Over the past couple of weeks I have been researching a story for Cottage Magazine entitled, Horne Lake’s Internet Cafe. The article explores the options cottagers have when it comes to accessing the Internet, particularly for those folks living in British Columbia. Albertan’s, thanks to Bell Canada and the Alberta government, have Internet infrastructure to die for. Sasktel too, has done an excellent job of wiring its province.

While B.C. has breathtaking vistas and glorious mountains, it seems we do not have Internet, at least not outside of Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo or Kelowna. It’s a classic case of the haves versus the have nots. Folks living in rural B.C. are limited to dial-up 56 K modems, and for those who can afford it, cellular data, which utilizes a PC aircard, and a data plan from a wireless carrier like Telus or Rogers.

I too would like to be able to surf the Net at the cabin. Installing an Xplornet satellite dish is probably going to be my best bet, but the dish and installation are expensive, about $1,000. Then there are the monthly fees: roughly $90 per month for 1 Mbsp download and 256 Kbsp upload, plus the annual licensing fee of $75. That’s a lot of money just to transmit some megabytes.

I did, over the course of my research, come across a company called BC HotSpot.com. They sell devices that allow an Internet signal to be extended or “daisy chained.” Their technology has been used to supply campgrounds with Internet.

Why would cottagers be interested in this company? Let’s say one cottager installed a satellite dish. Using BC Hotspot’s Check Box Master, the signal could be sent up to 300 feet. If a person wanted to extend the signal further, a “mesh node adapter (repeater) could be mounted to a tree or pole to keep extending the signal. These adapters can be installed around a lake, thereby providing everyone with Internet. The adapters require 110 volts of power to operate, but Denis Tonn, BC Hotspot’s company spokesperson stated that they can run off a 12 volt battery plugged into an AC adapter.

This would be expensive technology to deploy on a large lake. The Check Box Master retails for $599 and the mesh node adapters cost $399 each. For a lake under six miles it could be cost effective. The signal can also be transmitted across water (up to a half mile), thereby minimizing the total number of mesh node devices required.

In order for cottagers to be able to pick up the Internet signal, their laptops would need a wireless adapter (device that fits into the Ethernet port to pick up wireless signals). Newer PC’s have them built in. I am seriously considering taking this proposal to our cottage association. I realize some people do not wish to have Internet at the cabin, but more and more cottagers are installing satellite dishes on our lake. It might be time to band together and save some money.

For anyone who is interested in finding out more about getting Internet at the cabin, I would encourage you to contact Gordon Sedola of Van Isle Home Entertainment in Nanaimo, B.C. He is an Xplornet dealer and a BC HotSpot distributor, who is very knowledgeable regarding hook-ups and configuration. He can be reached at 250-245-0637 or email at vihomeent@telus.net.

Cheers,

Julie

P.S. The Cottage Magazine article will be out in the edition.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 at 10:11 am and is filed under Technology. 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.