Anyone use wireless internet?
 

Hey, I am desperately searching for a BETTER way to access the internet ( Dial up is for the birds)
I cannot get cable, or DSL , but can get Wi Fi ( or something like that) does anyone use this and whats your thoughts and comments on it?

LOVE wireless... we have a router through videotron (cable) so bf and i both have wireless on our laptops... what questions did you have ? :)

[QUOTE=erykah1310]Hey, I am desperately searching for a BETTER way to access the internet ( Dial up is for the birds)
I cannot get cable, or DSL , but can get Wi Fi ( or something like that) does anyone use this and whats your thoughts and comments on it?[/QUOTE]

I don't use it but I did work at a company who provided wireless internet access for those people on farms/out in the middle of nowhere.

Number 1: CRAZY expensive! You have to put up you're own tower to put the reciever on. Periodically it becomes misaligned/the company changes their own tower (the transmitter) and you have to adjust accordingly (the height). It's also probably going to cost you at least $50+/month for the service itself.

Number 2: It can be quite unreliable, especially during the spring and fall. You see the temperature changes/fluctuations change how the signal from the transmitter to the reciever transmits (has to do with atoms and stuff...something physicists would know about and all that), it ultimately can interrupt the service; sometimes for hours. If it does occur usually its during the evenings or mornings (when the temperature changes the most...going from -5 to 15 kind of thing). It's can also be unreliable when its foggy/bad weather. If its windy and your reciever moves enough you'll lose your internet connection for a few days (maybe longer) until they can find someone to go up the tower.

It does provide reliable service otherwise though and it is highspeed. Depending on who you go with (I was working at a local company so it wouldn't necessarily be the same service or the same level of service either) it can take up to a few weeks (with Bell so I've heard) for them to get someone out to fix things, especially if its a tower/receiver issue.

Megan

not sure right now, I have to call the guy back tomorrow. Just wondering really if it was good. (but seriously anything is better than dial up)
Is it fast? with video's and downloading?

[QUOTE=technodoll]LOVE wireless... we have a router through videotron (cable) so bf and i both have wireless on our laptops... what questions did you have ? :)[/QUOTE]

Different kind of wireless. You're right it is wireless internet but you get the actual internet through Cable/DSL not a big tower in your backyard/attached to the house.

Oh and the other questions...if you get the wireless I'm talking about yeah it'll be really close to downloading videos on Cable/DSL...

Megan

P.S. Forgot to add that the reciever has to be in line of sight of the transmitting tower, in other words you're looking at a tower that's taller than your house if you're in a heavily wooded area.

How big is this tower???
Not heavily treed area. Mostly fields around here.
Up the road a few people around the lake have it already.
Is this tower going to be MY expence??

Have you considered the internet access through satellite?

I called Bell and well frankly I cant stand them at all! They said that there was nothing that I could get through them. I called starchoice and they tried to sell me dial-up with 7x faster accelerator. ( what i have now):frustrated:

What about directv or (I think) Hughesnet? Do you have them there?

[QUOTE=erykah1310]How big is this tower???
Not heavily treed area. Mostly fields around here.
Up the road a few people around the lake have it already.
Is this tower going to be MY expence??[/QUOTE]

The tower in your yard/connected to your house...at least as high if not higher than your house. Probably closer to the height of your house if its fields straight through the entire area, it also depends on area around the transmitter tower itself.

It would be your expense for the tower yes. At least from what I understood. However any good company will tell you about how much it would cost/reliable company to build the tower for you.

Its the same idea as satellite except satellite tends to be a bit more expensive and satellite tends to need to be more finetuned than the wireless cable.

Megan

We can get Direct TV. But I have no idea how or where to get it.
The big thing now around here is "Free to air" which is just that and its TOTALLY unreliable.

[QUOTE=erykah1310]We can get Direct TV. But I have no idea how or where to get it.
The big thing now around here is "Free to air" which is just that and its TOTALLY unreliable.[/QUOTE]

I can't say I know a whole lot about Direct TV so I'm not sure how it works. *shrugs* Sorry.

Free to air? I haven't heard of it. I'd probably stay away from it just because it sounds not only unreliable but not very safe.

The wireless internet from my local company is encrypted pretty heavily through and through. Of course its up to you to secure your own network (within the house using the wireless) but the actual Company -> Modem part is encrypted for you. :)

Megan

Thanks a bunch Meagan. I'll call the dude back tomorrow and see what he has to say , then .... I'll consult you! LOL:D Cause I dont know poop about poop about computers!!! I can turn it on, make it look for things for me and really thats bout it! lol:(

The satellite works the same was as it does on your TV -- just as long as you have a clear view of the southern sky! Seriously, it's just like a cable modem, but you are getting a signal instead of having it through your cable line. My honey is a computer guy and a few years ago I had to help him set it up at someone's house (actually he and the guy set it up and his wife and I left and went shopping), but anyway, they did it and it wasn't too hard to setup. It was the first one he ever setup and I'm sure it's gotten easier over the years. But you would need a router and firewall just like you would need for any high speed connection.

Hey erykah, my company has been running wireless trials in several different areas around the US (sorry, none in Canada :( ) and from what I've seen from our backend statistics, it works pretty darn close to dial up from a connectivity standpoint (no better/no worse disconnects or connect failures). The only complaint I've ever heard is folks not really liking the whole "install your own tower" thing AND that you HAVE to be line of sight to the company's equipment. If you are in line of sight, and in range, then really, it's a great alternative, given it's in line with your budget :)

Oh and jesses mommy is right, satellite's great, but make sure you've got 2 way satellite there and not one way. If it's one way only, then you'll still be tying up the phone line for uploads (it'll have to dial up if you want to post here)

[QUOTE=erykah1310]Thanks a bunch Meagan. I'll call the dude back tomorrow and see what he has to say , then .... I'll consult you! LOL:D Cause I dont know poop about poop about computers!!! I can turn it on, make it look for things for me and really thats bout it! lol:([/QUOTE]

Awww doesn't take a whole lot. Try taking a course at a local college or something :) They have all sorts of things there :)

I know a little bit about it and I owe it all to my co-op :). I never thought I'd actually put the information to use lol! (Well not the wireless portion anyway) The best part is I almost never dealt with the wireless customers (I passed them off to the more experienced ones because I wasn't supposed to troubleshoot them) and I still figured all this out. :)

Other than for the dial up connections you need a router. That goes for satellite, cable, DSL, wireless. They tend to be cheap like and you should get a decent one for about 50 bucks. Go with either Linksys or D-Link they're the better companies. Linksys also conforms to the standards set out by CISCO (think of it as Microsoft but for networking computers together instead of an operating system).

Megan

Take a look at this link:

[url]http://www.canadianisp.com/[/url]

You would be surprised at the alternatives available for internet in your area. according to this site, there are 8 ISPs in your area, none of which are cable. The only options are DSL, but you don't have to do bell. There is Velcom, 1stAccess INternet, both of which I have heard good things about.

[QUOTE=raingirl]Take a look at this link:

[url]http://www.canadianisp.com/[/url]

You would be surprised at the alternatives available for internet in your area. according to this site, there are 8 ISPs in your area, none of which are cable. The only options are DSL, but you don't have to do bell. There is Velcom, 1stAccess INternet, both of which I have heard good things about.[/QUOTE]

That's an awesome website...thanks :) lol I'm not looking to change my ISP (I loooooove Mountaincable) but its kinda nice to know what I can get where...I can research all the random cities I want :D in case I ever move there lol!

OMG I just looked up the old town I used to live in...it actually has ISPs! lol :D That's the awesome!

Megan