Help ASAP plz. If wrong forum apologies... Rural area internet issues

J

JNavy89GT

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Apr 25, 2001
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Long story try to be short. I've had cable internet past 13 yrs. We're moving into a rural area and only decent option I know of is local WISP(microwave wireless internet) with speeds of 5mb/1mb. Not as good as cable but enough to surf net, light game, and stream Netflix I'm told. No DSL in area. Only other options I know of would be Satellite or 3g/4g both of which are capped and have issues in the area with connection and speeds.

So the WISP sounded like the best alternative. Booked install appt. Guy arrived and said no go, too many trees and wouldn't get a line of site to tower.

Here is my ?. What are my options now. Build a tower to get above trees to get LOS with tower? Is there some secret way to get a telcom to sell me something that would be decent? I've read articles about rural communities creating co-ops and having good internet. However, these articles lack any true detail about how to get this started, setup etc...?? The neighbors I've talked with are not power users and make due with 3g cards, but would be interested I'm sure if we could create some option. I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel here. Maybe a local tower to get the WISP in our LOS???? The WISP doesn't really seem interested in helping, but I'm guessing if we suddenly had LOS they'd be happy to take our money every month.

I'm just so exasperated as it's 2013 and not the back hills of Appalachia we're talking about here. It's rural sure, but what about all the $ our Gov has poured into telecoms in an effort to modernize our infrastructure and get broadband out to rural areas? Seems that is only true to a certain extent. sure the sun will rise tomorrow even if I don't have home internet, but my wife and 4 kids will be an unruly bunch for sure, and if I can figure something out I wouldn't mind spending up to 3-4k on a tower etc... to get a working solution.

again, I'm sorry if this is the wrong forum, but I've got a headache a mile long trying to figure out this solution and Google/searches have proved little help. Grasping at straws and thought I'd post here.
 
Go the tower route if you have the option for that connection, and you just need LOS.

First figure out how tall it needs to be, then figure out your location, and then talk to the local Gov to figure out if you can have that tall of a tower.

Me, I've dealt with 3G for 5 years, and have a T1 coming any damn day now.
Checkout my threads in this forum for more info about my 3G and T1 setups.

-Todd
 
I work for a Local wisp here and we get guys like you all the time.

The key to ask them is what direction the tower is in (I doubt they'll tell you which one it is exactly) and if they had any info on exactly how high you would need to go.

Once you've got the tower erected, Give them a call again and tell them it's ready. They may up your install fee a bit in order to cover the time and effort of climbing the tower.

You may also mention that if they work with you, You wouldn't mind them putting a few AP's on your tower and feeding your neighbors as well. Some will do this, Some wont.

As for tower height, Whatever gets you above the tree line should work. As long as they are within 5-6 miles or so. You should be able to see their tower the minute you clear the trees. Just remember to add a bit extra for fresnel zone coverage and tree growth over the next few years.
 
thx guys. Been checking on towers more and not sure if I can afford it or not. One place I talked to was talking 10-20k for a tower :O. I thought I might get on put up for about 3-4k tops :(. UGH!!!!!

I'm not giving up yet, but it will really depend on final costs.

The other thought we had was at some point I may be putting up an out building for a side business and storage. If the outbuilding is tall enough, mounting a tower on that may clear the trees. Guy said you could go 30ft above a structure for relatively cheap @$115-150 per 10ft section, plus a mast on top of that, so if the building was say 40ft high, plus 30ft that should clear the trees, plus the mast would give it some extra I would think. I've heard about the fresnel zone in my research, but still don't understand it, but my limited understanding has me believing it's similar to turbulence when sound waves get close to objects, the ground or in my case the trees, so to get above that area to get a good clean signal would require some extra clearance, but not sure how much. If an outbuilding was going to cost say 40k, I'd rather do that route than spend 10-20k on a tower, at least the building would be more functional and add value to the property moreso than an eyesore huge tower. Granted will still have a tower on top, but I think you can see my point.
thx again for the advice
 
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If you're building a tower for your own usage, you can either "modify" a tree or build something yourself.

I don't see why the WISP people wouldn't be willing to at least try to get you working if you could get semi-decent LoS. You may be on the hook for installing the CPE yourself though - they'll just preconfigure it.

Also, if any part of your property has the proper LoS, you could build your own small tower and relay it your house. Solar panels would save you on even needing power at your relay site.
 
Well I'm terribly afraid of heights at my age now :(. Also, there are so many trees that I don't think rigging a tree would work, although we talked about it, I just don't think it will work.

the WISP didn't really seem to care once they determined that it wouldn't be a 20 minute install so they cut bait and left :(.

I'm guessing but I think I would need at least a 60ft tower, maybe higher to clear the trees, plus as stated you need to get a fair bit above that as well.
 
Depending on your wind situation and tree height, you may be able to simply attach a mast to your house (think lots of poles) and throw an omnidirectional antenna on the top.

Obviously, if you live in tornado country or have HOA bullshit, this may not work, but it's a viable alternative at less than 10% of the cost.

Or, if you can swing it, with a yagidirectional antenna and a rotator, you may be able to pull the signal out of thin air.
 
JNavy89GT said:
thx guys. Been checking on towers more and not sure if I can afford it or not. One place I talked to was talking 10-20k for a tower :O. I thought I might get on put up for about 3-4k tops :(. UGH!!!!!
Click to expand...

Where the heck did you get 10K? I'm seeing more than one place advertising 80 footers for like $3500.

Is there hidden cost?
 
mwarps said:
Where the heck did you get 10K? I'm seeing more than one place advertising 80 footers for like $3500.

Is there hidden cost?
Click to expand...

Post sources please. I`d love to know where you are finding them as well.
 
mwarps said:
Where the heck did you get 10K? I'm seeing more than one place advertising 80 footers for like $3500.

Is there hidden cost?
Click to expand...

was a telephone conversation with a company that does tower installs for businesses. He quoted a 100ft tower they put up recently for a fire dept that was 20k. He said that would be way more tower than I would need, but expensive none the less. I've found used towers for $3500 but that is you hauling it away and I have no clue how to build a tower, or the time/energy/desire to do the project myself. The labor seems to be the expensive part in this project too :(
 
JNavy89GT said:
was a telephone conversation with a company that does tower installs for businesses. He quoted a 100ft tower they put up recently for a fire dept that was 20k. He said that would be way more tower than I would need, but expensive none the less. I've found used towers for $3500 but that is you hauling it away and I have no clue how to build a tower, or the time/energy/desire to do the project myself. The labor seems to be the expensive part in this project too :(
Click to expand...

Building a tower isn't hard, believe it or not. Most of them come with guides. You can find local hams (amateur radio operators) to help, too.

I mean, if you don't want to do it yourself, I can see the price going pretty high pretty fast, but not 10-20K high.
 
The Ham thing is actually a good idea.... If you happen to live in a good area for it, they may help you out for free if you let them put some APRS/repeater gear on it. That would depend on if they need one in the area or not.

I would bet tower raising to them is like barn raising to the Amish...
 
Brak710 said:
The Ham thing is actually a good idea.... If you happen to live in a good area for it, they may help you out for free if you let them put some APRS/repeater gear on it. That would depend on if they need one in the area or not.

I would bet tower raising to them is like barn raising to the Amish...
Click to expand...

So true :p
 
There's one option you've missed.

paulbunyan_web.jpg


Cut down the trees in the way!
:D
 
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