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Rural internet options -- Tennessee
Posted on 5/8/23 at 11:48 am
Posted on 5/8/23 at 11:48 am
I work remotely and am slowly working on getting out of town and getting on some acreage in central Tennessee-- my guess is between Nashville and Knoxville and the exact position depends on the property.
What I"m trying to pin down is what options exist as far as high speed internet as that is crucial to continuing to work. Anyone have experience setting up reliable high speed internet in the countryside?
What I"m trying to pin down is what options exist as far as high speed internet as that is crucial to continuing to work. Anyone have experience setting up reliable high speed internet in the countryside?
4
Posted on 5/8/23 at 11:53 am to Thundercles
There is wide variability across Tennessee. Chattanooga was literally the first city in the Western Hemisphere to offer gigabyte service (they currently offer 25 gig service). So, you can be in the more rural areas surrounding Chattanooga and still get some pretty fast service.
East Tennessee near Knoxville is more of a crap-shoot. You can get 10 gig service in parts of the greater metro area...but I know people in surrounding counties who lost their only service (DSL) during the pandemic.
What area specifically are you looking at, and we can nail down your options a bit better.
East Tennessee near Knoxville is more of a crap-shoot. You can get 10 gig service in parts of the greater metro area...but I know people in surrounding counties who lost their only service (DSL) during the pandemic.
What area specifically are you looking at, and we can nail down your options a bit better.
Posted on 5/8/23 at 11:53 am to Thundercles
Ben Lowman fiber. We have it at our place in Van Buren County and it's great. They should have service for most of the rural counties between Nashville and Knoxville. It's cheap, too. Kind of crazy that I have better internet options out in the sticks than I do at my work in Nashville.
ETA: Here's the map. It's not as widespread as I thought, but there may be other providers in the area. LINK
ETA: Here's the map. It's not as widespread as I thought, but there may be other providers in the area. LINK
This post was edited on 5/8/23 at 12:00 pm
Posted on 5/8/23 at 12:13 pm to madmaxvol
Interesting. This is a big area so tell me if too broad to be useful, I imagine I'll land in the triangle between Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Nashville. And realistically on the eastern side of that triangle, more in the direction of Knoxville and Chattanooga. Areas just west of Tennessee River over through about McMinville. Anything west of that is too close to Nashville for my liking / too pricey.
Lots of property out there that would suit my needs, but want to start thinking about internet coverage so i can really pin down areas in there and start visiting more and eventually shopping.
Lots of property out there that would suit my needs, but want to start thinking about internet coverage so i can really pin down areas in there and start visiting more and eventually shopping.
Posted on 5/8/23 at 1:32 pm to Thundercles
I have property in Arkansas and Louisiana and both are rural. I have an AT&T and Verizon hotspot. I just pack them with me and usually as long as I have Cell service I can work remotely. You can even bring it with you when you’re looking at the property. Connect to it and run a few speed tests just to see what you get.
I was looking at property one time and I had Cell service but the data speeds were really bad, so it’s good to test.
I was looking at property one time and I had Cell service but the data speeds were really bad, so it’s good to test.
Posted on 5/8/23 at 2:36 pm to angry_german
Does the hotspot serve all internet needs (streaming, browsing) or is it something you fire up for specific purposes and then use a more fixed option for daily use?
Starlink is saying they are going to expand to the whole US this year, and their map says 2023 expected coverage.
Starlink is saying they are going to expand to the whole US this year, and their map says 2023 expected coverage.
Posted on 5/8/23 at 3:13 pm to Thundercles
I mainly use mine for work because they’re portable. Some plans have data caps too so that limits your streaming. I generally get around 20-30 Mbps down and 10-15 up on mine. Not good enough if you have a houseful of streamers but plenty good enough for me to work on.
Posted on 5/8/23 at 7:58 pm to Thundercles
quote:quite expensive unfortunately. not sure if TB is in the same financial stratosphere as the OT.
Starlink is saying they are going to expand to the whole US this year,
Posted on 5/8/23 at 9:42 pm to faraway
quote:
quite expensive unfortunately.
Only $110 a month with $600 for equipment right? Doesn't seem exorbitant for the service given what they're doing.
Posted on 5/9/23 at 8:12 am to Thundercles
Unless you are way, way out there, rural Tennessee counties on the eastern highland rim and Cumberland plateau all have fiber that is faster and cheaper than starlink.
Posted on 5/9/23 at 8:24 am to Thundercles
quote:
Only $110 a month with $600 for equipment right? Doesn't seem exorbitant for the service given what they're doing.
Except that it seems that they are outselling their capacity, which causes reliability issues.
Posted on 5/9/23 at 8:37 am to BottomlandBrew
Oh awesome. Do you happen to know providers off the top of your head or what to search to research them? I feel like I'm searching so broadly that I'm getting weak results.
Posted on 5/9/23 at 9:08 am to Thundercles
I've already mentioned one - Ben Lowman. Others are Highland Telephone, Cumberland Connect, and Twin Lakes. Tennessee has done a pretty good job at building out rural fiber. You often get better options in the country than you do in the suburbs.
Posted on 5/9/23 at 10:39 am to Thundercles
Starlink. I've been using it for a year and a half now. I stream movies, play online games etc. Doesn't lag at all. The KEY is you gotta get it where it has NO obstructions. I had to buy some steel pipe, weld it together to make a 30+ft mast and cement it in the ground to mount my Dish on top of it. I then bought an outdoor electrical box and put the modem/router inside that along with a small UPS power backup and ran all the wiring under ground back to my house. I live in the middle of no-where. Cow fields all around, dirt driveway. If you set it up correctly it will work fantastic.
Secondly, if you make it only work as the modem and not as a router also, then you buy a separate router, it will boost your speeds some. That way that 1 little box isn't trying to do all those jobs at once, getting overwhelmed etc(to put it simply). Anyways, I love Starlink and most people that bash it just set it on their roof lazily so I'm not surprised they have bad connections. Go the extra mile and it will work just like a cable modem. I get over 100mb download speeds after all this time still. We even use it for IPTV in 5 bedrooms and it streams all our TV, movies, Computer gaming, xbox the works.
Good luck.
Secondly, if you make it only work as the modem and not as a router also, then you buy a separate router, it will boost your speeds some. That way that 1 little box isn't trying to do all those jobs at once, getting overwhelmed etc(to put it simply). Anyways, I love Starlink and most people that bash it just set it on their roof lazily so I'm not surprised they have bad connections. Go the extra mile and it will work just like a cable modem. I get over 100mb download speeds after all this time still. We even use it for IPTV in 5 bedrooms and it streams all our TV, movies, Computer gaming, xbox the works.
Good luck.
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