At my wits end with this slow Internet...

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'98 Saturn SW2, sorry. (Mom doesn't have a high opinion of the Magnum's aesthetics.)

Pfft... it's a gorgeous car, and with a HEMI and AWD there's nothing not to love about it!

...alright, well, there's the 18 MPG fuel economy. But a HEMI! And AWD! :D

It's official, this thread has now gone all over the place!
 
Update. Called Charter today to see if the "site survey" dude had shown up. Turns out that when I called on Thurs., they had promised to send out the dude and then never entered the order for him to show up.

:rolleyes: Special.

However, since the distance to the house hasn't changed since before last October (the last time we considered this) the nice lady I spoke to today said she would email the local office (no way to call them, and I can't get to Lillington NC for a walk-in) and then they would get back to me with a cost for laying in the cable. I guess that's good news.
 
Sad that this is the case but no one (company such as, Charter, Verizon, etc) has any incentive to provide you with good service. Being out in the stix has its pros and cons, this is one of the cons :(. Wish you the best of luck.

We live in a less populated area (we are on well water and septic) but is still close enough to have decent broadband. My wife though wants to move out to an area with minimum of 50 acres and my concern with that is no broadband.
 
Satellite. It's expensive but (in those areas anyhow) usable. Look up Hughesnet.

On an unrelated note... I'm on 5.5 acres and I already don't know what to do with the place. What would one do with 50, other than grow for ConAgra?

EDIT: a point of clarity and a question. (1) I've never had satellite internet. (2) Wouldn't the point of good service be to retain me as a customer? or is this society so messed up now that we won't leave even when they're screwing us over and it's both obvious and brutal?
 
IMO Satellite is NEVER an option. There's plenty of WISPs nowadays that you can usually find one in your area. If not, maybe look into setting up a wireless P2P network with a friend or coworker or something.
 
Satellite. It's expensive but (in those areas anyhow) usable. Look up Hughesnet.

On an unrelated note... I'm on 5.5 acres and I already don't know what to do with the place. What would one do with 50, other than grow for ConAgra?

EDIT: a point of clarity and a question. (1) I've never had satellite internet. (2) Wouldn't the point of good service be to retain me as a customer? or is this society so messed up now that we won't leave even when they're screwing us over and it's both obvious and brutal?

Satalite latency is horrible. Sure downloading files would be faster over Satalite than over dialup, however the latency would kill any app that needs low latency.
According to wiki the RTT latency on satalite is usually between 1000ms to 1400ms, while dialup is between 150-200ms. Many online games will actually disconnect users who hit latency numbers over 1000ms.

As for the 50 acre question, we really enjoy our privacy.
 
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Never heard of that -- probably because I've never had satellite! Oh well, learn something new every day.
 
Just got the call from Charter.

$3050.94 to run the cable. I think that's absurd, but I don't think I can negotiate, which means that it's just not gonna happen.
 
Just got the call from Charter.

$3050.94 to run the cable. I think that's absurd, but I don't think I can negotiate, which means that it's just not gonna happen.

That actually sounds fairly reasonable considering they are having to run near 500 ft of cable. If it was my house and I knew I was going to be in this house for many years I would pay it. It also can become a selling point if most houses in the area do not have cable.
 
That's after they pay the first 300ft, though. That amount is for 180 feet of cable, conduit, and labor!
 
do you have day laborers in your town?

a trench of that distance would be a cost of parts and a days work for a day laborer. Cost would be $100-$200 for them.

direct burial doesn't have to be deep.
 
I'll look into that, thanks!

EDIT: to answer your question more directly: almost certainly. We have a large Hispanic population in this town, and last October, the people employed by the local Townsend plant (a horrible place to work I'm sure, especially since most of the employees couldn't afford cars!) were suddenly UNemployed by Townsend, as the plants here and in a nearby town were closed. That's about 1500 employees suddenly out of work, according to the front page of the local paper. With the economy what it is... I imagine that most of them are looking for a job still, although some have (of course) moved elsewhere.
 
Even for 180' of cable that's not too bad of a price for all that's involved. There's a bit more too it then spading in an RG6 and hooking it up to a tap.
 
The material cost alone is more than you guys probably think. As I stated earlier you can NOT use RG6 for that distance. RG-11 minimum and if not doing conduit it needs to be Direct Burial grade. That will cost in cable alone is ~$200. Then you need to terminate it which is not as simple as RG6 since the cable is filled with a gel of some sort. Don't forget you need to pay for Miss Utility to come out. Depending on the location you may need to pay for a permit. Not counting labor costs you could easily spend $500.
 
What if the OP has someone bury the cable and requests charter to terminate the ends. It should be no more work than a <150' install for them and the cost should reflect that. Another possibility is to place a small tower towards the end of the property and place the cable equipment there, and use some ubiquiti wireless equipment to connect it to the house. If you have perfect line of sight you can use 5Ghz 300mbit wireless N with either a pair of Nanobridge M, Nanostation M or Power Bridge M will work.
 
Bury the cable and have Charter do the tips? I can go for that. Unfortunately wireless won't work because trees.

@m1abram: what cable type would you recommend, and how much would it cost for 150' of it? We were going to get the 15Mbps package from Charter... which is probably 30x what we're getting now :eek:
 
Only 150ft? I think you have to run rg11 but you should talk to charter.

My client that did his ran the wire and the cable ISP did all the termination.

I woul buy the wire online, grab a Hispanic for $100 a day, give him a shovel and be done.

Return te cradle point, cancel the 3G service and you may end up saving some monthly
 
Bury the cable and have Charter do the tips? I can go for that. Unfortunately wireless won't work because trees.

@m1abram: what cable type would you recommend, and how much would it cost for 150' of it? We were going to get the 15Mbps package from Charter... which is probably 30x what we're getting now :eek:

150' you probably still want to use RG-11, however you could get away with RG-6. The OP is ~500ft.

Google for the cost different sources vary greatly on the cost of cable, and shipping can end up being a large portion of your cost. 500ft of RG-11 is not light.
 
Its 480 ft from one end to another, and your only going to have 20 ft left over for connections.......am i the only one sensing a problem here?
 
You need more slack. It may need to go up the pole. Leave 25 ft on each end.

You don't have a electrical supply house near? Lowes can even get it
 
Heck you might eat up 20 feet slack if you need to curve around a rock that you can not dig through. I would not start this job without at least 100 feet of extra.
 
I assume that Charter will connect how they want, with their stuff.

All they will do is take the end of the cable and run it up the pole and connect it. If it doesnt reach the pole they wont "splice" another cable from the pole to yours, that causes issues. When you run your own cable it has to reach from the pole it needs to be connected at, all the way to where its going to be connected in your home.

Its always better to run extra in case you need it vs not having enough and having to rebuy cable, as it has to be done in 1 run.

That 1000' should give you plent of extra. Dont know the quality of that cable so cant say if its good buy or not. but looks like it has the right specifications.
 
OK, that makes sense (well, sorta). I have to ask, what kinds of "issues" does splicing cause?
 
Oh. In that case I think I don't mind.

BTW, what's the likelihood of me hearing from them (if I were to call in and make sure this is OK) that they are not willing to attach cable that's not theirs to equipment that is theirs?
 
Oh. In that case I think I don't mind.

BTW, what's the likelihood of me hearing from them (if I were to call in and make sure this is OK) that they are not willing to attach cable that's not theirs to equipment that is theirs?

You should mind. The more loss in the line the crappier the speeds and more problems you'll have. Just get the 1000 feet or even 750 feet of cable. Do it right.
 
Oh. In that case I think I don't mind.

BTW, what's the likelihood of me hearing from them (if I were to call in and make sure this is OK) that they are not willing to attach cable that's not theirs to equipment that is theirs?

The reason you have to use RG11 is because you want to minimize signal loss. So as stated you DO care. If you are serious about doing this you really want to not take shortcuts and do it right. The cost difference doing this right the first time is minimal compared to having to do it TWICE.
 
Before you lay any cable you want to confirm you are meeting ALL requirements by the cable company. You do not want them coming out and saying "Sorry we can not use that". Also you MUST call out Miss Utility before digging this is a small fee to avoid causing massive damage and/or death. Lastly you should check local building codes to make sure you do not need a permit.
 
Good points all round.

What is Miss Utility, never heard of them. Is that the "call before you dig" thing that tells you where the phone lines are in between the gray boxes?
 
Oh. In that case I think I don't mind.

BTW, what's the likelihood of me hearing from them (if I were to call in and make sure this is OK) that they are not willing to attach cable that's not theirs to equipment that is theirs?

Step 1 Contact cable company and tell them what your thinking about doing, and make sure they have no problem with it, and what specifications they require you to use if they accept. Type of cable, Depth cable needs to be buried, etc.

Step 2 Contact Utility company to check for underground power lines and other issues.

Step 3 If needed get permit

Step 4 Order Cable line

Step 5 Contact Cable company to setup date to have them come out to hook up your cable line.

Step 6 Dig Ditch before cable company comes out

Step 7 Run cable line day/day before cable company comes out (do not bury till after they have you hooked up and its working.)

Step 8 Bury Cable line

Step 7 Profit! ^_^

If cable company/util/gov state anything different then what i have said, follow their instructions.


Good points all round.

What is Miss Utility, never heard of them. Is that the "call before you dig" thing that tells you where the phone lines are in between the gray boxes?


Yes, before you dig you should always contact them.
 
And that 1000ft spool is cheap. I'd get that and run it.

This is a very easy thing to do. If you can afford the monthly and some upfront cost you are golden. I would think you'd save money in long run with it over the 3G.

Then setup wireless bridge to neighbors and charge em :)
 
Sounds like a plan :D

Now I just have to find the money for the spool o' cable and the dude-widda-shovel.
 
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