Sick of dial-up

Question

Hello, we live in a rural area and are told by our ISP, the phone company, that we are only able to get dial-up in this area, however, my new neighbor, that just moved into this area and lives just about 200 yards down the road from us,  is connected to the internet on a dsl line. Can someone here please explain why? Same phone company, same everything. Just 200 yds farther down the road! Frustrating to say the least! Thanks in advance and best regards,   Frank

NemesisDB · Answer

phone company will likely give you some excuse about line quality, distance from station, etc.  probably true -- or more likely that they're just too cheap to upgrade it.   i suppose cable is not an option?   are you on good terms with your neighbor?  do you have line of site from your house to his?  if so, he could share his connection with you via wireless

russarkie · Answer

Thanks for the response. The telco's tech did say something about distance, but 200 yds.! I swear it's no farther than that! I think you are right. We DO NOT have real good phone service in this area. The phone company is CenturyTel and when you call for support or service you may be speaking with someone in Wisc. We are in AR. Guess we'll just have to go satellite! Yeah, cable is not an option. We are about 2 miles from cable service. Sorry to rant but........... sure gets frustrating having moved to this rural and very beautiful area from Phx, Az. Guess you gotta take the good with the bad! Best  to all, Frank Message Edited by russarkie on 05-02-200608:00 PM

NemesisDB · Answer

again, if you have line of site to your neighbors, wireless is definitely an option (if they like you enough to share their fancy highspeed connection or if you can pay them for it without violating their service argreement).  even cheap wireless, to the tune of a hundred or so max could get you a relatively stable connection at that distance.  wireless hates objects and especially moisture though (microwaves are absorbed by water), so trees (and especially leaves filled with water) will be killers.  you mentioned arizona though?  a desert sounds like it could have potential.   the last time I looked into satellite (years ago), it offered fast speeds but high latency -- meaning things will download fast but there will be a lag time before downloads start.  depending on your uses this can either be midly annoying or completely unacceptable -- it would make online gaming very hard for instance.

NemesisDB · Answer

woods are a problem, unless you want to prune a bit ;p

if the trees aren't tall, you could go over them by putting the antenna on a pole -- looks a bit ugly though. one antenna just needs to see the other

you could also run some fiber between the houses if you're bored.

otherwise, call your local and state representatives and complain ... and use something like satellite for the time being.

russarkie · Answer

The neighbors have become good friends but there are dense woods between us and them, so.... not an option I guess. We are not much for online games. As for AZ, have you been to Phx area lately? Yuck! We lived there most of our lives, just getting to big and out of control, but there are tradeoffs! Thanks Message Edited by russarkie on 05-02-200608:21 PM

jmwills · Answer

DSL can only provide service to a length of about 5000 feet from any main switch point.  That 200 yards you spoke of could be the determining factor that put you out of reach.

BBraxton · Answer

RussArkie

This is true (the distance limitation). Another strange factor in northern Virginia where I live is that the early 70's 'fibre optic' equipment in our neighborhood was apparently before current standards and ironically prevents our having DSL. We had to go with Cox dot net. I have gone to website Saxapahaw dot com for the community in NC where I grew up and in that very limited forum (few participants) your exact same complaint/report was there. I would press on the representatives (state/local government) because in the case in NC, the phone company was just 'too lazy' to take care of a problem piece of equipment along a road near the village and once political pressure (this was BellSouth) was made effective, they found it in their hearts (or other place on their anatomy) to do what they should have done to start with and the person now magically has DSL service. Is this the middle east? I vote we practice what we spread to other regions. Maybe Bill and Hillary still have some pull down where you are.

russarkie · Answer

Thanks for all the responses, especially BBraxton. I WILL try that to see if it will do any good. We have a second phone line here and when I check availability on that number it shows that it is available, but because we have not used this line in a year or so, the tech person says that the number has been reassigned and IS in an available area. So...... I guess it's time for some letter writing and phone calls to local pols to see what can be done. Thank so very much to all, Frank

russarkie · Answer

Hello again to all, after some time on the phone with the telco's tech person it was finally determined that we CAN get DSL. My question now is how do I install the HSI Modem on this Dimension 4100? Do I need to install a Network Interface Card? Or does this computer already have one? I checked in the Device Manager and under Network Adapters there are, AOL adapter, Dial-up adapter, Dial-up adapter #2(VPN support), Microsoft Virtual Private Networking Adapter, and WAN miniport (ATW). Are any of these what I need or ?.  What do I need to do to get this ol' thing ready while I wait for the modem to be shipped? Boy a new Dell looks better all the time!:smileyhappy:Thanks

jmwills · Answer

The 4100 should have a built in network card but you will have to wait and see what type of conenction your modem will provide, either USB or ethernet before you do anything.  If ti were me, it would delete all those connections and start fresh.  You do not need any supplied software to connect the DSL modem, the built in connection wizard in XP will do just fine.

BBraxton · Answer

By the way, congratulations (for persistence).
Unless you are needing wireless (distance, appearance concern) you may be able to get an Ethernet (CAT5) cable and just plug one end into the 4100 and the other end into the Ethernet connection of the modem. Some devices also allow connecting using USB (also would need that cable, if you will not be using Ethernet cable). I assume the modem will not have any wireless capability, so if you intend to go the wireless route then that would mean getting your own access point (router) such as SMC Barricade (which also includes hardware firewall -- this is what I use at home). When you buy Ethernet cable, make sure it is the length you need such as 25 ft (or 50 feet) or 14 feet or 6 feet, etc.
Also, consider getting the 'Gold' cable which is certified in the future for the fast Gigabit speed.

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Sick of dial-up

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