If you vacation at a cabin that doesn’t have telephone service, getting Internet access can be costly and challenging. Driving into the closest town and trying to find a signal is also a bit tricky especially if the town doesn’t have a Starbucks.

There are several options for Internet when you cottage in remote areas, but how you use the Net, and what you’re willing to spend might limit your options.

For straight email - a Blackberry is a good, but somewhat pricey option. I have a Rogers Blackberry, and with a data plan and phone, I’m paying about $117 per month - ouch. It does have great coverage and I can send and recieve emails. I can also surf the web, but bare in mind the screen is tiny and it is a bit slow.

Option #2 Wireless Aircard. I simply take my sim card from my blackberry, insert it into the aircard and plug it into my laptop. Sending and receiving is a very slow process and costly. Not great but it works in a pinch. Sierra Wireless makes the aircard. They are also come in a USB model - check your computer before you buy anything to make sure it has the proper slots.

Option #3 Satellite. XploreNet offers satellite service throughout Canada. It costs $399 for the dish and modem Installation is extra and will run anywhere from $100 - $500 for installation. The satellite needs a clear line of sight and be south facing. You also have to run two cables into your cabin where the modem will reside. You plug your computer directly into the modem or you can connect your router into the modem for wireless access.

If you want to lower your costs and your neighbors are close by i.e. 150 feet away, you might want to share a satellite signal. Using a wireless router, you could share your signal. If you are both using it at the same time, your service will be slower.

The rates are based on speed and the length of your contract:

$59.99 will give you 512 kbps upload and 128kbsp download (so slightly faster than dial-up but not by much)

$99.99 will buy 1 megabytes upload and 256 kbps download

It’s not a perfect solution, but you can pay by the month and the speed is actually not too bad - just stay away from trying to send photos .

XploreNet is only for Internet access only, they do not offer television service - that requires different equipment and uses another satellite. They will be improving the service in the next several months for Voice over IP or Skype Internet calling.

If anyone else has any other solutions or suggestions, I would love to hear from you.

Cheers,

Julie

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 at 10:00 am and is filed under Fix It. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.