Internet
Options In Deer Creek Farm
By Chris Ruybal
Written Feb. 1, 2002
Updated as needed, last update April 3, 2005
As I'm sure you all know,
we don't have a lot of options for getting decent, reliable internet
access. Of the options that are available I have personally
tried most of them, so I thought it might help everyone to give
my impressions on each type of service.
The options available
to us are:
1. 56k dial-up service
2. ISDN
3. DirecPC Satellite Dial Return
4. DirecPC High Speed Satellite Service
5. Airwave Access Wireless Service
6. DSL from Qwest (new, June 2004)
1. 56k Dial-Up
Service
This is the lowest
common denominator, and the lowest speed access you'll find.
While it does work reliably, and is acceptable for web surfing,
it is really to slow to do large file transfers, or view streaming
media (audio or video). The saving grace is the cost; it
doesn't require any extra hardware (I assume all new PCs have
a modem these days), and will work with the phone line you already
have. Speeds average around 48-50kbps for receiving data,
and 33kbps for sending data.
You'll spend somewhere
between $15-$20 monthly for this service. The drawback is
that it ties up your phone line while you are online, so many
people opt to have a second phone line installed in their homes,
which would add about $35-$50 monthly to the total, depending
on the options you choose for the phone line.
Update 3/13/02 - I've heard some comments that dial-up
connections are slow, with speeds around 24-28kbps. It has been
my experience that a large part of the slowness comes from the
wiring in our houses. Replacing the standard wiring with a Cat-5
cable may improve your speeds, and eliminate some of the "cross
talk" between lines (if you have 2 phone lines).
2. ISDN
ISDN is the original
digital service, and has been around for quite some time.
It has a few nice features:
Two "channels" with 64k speeds on each, for a total
of 128kbps internet access speed, about 2.5 times what you'll
get with the 56k modem.
Each channel can also function as a analog phone line (with the
appropriate equipment), giving you 2 more phone lines and phone
numbers in your home.
ISDN also has the highest
monthly bill out of all the services. In January of 2000
I checked with Qwest about getting ISDN here in Deer Creek Farm,
and at that time the total monthly charge was about $210, because
they had to bring the service in from Castle Rock. The Elizabeth
Central Office didn't have any support at that time for ISDN.
Update - I've been informed that Qwest still quotes that
price, but in reality the circuit will cost around $70, and an
ISP around $40, for a total of $110 per month.
ISDN is also very dependent
on perfect line conditions from your house to the central office
(in Castle Rock). I had an ISDN line at my prior house,
and the slightest bit of moisture in the outside wiring would
knock it offline. Of course, that house was built in 1974,
and the wiring throughout the area was atrocious and done poorly,
so your experiences here should be better.
3. DirecPC Satellite
Dial Return (www.DirecPC.com)
DirecPC (all versions)
use an oval satellite dish to receive internet access. The
Dial-Return version also requires a phone line and a regular ISP
account, as it only uses the dish for stuff coming in to your
house. All internet traffic going out of your house is sent
through the dial-up connection. I had this system here in
Deer Creek Farm for about a year, and was very happy with it.
The speed varies, since you are sharing the satellite bandwidth
with all of the other DirecPC users, but on average it was 300-400kbps,
which is quite a bit faster than the modem or ISDN. Of course,
all the stuff sent from your computer is limited to the dial-up
modem's top speed, so if you're trying to send or upload large
files they will still take awhile. During the day the speed
drops because more people are using the system, but late at night
it's not uncommon to see speeds of over 800kpbs.
The service is fairly
reliable, I'd put it in the 90% range. Bad weather doesn't
affect your speed too much, the only time I had problems due to
weather was when snow built up on the dish, which was easily cured
by brushing off the dish.
This version of DirecPC
requires you to buy the dish and equipment for about $200.
If you're technically inclined, you can install it yourself, or
pay an installer to do it. If you can install a regular
DirecTV or Dish Network system, you should also be able to install
this. You can also use this dish to receive DirecTV television
programming, so if you already have DirecTV, you'll just replace
your existing dish with this one.
Monthly service is
about $50, plus the cost of your dial-up account, and an additional
phone line (see #1 above for details).
4. DirecPC High
Speed Service (www.DirecPC.com)
This is similar to
#3 above, with the primary difference being that it does not require
a phone line, and is always on. It uses the satellite for
both sending and receiving data, so no phone is necessary.
The speed for receiving data is also similar to #3, with an average
of 300-400kbps in everyday use. The peak speeds are much
higher though. Late at night, it is not uncommon for me
to see speeds in excess of 1400kpbs, making this a much better
system in my eyes. Uploading speeds are advertised as up
to 128kpbs, but the real life number is closer to 56k, so it's
not much faster at sending then that dial-up modem. I have
had this system for about 7 months now, and am quite happy with
it.
Reliability is slightly
higher than #3, I would say it's more of a 93-95% reliability.
However, when the system isn't working, you're left with nothing.
You'll need a dialup ISP account to use as a backup, or just go
without during the outage. It's still not perfect, and web surfing
can sometimes be fast, and other times slow. Also some sites don't
work with the proxy server that is automatically installed by
the Direcpc installation routine.
This version of DirecPC
requires you to purchase the hardware for around $400, and you
must have it professionally installed which will run another $200.
Because this is sending signals back out into space, the FCC requires
that it is professionally installed to minimize potentials for
interference. As with #3, this dish can also be used to
receive DirecTV television programming.
Monthly service will
run $60, or $70 if you elect to keep a dial-up account as a backup
(also provided by DirecPC). Because the service is not 100%
reliable, I highly recommend keeping a dial-up account active
as a backup.
Airwave Access currently
offers wireless service into our area.
You do have to buy
or rent the equipment, and pay for the install, just like the
other services. It is rated as a 256kbps speed, although
the folks at Airwave have told me that in reality many customers
get over 500kpbs. I used the service for about a year (ending in July 2004) and was very very happy with it. The speed and reliability
leave Direcpc and ISDN in the dust.
The service can be
easily shared among multiple computers by using a simple $50 router,
with no additional software needed. It's always on, and works
just fine with VPNs for those of you who work from home and need
to connect to the corporate network.
The service is high
speed for both incoming and outgoing data (unlike Direcpc), and
I've seen average speeds between 500kbps and 800kbps in everyday
use. Of course, later at night speeds seem to pick up even higher.
6. Qwest DSL Circuit / Forethought.net DSL ISP (www.forethought.net)
As of summer 2004, Qwest has DSL available to Deer Creek Farm. They offer 2 levels of service, a 256/256 or 1500/1024 circuit. I signed up for the 1500/1024 circuit in July 2004. Qwest does not act as the ISP - you have to choose (and pay) for that separately. If you accept their suggestion, you'll end up with MSN (which I highly recommend avoiding).
The ISP I have been using is Forethought.net. They are a local Denver based company, and have provided excellent service. The total monthly cost is $53 ($28 from Qwest, and $25 from Forethought). For that money you receive an always on high speed connection, with top download speeds ranging from 1.3-1.6 mbps (1300-1600 kbps)
I have not had a single outage in my service and am very happy about the stability and speed.
A DSL modem and/or router is required. You can buy a DSL modem ($50-100) or you can rent one from Qwest ($3/mo).
So, to wrap it up, if
you're looking for something faster than the old 56k modem, my I would recommend DSL from Qwest, or the wireless from Airwave Access.
If you have any questions
or comments about any of these services, feel free to send me an
email at WebInfo@DeerCreekFarm.com.
If you who have
more than one computer in the house, and would like to share a high
speed connection amongst them all, please send an email to WebInfo@DeerCreekFarm.com
letting me know. If the demand is there, I'll put up some
details on how to network your computers and share the internet
access among them.
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