great to get it right the first time, but I also wouldn't hesitate to cut a hole in the wall or replace a box to get what I needed later. Lastly, Russ is talking about 120V AC (lights, receptacles, etc) or 240V AC (dryer, oven, e.g.) when he says "HV." I'm used to working with industrial facilities where these are still considered low voltage, and there's 4160V or 12kV that's "medium voltage." High voltage is utility transmission wiring. Good suggestions otherwise.

A bit of trivia - traditional landlines, also known as POTS (plain old telephone service), USED TO use exclusively analog technology end to end. Folks who are old enough will remember poor quality long distance phone calls. Since several decades ago, POTS calls have changed, they do most of their traveling though the telco systems over digital links, including the Internet. That's why a cross country call or even an international call can sound like someone next door, the signal doesn't degrade with distance. But the so-called "last mile" of POTS service is analog over copper wire. Digital signals (like DSL) traveling over analog circuits have distance limitations. Those who have cable-supplied phone service or other VOIP have an entire digital path on their end for voice calls. Internet service is digital. When DSL service was first "released", only customers located within 12,000- 15,000 feet (measured by the length of the wire) of a telco office could get it. That's because distance limit of digital signals over copper wire intended for analog phone calls and that the analog to digital conversion equipment was only housed in the central offices. The telcos had large build-out projects to string fiber lines out in hub and spoke configurations (with an office as the hub) to broaden the areas where DSL could be offered. In my area (telco formerly called Pacific Bell), there was a web page that listed their construction schedule and showed the dates for when particular neighborhood work would be done and where the sites were located. I remember when it was started for my area, I went to visit the guys at the local neighborhood drop as they added the needed equipment. PS - satellite internet is for areas where no other internet service is available. Most will not offer service to a customer having an alternative. Satellite service tends to be very limited (only a few GB per month), expensive and has high latency (delays) because of the distance the signal has to travel. TV service of all kinds is distributed by satellite. Whether the ultimate signal a user gets comes from a cable, from the phone company, or the obvious satellite providers, satellite transmission is used. If you pass by a regional office of a cable provider, for instance, you'll usually see large satellite dishes. I don't know all the details.

Internet capacity isn't like weights and measures. If you pay for a pound of strawberries because that's what a recipe requires and get home with 8 ounces, you've not gotten what you needed. If you're getting 15 Mbps instead of 25, it may not matter. It doesn't mean something shouldn't be done about it, it just may not an immediate problem. Unless you have a several (like 3 or more) users who are downloading files or streaming video at the same time, the capacity drop shouldn't affect use. One quick question - are you checking this from a wired PC or a wireless one? Many home routers are limited to Wifi signals of about 15 Mbps and if that's how you're measuring the test, that's why. If so, try using an ethernet connected PC and see what you get. Or, maybe your modem gets clogged and needs a periodic reboot (if the higher speed remains for several days). Call the provider, explain the problem, let them diagnose the fix. It could be their their hardware as yours but they can sort it out.