Tom lives in Fulks Run, Virginia, on Peake Mountain Road, near Harrisonburg. He has a dial-up internet connection. The nearest house with a cable connection is ¾ mile away, and houses are not numerous along the road. He has attempted to obtain a broadband connection, but so far the cable company lacks enthusiasm, saying that their cable-stringing cost is on the order of $30,000 per mile.

So, he will be doing business with dial-up. At present I am doing the web page chores, and don’t find it to be a burden, but at some time I’ll pass it on to him.

Anybody have an idea about how we should deal with this?

Pete. Is DSL an option?

Alan

Alan, I don't know. Tom is checking.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pete Riegel,

Isn't there some kind of satellite link to the Internet? How does Tom get his television programming?

I've been checking, and cable is out. It seems the folks who own the poles rent them for $7 per year for the utility companies to hang stuff on.
3/4 miles at 200'/pole, 20 poles, $280/yr or $25/month. For one user, it isnt viable.

Satellite advertises "high speed", but only delivers 2x to 3x my typical dial-up speed at 50666bps.The cost is $80/mont to start, I think $120 after that.

DSL is my next pursuit. I'm too far from the swithces to get it, but, I know a few years ago someone ran fiber-optic across my driveway. I've called "Miss Utility" to find out who to blame for my off-kilter mailbox. Since I'll be diging in the area to straighten it out, they will locate it for free.
Connecting to it is a different story.

How's your cellular reception? Some phones will let you plug in a laptop or access the web right from the phone, with very good speed. You pay for airtime, but with one of the unlimited-minutes plans it's probably still cheaper than DSL or satellite. And you get a phone out of the deal, too.

At least one of the race timing companies around here has access to a mobile broadband service that allows him to upload race results to his website before he leaves the site of the event. It uses cellular technology of some sort.

I wonder if something like that is available in metropolitan Harrisonburg- how fast it is, and how much it costs.

Ntelos (formerly CFW, which stands for Clifton Forge - Waynesboro, cities I'm sure most have never heard of) advertises the high-speed cellular connection, but I live in the shadow of Little North Mountain, and service isn't available at the house. Hence, my cell phone is useless at home.
I've considered mounting a Microwave repeater in a nearby tree that is easily taller than some cell-towers, but I don't like the idea of having a lightning-rod grounded to my house.
If you're curious, Google "Pringles can microwave antenna Wi Fi". Some small communities use them quite effectively to create a home-brew Wi-Fi network using antennas made from Pringles cans.

Finding out who owns the fiber under the drive way sounds like the best bet.

But don't overlook out of band transmission:

• You could become a ham radio operator and run a link to some new friend who is close enough to have a high speed link.
  
• You could purchase a long haul point to radio link. You may have to have line of sight to a friends house and pay the up front cost of the kit, cost depending on distance.
  
• Solve this as a community. Maybe pool together for a shared antenna, or a local bond to cover getting your 'children' into the 20th century.