[lug] Broadband in Eastern/Rural Boulder County?

[Zan Lynx]

Ryan Kirkpatrick wrote:
> Does any one know of Internet broadband options out in the vicinity of
> 95th and Valmont Rd (area code 80301) in eastern, rural Boulder County?
> With SprintBroadband ending their wireless service (effectively cable
> Internet over a micro-wave link) at the end of this month I am trying to
> find my parents another option.
> 
> Sprint is offering a EVDO (cellular) option, but it is expensive and has
> rather low usage caps (5GB). 
> 
> I already checked with Mesa Networks (another wireless option) but they
> don't have coverage in that area. They said there are plans to build an
> antenna in Erie "soon" but they have no hard dates yet.
> 
> Qwest is showing dialup only, and Comcast is showing nothing. Haven't
> looked into satellite options yet, but given their latency and up front
> cost I am not too keen on them.
> 
> My parent's house is definitely out in the country, so no neighborhoods
> around, and I don't think the neighbors have any Internet (most are old
> farmers :). Though there are no HOA restrictions, so I am open to more
> "wacky" ideas. Thanks!

You can get IDSL anywhere in Colorado.  It is ISDN with all channels
dedicated to data.  I have mine through SpeakEasy and it is a bit over
$100/mo.  You get 144 Kbps which isn't great, but it is always on, and
latency is good.

Another option is HughesNet satellite internet.  Bad latency but great
download speeds.

According to Qwest, I can get a T1.  Since I can get one, and I live 8
miles out of Boulder in the mountains, I'll assume you can too.  Qwest
will sell a T1 connection but when I asked, the salesman tacked on
another $600/mo in rural access charges.  SpeakEasy said they could get
me a better deal, but it was still too much.

The T1 option could be worthwhile if you wanted to go into business
selling wireless internet or set up a co-op with the neighbors.  There
is a group near where I live (not near enough though) that does that
using directional 802.11 wireless.

If you had just ten customers/co-op members, the price would be less
than the IDSL and probably have better speed.  The downside of course is
managing it (paperwork, sales, collections, handling policy violations
and the neighbor's teenage BitTorrent addict) and tech support.