Wireless internet options for acerage

[BeyondNewB]

I'll be moving to an acerage in Rocky View and wanted to know what my options for internet would be.

I checked the rogers site they have internet sticks but dont offer large data plans.

I heard of platinum communications but heard they are deadly slow.

[englishbob]

We have 'xplornet' and at best it's ok.
Hard to beat the speed of intown internet once you move .

[78si]

I'm with telus.. Its ok-ish

[firebane]

Mobile data sticks will never be that great due to bandwith limits.

Aside from that your other alternatives is maybe Telus but depending where you are to their nearest switch could mean a crappy connection.

The other option is you could use a satellite based service but again service can be spotty at best.

[thetransporter]

where abouts are you located? maybe my buddy can hook you up

[speedog]

efirehose.net - know a few people using them and they seem to happy with the service.

[klumsy_tumbler]

My parents use Xplornet. Any time there's a storm out, it'll go down. If you're lucky, climbing out onto the roof to clear the snow off the dish might help... for a while.

Nothing like what you get in the city, but if you're on an acreage you should be spending more time outside than on your computer anyways :)

[Tik-Tok]

I can't suggest anyone, but a co-worker lives out in Water Valley, and the best internet he can get is 3 megs, lol. Even that is intermittent.

I believe he said there was something faster, but was an obscene amount of money. (satellite internet maybe?)

[Seth1968]

Probably better to go the dollar store and buy a few miles of ethernet cable:)

[HHURICANE1]

Efirehose/Platinum Communications suck. I have them and the speeds are horrible. Saturday I was trying to watch some Netflix and all I was getting was 500 kbs. This was after they changed my equipment Thursday after they promised they would do it on Wednesday. Before Platinum took over Efirehose would come out on the weekend for service calls. They no longer do that. They also cut back on their trouble line hours. I'm not impressed and I will probably be switching to CCI Wireless this month.

[corsvette]

Efirehose has improved but still sucks imo. Explornet is about the same so I hear. Not much you can do right now for internet on acreages. One plus for efirehose is their service is fairly quick if you do have issues.

[Waldi]

Does Bell provides any options?

[Alterac]

xplornet pretty much resells all the small wisps.

If you are more specific about your location I may be able to give you more options. MD of Rockyview is pretty large.

Between Calgary and Cochrane
If you have the cash, give Pathcom a call, they can set you up a microwave shot. (aka, not cheap).

Like the others pointed out, there are a few fixed point wireless connections.
http://www.platinum.ca/coverage-area.html
http://www.cciwireless.ca/availability.php
http://efirehose.net/images/coverageNov1.jpg
http://www.wiband.com
If you are a fair ways north of Calgary, Airenet may be an option.

[e31]

I am considering a point to point solutions for the moment. All I need to do is find someone on the edge of downtown that doesn't mind a dish on their balcony.

I figured that on a clear day I can see from South Hospital to Nose Hill to COP, so why the hell am I bothering with Telus 6mbps internet?

[taemo]

we are using Velocity Networks from Cochrane as WISP for our Carstairs office and have been very happy since installing it 2 years ago.

Xplornet is terrible, especially when calling for support.

if all you plan to do is occasional internet (email/facebook/youtube) then a 10-20GB mobile plan might work for you with bell/telus/rogers.
if you are close to a town, you might get lucky and have HSPA+ or LTE coverage (last I know only major cities and along HWY2 has LTE coverage)

[thetransporter]

pm me your address i will check my buddys' company