This topic discusses Internet Service Providers available in the Cedar Ridge Area.


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The Wizard,
Jay

Are there any non-dialup (and non-ISDN) solutions for Cedar Ridge?? Has there been any progress in getting a high speed (wired) connection through Comcast, through a DSL line, etc. ?

Recently I had the opporunity to use a Wildblue Satellite internet connection and I was impressed with their capability. It is much improved over Starband. We found that with their basic package ($49.99 for 512 KBits down and 128 Kbits up), it took a little over three minutes to upload a 3MB file and 16 seconds to download it.

While it is not ComCast or DSL, it's available now to those who have a clear view of the southern sky. To be more exact. You have to be able to see the sky, at a 43° elevation and at 158° azimuth, while standing on your property.

According to the tech, the antenna can be installed on a steel pole as well as mounted on your home (roof or sidewall).

The equipment is $299.00 (antenna and modem), plus $179.00 for the standard installation. No DYI's allowed.

A couple of drawbacks;  No VPN support and a fair use policy that limits band width usage. So downloading several 2 GB movies a month is probably going to hit the limiter on the basic plan.

I have ordered the service which is scheduled for installation on 12/21/07. I received a $50.00 rebate on the equipment and $100.00 off the installation.

I'll post back after the installation and let you know how it goes. My view of the 158° is tight, they make not be able to install it. We'll see.


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The Wizard,
Jay

Well that was easy enough. My Wildblue satellite service was installed yesterday (a week ahead of schedule) and all went well.

With their basic package I'm able to get about 70 Kbytes in the download stream and about 15 Kbytes in the upload stream. Not exactly Comcast speeds but a far cry from ISDN and dialup. Not to mention the cost saving over ISDN.

I streamed a couple of videos off of YOUTUBE with only a couple of minor hesitations.

It is a little slower that ISDN in the high turnaround situations. This is because the upload has to bid for that transmit channel and the bid channel loop is fairly large so it takes a bit to get control of an up channel. In a high turnaround protocol you just send a few packets and the go back to receive mode to get the response and it's back to bidding for an up channel to send a few more packets. But it's not too bad, overall no worse than IDSN at 64Kbits. A WAY better than dialup.

Both http, https and ftp worked out timeouts. I still have remote connection to try out.

Wildblue doesn't support VPN, you will have to use HughesNet for that. They are another $10.00 a month for the basic package. But you get 700 Kbits down rather than 512 Kbits for Wildblue.

While it's reported that you need Wildblue software installed to use the service, that is not true. Just connect the modem to a DSL/CABLE router and you can have a network of computers.

I did my homework as to the access to the Southern sky, otherwise they might not have installed it. You will need a clear shot to an azimuth of 150° at 43° of elevation. So get out your compass and inclinometer. The maximum cable run is about 100'.  

Sad news is that I will be losing my long time email address: toyshop@goldrush. So I have set up a generic address that will be able to remain regardless of my current ISP. It is jay@rjbunten.com.

That's it for now, if you have any questions few free to ask.


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The Wizard,
Jay

Jay,
Sounds like you found the answer to high speed.  Who did you have install your service.  I called the Wild Blue installers in Twain Harte and they failed to show for our appointment time nor did they return my calls.    There is another group in Oakdale that appears to be more responsible.  I would love to see your setup.  I am building a house on Broken Pine and have installed the structure wiring for satellite data and TV.  Nice to compare notes
Rob

Rob,

I couldn't actually tell you which local group did the installation as I wasn't actually present at the time of installation.

I can tell you that they wouldn't have installed it with only my wife was here, because they couldn't EASILY find a spot. I had done my research, so I knew exactly where they could install it. David, he lives up the street, and I had discussed where I wanted the dish installed and he came down and explained the situation after which the installation went well.

I called the Wildblue national phone number on their website to schedule the installation. Later a local installer called to move the appointment up a week. Other than where to put it, all went well.

The snow has been a small problem since the dish is on the roof and the snow can cover it up. Even heaters won't fix that problem, so it's a trip to the antenna.

You can come by most any time to see my installation. My address is on the home page of the site.

Jay


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The Wizard,
Jay

Thanks Jay,
I may be in Cedar Ridge just before Easter. My house is going through the rough-in inspection as I type.  I hope they don't mess with my structure wiring.  The County building department said they are very liberal with the low voltage stuff- we'll see. Regardless, I notify you before I show up on your doorstep.  Thanks for your help.
Rob

Last week AT&T managed to take out our phone service. The repair tech fixed it yesterday and I had a conversation with him about DSL availability in Cedar Ridge. While he isn't the official word on the subject, he was able to shed a little light on the problem.

It seems, as we already knew, that we are too far from the Twain Harte Central Office. Because of that AT&T needs to install a DSL repeater. The repeater itself isn't a big deal, but the fiber cable between it and Twain Harte seems to be the show stopper. I gather that there just isn't enough revenue in Cedar Ridge for AT&T to justify the cost.

It's too bad that they didn't get some of that Stimulas money that Mother Lode used to buy Goldrush.


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The Wizard,
Jay

I know its probably been a while since Ive heard about DSL in TH, has any one heard of any hope of something remotely in the 21st century in Cedar Ridge ???

check out this blog post by Google , I am sure Sonora or the people wouldn't sign up for this , but it would make it better to live there i think ... it has my vote

 http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/02/experimenting-with-new-ways-to-make.html

Does anyone belong to any of the local governments up there that might read this ?

Jay,

I just installed Wild Blue satellite at my home in Cedar Ridge.  I opted for the premier package that advertised 1.5Mbps download and 256 Kbps upload speed.  I was intending on replacing my expensive ISDN service.  Although WB doesn't support VPN, my company IT had a SSL version of VPN designed for satellite.  Since the install my upload speed according to several Internet speed tests averages around 56Kbps.  My ISDN tests around 120Kbps upload.  Wild Blue did a service call and was unable to better upload speed.  Their tech support tested my upload at a site called testmy.net.  This site shows upload speed averages 300% higher than any other test site.  It showed my upload speed at 150kbps.  Wild Blue said this is the only test site they endorse and 150kbps is acceptable because their package description states "up to" 256Kbps.  Further insult is my download speed drops to .5 Mbps in the early evening.  Wild Blue is a rip off and I am now stuck with a 2 year contract.


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Warren "Rick" Lynch
Broken Pine Road