Rural Internet Solutions?

[Mr.Topwater!]

Hey all. Moving to rural eastern Ont. We do not have dsl internet as an option. I 've read only bad things about Xplornet. There is also "Storm". anybody here use them? Is it significantly better than Bell satellite? I've never liked Bell's way of doing business, but I might have to bite the bullet. Anybody know of any other options? Any and all input appreciated.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Mr.Topwater!

[DRIFTER_016]

My dad had a Bell turbo hub when he was living in Bellwood.

It worked very good. Maybe something to look into.

Or the Rogers equivalent if the service is better in the area.

[FloatnFly]

try shaw, or if you can, turn your phone into a mobile hotspot, if your data allows it

Edited November 6, 2015 by FloatnFly

[G.mech]

I run Telus Smarthubs at my rural home and also for my construction site offices and it works fairly well. The speed is decent and they are very reliable and simple to set up and move. The big drawback is that on most plans you are limited to 10GB/month and anything over that is crazy expensive. It is great for general internet browsing and such but you certainly couldn't use it for streaming movies, large downloads or Netfilx. When my 2 kids are home from university in the summer we often eat up our 10GB even when we're careful about usage.

 

I have been looking into Xplornet myself for home and apparently the recent upgrades to 4G wireless are really good. The plans are limited but at 250GB or 500GB/month which is a huge improvement over the Telus and Rogers hubs.

Edited November 6, 2015 by G.mech

[Rod Caster]

I have Vianet wireless. They purchase off Spectrum. My internet sucks. 1.5mbgs max

[wkrp]

I just sighned up for explorenet and moved my tv and phone service to Shaw. Good bye Alexander Graham Bell.

[Paudash]

I went from a Rogers hub to Xplorenet last year, cost went down from $120.00 a month to $70.00 a month

works for Netflixs, emails general surfing and we run our cells phone through it to reduce the data charges on the phones

It is not perfect but way better for any other option I have seen

[Wade]

I've been using Xplornet for the last 8 months in E. Ont and it's been fine.

[Big Cliff]

We were with Xplornet at one point and finally got rid of it, we just had too many problems. Sorry I can't offer a better solution unless there is someone else offering service in your new area. We ended up going with a local provider and it was a huge improvement.

[Sinker]

I have shaw cable and phone, but can't find a decent internet provider where I am. I'm in a black hole. Sucks!

 

S.

[pike slayer]

I've had xplornet for almost 5 years now. Cell service is about 1km from my house. You need some type of cell service for one of those hubs. They have a bit better strength then a regular signal so if you are far from service scratch those off the list. Xplornet speed is not bad you can stream youtube videos fine and regular Internet surfing is fine. I only have 500mb for daily useage, really not much usage for anything like Netflix.also during any rain ir snow storms signal is lost which is times when you want to use it haha.also the dish needs to be cleared of snow and ice or you will lose signal to.it costs $74 a month after taxes what not. If anybody has anything better can you let me know. Oh and I'm in the sault ste.marie area if that makes a difference.

[G.mech]

Xplornet is doing all kinds of upgrades. They used to just have satellite transmission which was pretty crappy but they now have ground based 4G wireless service which is much, much better if you're in range. They are also getting two new satellites next year which will blow away their old satellite service and it will be available virtually anywhere in Canada. I've been looking in the wireless 4G and apparently it's pretty decent.

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/xplornet-plans-unprecedented-expansion-of-high-speed-internet-to-all-of-rural-canada/article19798876/

[tbayboy]

I've been on XploreNet in the bay of quinte region for a couple months now. No 4g on my tower yet (its a dish pointed at a tower really) but apparently this one is getting upgraded in May. That said I'm getting enough speed for netflix and streamed the Jays playoff games but just barely (usually around 3Mbps downstream, cap of 250G). Using it for streaming audio, all the various phones/tablets etc (typing this up on it) and I'm happy so far but its only the weekends I'm at the cottage and only a couple months in so I can't speak to anything long term.