Homestead mailing list

[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

It is really good to see the list active again. Viva la Homestead!

Once again, I can't stress enough to check into communication issues
before you buy your homestead.  There is no cell coverage or cable here,
no DSL-nothing.  My options for phone, TV, and internet are landline,
dialup, and satellite connections.  For years I have dealt with dial up
speeds of 26.4 kbps, but since last September, I connect at 19.2 and
occasionally 21.6kbps, less than half of the speed of most dialup
connections. It is to the point where I can no longer upgrade software,
like Adobe or Realplayer or AVG.  Bellsouth/AT&T is absolutely no help.
 If I weren't working outside this valley, this fact would be a mere
inconvenience to adapt to(and we did for years), but now, especially
since the September storm, it is almost impossible to stay connected or
download anything, including mail.  I am paying AT&T $23/month for this
type of service, plus more for long distance and a local LATA calling
plan.  It all comes up to about $77/month.  So, I've been thinking...
If I were to get satellite internet with 500kbps-1Mbps connectivity, is
this sufficient to use Skype or support other VoIP?  I do have my
cellphone, but I can't get a signal at home, so I have to have some form
of communication if I drop AT&T.

I have no experience with Skype or its shortcomings, but I recall that
many of you use it.  With my current dialup service, I know it would
never work, but with satellite internet, I should consider it as an
option.
Even though most of my family lives within a few hours away, many of
them have cell phone numbers that originate in the Atlanta calling area,
which is long distance, so I need some way of contacting them.   I also
need a reliable way to call 911, something that Skype can't do.

Do any of you have any suggestions for how I might improve my
connectivity to the world?  I don't follow the technology crowd so I am
sure I am missing options.  I would like to connect reliably to the
internet at faster speeds than 26kbps.

I am willing to pay the several hundred dollars up front that would be
required for satellite internet, but I wonder if a lease would be
better.  I know President Obama has promised rural Americans that access
is coming, so I hesitate buying equipment that might not be useful if I
qualified for some government sponsored initiative.  At the same time, I
slap myself and say "Wake up Bev, these things never apply to you, so
just do what you need to do and don't hold onto promises..."  Having
cable internet and TV options would make life nicer, for sure.
I'm considering options at present...

Bev

--
Many of our greatest American thinkers, men of the caliber of Thomas
Jefferson, Henry Thoreau, Mark Twain, William James, and John Muir, have
found the forest an effective stimulus to original thought.
Bob Marshall